I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

The Watson Fund Provides Financial Assistance for the BSI Weekend

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"to defray whatever expenses I may be put to" [SPEC]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCQ6NzdNlbvo6h_28U9FiknzN3n03o_G6KxgtncfJd2bXpJx3HSrTMnHFYnm50zDxxnDYSdtF8Xdsv9JhWrLX20xm0x7ayqkAcnrOpQVnXOQaPG-0DqvYQzCtbmOkoLyb1dEHQDl2wCWZm/s1600/BERY+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Alexander Holder's surprise [BERY]" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCQ6NzdNlbvo6h_28U9FiknzN3n03o_G6KxgtncfJd2bXpJx3HSrTMnHFYnm50zDxxnDYSdtF8Xdsv9JhWrLX20xm0x7ayqkAcnrOpQVnXOQaPG-0DqvYQzCtbmOkoLyb1dEHQDl2wCWZm/s640/BERY+2.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" title="Alexander Holder, The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet" width="512" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Invitations to the </span><a href="http://bsiweekend.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #006f85; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Baker Street Irregulars & Friends Weekend</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> in New York have been sent, and the public website was just updated. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Whenever folks get their invitations, there's usually a sense of surprise, relief and even trepidation. Yes, trepidation. For some people, attending the Weekend is a difficult and onerous task.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Some simply don't like to be around crowds, or perhaps detest the (often) harsh weather of New York in January. Others boycott for personal reasons. But there are some who simply can't afford the price of the accumulated events and the travel required to get there.</span><br />
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</b><b>The John H. Watson Fund</b></h3>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">In the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s under Tom Stix, Jr.'s ("The Norwood Builder") term as Wiggins of the Baker Street Irregulars, Tom created the </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Dr. John H. Watson Fund</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">, a financial assistance package for the BSI Weekend, and credited it as his most proud achievement of leading the BSI.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">According to the BSI:</span><br />
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<b>The Dr. John H. Watson Fund</b> offers financial assistance to all Sherlockians (membership in the BSI is not required) who might otherwise not be able to participate in the weekend's festivities. A carefully pseudonymous John H. Watson presides over the fund and welcomes contributions, which can be made by check payable to John H. Watson and sent (without return address on the envelope) to <b>Dr. Watson, c/o The Baker Street Irregulars, at 7938 Mill Stream Circle, Indianapolis, IN 46278</b>; your letters are forwarded unopened, and Dr. Watson will acknowledge your generosity. Requests for assistance should also be mailed <i><b>immediately</b></i> to Dr. Watson at the same address, and <b>must be received by December 3</b> for timely processing of requests.</blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">It is a wonderful resource that enables more people to enjoy one of the most important aspects of our hobby: spending time in the company of like-minded people. And while there are plenty of opportunities around the world to do this on a local level, the BSI Weekend happens just once a year and celebrates a long-standing (83 years!) tradition that was started by Christopher Morley.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Each year, the Fund is self-liquidating, meaning that assistance is granted to whatever extent is possible to the supplicants, and that generous Sherlockians are responsible for replenishing it every year. Traditionally this was done through simple check-writing, but then the BSI Cocktail Reception added </span><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/bsiweekend/auction.html" style="background-color: white; color: #006f85; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">an auction and drawing</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">, which also raise money for the Fund. Raffle tickets are sold throughout the weekend for some choice items and Peter Blau, BSI ("Black Peter") holds forth as an auctioneer </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">sine qua non</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span><br />
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The Watson Fund Provides Financial Assistance for the BSI Weekend

"to defray whatever expenses I may be put to" [SPEC] Invitations to the Baker Street Irregulars & Friends Weekend in N...

