Saturday, December 30, 2017

This Resolution of Mine


Well, we find ourselves at the end of another year, looking into the beginning of a new one.  At the beginning of 2016, I wrote about Sherlockian New Year's resolutions over on I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere, but conveniently didn't publicize what my particular goals for the year were. 

I'm a To Do list kind of person, so to hold myself accountable, here are my Sherlockian goals for 2018:


First things first.  Sherlockiana is all rooted in the Canon.  Every time I return to one of the original stories, I thoroughly enjoy my time there and realize that I don't know them as well as I think I do.  But it's so easy to get distracted by other writings, media interpretations and discussions about Sherlockiana.  So, I am resolving to read one story a week this year: 52 short stories by the end of the year.  Even if I fall short, I still feel like I'm going to be sitting pretty.  For anyone interested, here is my schedule for the first few months:

Jan 7      The Adventure of the Three Students 
Jan 14    The Adventure of the Copper Beeches 
Jan 21    The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual
Jan 28    The Adventure of the Reigate Squire
Feb 4     The Adventure of the Crooked Man
Feb 11   The Adventure of the Gold Pince Nez 
Feb 18   The Adventure of the Resident Patient
Feb 25   The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
Mar 4     Silver Blaze 
Mar 11  The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter 
Mar 18  The Adventure of the Naval Treaty
Mar 25  The Adventure of the Final Problem
Apr 1     The Adventure of the Empty House
Apr 8     The Adventure of the Norwood Builder
Apr 15   The Adventure of the Abbey Grange 
Apr 22   The Adventure of the Dancing Men
Apr 29   The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
May 6    The Adventure of the Cardboard Box 
May 13  The Adventure of the Second Stain 
May 20  The Adventure of the Priory School
May 27  The Adventure of Black Peter


And now that The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street is out and the initial promotion is over, I wanted to come up with something novel to keep it interesting for folks out there.  For that, I've created a Facebook page for The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street.  Starting on January 1, you will start seeing updates from Sherlock Holmes himself reminiscing about his adventures throughout the year.  If you haven't already checked out the page, give it a follow!

Speaking of writing projects, I've had my next writing project on the back burner for a few months now, and my goal is to start working on it in the next month.  It's going to be geared towards younger readers, and my research will start in earnest this winter.  My hope is that I will be ready to start the writing process by the spring.


But my big goals this year are to contribute to the wider world of Sherlockiana.  I am chair of The Beacon Society's program committee, and the committee is working hard to gather resources to make teaching Sherlock Holmes to all ages easier for educators.  My hope is that our work with The Beacon Society will help educators who are passionate about Holmes (or even those who are casually interested) be able to easily find ideas and lessons that can be used in their classrooms, libraries and other settings.


A list of my Sherlockian resolutions wouldn't be complete without mentioning The Parallel Case of St. Louis, my home scion.  We are on a good roll lately, with great discussion and steady attendance numbers.  My goal is to keep that momentum while being open and inviting to any other Sherlockians in the St. Louis area that might be interested in joining us.  We are also planning a conference for sometime in the late spring/early summer, titled "Holmes in the Heartland."  Just thinking about this conference and the great group of people at these meetings makes me giddy.  


And last, but not least, is my stretch goal.  I am a huge fan of The Baker Street Journal, and am like a kid on Christmas each time it shows up in my mailbox.  I am in awe of the scholarly research regularly printed in those pages, and for years I have hoped to write an article for the BSJ.  In fact, the idea for The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street originally started out as an article for the Baker Street Journal, but it quickly ballooned to too large for an article.  So, my goal is to muster up the courage to submit something to the BSJ.  Will it be good enough to get in?  Who knows.  But, as Holmes tells Watson in THOR, "we can but try."


Sunday, December 17, 2017

Let Me Recommend This Book

Last week, I highlighted a few great books from MX Publishing, the publisher of The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street.  Today, as another piece of my year in review posts, I want to highlight some of the best Sherlockian books I've read this year.  Not all of these were necessarily published in 2017, but they are all worth adding to your collection, if you haven't already...


From Holmes to Sherlock by Mattias Bostrom

I've already spoken at length about how great this book is.  But, no Sherlockian year in review will be complete this year without mention of this book.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this book should be in every Sherlockian collection.


