A decade ago, while attending a writing group my now wife / then girlfriend dragged me to, I began exercising my wit in short humorous anecdotes and essays. I refused to expose too much of my extremely personal poetry to these (at that time) strangers, so instead I began sharpening my skills at fiction with the mentioned shorts. These shorts were mostly setups for jokes I thought only I found funny, but strangely enough managed to evoke giggles, chuckles, and even a few outright guffaws from the members of that fated writers’ group. They should have known better than to encourage me that way.
I remember a little piece I did about trying to impress my nephew while not scarring him for life. This turned into a self-effacing piece where I was a sleuth helping track down lost animals similar to Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. Surprise, surprise! Everyone laughed. They loved it. I was hooked. Not seeing a long career developing from writing Pet Detective stories, I had to create a new shamus, but all the cool car names were taken. Ace Ventura, Pet Detective and Ford Fairlane, Rock & Roll Detective had already been made into movies. Who was my gumshoe?
I began to play a game I still enjoy, the name game. Somewhere along about 2AM one morning I drooled something about a dent in my Dodge, and he sprang from my head like Athena. He wasn't all wise, but he was certainly a wise ass.
Denton Dodge was, or at least began, as a joke, a combination of all the detective spoofs I’d ever read, heard or seen, including but not limited to Guy Noir, Ace Ventura, Lou Peckingpaugh, Ford Fairlane, and a character from one of my favorite first person shooter games, Duke Nukem. He was not a bumbling buffoon like Jacques Clouseau or Maxwell Smart, yet he seemed to luck into the solutions to his casework much as they did. He was a great joke and I enjoyed him immensely, but then something unexpected happened.
At some point Dodge ceased to be two dimensional, at least from my perspective. I began to care about what happened to him, even though I would cruelly send him into the most perilous of situations.
Perhaps one reason for my concern for this joke-made-flesh was that he allowed me to vocalize those topics I would once only stew about in private. As someone trying to live a Christian life, I had Dodge skate along the edge of the carnal without my feeling the remorse for having done so myself. I could vicariously rant about the stupidity, folly, or hypocrisy of others while kidding myself about my righteousness.
That’s why I stopped writing altogether four years ago. Dodge wouldn’t let me get away with it anymore. You see, even though he’s mostly a figment of my imagination, born from a bad joke about a much maligned profession, he’s still a stand-up guy. I think that’s what I like best about him.
So, since we’ve cleared the air, I’d like for you to meet Dodge. I’ll reprint some of the stories, a few chapters or parts thereof, and we’ll see where it takes us. I may even introduce you to a few other characters that sprang up out of the same dust as Dodge. Who knows?
Just keep in mind that I own the copyright and you’ll need to contact me for reprint permission.
Until next time
A.K.O.
I remember a little piece I did about trying to impress my nephew while not scarring him for life. This turned into a self-effacing piece where I was a sleuth helping track down lost animals similar to Ace Ventura, Pet Detective. Surprise, surprise! Everyone laughed. They loved it. I was hooked. Not seeing a long career developing from writing Pet Detective stories, I had to create a new shamus, but all the cool car names were taken. Ace Ventura, Pet Detective and Ford Fairlane, Rock & Roll Detective had already been made into movies. Who was my gumshoe?
I began to play a game I still enjoy, the name game. Somewhere along about 2AM one morning I drooled something about a dent in my Dodge, and he sprang from my head like Athena. He wasn't all wise, but he was certainly a wise ass.
Denton Dodge was, or at least began, as a joke, a combination of all the detective spoofs I’d ever read, heard or seen, including but not limited to Guy Noir, Ace Ventura, Lou Peckingpaugh, Ford Fairlane, and a character from one of my favorite first person shooter games, Duke Nukem. He was not a bumbling buffoon like Jacques Clouseau or Maxwell Smart, yet he seemed to luck into the solutions to his casework much as they did. He was a great joke and I enjoyed him immensely, but then something unexpected happened.
At some point Dodge ceased to be two dimensional, at least from my perspective. I began to care about what happened to him, even though I would cruelly send him into the most perilous of situations.
Perhaps one reason for my concern for this joke-made-flesh was that he allowed me to vocalize those topics I would once only stew about in private. As someone trying to live a Christian life, I had Dodge skate along the edge of the carnal without my feeling the remorse for having done so myself. I could vicariously rant about the stupidity, folly, or hypocrisy of others while kidding myself about my righteousness.
That’s why I stopped writing altogether four years ago. Dodge wouldn’t let me get away with it anymore. You see, even though he’s mostly a figment of my imagination, born from a bad joke about a much maligned profession, he’s still a stand-up guy. I think that’s what I like best about him.
So, since we’ve cleared the air, I’d like for you to meet Dodge. I’ll reprint some of the stories, a few chapters or parts thereof, and we’ll see where it takes us. I may even introduce you to a few other characters that sprang up out of the same dust as Dodge. Who knows?
Just keep in mind that I own the copyright and you’ll need to contact me for reprint permission.
Until next time
A.K.O.
Denton Dodge, Private Eyehttp://www.otoolestudio.com/
