Chet The Dog

Posts Tagged ‘Arizona’

Meet Chipper …

… a very good citizen of the nation within:

Rattlers in C&B Country

https://www.abc15.com/news/state/list-4-tips-to-protect-your-dogs-during-rattlesnake-season-hold-for-tuesday-july-23

Beginnings (More)

Normally this feature appears on Sunday, but got pushed to today by Chet’s Friend of the Month. We’ve been doing beginnings – all the Chet and Bernies (as part of Chetspeak) – and now taking on all the Peter Abrahams novels in chronological order. Here, from 2003, #13, THEIR WILDEST DREAMS, first of the Arizona novels.

(“Peter Abrahams… is once again at the top of his game in this wildly inventive, captivating caper. Make that several capers-this novel’s multiple plot threads and unlikely assortment of characters carom off each other like so many carnival bumper cars. In typical fashion, Abrahams places a gaggle of ordinary folks in what gradually become distinctly unordinary scenarios, with an ever-so-creepy edge… The author’s up-to-the-minute pop-culture references lend an easygoing immediacy, and his wry humor is spot on-when one character wants to borrow a cell phone, he’s answered, “Mind waiting a bit? Off-peak starts in three minutes.” Off-peak, however, need not be a concern to readers of this bravura thrillfest.”
– Publishers Weekly)

And here’s the beginning:

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

Saturday Morning Coffee

Maybe because we’ve been socked in on Cape Cod by the remnants of Jose – while the rest of the country is nice and sunny – but I woke up this morning thinking of the desert. The Sonoran desert, specifically. I fell in love with Arizona during the writing of THEIR WILDEST DREAMS. I think it’s the first book where I broadened some of the humor a little bit – so in two ways at least it’s a precursor to Chet and Bernie. No canine narrator in THEIR WILDEST DREAMS. The POV is multiple third-person close, which can sometimes be pretty hackish, but I think not in this case. In desperate financial straits, Mackie, the main character and a former dancer, tries working in a strip club. I got an email from a stripper telling me the thoughts in Mackie’s head while performing were just like hers. A stroke of luck. How could I ever have researched something like that? (Don’t even go there.)