Heather is a no-nonsense but welcoming Sherlockian that people immediately love when they meet her. She's not afraid to call out nonsense and gate keeping when she sees it, but is even quicker to include folks a little hesitant to jump into this crazy world of Sherlockiana we all spend so much time in. As you will soon see, she's passionate about our hobby and has years of canonical knowledge to back up her wide-ranging thoughts and deep love for The Great Detective.
How do you define the word “Sherlockian”?
I think that a Sherlockian is anyone who cares about Sherlock Holmes. I don’t feel that there is any criteria you have to meet to be a Sherlockian other than that. It doesn’t matter how you were introduced to Sherlock Holmes or what adaptations you like. It doesn’t matter if you have read all the Canon. I think a Sherlockian is any person for whom the characters and stories surrounding Sherlock Holmes, whatever form that may have taken, have resonated deeply. To me, that is the enduring legacy of Arthur Conan Doyle, chagrined as he would have been to hear it, that he created a character that can still have meaning in the lives of so many diverse people for so many different reasons.
How did you become a Sherlockian?
And isn’t this the question? Our favorite to ask each other and our favorite to answer!
I first read SPEC in ninth grade. It was assigned by Mrs. Phyllis Bright in English class. During the discussion of the story she told us that ACD said that he always knew the end of the story before he started writing it, so that he could logically place all the evidence and clues throughout the story. That fascinated 14 year old me, so I immediately had my mom drive me to the public library so I could get a copy of the complete Canon (not that I knew to call it that at the time!) I was hooked from there.
What is your favorite canonical story?
I don’t know. Anything but MAZA? It’s like picking between favorite children! My standard answer is whichever one I’m in the middle of reading. I do really love MUSG. It has the spooky secret codes and hidden treasure that I have always loved in stories.
Who is a specific Sherlockian that you think others would find interesting?
Just one? The most interesting Sherlockian I know is my best friend and fellow Con director Crystal Noll. Of course, I am biased, her being my best friend and all. But she and I have had some of the best conversations about Sherlock Holmes and Victoriana. Plus, unlike me, she can stay up long enough to close down a bar.
What subset of Sherlockiana really interests you?
I enjoy looking at the Canon and the social structures of Victorian England. I love to see how ACD explored those social structures, both consciously and subconsciously, in his work.
What things do you like to research related to Sherlock Holmes?
This really relates to the previous question. I enjoy looking at the works of Arthur Conan Doyle and getting a better idea of what he believed. I have done research on his Spiritualism and how it is reflected in the Canon. Right now I’m working on a presentation for Scintillation of Scions on ACD’s use of dinosaurs in The Lost World. I’m particularly interested in how it illuminates his views on evolution and how it illustrates his interest in geology and paleontology. I also love looking at representations of women and social class in the Canon.
What is your favorite story from the years of 221B Con?
I’m going to tell you two stories: one that makes me laugh, and one that makes me remember why we organize the con.
The first year of our con was just after the second series of Sherlock had dropped. The five of us directors were kinda flying without a net. None of us had ever organized a con. We had signed a contract with the hotel that said we were expecting 75-100 people to attend and now had 700 people registered. You can imagine how many different things were running through our minds at the time.
During one hotel walk-through (and I can’t remember who said it, Crystal or me) but we asked if the hotel had roof access. The manager was understandably confused, but we explained that we were concerned that cosplayers would try to get on the roof for photo ops. I recall that he looked at us like we were a little crazy (kind of the way people look at first time moms who want to boil everything before their kids touch it) but agreed to make sure that the door to the roof was locked at all times.
Flash forward a week or two after con, and Crystal calls me laughing. She had found a post on Tumblr from one of our attendees. She was complaining that she had tried to get on the roof several times for a photo of her in Sherlock cosplay and was very upset that it was locked. She vehemently wished that the con directors had asked them to keep the roof access open for the use of her and other cosplayers. Some people agreed with her, but one woman jokingly commented that having the hotel lock off the roof was probably the smartest move we’d made while organizing the con. I couldn’t help but agree!
The second story happened 3 years ago. The hotel that we were at that year was also hosting a group of volleyball players from different high schools for a tournament of some kind. I was walking through the lobby when a 14 to 15 year old girl stopped me because she saw my director’s badge.
She was with her father and she was breathless with excitement. She said that she LOVED Sherlock Holmes. She watched all the BBC show and then she read all the stories. She even showed me her phone case which had a 221B door on it.
Her father said that she was so excited when she saw that there was a Sherlock Holmes con in the hotel. She begged him to let her walk around. He said that all she ever talked about anymore was Sherlock Holmes, and that she had never been to a con.
I took her to our operations room and gave her a few Sherlock Holmes related items like a mug and a couple of extra books we had. I just love the thought that there are so many young people coming to Sherlock Holmes and that, if they find us, we can be a nice supportive community for them.
What do you hope for the future of 221B Con?
I hope that we can continue to provide a fun space for Sherlockians to come together and talk about the things we like. I’ve said before that there is a difference between being a Sherlockian and being in Sherlockiana. You can be a Sherlockian and never talk to another Sherlockian in your life. Being in Sherlockiana is like being in a big, odd, loud family. We want to keep the place open for the family reunion!
What book would you recommend to other Sherlockians?
Asking me this is sort of like asking a drug dealer what they have. Pushing books on other people is basically my most enjoyable hobby.
If you’re just starting out, I would say grab yourself a set of Baring-Gould. Otherwise, Sherlockians are some of the most well-read people on the planet. They don’t just stick with Holmes related content or even just mysteries. So, rather than give an exhaustive list of books, I’ll tell you a few of the books I’ve read lately and enjoyed.
Virgins of Venice: Broken Vows and Cloistered Lives in the Renaissance Convent by Mary Laven - A non-fiction book that looks at why the Vatican ultimately decided nuns would be better off walled away from the general public. (Spoiler alert: Those nuns were saucy!)
How Long ‘Til Black Future Month by N. K. Jemisin - A series of short stories by the first person to ever win three Hugo Awards for best novel in a row. She has a fresh take on Sci-Fi and fantasy and the stories are varied while the theme is cogent.
Literally any of the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters - It is impossible to be unhappy while reading about Amelia Peabody.
Where do you see Sherlockiana in 5 or 10 years from now?
I expect to see Sherlockiana grow. I expect to see a younger, more diverse group of people, and I can’t wait. Sherlockiana will always ebb and flow as certain adaptations resonate more with the current zeitgeist, but it will ALWAYS BE HERE. We don’t need a new show or movie for someone’s ninth grade English teacher to assign one story and change a girl’s life.
No comments:
Post a Comment