Posts Tagged ‘reader questions’
Eight Miles High
9 Comments »
May 17th, 2023 Posted 9:37 am
On May 9 we posted a Romanian scene from Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge (coming July 25, preorderable) where the teenagers Dinu and Tassa are riding in the countryside on Dinu’s new motorcycle (acquired in an interesting way). The scene ends like this:
At first, Tassa’s hands felt awkward to him, but she changed the position a bit, maybe simply relaxing, and after that things felt right, like the three of them – Dinu, Tassa, 660Z – were one. She hummed to herself. “What’s that song?” Dinu said, raising his voice. “It’s American,” Tassa said, practically in his ear. “Eight Miles High.”
Reader Kathryn Blain Esgar asked: “I’m wondering why you chose that song, & whether it has any significance in that particular scene.”
Great question! The short answer is it popped into my mind and felt right. But looking back I can see that the song itself is all about that freedom that sometimes comes when you find yourself detached from regular life. So that’s a bit of magic. Then there’s the American part – America still having magic vibes in many places on earth. And throw in the natural high, eight miles worth. So that’s pretty much it. I’m always happy to take a swing, no matter how inartful, at any reader questions. (I left out the fact that America is coming to them – especially Dinu – in the form of Mrs. Plansky herself.)
Tags: Eight Miles High, Mrs. Plansky's Revenge, reader questions
Posted in Chet The Dog
Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge
12 Comments »
November 7th, 2022 Posted 8:13 am
Many thanks for all the questions re Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge, my next novel, coming July 25 and already pre-orderable, thanks to the miracle of modern commerce.
- Will this be a series? I think so.
- Any dogs (or cats) involved? No.
- Will there be more Chet and Bernie? For sure! I’m working on one right now.
- Is Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge a mystery? It’s certainly in the more general realm of crime fiction, but I’d say closer to suspense or thriller, with elements of caper.
- What type of revenge is Mrs.P seeking? Well, no spoilers, but she surprises herself in the end.
- Tone: Lighthearted and fun or more serious and suspenseful? Yes.
- Any quirky characters? I would say so, but never to the point of being unbelievable. You may enjoy Mrs. Plansky’s 98 year old dad.
- Any supernatural? No.
- What’s on my nightstand? Open, by Andre Agassi. It’s great.
- Is Mrs. Plansky based on a specific real person? No.
- Does she like baseball? Mrs. P was a bit of a tomboy, as she puts it, and played Little League with the boys.
- Does she drink beer? Beer doesn’t come up, but a Romanian drink called tuica plays a role.
- How old is Mrs. P? 71.
- When does the story take place? Now.
Tags: Mrs. Plansky's Revenge, reader questions, tuica
Posted in Chet The Dog
Reader Questions
7 Comments »
April 16th, 2022 Posted 7:51 am
Yesterday, referring to the ferret in Tender Is The Bite, Jill Stroh asked: “I’ve been wondering if baseball was involved when you named Griffie, even though the spelling is different.” Although I am an admirer of Ken Griffey, father and son, the answer is no. The name Griffie is actually a clue – there’s a human character with a name quite like that in the story. I’ll say no more. Here Griffie makes his first appearance:
A young woman looked out. Not Mavis, a fact I noticed only in passing. What caught my attention was the ferret on her shoulder. And I’d caught his attention, no doubt about that. He showed me his teeth first thing, just like every ferret I’d ever met. I showed him mine. You’d have done the same. His tiny eyes burned hot. Would playing a game of some sort get us off to a better start? For example, how about the grabbing-the-little-fella-by-his-collar – a velvet collar, by the way, velvet being a material I knew well from an incident with a tapestry, best forgotten – and-flipping-him-up-to-the-ceiling game? Who doesn’t like being flipped up to the ceiling? Although I don’t know personally on account of who could flip the likes of me that high, or anywhere at all? Ah, the likes of me! Once I’d flipped a bunny rabbit name of Ursula – true, not a ferret – so high that I’d had time to run over and catch her in midair and flip her up again! The look on her face! So when would be a good time to get things underway with my new ferret buddy? Now, maybe, like right away, this very –
Tags: Griffie, reader questions, Tender Is the Bite
Posted in Chet The Dog
Answering A Reader Question
12 Comments »
December 30th, 2021 Posted 9:17 am
Yesterday mlaiuppa wrote this re the Proust and Chet post: “Would like to hear from Spencer if he had Proust in mind, even on a subliminal level, when he wrote that passage.”
Answer: Yes, I did, and quite consciously. A good question and thanks for asking. Any other reader questions out there?
Tags: Proust, reader questions
Posted in Chet The Dog
