![]() Author has written 3 stories for Sherlock Holmes. I have been a Sherlock Holmes fan all my life, since I ran across my first copy of the Doyle stories as a ten or eleven year old, in the school library. I had to sort my way through Hanson cabs, and odd Victorian language, but I loved every second of it. When I became an adult (numerous decades ago, I’m afraid) I collected not only the full canon in several forms, but have read virtually every pastiche imaginable, seen every movie, TV show old, new, foreign, and subtitled. On my Sherlockian journey, I have been joined by my wonderful wife of 23 years, who has become as much of a fan as I. Over the years, we have listened to every possible Sherlock Holmes novel and short story available on Audible, Hoopla, or YouTube - dozens of them. If you’re reading this, you likely know exactly what I am talking about, as you are like me. You have that ever alert eye for a new story, hopefully promising hours of listening or reading joy. More than 10 years ago, I found FanFiction.Net. Over the years I have read EVERYTHING Sherlock Holmes oriented in this space: read it, read it again - bookmarked many as favorites, and come back to them again. I know the cycles of the year: the “Watson’s Woes” of the summer time, the glorious outburst of holiday fun throughout December, initiated by “Hades Lord Of The Dead” and her yearly Advent Challenge - as suggestions and prompts get turned into stories, and stories turn into little short stories buried in a writer’s month of submissions. I know all of you on FanFiction.Net: every single one of you who has ever written and posted a Sherlock Holmes story, be it canon/book based, or centered around the BBC “Sherlock” series, and all the variations, and TV shows (such as the wonderful Jeremy Brett), and movies - whether they be a relationship between Holmes and Watson, or a “Sherlolly,” or an alternate perspective on the life of Mycroft. Many of you also know me from my reviews, although quite a few have been anonymous, and some have been me begging you to complete a long dropped storyline, or even novel. I also have read plenty of Harry Potter, Star Trek, Star Wars, NCIS, Lord of the Rings, and the many, endless versions of Sword, Sorcerer, Wizard, Herald, and Dragon stories possible. You know who you are… and you should know you have all brought a measure of pleasure and joy to the world. Not only to me, but to countless others. Let me clearly state what needs to be said by at least one person on FanFiction.Net: there are writers and authors - and there are those who have officially been published. MANY of you, perhaps most of you, have not been published, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot write, or you are not worthy! I have been left awestruck innumerable times by the quality of the writing I have read here: the creativity, plot development and details, the love, passion, and skill so many of you ordinary, private people bring to your craft. It may just be a hobby, or a stress reliever - but man, so many of you can WRITE!! My Main Writing: A first attempt at a novel: “Sherlock Holmes And The Paradise Horror” That leads to the present, which is mid-2024. My wife got involved in collecting fountain pens, and sucked me into it. For those who collect such pens, no further explanation is required. Let’s just say it’s an addiction all its own. One of the issues pen collectors deal with is “what do I write, now that I own all these pens?” I have always been a firm believer that ‘everyone has at least one story in them.’ The story - a novel really - that I offer all of you is my “one story.” It was initially written out first in longhand, with a burgundy and ivory Pilot e95s, a lovely, pocket sized pen that posts into a full sized writing implement - with its sole flaw being that it constantly needs to be refilled. I have since moved on to a 70 year old vintage Parker 51. It's one of those 'grail" pens all fountain pen users look for. Fortunately, it writes almost as well as it did when it was new, thanks to some careful restoration. (I occasionally switch out to another pen just for fun..) I have done a lot of writing in the past, and have written at least one (technical) book before, but it was a private, corporate internal piece of intellectual property, a large, very extensive tech manual, along with a separate user’s guide, both for a process and tool suite I created for my Fortune 50 employer. It kept me employed for a while - all the typing giving me carpal tunnel syndrome. Lots of other writing projects, manuals, and courses followed, most technical or Project Management oriented. In such a world, Sherlock Holmes novels don’t count for much. This novel, my first fiction submission, is for my adorable, wonderful wife, who for reasons entirely unknown to me, continues to think I’m pretty special. It’s also for all of you, the FanFiction.net writers. Hades Lord of the Dead, YoughaltheJust, Stutley Constable, GoodShipSherlollipop, TrustingHim17, I’m Nova, TheSapphireSky, Book girl fan, Regency, Domina Temporis, I Am Completely Sherlocked, mrspencil, headless-nic, goodpenmanship, Winter Winks 221, Pompey, Azolean, Emma Lynch, Sci-fi Christian, ScarletteQuill, Sirensbane, cjnwriter, Aleine Skyfire, Wordwielder, Madam’zelleG, bemj11, Evenstar656, Avirra, Rector, aragonite, Pat Foley, MadLori,and so, so many more of you! The names above are only a sample. If your name isn’t there, it’s not because I didn’t read your writing. I have read and enjoyed pretty much everything on this site even remotely connected to Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Mycroft, Lestrade, and the brave constables of Scotland Yard. (The search and sort features of FanFiction.Net are good for that!) This is for the readers of Sherlock Holmes literature everywhere, both here on FanFiction, and elsewhere. There’s millions of us, spread over generations, all linked by our love and appreciation of the characters and universe created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. We owe him such a debt of gratitude! The Format: What I will post here will be mostly edited first drafts. I expect there will be flaws, perhaps inconsistencies, but hopefully not too many, and changes in the plot as the story is refined in later drafts. I may repost chapters that become more refined, over time. At this point, I just want people to Read and Review. Some chapters may be quite long, others not so much. I have the entire story mapped out: it’s pretty extensive, even a bit convoluted - with the final product probably somewhere between 120-150K words. It takes place over years, and is presented as Holmes’ longest, and most troubling cases, or series of related cases. (Holmes will be taxed to his limit, and he won’t be happy about it…) I claim no great skill, certainly not at the level of so many of you. This is just my gift, my giveback to the Sherlockian universe - and to all of you - as a way of saying “Thank you” for all you have done. Needless to say, I own none of the standard canon Sherlock Holmes main characters, including Holmes, Watson, Lestrade, Gregson, or the ever saintly Martha Hudson. The other characters (inspectors, constables, doctors, patients, people around town – or victims) – are all mine. You'll see them when they come by... After years of reading other people's December stories, I also submitted chapters for the 2024 Hades Lord of the Dead December Calendar Challenge - and will do other challenges and shorts as the mood hits me. For my wife, Sherlock Holmes writers, and Sherlockians everywhere. Please Review! |