Cast this -- Codename: Winterborn

So, I've done multiple posts on how I would cast my novel, A Pius Man: A Holy Thriller if it were made into a film. If you want to take a look, there's a 2011, 2012 and 2013 edition.



However, there's been an oversight, and I have never looked at casting the novel Codename: Winterborn, which I co-wrote with Allan Yoskowitz.

Remember this one?

Yes, I know I don't talk about this one much, but, blast it, I've been busy.



From a casting perspective, this is actually going to be easier than the Pius universe. Why? Because I've got about nine major characters in the entire story -- both heroes and villains -- that would make it to the big screen and a few minor ones: let's face it, if you've read the book, you can see how some Hollywood people would cut out the first few chapters, so we'd lose .... some of the more colorful characters in the opening.



What would the casting look like? Well, let's look at it below the break.





Kevin Anderson.



If you don't know the story (and seriously, you really should read it), Kevin is the spy that has a little problem .... namely, his entire team has been wiped out, his wife has been murdered, and politicians in his own government would like to see him deader than Jacob Marley on ice. After his initial run in with the Islamic Republic of France (long, long story), Kevin is ... a little broken.  How broken is he? Let's say that he came close to mass murder in this book.  Think I'm exaggerating? Is ten million people enough "mass" in "mass murder"?



You also need someone who is considered "handsome"-ish, and can do a lot of hand-to-hand combat, has a dry, offbeat sense of humor, and can occasionally look at his own insane moments, and acknowledge that, yes, he really has lost his marbles, along with his friends, his family and almost anyone he ever knew.



Which leads to the flavor of the month ... no, I don't mean Benedict Cumberbach, though he does seem to be everywhere for the past year.  Cumberbach is a great actor, don't get me wrong, and he is able to kick ass and take names (just see Star Trek: Intro Darkness if you don't believe me), but I have no idea if he can drop the British accent from his "I'm a dark and sinister figure, even when I'm playing Sherlock Holmes" style of acting.

I actually mean Stephen Amell, the star of Arrow.  Think about it, he already has mentally disturbed down, and if you don't believe me, look at the first episode of Arrow once more, and get back to me.  The first ten to twenty minutes have several good moments of Amell acting. You can skip several episodes to see Amell in dry banter with fellow characters, but it's there.



As for the hand-to-hand combat ... just go and YouTube Arrow fight scenes. Go ahead, I'll wait, they're going to be quite awesome.  Heck, his dance (sorry, "combat") and exercise routines were half the commercials for the show.



Oh, and Kevin also has a entire thing with bows and arrows.  Yes, it's "a thing."  It's a very long story.



Yes, there are a lots of long stories involved in this novel.  Please, read the novel, so I can stop saying "it's a long story." :)



Speaking of long stories, times for our next character.

My friend Carleigh

The model for Mandy in the

Antagonize me "interview."

Mandy.



Okay, Mandy is my favorite character, she really is. She is cute, kinda sexy, she enjoys her job, and, damn it, she's just fun to write. She's a mercenary, and her job in this novel is to hunt down and kill everyone's favorite nutbar, Kevin Anderson. She's morally ambiguous, with a sense of morality that crops up at some strange times. Well, strange for her.



Mandy doesn't need a lot of choreography, since most of her fights are gun battles, but we at least need someone who's lithe, athletic, something like that.



Also, a slightly more important part of her character involved her size, she's not particularly tall: 5'6" would be good. She's a blue-eyed brunette who's half smart-ass, half kick-ass, and really would like to be amoral when she grows up. She puts her best effort into it, honest.



It's a ... everyone with me now ... a long story.

The only pic I could find of her that wasn't in either

1) In full dress or 2) In her underwear

Originally, when I designed Mandy, I loosely based her off of a 24 villain of the same name, played by Mia Kirshner.



However, Kirshner is getting a little old for this sort of thing -- she's already 39, I'd like Mandy to look more like she's in her 20s, and, well, I don't actually like Kirshner personally (every interview I see her in, she comes off as ignorant, but very, very certain of everything. And stiff. And shallow, and .... gah).



Most importantly, I don't think she's capable of acting her way out of a paper bag.  Seriously, in 24, she came off as a sociopath, and she doesn't exactly have much of a sense of humor or emotional range every other time I've seen her.



Why would I base a character off of someone like that? I wanted an unrelenting, unrepentant antagonist who would stop at almost nothing to hunt Kevin Anderson down like a dog, including gunning him down in a playground filled with children...



Obviously, when I started writing Mandy in the novel, she turned into something else on me.  So, who would we be getting?

How about Mila Kunis?  While I'm not 100% certain about this, we know she can do comedy, that's most of her freaking CV.  I don't need a lot of dramatic tension, I need someone who can deliver on a dry sense of humor, enough sarcasm to put a hole through somebody, and someone who at the very least appears to have gone through a daily exercise regiment.



With Kunis, we've got a pale-skinned brunette (though not as blinding white as Kirshner), who's 5'4" and can deliver some of the more comedic dialogue, like the following from the sequel, Codename Unsub:



Bad guy: “What do you want?”

