Link back to the main Dresden Files WoJ compilation
I try to keep my Mirror Mirror goodreads.com review up to date with everything Jim has said about upcoming Dresden Files releases. A lot of the below is hypothetical things he has ideas for, whereas the review has the things he has already written or already promised someone he will write for their anthology/comic book whatever. Also, I notice that some of this stuff is outdated but it’ll take me some time to update it -Serack
On Future Short Stories
2009 Lexington signing
Will we get any more stories from other points of view?
There will be one from Marcone (in Dark and Stormy Night) and one from Murphy (entitled Hawaii).
2010 Huston signing
Are we gonna get a short story from Mouse’s POV?
No, ‘cause then you would know too much.
2011 Marscon
Any…give us any teasers on the upcoming shorts?
On the upcoming short stories? Huh. Man, I might have to do a Mister and Mouse one although it might really wind up being more Mister, Mouse and Bob, because that would be really cool. I was thinking I’ll probably do another Murphy one at some point, because it was so hard to do, the first one, it was like, okay, I did a lot of work on that I need to get some more mileage out of that one. And then, I will probably actually do one from the point of view of the private eye…
Vince?
Yeah, Vince. Just because he is so much my tribute to the late Robert Parker character. It was my intention to write somebody who’s totally in that Spencer vein. And Vince is good for that. He’d be hilarious as a point of view character, but….
2011 NYC Signing Q&A
Will we see Ivy and Kincaid again soon?
Probably not. I need to write the short story of Kincaid coming home after that job
Kansas City release party Q&A
Are there more short stories coming?
Yes, there are. Right now, I’m about two-thirds of the way done with the second of the Bigfoot trilogy of stories, which I’m having fun writing. Bigfoot’s the client. He comes to Harry, he’s got some problems with his kid, he can’t exactly walk into town and help, so Dresden gets hired and is on the job. The first one’s called B is for Bigfoot, and the kid’s in grade school. The next one is I Was a Teenage Bigfoot, and the kid’s in high school, and then Bigfoot On Campus, when he’s in college, so the three of those, and several of the short stories, and the one that didn’t make it into the anthology, Curses, will be in there, and any others that I write, because I still owe some short stories. I’ve got to start writing these things, man, they’re so hard. Writing a short story, you have to do everything in the short story that you’d do in a novel, except you have to do it in this much space. It’s like trying to have a knife fight in a phone booth.
2011 Atlanta Signing
Will there ever be a story about Kincaid and Murphy in Hawaii?
Yes. It’s gonna have to wait until I do a little research on Hawaiian gods. There’s going to be issues with volcanoes and so…
2016 DF Reddit podcast Q&A
I’m doing a Wild Wild West short story set in Dodge City in 1883 staring Luccio.
I’ve also thought about going back and writing the French and Indian war in the Dresdenverse which would be really interesting because that’s back when Ebenezar was a young hothead and most of the Senior Council guys were running around causing trouble, dumb enough to get into the kind of things Dresden does every book. We’d have sasquatches and the French and everything, it’d be a lot of fun.
Editor’s note: There’s a 2011 WoJ that obliquely implies Kincaid is also a character in the French and Indian War story
The BAT (Big Apocalyptic Trilogy)
2009 Lexington signing
Clarification on what’s behind the titles for the final trilogy.
Hell’s Bells and Stars & Stones are Harry and Eb terms; Empty Night is used by Thomas. They are curses for a reason.
2011 KC signing
Great, powerful wizards are staple, but generally speaking by the time that these big, powerful wizards get to the end, in terms of the big finale of the series, what they actually accomplish is fairly small. Are you planning something like that for Dresden?
Yes and no. Am I going to go all the way to the end of this to have Dresden be the one who pushes the button that says, “Destroy the universe? Yes : No.” It’s not going to be anywhere near that simple. Hopefully, if I do it right – which I don’t know, because I’ve never written a twenty book epic fantasy before – we’ll set it up to where if it had been anybody else it would have ended in disaster. But because it’s Dresden, we all get to keep getting along. If you’re doing your job as a writer, by the time you get to the end of your story, any other individual other than that character whose making things happen… if somebody else had been there, it all would have ended horribly wrong. Hopefully I’ll be able to do the same thing.
Arched Doorway 2013 interview
Will we ever see Faith from the Restoration of Faith short story in a mainstream Dresden Files book?
Yes, we will, but not until the big ending. Faith was the first character and more or less the first client of Dresden’s that I ever wrote in that first little short story. So she will show up again to kick off the big apocalyptic trilogy at the end.
2016 DF Reddit Podcast Q&A
Will we see Chauncy again?
