Category Archives: Uncategorized

Ever since I jumped into the Sherlock Holmes scene with both feet a few years ago, I’ve been conscious of the issues of gender and feminism that underlie the current surging interest in the detective. One of the first things I learned, one that amazed me, was that the Baker Street Irregulars, respected international Holmes organization, did not admit women until the year 1991. I also learned that in past years, women who wanted to be active in the world of Sherlock Holmes fandom (for it is a fandom, make no mistake), did not always have the easiest time of it. Even today, the issues of sex and gender are a complicated and sometimes unpleasant aspect of being in the Holmesian world.

And yet, this post is not meant to be in the least bleak, because, well, you can’t keep, as they say, good women down. In the late 1960s…

Benedict Cumberbatch, In Transition: An Unauthorised Performance Biography

By Lynnette Porter

Reviewed by Amy Thomas

When I was a young teenager, I was utterly besotted with Prince William. What can I say? While my friends were eagerly snapping up magazines featuring N’Sync and the Backstreet Boys, I bought a short and fairly abysmal unauthorised biography of the royal heir. I didn’t care; it was something. Thankfully, Benedict Cumberbatch fans of any age no longer have to face the indignity of wasting money on shoddy prose.

Benedict Cumberbatch, In Transition is an exhaustively-annotated and impressively-detailed account of a young actor’s career. Some might ask if now is the time for such a book, releasing arguably nearer the beginning of his acting career than the end; however, the transitional aspect gives the tome much of its interest. Porter purposefully sought to chronicle the rise of an actor who is only just beginning…

July begins the second half of the year, and it’s a good time to start thinking about what to buy for people on your Christmas list. For most Sherlockians, books are always a welcome gift. Two yuletide-themed tomes recently caught my eye.

Sherlock Holmes: Have Yourself a Chaotic Little Christmas by Gwendolyn Frame is a frothy, charming advent calendar of Holmes stories, with one for each day of December. The tales range from serious to humorous, mysterious to comforting. Frame’s Holmes reads like the man as we might see him reflected in the flames of a warm holiday fire–touched with Christmas spirit and good cheer, without the sharper edges of his personality in evidence. The book would be an excellent stocking stuffer, or perhaps an entertaining decoration to adorn a book-lover’s coffee table during the holiday season.

Sherlock Holmes and the Missing Snowman by David Ruffle, with illustrations…

Throughout literature, we’re constantly warned of the dangers inherent in revisiting the past.  “You can’t go home again,” Thomas Wolfe admonishes us.  “Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these,’  King Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, adding ‘For it is not wise to ask such questions.'” And finally, from another Canon, Victor Trevor’s father has this bit of wisdom: “Of all ghosts, the ghosts of our old lovers are the worst.”*  Bill Kirtland would argue that he wasn’t trying to do any of these things. After all, his old lover has become a (celibate) Daughter of St. Augustine, and he himself has made the shift from Army intelligence to life as a private detective. They’re both happy in their current lives; he simply wanted to pay her a friendly visit. Too bad that visit was to Erin, Ohio.

I feel great when my books are released to the public. Sure, it’s a bit nerve-wracking to send my fledgling child of a manuscript into the hands of complete strangers, but it’s also delightful and invigorating. What could be better than that?

Well, it’s an even greater thrill when my stories become e-books, because they suddenly become accessible to a whole new audience. Knowing that people who love the printed page and people who love  e-reader technology can both access what I write is a great feeling.

Imagine my excitement when I found out several months ago that a large print edition of my first book, The Detective and The Woman: A Novel of Sherlock Holmes was going to be printed for those with visual challenges. I was thrilled that yet another audience would have access to my work, an audience that has access to a limited number of printed…