“I'd say world peace, but that would be a lie. I'd be out of a job otherwise.” She gave him a little smile that creeped him out a bit. “How about the names of everyone you work with, now and forever? How about everyone up and down the supply chain? And a pony?”



Also, it would be nice if she could whole a gun without looking like a complete moron, like Mia Kirshner (seriously Ms. Kirshner? Why are you holding a gun with your arms locked out in front of you like you're at a firing range? Did no one talk to you about the Weaver stance in the half-dozen episodes you were on 24? Even Sean Astin looked mildly competent, and he was a Hobbit, fer God's sake) .



Anyway, on a physical level, I think she can pull off Mandy.  Can she on an acting level? No idea. But I'm hopeful.



Kyle Elsen



Since I'm tired of long stories, I'm just going to say that Kyle is an assassin.  He's a bit of a nerd.  He's a nerd who kills people.  You know, the sort of flake who can get lost in his own head while thinking about some new methodology to apply to his job ... only it involves murder?



Kyle doesn't have too much of a personality at first, but then again, when you have some of the strangeness that is Kevin Anderson, everyone seems a little bit like they're in shades of gray. And no, not fifty, damnit.  However, there is a back story to Kyle that shows he's a little broken.  As though I actually needed to tell you that. He's a flake who kills people. As a character, Kyle doesn't have issues so much as he has the leather bound collected volumes. There's a character arc that plays out, and gives Kyle depth beyond knowing a hundred ways to kill someone with a spoon.

Hmm....



How about Colin Donnell?



For those of you who don't watch Arrow, Donnell played "the best friend" of the main character.  Funny enough, that was also an entire character arc of going from a seemingly two-dimensional character to someone with depth and heart.  All he would have to do in this case is a start from a darker point A and a deeper point B.



Yes, Allan and I have a plan. Honest.



And, let's take a look at that face for a moment. Don't tell me he doesn't look like a serial killer in the making.



Major Antonio Rohaz



This is Mandy's boss, the CEO of the Mercenary's Guild. He's described as having a dancer's posture, stiff and militaristic, with a sharp nose, and green eyes.  No, he doesn't look specifically Hispanic, but I grew up with a friend named Martinez (which she pronounced Martin-ez, not Mar-teen-ez) and who is whiter than I am, with green eyes, and light brown hair.

Rathbone is the one in the middle.

This is the best picture I could find

of him in uniform from this film.

Stupid internet.

Believe it or not, I based the character design, very loosely, on Basil Rathbone in the original The Mark of Zorro. This included the clipped delivery of the words, the baring, and everything short of him actually pulling out a sword in the middle of the book.  You could say that he's a minor character, but he's going to make an appearance throughout the series, and leave major impacts along the way ... some of them in people's heads, but that's neither here nor there.



Yes, I know. After that sort of buildup, who could you possibly get who could top this.  It's Basil Rathbone. He's Sherlock Holmes. He's an Olympic-level fencing master.  He was the archetypal villain in anything involving a sword for nearly forty years of Hollywood history.  How do you top that?

You get a god.



Yes, I went there.



Look at the original character description, and tell me it doesn't sound familiar: pale skin, green eyes, sharp nose, black hair.  You know this person, don't you?



Yup, it's Tom "Loki" Hiddleston, one of the other flavors of the week for the past two years.  Seriously, if we modify that photo (taken at ComicCon, San Diego,) and make it a military uniform, he doesn't even need to break character all that much.  If he could play Loki, only not crazy, he could pull off an Antonio Rohaz.



And come on, Hiddleston is a Shakespearean actor who wore his Loki costume, in public, and kept a straight face. He can do whatever he likes.



Allan and his wife prefer Lou Diamond Philips, but they're not the ones writing this blog.  No, this is not a subtle hint that they should start their own -- I'm trying to bludgeon them with that hint.



MUAHAHAHAAH



Sorry. It's been a long day.



The next four characters are sort of interlinked.  They're all in the town of San Francisco, they're all computer nerds, though all very different people.  We've got the shy, the sarcastic, the joker, and the damn near sociopathic.



Lotus



This is an Allan character design.  Lotus is one of a set of hacker Triplets.  For Lotus, he wanted someone short, blonde, and utterly, breathtakingly beautiful as a computer genius, probably the best computer hacker and programmer in the entire city, and maybe the planet Earth.



Believe it or not, I go someone already picked out. It was easy.



Look to the right. This is Emily Bett Rickards. She's not bad looking, huh?



But, nah, she can't do computer jargon, right?  It's Hollywierd, the hot babes can't possibly also do smart at the same time. Maybe some ass-kicking, but brains? Don't kid me.

Oh, wait.



That's right, Madam Rickards is the brains behind the operation of Arrow, playing a computer programmer.



Funny enough, when I suggested Rickards to Allan, before I wrote this blog, I did start with the first photo, and I had an interesting reaction.  Said reaction being "Oh my God!"



And that was before I suggested Loki as Rohaz.



Mickie.