Arthur and Sherlock by Michael Sims

This history of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and his most famous creation was all we could talk about at two meetings in a row this summer for The Parallel Case of St. Louis.  Michael Sims takes this history of literature's greatest detective and turns it into a page-turner in his own right. 


About Sixty: Why Every Sherlock Holmes Story is the Best edited by Christopher Redmond

Chance are, you probably know someone who wrote an essay in this book.  Because editor Chris Redmond made it a point to find 60 diverse authors to pen essays making an argument on which Sherlock Holmes story is the best.  Of course, we all know that SIGN is the best, but the other 59 authors' work are insightful and informative looks into how we view the different stories in the Canon.


The Whole Art of Detection by Lyndsay Faye

The only pastiche on this list, because after reading Lydsay Faye's Sherlockian writing, nothing else will ever compare.  Fifteen short stories are collected in this book, and each one is better than the last.  Faye not only makes you feel like you are reading a story that Doyle misplaced a hundred years ago, but makes you truly appreciate the friendship between Holmes and Watson as her stories take you through their lives together.


The Sherlock Holmes Reference Library edited by Leslie Klinger

I admit that I have only read 5 out of the 10 volumes in this collection, but oh man, do I love these books!  Exhaustively researched and annotated, this collection is a cornerstone for a scholarly collection on Sherlock Holmes.  Even if you have read every story in the Canon over and over, Leslie Klinger will bring new insights and research to you on every page.

Sunday, December 10, 2017

You Will Find Some Books Over There

Last week's post centered around a Sherlockian book that didn't click with me.  I'm going in the complete opposite direction for the next two weeks and highlighting some Sherlockian books that I've really enjoyed over the years.  This week's post will focus solely on books from MX Publishing, the publisher of The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street.  Next week, my best Sherlockian books of 2017.  In no particular order, here are some of my favorite titles from MX:



This is a whirlwind tour through the canon's short stories.  The title says it all.  Charlotte Anne Walters set the goal for herself to read a story a day for almost 2 months straight.  Sounds easy, right?  Well, life has other obligations.  So whether she's trying to keep her eyes open at night or fitting a story in on her subway ride to work, Walters charges ahead.  The result of her efforts is a concise and pleasant synopsis of each story with just enough personal details to relate to us all.  This is a book I find myself dipping back into repeatedly if I just need a quick refresher on a certain story.  It's a great resource and a fun read for anyone out there.


Sherlock Holmes on the Roof of the World by Thomas Kent Miller

After dispatching Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, Sherlock Holmes disappeared, spending two years traveling in Tibet. Thomas Kent Miller's "Sherlock Holmes on the Roof of the World" is the first in a series filling in those missing years in the great detective's life. This is a quick and very enjoyable read. In the book, we find Holmes under the guise of Sigerson, a Norwegian explorer, meeting up with Horace Holly and Leo Vincey from H. Rider Haggard's novel "She" in a protected Buddhist library. From there, our three characters are the focal point of a fast paced mystery. Because Dr. Watson was not around during this point in Holmes' life, this story is narrated by Leo Vincey, and the narration style is more in the way of Haggard's adventures than Doyle's mysteries. This book was a delight to read, and if you are a Holmes fan, H. Rider Haggard adventure fan, or just a fan of a well told tale, you should give "Sherlock Holmes on the Roof of the World" a shot.


A Professor Reflects on Sherlock Holmes by Marino Alvarez

I've had the chance to work with Marino Alvarez on a writing project this year and have been very impressed with his canonical knowledge and professional demeanor.  So when I saw he had a book, it immediately jumped to the top of my TBR list.  I read his book this summer and the variety of essays in this collection were all a delight in their own different ways.  One essay may delve into the educational importance of the Sherlock Holmes stories while another analyzes Ronald Knox's influence on our hobby.  No matter the topic addressed, each essay is an insightful look into a facet of the Sherlockian world, and one that leaves the reader more informed after having read it.


A Scandal in Bohemia: A Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novel by Petr Kopl

Now, for something completely different!  Petr Kopl's colorful take on one of the best Holmes stories is one that will leave you wanting more.  That's good, because there's more in the series!  This graphic novel merges A Scandal in Bohemia with The Speckled Band, and inserts just enough new plot elements to make even an old school Sherlockian wonder what's coming next.  For a quick, fun read, this is the book for you.


