BOOK GIVEAWAY!

I’m giving away a signed copy of the Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years on Goodreads, beginning September 12, and continuing until September 20.

AND

I will also include an Audible promo code that will allow you to have a FREE download of the audiobook version of my book. It’s got a spectacular reader -- Richard Di Britiannia.

If you are interested in entering the giveaway, CLICK HERE!  And, tell your friends.

Good luck!

NEW BOOK PREVIEW: Meet Rory WIggins

As the newest Sherlock Holmes novel works its way though the publishing process toward publication in November, I’ll post some previews from the book -- introducing you to some of the irregulars featured in the Irregular Lives: The Untold Story of Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars.

This week, I’ll preview Wiggins, the only irregular mentioned, by name, in the Doyle canon. Despite this, we did not know much about him. So, let me introduce you.

Irregular Lives tells the story of how Holmes met Wiggins, and the other irregulars. You may not have known that they met in the midst of the largest jewel robbery in London. Wiggins meets Holmes as he dips into his pockets. It’s exciting tale. Here’s a scene for that story:

Holmes made his way, in a casual stroll, until he came to a stall selling leather goods set along the edge of the street. He began fingering a collection of belts hanging from the top of the stall. As he reached his arms upwards, his coat opened up, throwing both pockets behind him. Within moments the lad had closed the space between them and dipped both hands, simultaneously, into Holmes’s pockets.

Suddenly, Holmes swung around and gripped the lad’s hands—which were now holding a handkerchief and an inkwell.

“It’s a fair cop, sir,” the lad exclaimed in surrender.

Then, just as quickly, the boy swung a huge kick toward Holmes’s right leg, grazing his shin and rending his trousers.

“It seems you’re no better with your feet than you are with your hands,” Holmes remarked.

The lad smiled. But, the boy’s smile twisted into a look of confusion as he stared at his right hand. “Blimey! An inkwell. What’s all this then?”

“Not much value there,” Holmes said. “And, you might also note that the handkerchief has a hole it.”

“I made a right pig’s ear of it, di’n I, mister?”

I hope that you will follow this blog in the coming weeks as I introduce Snape, Ugly, Archie, Kate, and Benjie. And, while these sneak previews are fun, they are not a substitute for reading (or listening to) the entire adventure. I’ll let you know the moment it hits the bookstores in November.

NEW Sherlock Holmes Novel Coming this Fall

As promised . . . here’s an update on the new book I’ve been writing for the last year:

Irregular Lives: The Untold Story of the Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars spans nearly four decades, beginning in 1884 and ending in 1919. If you were ever curious about how Holmes shaped and changed the lives of the irregulars, and how they transformed his life . . . then, this is the book for you.

This is an untold story, because as Holmes told Watson in after the war:

“My history with the irregulars runs deeper than you might know. They were at my side when you could not be. When you were with . . . others.”  The “others” Holmes was referring to were Watson’s wives. And, due to Watson’s absence, the story was, indeed, untold . . . until now.

A visit to a mysterious photography exhibit catapults Sherlock Holmes back in time as he recalls his adventures with Wiggans, Ugly, Snape, Kate, and other members of his urban army. Each of the five “irregular tales” is a classic, stand-alone Sherlock Holmes story. Wrapped around it is a bigger mystery and adventure that begins when a jolly reunion with the irregulars abruptly erupts into a terrible tragedy.

You will read about the irregulars when they were adolescents and children, and also as the adults they became. The Baker Street irregulars survived their rough upbringing in the slums of London. Unfortunately, their propensity for finding trouble did not diminish in the process.

More updates to come. But, in the meanwhile, put the newest Sherlock Holmes novel on your reading list -- just in time for Christmas!

AUDIOBOOK HIT 100 SALES!

Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years, on Amazon and Audible, just hit the 100 mark. A great new voice talent, Richard Di Britannia, has brought his amazing skills to bear as one of the best “Holmes voices” ever.  But he also shows his amazing range and versatility all 70 characters in the book.

Check it out!

NEW HOLMES BOOK COMING!

Irregular Lives: The untold story of Sherlock Holmes and Baker-street irregulars will be published in November, along with the kindle edition and audiobook. It’s an unusual novel in that, within the larger tale, there are five stand-alone tales--each featuring one of the irregulars:

·      WIGGINS: A lad who learned too well the lessons that the street taught.

·      UGLY: Adopted and raised by the costers of the Spitalfields Market.

·      SNAPE: A blacksmith’s son, who forged a life from the rubbish in the Thames.

·      KATE & ARCHIE: Orphaned at the age of six, Kate found a family and made her way with ARCHIE. And . . .

·      BENJIE: A boy about the business of life on the streets—where everything is for sale.

Holmesian fans will know something of Wiggans, who appeared in three of Doyle’s stories but, until now, no one has introduced the other irregulars.