Mickie, Lotus' sister, could technically be played also by Emily Rickards, they are triplets after all. Yes, there is a fraternal twin involved here, but having identical twins and a fraternal are not impossible.



For the record, Mickie is sociable, sarcastic, and has no problem constantly smacking her brother (to be discussed below), who really deserves it (no, seriously, he deserves it). Her special features include drugging people for information, dealing with unruly costumers in their bar, and has utterly insane hair -- usually bright red hair.  She's also a computer hacker, though not as much of a genius as Lotus.



So, smart, probably good looking (to be related to Lotus, you'd sort of expect her to be), sarcastic, and looks good with red hair.



I guess we can have Rickards play both parts. Lord knows she does sarcastic well enough on Arrow, but if we want someone different, I'm seeing Emma Stone.  Yes, Emma Stone. Let's face it, she already is a redhead, she can handle smart in both Amazing Spider-Man and Easy A (didn't like the film, but liked her), and with facial expressions like that (look right) she can pull this off without a problem.



Mac



Yes, you might have caught a theme in these triplets, we have three hackers running a bar, a mixologist named Mickie, a hacker named Lotus and a primary bartender named Mac... Okay, there are some moments of this particular world that are about as subtle as a heart attack.



Then again, we're still more subtle than every other dystopia written for the last ten --  twenty -- thirty...



Okay, I can't really think of a dystopia that's subtle, but I'm sure one will come to me five minutes after I've posted this article.



Anyway, Mac, the last of our information brokers, who is average, blonde, and kind of annoying. "Oh, look at how many bad puns I can tell and pretend they're funny."  I may have been writing this blog post for too long already, but God, this character can get annoying. I'm glad he's not on screen that often.  I think I'm going to invest some character development for him in the next book. Either that, or invest some bullets into blowing his brains out. Either way, I'm good.



So Allan and I considered Josh Hutcherson, since he's already playing blonde on some sort of major film franchise at the moment Games of Starvation? Hungry Games? Hungry Hungry Hippos? Something like that. Though I'd take Iain De Caestecker from Agents of SHIELD, because I already know he can do annoying (is it too obvious that I really hate that show by now?)



Kaye Wellering



Kaye is an interesting character, mostly because of the things the reader doesn't know about her.  She heads the "Hacker's Union," which is based on Alcatraz, with a forward office in Chinatown. The Hackers run all the major utilities in the city, and can turn them on or off at will. Kaye herself even states that, even though the Hackers are centuries ahead of even the "real world," she still has ultimate power in the city that time forgot, and has no problem playing with the lives of day-to-day people as though everyone in the city were her own personal toys.  There's a reason that Kevin refers to her as the bitch-queen of San Francisco.



She also looks young. That's not because I'm on some sort of CW kick, where everyone has to be young and pretty, but because there's a backstory. Notice, I didn't say she is young, just looks it. It's an important part of who she is.  So, we need someone who at least appears younger than she is (say, early 20s) and play older. If she were male, I would say "Get David Tennant, since he can do 900 year old time lord," but we'll have to settle for someone else. And, while Sarah Michelle Gellar is looking pretty darn good a decade after Buffy went off the air, that may not hold up.



Another detail makes me think of an actress, actually. Kaye is a 5'2" redhead. While the height is incidental (Kaye has been described as wearing 4" heels), and redheads come in a bottle, about about Molly C. Quinn?  She's been playing 14 going on 400 on Castle since the show began five years ago..  There's no reason not to think that she can't do something similar in a Codename: Winterborn film.



Although it's going to be creepy with a "sexy" Molly Quinn. I now understand friends of mine who are disturbed by a sexy Michelle Trachtenberg, having first seen her as Harriet the Spy.



Angie Vaughn



This is another antagonist, one that's worse than anyone I could create. She is another mercenary, part of the same guild as Mandy and Rohaz, but another part of the organization. Like any other good business, they have some competing members of the firm.  In this case, this hostile takeover is really hostile.



Vaughn is a little more than just a power-mad creature who wants a promotion and a pay raise. She's a natural born predator. Let's just say that her previous dating history has led people to call her "the Mantis." And no, I was not brave enough to inquire exactly what she might have bit off of whom, nor was I interested in contemplating.



Vaughn is another redhead -- yes, it's a thing. I grew up with a crush on the lead female from Riverdance. Don't judge me -- which helped with the casting choice. I wanted someone taller than Mandy, one of those women who could be seductive without having to work at it, but also a leader of warriors into battle. She has to have presence, with an additional hint of malice.



I'm thinking Laura Prepon.  She's a solid actress, with an interesting CV behind her, and a good general acting range. I've seen her do serious, seductive, a little (low-key) crazy, and I'm certain that I could see her eating someone alive.  Hopefully, not literally.



Anyway, I think that's more than enough for right now. there are one or two more characters I'd want to focus on after that, but right now, I'm cross-eyed, lucky if I can spell my own name, and I'm hoping I didn't write this blog in a language more closely resembling Norwegian than English.

Black Friday blog: book shopping

I love Christmas, but I hate the Christmas shopping season. In my neck of the woods, Christmas decorations went on sale in August. August, blast it.