Baker Street Beat by Dan Andriacco

Probably more well-known for his McCabe & Cody mystery series, Dan Andriacco's book "Baker Street Beat" is a true delight to read.  The contents of this book vary greatly.  From scholarly essays to scripts for radio plays to short pastiches, Andriacco does it all.  I read this on a car ride down to Texas this summer, and it made the time fly!


The Macdougall Twins Series by Derrick Belanger

Full disclosure: I've only read one of these books.  But to my credit, that's because my fifth graders keep snatching them up!  Derrick Belanger's series is aimed at young readers and introduces Sherlock Holmes to a new generation by using him as a character in a fun series with ten year old twin detectives.  They are a high interest series and although they are targeted to kids, they will bring a smile to the face of Sherlockians of any age.

Monday, December 4, 2017

I May As Well Give Up the Attempt at Once

Before I get started with this week’s blog post, The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street got some nice shout outs recently. Dan Andriacco gave it a next review in his website, and I was interviewed by Derrick Belanger for I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Alright, I’m done rooting my own horn....



This week found me reading two  books that gave me very different feelings: one that I loved, and one that I fought and fought until I finally gave up and abandoned it.

The book I loved was Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp This book was the basis for my favorite Christmas movie, Die Hard. It was a fast paced read that was similar enough to the movie to make me smile in recognition, but different enough to keep me wondering what was next.



But this isn’t a blog about Die Hard (but it is the right time of year for that sort of thing....), which brings me to my other book. It was a Sherlockian book that many people have liked. But, man, it didn’t click for me. I am a believer in the idea that there are too many books in the world to read something you don’t want to. I knew early on this book wasn’t a good fit for me, but I kept coming back to it a few times a day for a few days until I finally gave in.

I kept at it because it was a Sherlockian book, and the author cares about this hobby as much as I do. They were very knowledgeable in their research and the book was well written, it just didn’t click for me. Had this book been on another topic and I had the same response, I would’ve bailed after 30 or so pages when I knew it wasn’t working for me.

But I’m willing to give all things Sherlockian the benefit of the doubt. To be honest, I think Sherlock Gnomes looks terrible. Nothing in that trailer looked interesting to me. But I’m excited for it to come out and introduce Holmes to new viewers who may one day become new readers.



There are plenty of other subsets of Sherlockiana that don’t particularly get me excited, but I’m glad they are out there for those people who do enjoy it. This may seem like a negative topic, but I’m happy that whether we are Johnlockers or chronology fanatics, we can all find a common ground in the 60 stories.

And when it comes to being a Sherlockian, as long as you enjoy the canon, welcome to the party, pal!



Sunday, November 26, 2017

In His Hours of Relaxation

For we Sherlockians in the states, Thursday marked our annual Thanksgiving holiday.  For me, it also coincided with my 38th birthday, and the release of The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street


For the last few months, it seems like life has been all about this book and it wasn't even out yet!  To see the listing live on Amazon Thursday morning was surreal.  It has been quite a weekend.  Book release, national holiday, birthday, lots of family time, and I finally finished Stranger Things season 2.  I'm wiped out!

So, this week, it's time to stop and take a breather.  The pre-release publicity is done.  In a few days I'll start back up, but today is a day off. 


I've done interviews for blogs, newspapers, websites and podcasts.  Lots of book signings, speeches, and the pleasure of listening to a book I wrote as an audiobook.  I've even gotten a few good reviews along the way.

But this weekend is about being thankful for what you have.  I'm first and foremost thankful for my family.  But this being a Sherlockian blog, I a definitely thankful for the wonderful Sherlockians I've gotten to know.  Sherlockians on the whole are a good bunch of folks.  And we should all take a second to be thankful that our hobby is made up of some very decent folks that we get to spend out time with.

And if those great people decide to add The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street to their Christmas list?  All the better!


Monday, November 20, 2017

“Light-houses, My Boy! Beacons of the Future!

This week finds me at the end of my favorite part of the school year.  For the past two weeks, I've been teaching about Sherlock Holmes and the mystery genre to my fifth grade class.  Two things I'm passionate and deeply interested in are Sherlock Holmes and education.  For these two weeks, they merge into hours of lessons where my students are engaged and I am in the zone!

I won't go into depth here as to my lesson plans.  If you are interested, they are written in depth on my classroom webpage.  What I want to talk about is the infectious joy that is flowing through my room in relation to the great detective and reading in general right now.


