With a Brisk Air of Resolution (CROO)

As we pause a moment to celebrate Sherlock Holmes' 165th birthday today, I find myself looking forward to 2019.  Last year, I created an extensive list of Sherlockian resolutions, which fell all over the map in if I had accomplished them or not.  This year, I still want to set some Sherlockian goals for myself, but think I'll be a little more pragmatic this time around.

1. Read 20 canonical stories
I am amazed by people who can read the whole Canon in a year.  I shot for 52 stories in 2018 (one per week) and it turned into a chore.  I never want my Sherlockian reading to feel like a chore, so 20 seems like an attainable number this year.

2. Submit an article to the Baker Street Journal
This is a repeat goal from last year.  When I recapped my progress on 2018 goals, I didn't think it was going to happen.  And then I got some guts and cranked out a piece of writing I'm pretty proud of.  I submitted to the BSJ and it was turned down, but the rejection wasn't as terrifying as I thought it would be.  I'll be back with at least one more submission this year I hope.

3. Finish my current Sherlockian book manuscript
I'm working on a kids book to make Sherlock Holmes more accessible to kids aged 9-12 years old.  I haven't been good about having a writing routine with this project as I was with The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street.  It's time for me to buckle down, complete a first draft, edit, and get a manuscript ready to shop around by the end of the year.

4. Encourage new leadership in The Parallel Case of St. Louis
For the past few years, I've been lucky enough to lead this great group of people and I don't plan on quitting any time soon.  But we have such a diverse and interesting group of Sherlockians that meet every other month, it shouldn't be just me calling the shots.  What does that mean?  I don't know.  But I'm excited to see who wants to take on a larger role and what they come up with.

5. Encourage St. Louis Sherlockian social interactions
I also really love the few purely social Sherlockian events we've had in St. Louis here and there.  I'd like to see my scion make a conscious effort to get together and just enjoy each other's company.

6. Holmes in the Heartland 2020
Speaking of The Parallel Case of St. Louis, we are laying the groundwork for our next Holmes in the Heartland conference, tentatively scheduled for the summer of 2020.  By the end of 2019, I would like most of plans to be in place so we can go above and beyond what we accomplished in 2018.

7.Add to the St. Louis Sherlockian Research Collection
A few of us in St. Louis are overseeing the acquisition of new materials for this research collection, and I'm hoping things will be in place for us to start wheeling and dealing in the next month or two to add to this great resource.

8. Get visitors to the collection
I don't want this to be just a bunch of books that sit and collect dust.  How we go about this, I don't know just yet.  But if we have everything planned out ahead of time, life would be boring.

9. Use the collection for my own research

Maybe for my planned BSJ submission....?

10. Keep blogging!

This blog was originally started as a way to promote The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street over a year ago.  Since then, it's become an outlet for my Sherlockian musings which I enjoy doing overall.  But let's be honest, some weeks I just don't want to write.  Or come up with a topic.  Once I get myself up off of the couch and behind the keyboard, it's worth it.  I don't want lethargy to overtake me with this.  I have hopes for 12 top notch Interesting Interviews throughout the year, and think maybe writing more about the actual canonical stories this year would be a good focus for my time.

Well, my list is actually longer than last year, but I think everything is attainable.  Here's to another year of Sherlockiana!