Anyway, realizing that, and that black Friday is coming up, I won't be doing a Thanksgiving day blog, and I don't have too much to add to my past blog entries on the matter.  However, if you want to know about cooking for 93, or the authors I'm thankful for.... you can check those out.



While I finished my Christmas shopping months ago (writers do it all year round -- write your own joke here) I understand that there will be an onslaught of people who are going to be trampling each other in order to get gifts for family and friends.



With that in mind, it occurred to me that this is going to be a great time to compile a list of suggestions to make your shopping lives easier -- if not for this Friday, then for the upcoming Cyber Monday. Some of these are books I've reviewed, and others are new even to me, but have come recommended to me. So, unless you're going to go out and buy some Darren Brown tickets, you might want to try some of these items below.



A Pius Man: A Holy Thriller -- of course I'd start with my own novel. It's surprisingly well reviewed, no one hates it (yet, give me time), where I take the war to Dan Brown, and every other nimrod who thinks they can write bad history in a thriller and get away with it.



Codename: Winterborn .... the "other" novel, also strangely well reviewed. Genre: character-driven scifi espionage. While on a mission to the Islamic Republic of France, Lt. Kevin Anderson's team is betrayed by the politicians who sent them. As the only survivor, Anderson must stop the senators involved before the next team is slaughtered on the altar of political greed. He's certain he won't survive, but he will make this sacrifice, for his Codename is Winterborn. I recommend this for all fans of Baen novels -- like John Ringo, David Weber, and even your straight up thriller writers, like Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, et al.

Murder in The Vatican: The Church Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes -- if you've been reading my blog for a long time, you know that I loved this one, and I can't possibly recommend it enough.



Mind Over Mind -- The short version? "No, he's not crazy, aliens really are messing with his brain."

Greater Treasures -- Imagine the Maltese Falcon with dragons. Nuff said.



And, of course, there is an endless list of books I can recommend, which happen to be a different tab at the top of the page -- includes Flynn, Ringo, Weber, Thor, etc, etc.



Stealing Jenny, by Ellen Gable: After 5 miscarriages, Jenny is about to have a pregnancy come to full term... until a psychotic woman kidnaps her and chains her in her basement with the intention of taking the child for her own. I liked this one.



Now, as far as books I haven't looked at yet.... [Below the break.]



In Name Only: also by Ellen Gable. It's historical romance... which means you're already interested, or moving onto the next entry. 



Night Machines by Kia Heavey .... this one sounds interesting.  Almost Doctor Who-ish by way of Rod Serling.

Maggie decided to have an affair. No one needed to know. Not even her lover.

Who would it hurt, if Maggie decided to carry on a torrid affair in her mind? It would soothe her feelings, hurt by her husband's emotional abandonment while he investigates a disturbing new murder case. It would provide an outlet for the dizzying desire she feels for her employer. It would make her feel loved and appreciated and better able to be a good wife and mother. After all, it's not really cheating if it's only a fantasy. Right?

But Maggie loses control of the fantasy as lust becomes love, and things she believed confined to her own imagination are somehow known to her spectral lover. A harmless mind game spins out of control and threatens the sanctity of Maggie's greatest treasure – her family.

End of the road, by Amy Bennett: This looks like a fun one, a straight up, old fashioned murder mystery......Corrie Black, owner of the Black Horse Campground, hopes for a successful start to her summer season but the discovery of Marvin Landry, a long-time guest, shot dead in his own RV, along with $50,000 in cash missing, does not herald a good beginning… especially since the victim’s handicapped wife and angry stepson seem to have little interest in discovering who murdered him. Was Marvin’s murder planned or just convenient? And is the appearance of a mysterious biker with a shadowy past that includes a recently deceased wife merely a coincidence? Despite opposition from former flame, Sheriff Rick Sutton, Corrie is determined to find out who murdered her guest. But will she find out who is friend or foe before the murderer decides it’s the end of the road for Corrie?



Palace of the 12 Pillars -- Short version: YA Christian fiction. The long version .... is really long, please follow the link.



Five Lessons from the Carmelite Saints That Will Change Your Life... I think the title is self explanatory, don't you?



Fools, Liars, Cheaters, and Other Bible Heroes... again, self explanatory.



Hope for the Workplace - Christ in You by Bill Dalgetty. Drawing from extensive experience in business and workplace ministry, Dalgetty examines the challenges faced by Catholics seeking to live out their faith in today's workplace. Readers will discover practical tips for:

• Dealing with a difficult colleague or boss 


• Maintaining integrity and ethics in business decisions 


• Seeking Excellence in one's work 


• Balancing family and career 


• Caring for co-workers 

Relying on Scripture, Church teaching, the writings of both Catholic and Protestant leaders, and fifty real-life stories of people in the workplace, God's solutions to these common workplace issues are set forth in a straightforward, conversational style. The author shows how we can accept God's offer to dwell in us and allow the Holy Spirit to empower us to bring hope and transformation to our workplaces. "A very readable and inspiring book for busy Christians who need to overcome a compartmentalized life." Dr. Michael J. Naughton, Moss Chair in Catholic Social Thought, University of St. Thomas Christmas Special Price of $12.95, $2.00 off the regular price of $14.95 on www.zacchaeuspublications.com.