Of course, all or the shorter tales take place between 1884 and 1898, when Sherlock Holmes was in his prime. Irregular Lives takes place in 1919, just after the WWI has ended. Holmes and Watson are in retirement at ages 65 and 66 respectively, and the irregulars are in their mid to late thirties. While several decades have passed, the irregulars have not lost their propensity for getting in trouble.

So, stay tuned . . . more to come as Irregular Lives gets closer and closer to going to press. In the meanwhile, check out the audiobook version of Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years at Audible and Amazon.

Sherlock Holmes on Stage

Following in the footsteps of Conan Doyle, I have chosen a two-act play to be my next contribution to the ever-expanding canon (I’m currently wrapping up my novel Irregular Lives - coming out in the fall.). As is my style and custom, this new project has begun with research. It would not be surprising, then, to learn that my research began with the one Sherlock Holmes play that Doyle is credited with--entitled: Sherlock Holmes.

I italicized “credited” since this play is more the work of actor William Gillette than Conan Doyle. American theatrical producer Charles Frohman attempted to buy the rights from Conan Doyle. While Doyle did not relinquish the rights, it did inspire him to write a five-act play featuring Holmes and Professor Moriarty. As you can imagine, a five-act play would have been tedious, and likely too elaborate to produce on tour. Frohman’s feedback to Doyle included an observation that actor William Gillette would make an ideal Holmes. Doyle followed up on Frohman’s suggestion, and in the end, Gillette wrote what amounted to a new two-act play.

Holmesian fans would quickly recognized dialogue from the play that was lifted straight from several of Doyle’s stories: A Scandal in Bohemia, The Final Problem and A Study in Scarlet.

The plot is a rather “plain vanilla Holmes tale” in which Holmes is pitted against Moriarty. It involves helping a beautiful, young woman who seeks to revenge on a royal personage who wronged her in a love affair (think A Scandal in Bohemia). Her sister, who died of a broken heart had keep letters and photos of a nobleman who now wants them back. Moriarty and his gang, seeing a great opportunity for blackmail, attempt to steal the incriminating evidence from the young woman. 

The play opened in New York City on November of 1899, and ran there for 260 performances across the U.S.  It then moved to London's Lyceum Theatre in September 1901 where is ran for nearly 200 performances in various theaters in the UK. Thereafter, it was revived, from time to time, by William Gillette over the next decade.

It is well known by Holmes aficionados that, in the entire 60-story canon, Holmes never says: "Elementary, my dear Watson,” however, it does appear in this play. This would explain the persistence and popularity of what some might say is the most famous of Holmes’s lines. It was also Gillette who introduced the famous curved meerschaum pipe.

The two-act comedy Sherlock Holmes is a quick read -- thank heaven. If I had to rate it today, I would give it only two or three stars. From a plot standpoint, it does not measure up to most of Doyle’s stories, and the dialogue is flat and predicable. All that aside, it was the ending that caught me off-guard. Holmes, having only seen the young heroin on two occasions (scenes) before the last scene, declares his love to her in Watson’s company. The finals curtain falls with Holmes kissing his new love “on the mouth.”

There are other Sherlock Holmes plays out there, and I will undoubtedly read all of them. But at this early stage, I can only say that the Doyle-Gillette play has inspired me to dive, wholeheartedly, into my new project with the hope that I might do a better job of bringing Sherlock Holmes to the stage.

The irregulars: The Untold Story

Within the 60 Holmes in the original canon, the urban army known at the Baker Street irregulars appear only three times: In two novels, A Study In Scarlet and The Sign of the Four, and later in The Adventure of the Crooked Man.

In these stories, the irregulars were led by an boy called Wiggins, whom Holmes paid a shilling per day plus expenses, with a guinea prize (worth one pound and one shilling) for a vital clue. It was clear that there were many boys within the irregulars, and possible a girl, but none of the others were distinguished in Doyle’s writing. As an emerging Holmes scholar, it seemed likely to me that the irregulars played a larger role in Holmes’s investigations, and is life -- particularly as Holmes aged. In my next book: Irregular Lives: The Untold Story of Sherlock Holmes’s Urban Army, I explore the singular adventures that Holmes and the irregulars shared over several decades.

You will, of course, find Wiggans, but also the other, previously unnamed members to street Arabs like Ugly, Snape, Archie, Kate, Ruck, and Tessa -- Wiggans’s little sister. This book will wrap a series of vignettes in a larger tale that unfolds just after WWI, when Holmes is 65 years old.

Irregular Lives: The Untold Story of Sherlock Holmes’s Urban Army not only makes for some exciting mysteries and adventures, but also gives the reader a peak at what was called “Darkest England”-- the one million desperately poor residents of London in 1919. These retched people comprised 15 percent of the city’s population. Ironically, today London’s poor represent an even greater portion of the population. Not much progress in one hundred years.

My hope is that this newest book will be out in the fall. In the meanwhile, if you haven’t already done so, you might check out Sherlock Holmes the Golden Years – on AMAZON where you can get a peak at some of the irregulars who will reappear in my new book. BTW: Sherlock Holmes the Golden Years is now available as a wonderful new audiobook!