Chet The Dog

Posts Tagged ‘Arizona’

SATs and US

Recently we got an email from a puzzled reader not knowing what the following exchange from Tender Is The Bite (between Bernie and a school janitor) was about. A few pages earlier, when he and Chet crossed the state line, Bernie seemed to be musing about the differences between the two states. And so now:

Hector came back outside. “She runs a little place outside of town.” He handed Bernie a scrap of paper. “One other thing. That possible cop fellow? Might have been a redhead. Hard to tell with the cap and all.”

            “You’re an excellent observer,” Bernie said.

            Hector shrugged. “Had nothing else to do for a spell. Eighteen years, seven months, eight days, to put it in numbers. Took the time to educate myself a little bit.”

            Bernie’s eyes got bright. “Then maybe you can help me,” he said. He cleared his throat. “Arizona is to New Mexico as … “

            “Donald Duck is to Daffy Duck,” Hector said, without the slightest pause. He went inside and got back to mopping the floor.

I wrote back saying remember those SAT analogies? Music : Love :: and then would come 5 choices like River : Thirst and Rice : Take-out … etc. But no! The SAT had no meaning for her. She was Australian! Something else I now need to factor into my work. And now I find out the analogies are no longer part of the test. I remember kind of liking them – wacky fun, a bit like Jeopardy.

Beginnings

On Sunday we do beginnings, taking a look at the start of a Peter Abrahams novel, including those written under the Spencer Quinn moniker™. How about Their Wildest Dreams, the first book where I got interested in writing about Arizona?

(“Peter Abrahams… is once again at the top of his game in this wildly inventive, captivating caper. – Publishers Weekly)

Mackie dreaded the mail. That was new, one of the many new things in her life, none good.

Q&A (More)

Last Saturday we invited reader questions and so many great ones came in! We’ve been answering at a pace that must seem glacial to you but the plan is to get to at least most of them – some are very similar. Anyway, Andrea Boughton writes:

“Why did you start out clearly describing Arizona but not naming it until several books in?”

Love this question! It has two answers. First, Chet may hear things from time to time without putting them together as we would. But then something might happen and it all clicks. So in the first 5 books (and remember the series can be read in any order!) the name Arizona is not mentioned. Then in The Sound and the Furry, where Chet and Bernie take a case in Louisiana, someone hearing Bernie speak asks where he’s from and Bernie says, “Arizona.”
And now we come to answer number two. There on page 93 of the 6th book I got to write: “Ha! We were from Arizona? I’d wondered about that.” You can’t imagine how much fun I had doing that! So – first, it’s about staying true to Chet’s point of view. And second it’s self-indulgence on my part. Please forgive.

 

Meet Chipper

Cleaning up in Chet country.

https://www.today.com/pets/chipper-recycling-dog-inspires-earth-day-t152546