The Life I Dreamed is a Catholic, pro-life novel about a young family living out their faith and their beliefs despite many challenges. It is a story about the struggle to live out one’s faith and values, and about the importance of standing up for them as well. It is truly Catholic and truly pro-life, but at the same time it is a story that mothers the world over can relate to. The Life I Dreamed has been featured in Catholic Digest, on Catholic Lane, and has received the CWG Seal of Approval. This uplifting, yet realistic tale of living an authentically Catholic life in a harsh, difficult world is the perfect gift for any mother in your life. It is a story that entertains and at the same time builds up women in their vocation by honoring and valuing the true blessing that mothers are to their families and to the world. For more information and for book reviews please visit www.thelifeidreamed.com

White Seed. What really happened to the Lost Colony? One of the most haunting mysteries in American history - The Lost Colony of Roanoke - comes roaring back to life in White Seed!



By the Hands of Men, Book One: The Old World. As the Great War rages around them, wounded Lt. Robert Fitzgerald falls in love with Russian nurse Charlotte Braninov. Torn apart by illness and betrayal, they pursue separate quests that take them across a world convulsed by change. From the trenches of France to revolutionary Russia, they learn that hands of men can create a hell on earth – or, through the redemptive power of love, a heaven in which to truly live.



If you have something you'd like to suggest for gifting opportunities, please feel free to mention it below. Just keep in mind, I do moderate the comments, mostly due to a problem with spammers and schmucks from a few years ago, so if your comment doesn't appear immediately, it's probably because I'm not glued to the computer.



Good luck with shopping, everyone.

Coming soon to A Pius Man, 2012

There are plenty of joys to writing. Not so much to writing a constant blog.  Possibly the biggest mistake thus far was trying to make the blog into a three day a week affair. I've kept up that pace for almost a year now, and I'm actually starting to run out of things to day. Which is odd, considering all of the strange and sundry things running around my head.

Right now, I'm trying to design a few things for the website, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed about several of them.


On the one hand, I'm hoping to make some more videos. If you haven't seen the ones I've made yet, well, I suggest you look to the right -- I had fun making them, perhaps you'll enjoy watching them. One example is right here-- the Scott Murphy trailer.

Since I can't draw, and none of local areas are photogenic enough to look like something in Rome, I need people.  Unfortunately, relying on people to show up when they say they will has never been my strong suit. Possibly because I've usually had to invite anyone three months in advance just to get them anywhere in large numbers.

So, there's that.

Next, I'm working on interviews.  I jumped on the chance to review some novels, and I recently discovered that they come with the option of getting my hands on some of the writers. And trust me, some of these people, I want to get my hands on.  I know some other authors who want to get their hands on these writers as well -- for completely different reasons.

So, that's also up in the air.

Not to mention that I'm also working on my two Examiner.com columns -- in Self Defense and "Catholic."

In short, I've got a lot of various and sundry stuff I have in mind, a lot of it is contingent on the the cooperation of other people, not to mention the stuff I'm actually being paid to write. (Speaking of which, please feel free to frequent those articles. I get paid per reader. Please?)

So .... I've got some strange and wondrous things planned -- now it's time to see who I can get my hands on and make sure it all happens.

Wish me luck.

Be well all.

Coming soon to A Pius Man, 2012

There are plenty of joys to writing. Not so much to writing a constant blog.  Possibly the biggest mistake thus far was trying to make the blog into a three day a week affair. I've kept up that pace for almost a year now, and I'm actually starting to run out of things to day. Which is odd, considering all of the strange and sundry things running around my head.



Right now, I'm trying to design a few things for the website, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed about several of them.





On the one hand, I'm hoping to make some more videos. If you haven't seen the ones I've made yet, well, I suggest you look to the right -- I had fun making them, perhaps you'll enjoy watching them. One example is right here-- the Scott Murphy trailer.



Since I can't draw, and none of local areas are photogenic enough to look like something in Rome, I need people.  Unfortunately, relying on people to show up when they say they will has never been my strong suit. Possibly because I've usually had to invite anyone three months in advance just to get them anywhere in large numbers.



So, there's that.



Next, I'm working on interviews.  I jumped on the chance to review some novels, and I recently discovered that they come with the option of getting my hands on some of the writers. And trust me, some of these people, I want to get my hands on.  I know some other authors who want to get their hands on these writers as well -- for completely different reasons.



So, that's also up in the air.



Not to mention that I'm also working on my two Examiner.com columns -- in Self Defense and "Catholic."



In short, I've got a lot of various and sundry stuff I have in mind, a lot of it is contingent on the the cooperation of other people, not to mention the stuff I'm actually being paid to write. (Speaking of which, please feel free to frequent those articles. I get paid per reader. Please?)



So .... I've got some strange and wondrous things planned -- now it's time to see who I can get my hands on and make sure it all happens.