I don’t know, I haven’t thought about him in a good long time. He’s a demon that’s actually working in hell. Yah I can’t see how we can avoid seeing him in the second book of the BAT. That’s the one that’s entitled Hells Bells so.
The Overall Arc
2010 Huston signing
Is DF all planned out or outlined?
A general outline/events have been planned since 1995. Two extra books are planned as DF is two books behind. (Adding: we think this means a total of 22 + 3)
2011 Marscon Q&A
How…how long will they have to wait to find out who will wield the Swords?
We’ll probably get the new wielder of Fidelacchius in Book 14 or 15. Um, Amoracchius is gonna, uh…(Jim chuckles evilly), that’s gonna be apocalypse time by the time we get [unintelligible]. Amoracchius is not one of those Swords that really rampages around the world very often, and when if does, you’ve heard about it, so…
2011 Atlanta Signing
The character progression of Tavi seems to parallel that of Harry, where he starts off low, gets a little more power, and then at the end, he gets a massive power boost between the 5th and 6th books. I was just wondering if something similar to that is going to happen to Harry, maybe before the Apocalyptic Trilogy?
I never want Dresden to be the big fish in the pond. I want Dresden to be the smart, fast, medium sized fish, who is constantly outclassed by all the actual big fish. And I don’t see how we’re going to get out of that. I’m not planning on skyrocketing Dresden anytime soon, although the next book should be pretty interesting to see how that turns out. I think Dresden is in the process of finding out that the pond is whole lot bigger than he thought it was, and there’s going to be a whole lot of new doors opening after this book. Or, as I told my shocked editor after she read the end of Changes, I think she said something along the lines of “What were you thinking?” And my response was [enthusiastic] “That now we can do the good stuff!”
2012 Reddit AMA:
stilleto929: There have been 3 times that Nicodemus has told Dresden that time is running out. In Death Masks, after capturing Harry, Nicodemus says, “Your history indicates that you are too dangerous to leave alive, I’m afraid – and I am on a schedule.” Then in Small Favor, in the aquarium, Nicodemus says, “…tempus fugit. For all of us.” Then again in Small Favor, in the boat, Nicodemus says, “Dresden, I truly regret this necessity, but time is growing short. I must act…” WHY would an effectively-immortal person be so worried about time?!? The first instance can be explained by having a plane to catch, but the others seem…unusual. Is Nicodemus’s concern about time significant? I.e. showing to the reader that he believes something BIG will happen soon, and he has to be ready? Or is this just a conversational ploy to move the plot along? Would appreciate any info you could give us about this issue. Thanks in advance! – Stiletto (Celia)
Jim: The clock is ticking, and the clued people know it. /Especially/ to someone a couple of thousand years old, it really feels like we’ve already hit the two minute warning.
Teasers about future “Files”
Quote from: Mickey FinnIs it supposed to be a mystery at this point whether that was Mab or not on the roof of Arctis Tor? There’s been much discussion as to whether or not it was or was not, and if it’s supposed to be a mystery, great, but if not, did we just miss it? (This question is purely to determine whether we, the audience, are supposed to know, or if it’s still a mystery.)
I said what I wanted to say about Arctis Tor. I’m just not done telling that entire story yet.There will be more, never fear.
Jim
Amazon.com post March 8th 2011
I haven’t given /anyone/ a summary for book 14, not even my wife, much less my editor. I haven’t even outlined it yet, in anything but the broadest terms (a sentence, and an incomplete sentence at that, written in a notebook more than ten years ago).
2011 Fast Forward, Contemporary Science Fiction interview
Where do you want to go with the story of Harry?
Well the next story is called Cold Days. And I don’t want to leave any spoilers, but for those who’ve already read the book, they will have an idea of why it’s called Cold Days. And I really think of Changes, Ghost Story, and Cold Days as kind of a three piece set. Where Harry is pulled out of all of his usual haunts, all of his usual routine … I think the third book will be something that is very interesting. It will be a lot of fun. I’m anticipating it gleefully now which is very good because a few months ago I couldn’t stand this guy, I was sick of him. But we will get to Cold Days, and we will have a good time.
2011 NYC Signing Q&A
Will we ever see the Gruffs again?
Yes, probably in Cold Days.
How soon are we going to see more direct contact with Cowl and the Black Court (sic, the context sounds like “Council”)?
Next book. Yeah, next book we’ll see them again Actually, this will be really the first time I get to have them be more active than behind the scenes in terms of what role they’re playing.
2011 Naperville Signing
What is the first line of Cold Days?
“Mab has unique ideas about physical therapy.”
Now that Harry’s working for the Winter Court, is he going to have to deal with things like paying the rent and things like that?
