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Jim Butcher interview
01/10/2005 . Source: Orbit Books Team 
Horror and dark fantasy author Jim Butcher on why his world of the Dresden Files is more or less our world, only with all kinds of paranormal and preternatural and quasi-magical things lurking in the shadows and around the corners, and on why his hero is intended to be as much Sherlock Holmes as Gandalf, as much Columbo as Merlin. Without giving too much away, can you tell us a little bit about the background to the Dresden Files?
The world of the Dresden Files is more or less our world, only there are all kinds of paranormal and preternatural and quasi-magical things lurking in the shadows and around the corners and in the closets. By and large, most people "know" that there are no such things as monsters, and for them, life goes on. But there are some people who know differently - or who find out differently, usually in terrifying ways. Those are the people who find themselves at the mercy of people and creatures and even entire nations of beings from the nastier parts of myth and legend.
Sure, there are some "official" agencies that deal with the supernatural. Not overtly, of course, but there are organizations like the Special Investigations department of Chicago P.D., who are tasked with dealing with things that lurk in the shadows, with explaining the inexplicable, with assuring the populace that no, that wasn't actually a child-devouring troll, it was a psychopath in a rubber mask. They've got guts, they do their best, but they're only human. Sometimes they get in over their heads, just like everyone else.
Then they call Harry Dresden.
Harry's a wizard, bona fides. He's in the Chicago Yellow Pages, under "wizards." He's the only one there. Most people think he's either a charlatan psychic or a harmless nut. It's a good thing for them that they're wrong. Harry is one of the few people on earth with the kind of power and knowledge it takes to stand up to vampires and ghouls, to trolls and ogres, to demons and monsters of every description. He's a private investigator. Sometimes he gets hired on as a consultant to Special Investigations. Sometimes he's working a private case for a client. Most often, a whole mess of stuff gets thrown at him at once. Regardless, he's never learned to turn away from someone who needs his help, or to back down in the face of danger.
When you're writing each book, do you start with the mystery/crime and then work out how the supernatural element is involved or start with the magic and then try to work out what the mystery/crime could be? Or do the two develop at more or less the same time?
Oh, it varies from book to book. Some of them come from the supernatural end first. I sit down and think, "Hmmmm, werewolves. How can I do something with werewolves?" Others begin with me imagining a crime scene and then working out how and why someone from the supernatural side of the street got involved. Once I have a starting point, I do some research to come up with good source material for the story, and at times the research itself starts changing things around. Mix in several months of work, a couple of scenes I had pictured ahead of time, as many wisecracks as I can fit in, and you get a book.
Did the idea for these books come to you fully realised or did you have one particular starting point from which it grew?
Well. The entire book world didn't just spring full-grown out of my forehead, though it has given me the occasional headache. It started with an image of a typical film-noir detective's frosted glass office door with "Harry Dresden - Wizard" on it, and this big, ugly, monstrous shadow falling over it, like something was on its way through. Then I started building the character, and to do that I had to have a world for him to move in, and I had to figure out how magic worked, and where the big uglies came from, and I just went totally compulsive from there, building more and more world, creating a history for that world, figuring out where it had been and where it was going. Now it's a living, breathing thing, at least in my imagination.
More and more of these books mixing the supernatural with other genres (particularly crime / thriller) are being produced these days; do you have a personal theory on why this particular type of supernatural fiction is so popular these days?
There's never been a time when ghost stories, monster stories, faerie tales and horror tales haven't been popular. They've just been forced to change their packaging, depending on the times. Werewolves lurking in the forests and transforming their victims into more of their kind was one kind of package - more recently, the same story changed its packaging to look like insectoid aliens lurking in crashed alien spaceships on isolated planets, implanting victims with eggs to transform them into more of their kind. Instead of ogres lurking in forests and devouring victims, Hannibal Lecter lurks in darkened streets and hallways, devouring victims. Today, Godzilla rises from the sea to wreak havoc on innocent citizens. Years ago, Moby Dick rose from the sea to smash the ships of poor working men.
We love our monster stories just as much now as we ever have. The reason that they blend with the mysteries and thrillers so well is that those kinds of stories touch upon the unknown. Mystery, especially, is all about discovering what isn't known - it's full of darkness and shadows where you can't clearly see what's going on. The mystery is all about finding out what's there, in that darkness. Wherever you have darkness and the unknown, you've got the potential for monstrous things that just might be lurking there, somewhere.
It's a great spot for us to imagine that all of those horrible things might manage to exist, even today. The genre is the evil twin to the Scooby Doo Mysteries - instead of unmasking fake monsters, we get to discover real monsters hiding under a mask of normality.