In the past two weeks, we've covered The Blue Carbuncle, The Red-Headed League, The Speckled Band, The Copper Beeches and a Scandal in Belgravia as a whole class.  Most of these stories warranted two days of instruction, one day where the kids read with partners focusing on one or two thematic questions, and the second where we read as a class and discussed particular story elements.


I've been jotting down lines I've heard from kids as they read with their partners:

BLUE: "This must be where the term 'wild goose chase' came from!"

REDH: "Oh, that guy has red hair, too!"

SPEC: "Why in the world would she sleep in there?  This is SO creepy!"

SCAN: "A smoke bomb? This dude is crazy."


I always close the reading unit with A Scandal in Bohemia because it lends itself to such great classroom discussion.  We stop to brainstorm ideas to get the photograph back from Irene Adler which sometimes makes me marvel at how decivious fifth graders can be!  This year, a big debate flared up when I asked if Holmes accomplished his mission at the end of the story.  No matter what side of the debate the students ended up on, they all agreed that Irene Adler came out on top in the whole thing.

But it hasn't just been all reading.  On Monday, the students will perform two plays for the other fifth grade classes based off of The Blue Carbuncle and The Red-Headed League.  Watching these Midwestern kids try to employ British accents is always a hoot.


After watching the trailer for Sherlock Gnomes, we discussed other ways that Sherlock Holmes can be portrayed.  From there, the students started going through a two-week writing process to create their own Sherlock Holmes story.  When I first announced the project to them, the kids were audibly excited to write!

And these stories are really good.  Some of them are great mysteries.  Others have a five year-old Holmes investigating a robbery at a candy store, and another has Holmes fighting a ninja.  (It's titled Sherlock Holmes Fights a Ninja).  After discussing the elements to the mystery genre, the only requirements I gave students were that they had to have specific story elements found in most mysteries and that there had to be a character named Sherlock Holmes in their story.


What I got for their finished products were so different and fun, I actually woke my wife up while I was reading a story one night because I was laughing at it so hard.  This particular story has Holmes investigating a robbery from an Egyptian pyramid by a villain named Egypt Ian (that's great!).  He resurrects King Tut, Holmes foils the plan, Egypt Ian gives a long explanation why he did it, and King Tut just shrugs his shoulders, and answers "Meh."

Do I expect all 26 of my students to become ardent Sherlockians after this unit?  Absolutely not.  From a purely educational standpoint, I expect them to have a better grasp of story structure, the writing process and reading fluency.  But, hey, if they pick up a copy of the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to read over Thanksgiving break, who am I to stop them?


Sunday, November 12, 2017

As My Speech Surely Shows You

Becoming a published author and taking a simple idea and creating something brand new from it has been a great experience.  Another interesting experience happened this past week when I was invited to speak to 300 middle schoolers on Thursday about the writing process.

Despite my social anxiety, I jumped at the chance at talking to LOTS of kids about Sherlock Holmes.  Being a teacher, I usually get to plant seeds of interest with my 25 students per year and hope something grows from it.  300 kids?  Well, hopefully I was able to get a few more kids interested in Holmes and Watson.


Here's what I had to say:

Your principal asked me to come here today to talk with you about the writing and publishing process.  Writing is a creative outlet, just like music, drama, sports and any other hobbies you have. And for anyone who says playing sports isn’t creative, I challenge you to watch what some of the top tier athletes can do in their profession and tell me they aren’t creative.  Adam Wainwright pitched a game this season where he couldn’t throw anything over 87 miles per hour and still got the win.  You’re telling me that didn’t take some creativity? 

Even video games can be a creative outlet.  Minecraft isn’t as cool as it used to be, but that was a huge creative outlet.  And how you complete missions on Call of Duty or some of the junk plays you try in Madden are creative in their own way. So even if writing isn’t your thing, bear with me.  Because my hope is what I have to say about the writing process can be applied to whatever your interests are.  If you’re not a writer, just consider this talk about the creative process instead.  They’re not too far removed from one another.

Alright, we’re all familiar with the steps to the writing process from all of those awesome five paragraph essays you’ve had to write in your life, right?

Prewriting, Writing, Revision, Editing and Publishing.

Okay, that’s the writing process in a nutshell.  Now, let’s talk about my book.


My book, The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street, takes the character of Sherlock Holmes, the world’s greatest detective, and turns that concept on its head.  Instead of Holmes being a detective solving crimes in Victorian London, I’ve made him into the criminal genius behind the crimes in Victorian London.  Sound interesting?  Great.  Make sure to order your copy from Amazon when it comes out this month. 