That’s something that I’m going to let see, because it will be more fun for you to see it than not see it. I’ll tell you that Harry’s going to look at his job, his first day on the new job, he’s going to look at it much as anyone would their first day in prison, but we should have a good time with that.
Are we ever going to get to find out more about why Bob’s so squirrelly about the Winter Court, and why he’s nervous about Mab and so on?
Yeah. The next book is pretty much going to be our Winter Court book, so assume that’s true.
Kansas City release party Q&A
I read the short story from Marcone’s point of view, Even Hand, and I noticed that John Marcone is not his real name. Is that going to be significant?
Sure is if somebody tries to cast a spell at him using the name John Marcone! That would be a big deal. We’ll have to see how that works out. Actually the character that’s really interesting is the Mirror Mirror universe Marcone, and we’ll get to him in a few books.
Kiama, Australia Q&A, 2014
Actually, one of the books that’s going to be upcoming is — I’m just going to go for total originality and call it Mirror Mirror and stick Harry in a parallel universe where he made one choice differently when he was much younger and show the fallout from that choice in that universe as it’s going. That’s going to be extremely fun story. I don’t get to write it next. I think it’s the story after this next one — which is after Skin Game. There’s Skin Game and then the next one the White Council is going to come to town and there’s going to be a big brouhaha, and then I think I can do Mirror Mirror after that. And then maybe we’ll do professional wrestling stories. Because I love professional wrestling. I watch it for the writing. And you can sort of pick out, well, wait, what’s the inspiration for this show? And you can figure out what the book is the inspiration for this show, this particular segment of the wrestling. It’s like, ‘Ah ha! This is the Return of the King episode. Look! They’ve destroyed the evil guy and now the good king is back, and now he’s the champion of the league, and so and so has been fired, and so and so has been re-hired, and he stretched forth his hand and cured a girl of cancer.’ It’s wonderful. I love watching wrestling. It’s great fiction.
2014 Wyrdcon pannel
The book after “Peace Talks” is going to be titled “Mirror Mirror.” I’m writing an alternate universe story and I’m not even going to bother… Of course I’m stealing it from Star Trek. There’s going to be goatees and eye patches and everything. Just like in the regular universe only (sounds like sluttier), it’s a Mirror Mirror story. But that’s going to be a fun because that’s going to be… How will the world be different if Harry had made one choice differently.
Audience: Goateed like Harry’s subconscious?
Jim: It’s going to be a different character because it’s going to be Dresden as he would have been if he made one choice differently, and the fallout from that effect on his life. *unintelligible comment from audience* Yah this guy will have a hat.
In this case it will be the big decision at the end of Grave Peril
2015 Stokie signing
When are we going to see dragons again?
Dude, I can’t possibly do a dragon thing unless it’s a whole book. So that would be book….20 or 21, something like that. Probably 21. Yeah, that seems about right.
Things Jim expects to do in/with future books
2010 Bitten by Books Q&A:
#121“Are we going to find out where the Hexenwolf belts came from in Fool Moon?”
Several folks have already worked it out, actually. The pieces are there if you want to put them together, though eventually I’ll state it outright.
#167 “Do you have any intention of including more material from Greek/Roman mythology?”
Indeed I do.
Do you expect to change your method of going forward a year in your storyline each book? Will you do any big jumps forward or maybe even backward?
Yes I’m going to keep doing that because it works a little bit better for me to keep track of what year it is in the story. Am I going to make any big leaps forward or backwards? Well there is a whole law of magic about messing with time, and given it’s a law of magic, Dresden is gonna have to break it eventually.
2008 Comic-Con Q&A @2:40
You use a lot of mythologies in your books. Which is your favorite to work with, and how do you chose them?
I wish I could give you a cool sophisticated answer for that… (he basically says what he uses is based on the story, and trying to be original). Things that I want to use that I haven’t gotten to are: A little bit more Hindu stuff. Hindu Mythos is full and rich and confusing, they have been doing the supernatural soap opera thing way before any of us got started with it on TV. I haven’t gotten to do as much Norse stuff (note this was before changes). I haven’t gotten to do as much Greek stuff as I wanted to do which is why I added the hekitean (msp?) hags in Welcome to the Jungle. Warhammer fans will recognize some of the names I dropped in Dead Beat
2011 NYC Signing Q&A
In the previous books, Odin showed up. Are any of the other pantheons going to make an appearance?
Yes, they are. That kind of question is the reason why I say, “Now that I’ve killed Dresden, now we can do the FUN STUFF.”
Kansas City release party Q&A
Will we ever see Dresden forced into a situation where he may have to jump through time to do something?
That would require him breaking one of the laws of magic, and it’s not as though I have seven books outlined, one for each law, or anything. We may, probably, possibly some see such as thing at some point.
