John Levitt is the author of Dog Days. It's a fun urban fantasy/mystery set in San Francisco. I zipped through it but quick and liked it a lot. So I thought I'd bother John for an interview and he happily responded to my threats and blandishments. So here, for your enjoyment, is his interview. I'll see you all on the other side of the mountains. Hopefully I'll be back home in a few days.


Can you tell us a little about Dog Days and what it's about?

 Dog Days is set in contemporary San Francisco. There are a group of "magical practitioners" who have certain talents. Mason, who is a jazz musician and reluctant practitioner is drawn back into the life when someone tries to kill him. The book basically deals with the who and why, including a very nasty adversary and some unpleasant supernatural creatures. But much of it has to do with the relationships in Mason’s life and the workings of the magical community. I’ve tried to make him a very real guy, with very real issues, not just a kick ass warrior or a snarky quip-happy avenger.

Ifrits are semi magical creatures who occasionally attach themselves to a few lucky practitioners. They take on the aspect of small animals -- not just the physical form, but the personality as well. Lou (Mason’s Ifrit and everyone’s favorite character) is very much a dog in many ways. Another Ifrit, Maggie, is very much a cat. Lou is smart, like the smartest dog you’ve ever known, only more so. But he can’t talk, or do magic, or pass up a plate of bacon.

It’s left deliberately unclear exactly what they are or where they come from. I thought long and hard about whether to explain them more in the sequel -- one part of me wants to leave their origins unknown. But in the end, I decided to provide more information about what exactly they are --although a lot is still left up in the air.

Basically magic involves accessing a reservoir of energy that exists independently and focusing it to accomplish what you want. Not everyone can do it, and those who can have varying levels of ability. Everyone has their own way of accomplishing their ends – some use complex rituals, some power objects, some, like Mason. improvise from their surroundings. But it all comes from the same source.
Except, like most things, it’s not that simple. Just like our physical universe, the magical one is not completely understood and there are always twists and surprises.

One thing that’s a bit different is how close to the real world my fantasy world is. There are no vampires, no werewolves, no fey, no demons – well not exactly. There are a couple of supernatural entities, but it’s not clear exactly what they are or even how "real" they are.

I never listen to music while I’m writing. When I listen to music, I just listen.

I see a lot of parallels in music and writing, though. Dialogue, in particular, is all about the rhythm of the sentences – where to put tags, where to not, pauses, sentence length etc. Also, I use concepts in writing that also apply to my own playing -- less is sometimes more, complex does not necessarily equal better, and simple is not so much simple as it is distilled. And most of all, prose, like music, must be alive. It has to move and flow. There’s nothing worse than a sentence that lies there like a dead fish

Some books are like classical music (The Magic Mountain, Middlemarch) Others are more like jazz. (Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon’s V. ) Others are straight ahead rock (Stephen King.)

I see Dog Days as a pop song with a great hook, with definite jazz influences to give it some depth.

The sequel is due out next fall. Once again, bad things happen, with practitioners being found mindless and drooling, but it’s set up even more as a mystery -- it’s not clear who is responsible until fairly late on in the book. It’s a bit darker in tone.

In series, there’s a lot of pressure to up the ante in each succeeding book. If there are vampires in book one, there tends to be a vampire war in book two, and the threat of world destruction in book three. I’ve tried to avoid this – it’s just another adventure and more problems to overcome for Mason. My real enjoyment comes from developing my cast of characters, trying always to make them more believable and real.

For those interested, check out John's website at:  http://www.jlevitt.com/