Wish me luck.



Be well all.

DragonCon Report, Day 3: All Butcher, All Day

DragonCon: the world's largest science fiction and fantasy convention. Ever. Period. Official numbers: over 35,000. But that's what we tell the fire marshal.



The following will be a series of reports made about my visit to DragonCon, mostly broken down panel by panel. I will not spend time complaining about the scheduling, the presentation thereof, the audio equipment, etc. Each panel will be taken down and put together in transcript fashion. There will be some inaccuracies, since I lacked recording equipment... even if I had recorded it, there is a chance that any and all videos of DragonCon posted online may be taken down without warning. This way is safer.



However, there will be some lines that are unattributed, and there may be inaccuracies scattered throughout. Most of what is written down is what was said, accurately quoted and attributed.

Day 3

Panel 1: Spotlight on Jim Butcher

“It turns out there really is a ten in the morning... who knew.”



“I initially started writing because there were enough books out there that I wanted to read. I started writing my first book at nineteen. It was awful. Then I wrote my second. It was awful. My third and forth books were hideous. I rewrote the first one, and it was a different kind of awful. I went to get a degree at the State University of Oklahoma, and got a bachelors degree in English literature. And one writing class... they told me some ridiculous things about writing. They must have set me back about two or three years. I mean, I had a bachelors in English lit, and the professor had only published about forty books. And I looked at this stuff, and I was going to prove her wrong. I was going to be a good little writing monkey, and show her that it would turn out the same exactly kind of cookie cutter crap. I handed it in and she said 'It's good.' 'Wazzat?' 'I think you can sell this down the line.' And that was the first book of the Dresden files.”







Q: Tell us about Codex Alera.

Butcher: Alera started out as a bet on an online writers workshop forum. One side had the premise of the “Holy Idea.” That a book can be a successful novel no matter how bad the writing was, as long as the idea behind it was good. Just look at Jurassic Park.



On the other side were the people who focused on craft. That no matter how old the idea, it could still form something cool and fun. Just look at how many times they've redone Romeo and Juliet. And, basically, at the end of the day, it came down to one mouthy guy on my side and one mouthy guy on the other. Obviously, I was one of the the mouthy guys.



And one day the other guy says “Okay, pal, show us. I'll give you an idea and you write something about it.”



And of course, I said, “No, give me two ideas.”



He said, “Fine. One: Lost roman legions. I'm sick of hearing about them. It's been two thousand years, all of the legions should be found by now.” For those of you who don't know, the lost legion marched off one day into a thunderstorm and was never seen or heard from again.



I said, “Okay, fine, what's the next one.”



“Pokemon.”



… For those of you who don't know Pokemon very well, it started out of two concepts. One was the Shinto religion's believe that everything in nature has a divine spirit, or a Kami. And you don't mess with the Kami of a mountain because it will crush you, and you do the same with a pebble... actually you can step on it all you like, it's a pebble, what's it going to do to you? And the other side to Pokemon was pro wrestling.



So, I basically had the Roman Legion lost in the land of the Pokemon, had it ferment for two thousand years, and you get Alera. When I started writing it, I thought “Wow, this is good,” and I posted that “I think this is too good to post here, I'm actually going to try and get it published.”



Their guy said “You you admit I'm right.” Yeah, whatever, the best revenge is living well.







Q: What do you think about the role playing games for Dresden?

Butcher: I think they're great, like a Dresden Wiki. I don't need to go hunting for information anymore... you have to realize, for every Dresden book, I have rewrites, beta readers, editors, line editors, and a final copy. By the time I'm done, I've gone through seven to nine variations on the book, and fans only get the one final version. So you probably know some of this stuff better than I do. In fact, the guy who made the RPG actually found some stuff I had planted in book one, and I asked him not to write it down, otherwise it would give stuff away in the later novels... he was creepy good about finding those details.





Q: What's your next project now that Alera is done?

Butcher: When I sold Alera, I was halfway through a science fiction series. My protagonist had ejected, falling through a planets atmosphere during a solar flare, and he's been there for three years.







[Time for audience Q+A.... the line backs up.] Butcher: “It looks like we should just give you guys a belt and a coupla knives so you can sort yourselves out.”





Q: What loose threads are left in Dresden Files?

Butcher: I can't really tell you, mainly because there are no loose threads in my head. But I put stuff in Storm Front [his first book] that will come out in the last trilogy. Because my teacher told me I had to.







Q: I have a defective copy of Changes, it doesn't seem to have an ending

SPOILER ALERT.

Butcher: Okay, I can do that right now. Harry says he will die to protect his daughter, he does, the end.

SPOILER ENDS.

“There was one cartoon that said, Oh, well, everything looks likes it's turning out all right. I just want to read the last few pages of changes. And it ended with 'I heard the voices of thousands of nerds crying out, and were silenced.' …. By the way, there are some people who are bothered by the phrase nerd. I own my nerdom.”