That one little idea to turn Holmes into a criminal is all it took for me to start the prewriting process.  This little idea is the spark that starts a brainstorm.  Whether you have a writing prompt or a research project to complete, brainstorming is your first step.  From there, you can let your imagination run wild.  JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien and Suzanne Collins all created whole new worlds for their characters that all started from a single idea. 


I am not the world’s most creative guy, but you don’t have to be overly imaginative to create something exciting and worthwhile.  Anyone who’s ever seen an episode of Shark Tank knows that it just takes one small idea or a twist on an existing idea and you can take off from there.
But here’s an important part that no one ever talks about.  When those ideas start coming, write them down!  How many of you have ever had an awesome idea and then can’t remember it twenty minutes later?  This is where outlining comes into play.

Getting all of those ideas out of your head and written down somewhere is the first step, and then you put them in order.  And once you have the outline of what you want to create, you’re going to see the areas that need more attention.  This is where you can push yourself. 

For me, research was one of the best parts of writing my book.  I learned about the Tibetan mountains, French wine and Victorian cuss words just because they fit well into my story.  Is that information I’m going to use every day?  Probably not, but it’s cool to know some of that stuff.  


I do most of my writing at night after my daughter goes to sleep and my wife is watching Teen Mom.  I can’t stand to be in the room when Janelle is on TV, so it’s a good motivator to get to work. A lot of these nights were spent researching topics I knew a little about, but not enough to sound like I really knew what I was doing if I put it in a book.  You guys, have you heard of this internet thing?  It’s amazing!  I spent one whole night reading Mongolian traveler’s journals from the Smithsonian collection.  I ended up learning way more than I needed for the two sentences I ended up putting in my book, but the research part was pretty rad.

Okay, so now you have your ideas, the order they go in, and the information you need to make an awesome story.  Oh no, now you have to actually write this thing!  Staring at an empty screen or a blank page is daunting.  There’s no better way to start than to just start.  The first chapter of The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street is titled, Begin at the Beginning, and that’s just what you have to do.  Just start writing.  And keep writing.  And then write some more.  Don’t worry about making it great on the first try, because you won’t. 

There’s a saying, Don’t let great get in the way of good. 


If you’ve made it this far in creating something, you obviously think it’s pretty good.  Get that goodness written down!  And here’s a secret, first drafts stink.  That’s why first drafts are called rough drafts.  Because they’re rough.  Do you think John Green just sits down and awesomeness flows right out of him?  Well, probably.  But his first drafts still get changed and reworked along the way. 

Here’s my example of that.  If you’re familiar with Sherlock Holmes, you probably also recognize the name Irene Adler.  She’s a pretty important character in his story.  When I got to Irene’s chapter, I had a vague idea of how I wanted to write it.  I got it down, and was not happy at all with how it turned out.  But I kept on writing.  I had other chapters to write.  I ended up rewriting that chapter at least three times from start to finish, but if I tried to do that during my first draft, it would’ve thrown off my entire flow. 


A lot of that first draft is going to get changed.  Another big change was a whole chapter that I ended up deleting after my first reread of my book.  After spending a couple days working on it, I realized it was garbage.  Delete!  One of the biggest pieces of advice I can give you about writing or any project you care about is to keep at it. 

There are going to be days you don’t want to mess with it.  Keep at it. 

Sometimes you’ll try and try and nothing seems to work.  Keep at it. 

Some days you’ll sit down and realize you need to completely redo the previous day’s work.  Keep at it.


Because the minute you start to get lazy with your project, all of your forward momentum you’ve built up starts to slip away.  And forward momentum is the best thing you can have working for you. 
Don’t give up.  There are going to be some days when whatever you’re working on just isn’t clicking.  But there are going to be more days when everything flows.  You’ve got to push through to get to those days.

To actually write The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street took me about five months.  The revising and editing process took another seven.  But writing isn’t a solitary endeavor.  Recruiting someone to read your first draft is a great way to get early feedback.  These are called alpha readers.  In the gaming and computer world, they’re known as beta testers.  Their main purpose is to run through an early version of a project and point out things to fix. 

Not things that are wrong.  Things to fix. 