That's the psychological foundation for it, but there have been some very talented storytellers working in the genre lately who have really helped boost it to its current levels of popularity. The great success of The X-Files gave a facelift to many of the familiar old monsters, including vampires, werewolves, demons and faeries. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel both came along with more of the same, only with an even stronger mixture of the supernatural/monster aspect of the stories. Stargate SG-1 is another play on the same theme, only inverted, with our old legends and stories being based upon real menaces from worlds far away, yet right next door to our own. Even more "vanilla" shows, such as Alias often blend in bits and pieces of magical or quasi-magical props to help their stories along.
So I don't think it's so much a newly risen genre as it is the same old shape shifting faerie tale, remaking itself into a new guise for a new generation of its audience.
Do you have any particular favourite authors who have influenced your work?
In no particular order: C.S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander, Stan Lee, Robert B. Parker, Dean Koontz, Dick Francis, Lois McMaster Bujold, David Eddings, Laurell K. Hamilton, Margaret Weis, and (of course) JRR Tolkien. Of those Laurell Hamilton in particular was an influence - I got done reading Guilty Pleasures, her first Anita Blake novel, and thought to myself, "wow, this author had fun writing this book. I want to write fun books like that." Stan Lee's foundational work for Spider-Man, as the wisecracking, outclassed hero, should also not be overlooked.
Files are told in a very pulp-crime manner - the protagonist, Harry, even has an archetypal trench coat - do you think this is a necessary counterbalance to the supernatural nature of the plot or do you just enjoy writing a character with such an endearing wise guy attitude?
Yes. :)
The whole concept of the Dresden Files, for me, was about taking the archetypical, classic PI and blending him with the archetypical, classical wizard. I think the two archetypes are really much more similar than one would at first suspect. Both tend to operate alone. Both, in general, tend to face forces and powers far beyond their own. Both operate to protect and guide those weaker than themselves. Both draw their true strengths from having and seeking knowledge. Both spend their time confronting some of the darkest aspects of their worlds.
Harry is intended to be as much Sherlock Holmes as Gandalf, as much Columbo as Merlin. That attitude of defiance of greater powers is a hallmark of both archetypes, and for Harry to be what I wanted him to be, he has to be willing to confront those who clearly outclass him - whether they be towering, flame-wrapped demons or cynical agents of the F.B.I. His wiseguy attitude is a part of that.
Plus, it's really fun to write.
Some authors talk of their characters 'surprising' them by their actions; is this something that has happened to you?
Not so far, or at least not with Harry. I know who Harry is. I know, pretty much, what he'll do in a given situation, what he will and will not compromise.
Some of the supporting characters have come closer to doing that, though. Or have done what I expected them to, but much more intensely than I had originally pictured it. Charity Carpenter, for example, came out a lot more enthusiastically anti-Harry than I had planned, but it worked. Thomas came out more sober and serious than I'd envisioned, at least as he went along, but I liked it.
Do you have a favourite of the many supporting characters who are going to pop up over the course of the series?
What can I say except that I love all of the supporting characters, or I wouldn't write them. Each of them appeals to me in a different way. The most fun to write is Bob the Skull. Bob can insult anyone (especially Harry), can say the most appallingly inappropriate things at the worst possible times and it's just who he is. That's fun.
Finally, and in this post-Buffy world, it's an appallingly obvious question (so forgive us), but if the Dresden Files were ever filmed, who would you like to see directing and acting in it?
That's actually harder to answer than I would have thought at first. When I see the books in my head, I almost always see them as Japanese-style animation. And I've never been asked about a director before. Hmmm. I've really enjoyed a lot of David Fury's work (on Buffy and Angel). Raimi, of course, has gone big time with Spider-Man, but I've loved his stuff ever since Evil Dead.
James Marsters (Spike from Buffy,) has read the audio books of the Dresden Files, and has really done a fantastic job. He doesn't just read them. He acts them, giving characters different voices and everything. He'd make a fine Harry. I think Vincent Vincenza ("Fun Bobby" on Friends and leading man of "The Invisible Man" on SciFi) could also do a great job. In idle moments, I think about Will Smith playing Dresden, purely for the wiseass insouciance that he's so good at. I tend to do fantasy casting without regard for petty considerations like Time, so I also think of a young Alec Guiness for Dresden, or a 1976 Carrie Fisher for Karrin Murphy.
I try not to think too hard about it, honestly. I can imagine the anime very clearly in my head, but I would hate to lock on to a fantasy cast and be disappointed when something actually does get made. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that everything works out for the best.
Jim Butcher, thank you very much.
And thanks to Orbit Books for permission to post this interview. For more details of their SFF authors and books, visit Orbit at www.orbitbooks.co.uk 
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