Paw and Order #SpencerQuinn #ChettheDog

LUCY BURDETTE: We love Spencer Quinn books here at Jungle Red, and before those, we loved Peter Abrahams books. And lucky us, now Spencer/Peter is here visiting! First of all welcome, Spencer (we'll call you that since we're talking dogs today), please tell us a little about the new book.

SPENCER QUINN: Thanks for inviting me over, Jungle Red people! In Paw and Order, seventh in the Chet and Bernie series, C & B visit Suzie Sanchez in Washington DC. She's Bernie's girlfriend from back home in Arizona, but she's taken a job reporting for the Washington Post - "a no brainer" as Bernie puts it,
which is the best kind of brainer out there, in Chet's opinion. Things go bad from the get-go, when Bernie mistakes Eben St. John, a mysterious Brit, for a love interest of Suzie's, when in fact he's only a source.

Then something not good happens to Eben, and the instrument of that not-good is a gun belonging to Bernie. You see where this is going? Yes, into the maze of an international conspiracy Le Carre or Graham Greene style, except seen through the eyes of a member of the nation within the nation, as Bernie refers to the dog population of the USA. Don't want to spoil the story, so all that I'll add is that it features what I'm sure is literature's first and only dog-versus-drone scene.

LUCY: How do you get into the head of Chet the Dog in order to write his character? Is he based on a real dog?

SPENCER: Now we come to the fun of this job! I use my imagination. Or it uses me. I just start telling the story in Chet's voice. There's so much discussion of plotting, reversals, point of view, etc. Is there enough about the imagination, the best club in the bag, in my opinion? Chet's not based on a real dog, but I couldn't have written him without having had lots of dogs in my life.

LUCY: One of things people love about mystery series is the way the characters grow and change. Could you talk about the challenge of this with a dog as the character?

SPENCER: Growth and change are not Chet's thing! He likes people to stay in place. So what the reader sees as growth and change are often puzzlements to him. Perhaps just one more of the payoffs I stumbled upon in this
narrative form.
(The photo is me on tour: me playing Bernie; a lovely member of the nation within (as Bernie refers to dogs) called Sadie, playing Chet: and a Porsche playing the Porsche.)
 

LUCY: You've written both stand-alones and series, including suspense and YA.What are the challenges and joys of each?

SPENCER:  I like doing different things. Doesn't it keep you fresh? One thing about novel writing, as opposed to playing professional baseball, for example: if you take care of yourself you can still be doing it at 80.

LUCY: What's up next for you?

SPENCER: I'm continuing with Chet and Bernie, of course. PAW AND ORDER, just out now, will be followed by book 8 next summer or fall. But also, I'm starting a middle-grade, dog-narrated mystery series for Scholastic. Book one in the Bowser and Birdie series, WOOF, comes out next summer.

LUCY: And Hank would like to know (in fact we all would!), when you came up with the idea of Chet the Dog, did your agent love it immediately?

SPENCER: Hi, Hank! Well, the answer is I sent DOG ON IT, book one, into her without warning. But yes, I recall a positive reaction.

Follow Chet and Bernie on their website, or Facebook or Twitter.

Still shopping...?

RO: ....then again a candle or a cashmere sweater never changed anyone's life (see Hank's comment below) so we're going to recommend some books (not our own or each other's) that would make great holiday presents or stocking stuffers.

Whether you shop at the big box stores, the chains, your favorite indie or online bookseller, books are wonderful gifts. They don't make you fat or get you drunk. They'll never shrink or pill, and you can't possibly buy the wrong size. They're easy to wrap. And there are a zillion to choose from....Here are some of my favorites from this year.

Merry, Merry Ghost by Carolyn Hart

The Living Witness by Jane Haddam

A Quiet Belief in Angels by RJ Ellory

The Witch Doctor's Wife by Tamar Myers

and my non-mystery selection, which I confess I haven't yet read but my husband read so many passages aloud to me I almost feel as if I had,

Vanderbilt, The First Tycoon by TJ Stiles

ROBERTA: I can't recommend hardcover mysteries because I'm sitting on the Edgar committee this year. But here are some others:

LIT by Mary Karr (memoir, haven't read this yet, but I can't wait)JEREMY DRAWS A MONSTER (a very cute kid's book that I first saw at the New England Booksellers convention)THE FIRE IN FICTION by Donald Maass--for the writer on your list.

Any of the Kristan Higgins books for stocking stuffers for ladies who love smart romance

RHYS: I'm a big fan of Connie Willis, the science-fiction/speculative fiction writer and I'm just re-reading all her books in anticipation of the new one coming out in February. I heartily recommend her blissful romp TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG. In cheerless times what a fun read this book is. And her Doomsday book evokes Christmas past in a most realistic way.At this moment I can't think of any newly published books that I thought were outstanding. I don't believe it was a stellar year--what do you think?

JAN: Hey, this is what I just did on the radio (Reading With Robin) but minus your books, which according to these rules we can't suggest.

My absolute favorite book: Recommended to me by Julia Spencer Fleming -- although not a mystery, was Here If you Need Me, by Kate Braestrup. It's a memoir about a mother of four whose husband, a state trooper, gets killed in a car accident and she fulfills his DREAM of being a minister. She works with the Maine Game Wardens going out to find people lost in the woods and often has to offer support to the survivors. The funny thing -- and yes, this book is actually funny as well as poignant -- is that she was raised atheist. Her views are wider and deeper than merely ecumenical.