This is an important difference.  Things can’t be wrong on a first try.  They just don’t click yet.  When you’re creating something, everything makes sense in your own head, but those ideas don’t always get conveyed when you put them out there.  The purpose of the revision process is to evaluate what you’ve done so far and fine tune it.  These are what team practices and band rehearsals are in real life.  You try something, and then try it again and again until it’s great. 


My alpha reader caught a big mistake in my first draft.  A character I’d killed off in the middle of the book showed back up three chapters later.  Whoops!  It had been a few weeks since I had written the chapter where he died and it wasn’t on my mind when I plugged him in later.  That would’ve been a big problem if it made it to the final copy.  It wasn’t something wrong.  Just something I needed to fix.  I worked over the actual storyline of my book start to finish three times, each time finding things to tweak and streamline.  Each time, I felt that the story was getting stronger and stronger.
But, there will be things that are wrong with your creation.  And the editing process points all of those out. 

Here’s where I go into teacher mode and tell you that you should be double checking all of your work.  Whether it’s a homework assignment, code you’re drafting, or story you’re writing.  There are going to be things that are wrong.  I guarantee you’ve all gotten tests or assignments back and double checking your work would’ve caught some careless mistakes. 

Editing is a real life skill. 

If you don’t think I double check my work before I file my taxes, you’re nuts.  And I sure hope someone edited the medical textbook that anyone who operates on me read in college.  Editing not just saves your grades, it can also save money and lives. 


And here we are at the final step: publishing.  This is putting your finished product out there for the rest of the world to see.  This is where you post a video to YouTube, put your fan fiction on a site, turn in that research paper you’ve been slaving over.  This is what people will judge your work on. 
All of those other steps prepare you for publishing.  You’ve worked out all of the kinks, fixed all of the errors and made your project look great.  Come and get it!

Putting stuff out in the world also means getting rejected and ignored.  I’m not going to lie, it stung when I got rejected by publishers and I got down right mad when other publishers ignored my queries.  But keep at it.  I found a publisher who was awesome to work with and I wouldn’t have gotten there if I let my bruised ego stop me after my first few rejections. 


Maybe you get a lot of hits on your blog, or that play you’ve been drilling on works perfectly in a real game.  This is where all of that hard work pays off.  You have accomplished something and no one can take that away from you.  We all know there are trolls out there who are going to try and bring you down.  You did not work this hard to let some troll have a negative impact on you.  If you like your final product, then other people will too. 

Go look at the ratings for your favorite YouTuber or app.  I bet there’s a lot of negativity in those ratings.  Does that stop something you like from being awesome?  If you can enjoy someone else’s product that other people want to hate on, others are going to like your product too. 

Sports talk stations are full of people calling in who think they know better than the players and managers.  Guess who doesn’t listen to the negative feedback?  And guess who’s making a whole lot more money that those callers? Players and managers.  Because for every troll who blows you off or tries to make you feel inadequate, there are more people out there happy for what you’ve created. 


Your skills are a true gift to the world and people really do appreciate them, even if they’re not overly vocal about it sometimes.  As a teacher, I promise you we appreciate the hard work put into big projects or seeing an improvement in your schoolwork.  And your friends and fans appreciate the work you put in, too.  They care because you care.

So, whether you love writing or your passion lies somewhere else, look at each new endeavor as a chance to create something awesome out there.  Push yourself to be better.  Because the more you push yourselves, the better you’ll be.  And if you get to be really awesome, you just might get to speak in a middle school auditorium someday.


Sunday, November 5, 2017

I Shall Be All Anxiety

Like many Shelockian Twitter conversations, Chris Redmond started it.

Many of us shared our own short versions of our first nights in Sherlockiana in response to Chris's tweet Friday night.  I won't go too far into mine, as I've already shared it on I Hear of Sherlock a few years ago.  My favorite part of the conversation was one Sherlockian telling us that he ripped the seat of his pants TWICE on his first night.  That makes for a memorable evening!

This conversation got me thinking.  Is social anxiety a common feature of Sherlockians?  We are a literary bunch, so introversion wouldn't be out of character.  On the other hand, we are very sociable with one another at our gatherings.


So, why are there so many stories about us being nervous our first time?

And for some of us, it's not just the first time we meet.  I've written about how much I love my local scion, but there are some days where I'm all nerves on the way to a meeting.  Social anxiety sucks.