“When I started working on the Dresden files, I went down to the bookstore and grabbed books on magic and forensics, for background, and because it's cool. I recommend the writer's guides. There was one called Deadly Doses, on poisons. That was neat. It was during research like that where I discovered that there were so many kinds of werewolves, none of which looks like the wolfman. If you ever have to do research on that sort of thing, go to the children's section of the library, they'll tell you the stories. If you go into the adult's, all of the books you find there won't go three pages without mentioning Jung or Feud. Or you can do on location research.”







Q: You ever going to explain how Nicodemus and Tessa got together?

Butcher: The romance between the two of them covers thousands of years, murder, chaos, and cities abandoned. It'll take someone with a stronger constitution than me to do it.







SPOILER ALERT.

Q: Would you like to talk about Ghost Story?

Butcher: Harry is dead. And he has to solve his own murder, as a ghost. I can't tell you too much, but he will have the line “I always wondered why ghosts were always moaning and screaming when they went through floors and walls. That stuff hurts.”

SPOILER ENDS.







Q: What did you think of the Scifi channel Dresden? Sorry, I guess I show say Syfy [pronounced "Siffy"].

Butcher: You mean the syphilis channel? It coulda been worse. They only started making them like the books after Howe's kid took some swag home from the press briefing, and told his father, the owner of the channel “Why couldn't this be more like the books?”







Q: Some stories are not in Side Jobs?

Butcher: There are some contract problems. The contracts expire sometime next year, so I'm going to have to write more so I can fill out the anthology.







Q; Where did Bob the Skull come from?

Butcher: It was actually an inside joke with my writing professor. After the first few chapters, she asked me what I was going to do next with Harry. I said I was going to bring him back to his lab, and he'll talk with his personal assistant, who was like a cross between a lab tech and a PC. She told me “Okay, but don't make him a talking head.” A talking head, if you ever saw those old black and white movies, was the science guy who would come on and say “As you know, Jack,” dispenses info, and disappears. And I always wondered “If Jack knows this already, why's he explaining it.” So when she told me not to make Bob a talking head, I made him a literal talking head.



She got to that part of the story, looked at me, and said “You think you're funny, don't you?”



But, yeah, Bob is my inner fourteen year old.







Q: Are there people in your life you used for Dresden characters?

Butcher: Yes. Shiro was actually based on my dojo instructor. He actually grew up being taught martial arts by monks, while he was in hiding during the war. When he was growing up, he had some problems with the Yakuza. They tried to kill him about five times, and he kept killing their guys. After a while, they said “Hey, you want to work for us?” He said, “No, I want you guys off of my street.” It was cheaper in the long run to leave him alone. So they did. And he's more like Mr. Miagi than he has any right to be.



Anna, in White Night, was someone who won a charity auction to earn a horrible death in one of my books.



Most of my female characters I base off of my wife. [Audience “Awwwww”]. Do you people remember how many women are villains in my books?







Q: Is there going to be another attempt at the Dresden files as a movie or tv show?

Butcher: Not yet. As of now, Lionsgate still has the rights for a year, nine months, and twenty some-odd days.







“I'm going to have a final apocalyptic trilogy to end the series. They'll be titled Hells Bells, Stars and Stones, and Empty Night. Despite that Harry just keeps saying them as phrases, they actually mean something.”







Q: Why does Harry have a hat on the covers?

Butcher: Because the artist thinks that a staff and a fedora says “Wizard PI.” I'm actually thinking of giving him a hat later on, just so he can destroy it. Either that, or I'm going to have someone ask him why he doesn't wear a hat. “Because once your hat gets knocked off, you're out of fate points.”







“Lily, the Archive, is like a grown up version of Bob, with better bandwidth.”







“I just tell the characters that You Work For Me. If they don't agree with what I want, then I'll go back and make them. And then I have a rush of power as a godlike creator. MUAHAHAHAHAHA. Next question?”







Q: Why do you have magic screw up electronics? Won't that screw them up as technology becomes more and more prevalent?

Butcher: Magic has always had side effects, and every three hundred years, the effect changes. It used to make cream go sour, or make flames turn color. Harry will eventually say that “Maybe in another hundred years, using magic will make the user attractive and popular with the opposite sex, though I'm not holding my breath.”







“2012 will either be a bumper year for Harry, or it's a time he's going to want to be on another planet.”







“I gave up on my old college when the Dean invited me to give my opinion of the school. And I thought he meant it.”







“I was initially interested in the martial arts because I was not only the smart nerdy kid, but I had a tendency to mouth off in school-- go figure, right? My dad said no. But one day, I was on my bike, and someone pulled a knife on me. So I picked up my bike and hit him with it. Of course I was the crazy kid who beat someone with a bike. I don't my dad about it, it was awful. He said that now I could go train.



“When I was heading off to college, my instructor told me: 'No spar. Other student want to spar with you. You no spar with them.' I told you he sounded like Mr. Miagi. After a while, I finally sparred with someone just to get them off my case. I caged up, blocked everything, until I had one good mid-line punch. And I think I got him on an inhale, he was doubled over and vomiting. I didn't mean to hit him that hard. When I came back and told my instructor he said, 'You make incorrect punch. Correct punch would have killed him. I show you how to make proper punch.'”