Next is Lynn Griffin's, Life Without Summer, which is sort of a mystery, but also Women's Fiction. And in the mystery category, Spencer Quinn's (aka Peter Abrahams) Dog On It -- which is laugh out loud funny.

HANK: I brought DOG ON IT to the last SinC meeting...as one of my fave books! I can't talk about recent mysteries, since I'm judging for the Mary Higgins Clark category fo the Edgars. But--I'm loving BEAUTIFUL CREATURES...a wonderful mystical strange and beautiful book. I can't wait to read U is for UNDERTOW, the new Sue Grafton, since after Crime Bake, I'm such a ridiculous fangirl. And people are loving the new Stephen King, UNDER THE DOME. (I'm going to read it..as soon as I get finished judging.) I love the INDIEBOUND slogan: "Buy books. A scented candle never changed anyone's life."

HALLIE: 2009 was an outstanding year for crime novels. Just a few of my favorites:

LOOT THE MOON by Mark Arsenault

THE BROKEN TEA GLASS by Emily Arsenault (no relation to the above)

A BAD DAY FOR SORRY by Sophie Littlefield

JUMP by Tim Maleeny

THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE by Alan Bradley

BEAT THE REAPER by Josh Bazell

And yes DOG ON IT by Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams)

RO: So, opinions and choices as varied as - well, as we are.

Come back tomorrow to meet Jen Forbus and learn about the 6 Word Memoir Project.

On canine narrators

It was a mystery.

Who the heck was Spencer Quinn -- this Cape Cod author with a debut novel, Dog On It, that skyrocketed to the New York Times Bestsellers list, had ten overseas publication deals and the film rights sold? None other than New England's own, Peter Abrahams, the author of eighteen novels, including End of Story, Oblivion, and Lights Out, which was nominated for an Edgar best novel award. He also writes the best-selling Echo Falls series for younger readers.

JAN: I have to admit, when Hallie first started raving about this book, with the dog protagonist, I was skeptical. I didn't know about it making the New York Times Bestsellers list, but when Hallie figured out that you were the real author, I gave it a try. I absolutely loved it. I’ve been raving about it ever since. The brilliant thing about the book is the voice, how effectively you write from a dog’s point of view. Please tell us how you went about that?

Peter: First, I’m glad you liked the book, Jan. I’m a big admirer of your work, as I’m sure you know. As for the voice question, I guess from a technical standpoint we’re talking about writing with a limited narrator. I’ve messed around in that area before, but always in third-person close (Oblivion, for example, after Nick Petrov’s brain damage sets in.) With Chet I used first person, which I’d never done, by the way. Always good to try new things! But enough technical blah blah. The true answer is I sat down and started writing the thing and what happened happened. I’ve lived with lots of dogs during my life, and osmosis is one of a writer’s best friends.

JAN: There are obvious limitations to a dog’s experience, analysis he can’t make, and human events he can’t understand. These are all handled deftly, but I’m wondering were their any points in the plot where you worried the dog point of view wouldn’t work? Or any maneuvering you had to do, to keep in Chet’s voice? And with Chet’s unique doggy attitude?

Peter: In a way, writing a novel is all about maneuvering, isn’t it? I didn’t sense any more of that happening than usual. I liked the idea of setting a dog loose in a classic sort of P.I. story – it’s almost like playing a piece of music with a non-customary instrument. (Remember when Jimi Hendrix played the Star Spangled Banner with his electric guitar? That worked!) But what interested me most, and what I always kept my eye on, was the relationship between Chet and Bernie.



JAN: I love that Chet is not simply K-9 trained, which gives him some necessary skills in bad guy detection, but that he’s a K-9 Academy drop out. Did you do that to explain why he’s not working for the police force and adopted by Bernie, or was that to give him dimension, a dark past like a human drinking problem or divorce?

Peter: Both. I like to have one thing do two jobs, or even more. Call it paper-saving, my little contribution to the green movement.


JAN: The scenes I love the most are when Chet’s own explanation of events is interrupted by his lack of impulse control and the human scolding that follows. But what was your favorite part of writing Dog On It, or your favorite scene?

Peter: I was writing the beginning of Chapter 5, where Chet, Iggy and the she-barker all get going, when a couple of people stopped by my office. I read it aloud to them, and their reaction was very gratifying. I laughed a bit myself, like someone else had written it.

JAN: Yes, I actually read that part aloud to my husband, and we both laughed. Why did you write this under the name Spencer Quinn?

Peter: It was so different from my previous work that we wanted it to have a different label.

JAN: What’s up next? Do Bernie and his love interest Suzie have a future? And more importantly, will we hear more about the She-bark that tantalizes Chet from time to time?

Peter: All of that and more! At this point, we’re dealing with at least a 4-book series. #2, Thereby Hangs A Tail, comes out January 2010. (Also, there’s chetthedog.com with a new post every day. I’m trying out some things over there – it’s almost like an old-fashioned daily comic strip.)

Come back tomorrow when we ask Peter to take the Jungle Red Quiz and lie to us. And in the meantime, don't forget to go check out chetthedog.com, I'm on my way there, right now.