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!

Whose portrays the best Sherlock Holmes?

Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years is now available as an audiobook. A great new voice talent, Richard Di Britannia, produces one of the best “Holmes voices” I have ever heard. But, more than this, Richard’s dramatic range, and versatility, breathes new life into the five-part saga that boasts over seventy characters.

Audible, who publishes the audiobook has selected a sample. And, while not the most action-backed sample segment, it does offer the opportunity to hear Richard’s marvelous voice:

This story sample comes from the third story in the collection, The Maestro of Mysteries. It describes a meeting between Holmes and Miss Irene Adler that eventually leads to her joining in the chase for the diabolical Ciarán Malastier who haunts all five stories.

Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years audiobook is available on AMAZON.

Sherlock Holmes and the Suffragettes

Sherlock Holmes’s relationship with the ladies has always been a point of curiosity for fans. He has always shown respect for certain feminine weaknesses and, at the same time he was slow to embrace female strengths.  His lifestyle and work enabled him to walk this line. However, in Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years, he could not help but confront some formidable ladies in the streets, as the suffrage movement was in full swing in 1913.  With a major election cycle underway in the United States, I thought a post about women’s suffrage was appropriate -- particularly as the women’s vote will be so critical in the coming presidential election.

While the women’s suffrage movement in the United Kingdom began about 1872, with the formation of the National Society for Women’s Suffrage, it didn’t make the daily headlines until the early 1900’s when the movement became more militant and violent.

WWI caused a temporary halt to suffrage activity and, in 1918, the Representation of the Peoples Act granted women limited voting rights. However, it wasn’t until 1928 when all women in Britain gained full voting rights. Women in the U.S. gained the right to vote eight years earlier, in 1920.

One of the key figures in Britain’s suffrage movement was Emmeline Pankhurst, who is one of several infamous historical characters that can be found in Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years.

In the Curse of the Black Feather, Holmes and Watson meet Emmeline Pankhurst at a party where Watson has the dubious honour of escorting her to dinner.  Holmes, however, had a much more fascinating dinner partner that evening – Irene Adler, “the woman” who mysteriously reappears his life and haunts him in all five of the stories in this 345-page collection.

In Sherlock Holmes-The Golden Years the reader gets all the mystery and magic of Holmes at his best, interesting real-life historical characters, and a rich and highly accurate historical background, all of which adds great depth to the stories. Available at AMAZON as soft cover, Kindle and audiobook.

Would that Holmes could take the mystery out of the U.S. Presidential Election.