NYTimes Bestselling Authors

Panel: Laurell K. Hamilton (Anita Blake seris); Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark Hunters); Jim Butcher (Dresden Files); Kevin J. Anderson (Misc Star Wars); Jonathan Maberry (Co author: Marvel Zombies Return.)









Laurell K. Hamilton: Wow, this is my fourth year at DragonCon, and it's the first time I've actually seen it. It looks like fun. My tenth book, Narcisscus in Chains, was the first one to make it to the bestsellers list. I've had decades of fan buildup... and going whole hog into sex might've had something to do with it.



Kevin J. Anderson: My first three bestsellers were within a month of each other. MY first Star Wars trilogy, with the Jedi Academy books. Before that, I had published nine books in eight years.



Jonathan Maberry: My first bestseller was the novelization of the movie The Wolfman. Before that I had written books on judo. When they gave me the screenplay, it had virtually no details, so I had to add a lot of my own. When the reviews came out, they said “Read the book.” Which proves if you sacrifice goats, God will listen.



Sherrilyn Kenyon: Goats work. As do chickens.







Laurell K. Hamilton: I got in at a good time, right after the Buffy television series kicked off.



Kevin J. Anderson: Sometimes you get lucky, when you ride the wave of a trend's popularity. Da Vinci Code was the last gasp for Dan Brown. His previous novel, Angels and Demons, didn't sell. And suddenly, people are buying books that the industry didn't know the public wanted.







Q: What is your favorite book, what you've written and what you read?

Jim Butcher: My favorite book that I've written, Dead Beat, because you can't beat the zombie dinosaur marching down Chicago. Or, the last five pages of Changes. And I like Lois Bujold's Mirror Dance.







Q: What is your most embarrassing experience as an author?



Kevin J. Anderson: Sherrilyn, you can answer this one.

Sherrilyn Kenyon: Laurel?

Laurell K. Hamilton: Thanks Kevin. Well, there was the first time someone asked me to sign their penis.

Jim Butcher: The first time?

Laurell K. Hamilton: Yes. Now, never feed the crazies. I simply told him that it was illegal to expose himself in public in that state, and that he'd go to prison. And that there were children in the store, did he really want to do that? I sometimes have some really over excited fans, who take the sex in my books way too seriously. I can only assume that he didn't really think it through. I mean, I'm using a ballpoint, did you really think it was a good idea.?

Jim Butcher: And you have a really long name.

Laurell K. Hamilton: That sometimes doesn't help.

Kevin J. Anderson: Crap, now I have to top that.

Laurell K. Hamilton: You wanted me to go first.



Jonathan Maberry: My best moment was at a convention. Someone in an elevator looked at my nametag and said “Oh, you're a guest. And I never heard of you. You must be a writer.”



Kevin J. Anderson: I had one time written an X-Files novel. I went to a bookstore for a signing, and security told me that a guy in a tinfoil hat was waiting for me. Never a good sign. This guy in the tinfoil hat came up to me and said that he really needed my home number, because he knew what was going on, and what the government was covering up. When I told him I couldn't, he said, “I understand the need for a secret bunker. I'll give you my number.” If I were a different person, I would call him up at two in the morning and say “You've been talking to people, haven't you?”



Jim Butcher: As for me, to be embarrassed, you have to have a minimum amount of dignity. I generally don't have that problem. However, one time during an interview with me and Shannon, my kid wanted into the living room. The interviewer asked him if he thought it was impressive that his parents were both authors. My son said “Eh, if these two can pull it off, how hard can it be.” My wife gave him a look that promised death for the boy later.



Jonathan Maberry: I had the problem once that I was jealous of myself. When I was asked to do a novel, I used a penname to write it, because I had written technical books before that. When I decided to write under my real name, I was told that I was ripping off Shane McDougal. But I was Shane Mcdougal. I twas actually an acrimonious relationship after a while. Finally, I killed the bastard. I showed up to a Halloween party dressed as a dead author. I went as Shane McDougal. He's officially dead.

Jim Butcher: I now have to nominate you for the funniest use of the word acrimonious.



Sherrilyn Kenyon: One time my brother was at one of my signings. And he was impatient, and I owed him twenty dollars, and he wanted to go to dinner. After a while, he started telling the line that “She sucks, go home.” “She owes me money.” “What are you people bothering with her for?” We finally got out of there. Later that evening, he called me up at home at two in the morning and said, “Guess what I did.” It was two in the morning, I didn't want to think about what he was doing. He told me “I just finished one of your books. It's pretty good.” “Oh good, you can read, mama had doubts for a while there.”







Q: What is the best advice you ever got from an author?

Kevin J. Anderson: Dean Koontz told me that the first million words you write are just practice.

Jim Butcher: Roger Zelazny told me “Write a bit each day. It adds up. Eventually, you get a book.”

Jonathan Maberry: David Morrell told me that “Writing is an art, but publishing is a business. Just remember that you can't ignore the business end.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon: Harlan Ellison told me “You want to be a writer?  Go home and write.”