But it makes me wonder if this is a larger phenomenon among the younger generation of Sherlockians and people as a whole.  In the 50's, or the 80's, or anytime before the internet, really, if people weren't comfortable in social situations, they mostly stayed home.  Now we have a culture where we can be connected, but still isolated.  But when our connections are based in a common interest, it's a natural step to want to meet with others who share your interests.  And that is where people are stepping out of their comfort zones. 


Events like 221BCon in Atlanta never would have existed before the internet.  People from all over the country descend on Georgia each year, many times only knowing others as their online personas.  My bet would be there are more than a few attendees there that would admit to having social anxiety.

Before the internet connected us all, Sherlockians were connected through newsletters.  And the granddaddy of them all is the Baker Street Journal.  I assume that the Baker Street Journal had plenty of subscribers that never attended a scion meeting, much less the big gathering in New York every January. 


But this is a new day and age.  Now, we can get our BSJ in the mail, participate in Ashley Polasek's #221Movie tweetalong with her college students, spend hours reading on the new Sherlockian.net, upload your own fan fiction to AO3, and all other kinds of Sherlockian activities from our home.  But it's those real life, human connections that are so great.

So, even if you're a member of the old guard or a millennial and you suffer from social anxiety, get out there and spend time with other Sherlockians in real life.  Because, for every story of someone ripping their pants in the Twitter conversation, there were a dozen stories of people being welcomed with open arms to a community of people who all share the same interest, even if it is a little out of our comfort zones sometimes. 


Monday, October 30, 2017

Character, Canines and Cocaine

My original idea for this week's post was to only talk about dogs and cocaine, but then I heard the new episode of Sherlock Holmes is Real.  As I mentioned last week, I was interviewed for the second episode to discuss The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street.  I didn't know much, if anything, about the show, but publicity is publicity, right?  Somehow, my interview trying to get the word out about my new book got me pulled into some conspiracy perpetrated by the Baker Street Irregulars and descendants of Moriarty.  It's pretty nutty, but if you're into out there ideas, this week's episode of Sherlock Holmes is Real is.... something.  Besides calling my character into question, they question if my name really is Rob Nunn, or if it's a nom de plume meant to lead people to think Sherlock Holmes never existed.

I'm just trying to sell some books, people.


The past week has found the topic of dogs on my mind quite a bit.  Because we adopted a puppy Friday night.


Ever since talk of getting a dog began, I've been trying to convince my wife and daughter to let me name it Toby.  Like most things that I argue with my wife and daughter about, I lost.  Even though our new pup was a girl and was already named Molly, I still tried valiantly to name our new pet Toby because Toby is the best animal in the best story in the canon.


I don't know why I love Toby so much, but I do.  It may be because he is the first animal that Holmes has respect for.  Much better than the poor dog in A Study in Scarlet.  It might be because of the scene when Watson goes to Old Sherman's house on Pinchin Lane to get Toby.  Or it might just be because that was the dog's name in The Great Mouse Detective.

Either way, Toby is a piece in a bigger puzzle that is The Sign of Four.  I really enjoyed Chris Redmond's About Sixty, but am so stubborn that I found myself disagreeing with the 59 other submissions that didn't say The Sign of Four was the best story.  But that's another post.

(One more picture of my dog before I move on)

A thought occurred to me today as I was thinking about this story.  One of the highlights of SIGN is the scene with the Watson's watch.  Watson is trying to keep Holmes occupied so he won't use cocaine.  His lecturing didn't work, so he pulls out an old pocket watch to have Holmes show off his deductions.  Once this little tour de force is finished, Mary Morstan shows up and the plot takes off.

But what if Watson hadn't delayed Holmes for whatever reason?  We have a very different client meeting.  Holmes has just injected himself with a seven percent solution of cocaine and a well-gloved young lady comes to talk to her about her dead father.  Things probably would've gotten weird.  Doyle never showed us what Holmes was like on cocaine, but I can't imagine he would be one to sit with his fingers tented and eyes half closed as he listened to a client lay out their problem.


If it weren't for Watson's watch, would SIGN have ever happened?  Does Holmes dismiss Mary Morstan's card or is she so turned off by the drug fiend she meets with that the case never happens?  Bartholomew Sholto's murder goes unsolved.  Tonga lives.  Watson and Mary never marry.  Watson probably never opens up his own practice.  The Adventure of the Naval Treaty is never brought to Watson and Holmes.  Britain is drawn into war.  Watson and Holmes are drafted into service.  No one is there to stop Moriarty.  Chaos ensues.

Thank God Holmes never took that cocaine.