2011 Atlanta Signing
What other cultures and folklore can we expect to see in the Dresden series?
I’ll probably start adding in some Asian stuff; probably some more Indian or Southwest Asian stuff. I’m gonna get through some more Norse stuff because I just like the Norse. Other than that, we’ll have to see. We’ve still got a lot to do; we’ve still got an epic dragon battle. I’ve got a bunch of stuff planned, I’ve got a bunch of ways where ‘I’ve got to end the book exactly like this!’ where I’ve got a horrible ending at the end of the book for Dresden, starting with Changes
Also, everyone else is buying into the zombie craze, are you buying into it?
The zombie craze? Why would I do anything with zombies? Zombies are stupid, why would I ever use those. Again. We can’t get away from zombies completely because some of the necromancers survived
When will we see more of Injun Joe?
I don’t have everything plotted out. I know about the big events, but not individual character stuff. Injun Joe will have to be in there by [pause to think] at least by book 15. Probably 15 and 16, he’ll both be in. [pause] Yeah, that seems about right. I have to think these things through, I haven’t thought of the answer to absolutely every question.
Are we ever going to see Sue again?
Yes. But it might be a while.
2011 Boston Signing
With all these plots that are going on, with Mab and Lea obviously playing games against one another, with archangels sticking there nose in, with vague supernatural entities that live on islands, how are all these conflicting interests, where Dresden’s getting pulled in different directions by all of them, how are they going to play out in the future?
I know that a lot of the folks that are generally perceived as bad guys aren’t necessarily, there are several who are currently perceived as good guys who aren’t necessarily, and we’ll continue to have those fall out over the next several books
2011 Boston Signing
Given that I’ve planned out so many things, and there are so many stories and actions that have consequences that have to be played out in the course of the series, are there any seemingly insignificant actions that are going to be played out later on?
Yes, there are. A bunch of them. But we’ll see. I’m still working out how to get them all fit in, but the next six books are going to be very, very busy. Six or seven or eight or however many it takes.
Now that Harry’s died, that whole “Die alone” death curse, is that over?
Was he not dead enough? Yeah, he got out from underneath that one. Sort of. It remains to be seen if he’s going to get out from underneath the rest of it. Which I’m having a very good time plotting out.
Kiama, Australia Q&A, 2014
On mythologies he’s yet to use but will:
we’ve still got to do the thing with the dragon and that’s going to be awesome.
Is there anybody in the Dresden Files that you’re not going to destroy physically or emotionally, because you seem to be on a bit of a trend here?
I make no promises, man. I think — okay, you know, the scenes like where people get shot abruptly out of nowhere or abruptly stabbed with giant pieces of metal through the chest out of nowhere? Okay, the problem with those scenes is not that they kill favorite characters that we love but that they didn’t make those people suffer anywhere near enough to get the job done as a writer. I look at those and go, ‘You know what? That could have been a lot worse. And this is how we could have made it even worse, and that would have made it that much more painful and terrible a death for these characters.’ Yeah, a little bit of sadism. You’ve got to have a little bit of sadism in you to be a good writer. So, I make no promises about anybody in the Dresden Files as far as who is going to make it out alive or with their sanity in one piece.
What happened to coma girl in the hospital?
We will find out. Not in Skin Game, but we will find out.
2015 Grid Daily interview
At the beginning of the series, there’s only a very vague, amorphous big bad. As the series has progressed it’s gotten more complicated and more convoluted. How much of this were you planning all the way back when you started writing?
All of it. I kind of had a good idea of what the big bad was, and what it looked like, and where it all lined up. We’ve still go the really excited things in front of us. We’ve got giants and apocalii (which I judge to be the plural of apocalypse). Kaiju and gods. Plus we’re going to have a dragon vs. wizard fight. Because…you knew that was coming.
2015 Slippery Words interview
In the very beginning of Skin Game we hear from a somewhat British sounding rather annoyed prisoner on Demonreach. Is he ever coming back?
Yes, I’m fundamentally a lazy writer. I don’t ever want to put something in the book that I’m not going to use for something at some point. Which is not to say that every tiny detail will be used but, if I take a moment to introduce a character, and have them do things, it’s for a reason.
Yah, I couldn’t see why you would “waste” (you know what I mean) time on…
Not in the opening chapter of the novel no
Ok he’s gotta come back
As a seed for the future yah
2016 DF Reddit Podcast Q&A
Are we going to see Agent Tilly again?
Yes definately. Tilly I had to get into the story a little bit earlier on, for when things are happening on more than the Chicago level later in the story.
2016 DF Reddit Podcast Q&A
Will we see Tera West again?
Yah, probably not until the BAT though