Dyke, the Blazers, and Mr. Monk

This morning turned out to be very productive for me. Not so much in terms of page output, but in terms of finding my way through the story I’m writing. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am working on a new P.I. Ivan Monk short story for Phoenix Noir. Editor Patrick Millikin and I had previously discussed possible elements taken from the actual history of Phoenix, Arizona. He told me about this R&B group called Dyke & The Blazers, which had a big hit called “Funky Broadway,” referring to that street as it cut through the then black part of Phoenix. The song was later covered by Wilson Pickett and became a hit for him too. The Blazers were local lights from the mid-’60s until the violent death of Dyke--real name Arlester Christian, born in Buffalo, New York--in 1971 at the young age of 27. His killer is apparently known, but was not convicted, due to a self-defense argument.

That segment of the group’s existence serves as the jumping-off point to what my story will be; I’m not simply regurgitating the events surrounding Dyke’s death. I’ve already warped the facts, changed details, and moved the whole episode forward in time to 1976 and the U.S. Bicentennial. This celebration of our nation, gentle reader, provides the motivation for one of my pivotal characters. But, naturally, I won’t say more; instead, you’ll have to read the tale once it sees print. This past weekend, I hadn’t yet begun to write the story but was still making notes on the plot and mapping out who the characters are, while also considering a twist to the tale that I ultimately decided not to use for this story--I have another twist, instead--but will save for some future time.

With some pages of my Phoenix Noir yarn now complete, it feels good--organic, if you will--to be riding with my man Monk again, interpreting the world as he sees and moves through it, even if this is just a short journey for us both. He’s a hard man to put down, and I intend to get that dang next novel of his done this year, for sure.

For now, though, I take my leave of you all, my guest-blogging stint here at The Rap Sheet over. My thanks to editor Jeff Pierce for the invitation to contribute. It’s been a blast, baby. And as my Governator has said, “I’ll be back.”

DON’T MISS IT: The sixth and latest installment of Gary Phillips’ politics- and mystery-oriented serial novel, Citizen Kang, was posted this morning at The Nation magazine’s Web site.