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by Scott Monty

The #BSIWeekend Site Is Updated

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"I was invited to a week-end gathering" [LAST]</h4>
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It's always fun to see when the BSI dinner invitations go out, because that means that the public information for the <a href="http://bsiweekend.com/" target="_blank">BSI Weekend</a> is not far behind. And so it goes this year.<br />
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There you'll find all of the information related to the Weekend, from the schedule of events to resources and reservation forms, as well as a neatly summarized section with a single page to print out.<br />
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A few things to note here:<br />
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<li>If you're sharing this on social media, please use the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23BSIWeekend&src=typd" target="_blank">#BSIWeekend</a>. This makes it easier to follow the topic (despite <i>who</i> you're following), makes photos easier to find, and increases the chances of creating a trending topic that could get media attention.</li>
<li>Feel free to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1966406243376083/" target="_blank">join the event posted on Facebook</a>.</li>
<li>If you have any suggestions for people attending for the first time, <b>please email us or leave a comment below</b>; we'll be posting our annual <a href="http://ihose.co/bsi2018tips" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">tips for getting the most out of the BSI Weekend</a> next month, and it would be great to include yours.</li>
<li>Please stay tuned <b><i>tomorrow </i></b>for information on helping to make the BSI Weekend more affordable.</li>
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<b>PROGRAMMING UPDATE:</b><br />
The BSI Cocktail Reception on January 13, 2018 is <b><span style="color: red;">SOLD OUT</span></b>. Please note that there will be <b><span style="color: red;">NO SALES</span></b> at the door.<br />
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And don't miss <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose74">Episode 74</a> of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose74" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">recapping the 2015 BSI Weekend</a>:<br />
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The #BSIWeekend Site Is Updated

"I was invited to a week-end gathering" [LAST] It's always fun to see when the BSI dinner invitations go out, because t...

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by Scott Monty

About Being a Sherlockian — It's More Than the Stories

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<b>"some sixty members assembled" [VALL]</b></h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvpKDedNubY47gD5G7NMpPGUrDvSJ2udeU2yTY5GVjKI5JYLSkiUrz1Mbk52pNxxZrfqImmWnpNyffRedsfQM4EVYzG6VlOqgaaxIq14oaQHBWUfAdwqmgchNbP9pTKUW-L7L0z7c32Zh9/s1600/About+Being+header.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="About Being a Sherlockian by Christopher Redmond" border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="635" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvpKDedNubY47gD5G7NMpPGUrDvSJ2udeU2yTY5GVjKI5JYLSkiUrz1Mbk52pNxxZrfqImmWnpNyffRedsfQM4EVYzG6VlOqgaaxIq14oaQHBWUfAdwqmgchNbP9pTKUW-L7L0z7c32Zh9/s640/About+Being+header.jpg" title="Header: About Being a Sherlockian" width="640" /></a></div>
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We use the term "Sherlockian" fairly frequently around here. To us, it's a term that means more than just being a fan of the hit BBC series. And it's even more than someone who has been studying the Sherlock Holmes stories for years.<br />
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No, "Sherlockian" is a term of endearment, an acknowledgment of a fellow "geek," a realization that Sherlock Holmes is more than a character in 60 original stories, countless movies, TV shows, stage plays, fanfic, pastiches, podcasts and more.<br />
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To us, "Sherlockian" is a badge of honor. It's a code word for someone who dedicates countless hours to the pursuit of a pastime that involves immersing themselves not only in a world of storytelling, but also in a world with other like-minded people.<br />
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And so it was that <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose99">Christopher Redmond</a> assembled some 60 like-minded people to write a collection of essays. You may recall that a little over a year ago, he debuted <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/11/exactly-sixty-one.html#.WhZVwEqnHb0"><i>About Sixty: Why Every Sherlock Holmes Story Is the Best</i></a>, where 60 authors were each assigned one story from the Canon and had to make the case for its preeminence. It was an exercise in cleverness (for the authors) and sadism (for the editor). And it turned out remarkably well.<br />
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Never one to let a good idea go to waste and directly following the success of <i>About Sixty</i>, Chris contacted 60 Sherlockians with a similar idea: another collection of essays, but this time about Sherlockians and what they do, with an emphasis on the authors’ stories of their own direct experiences. The result is <i><a href="http://wildsidepress.com/about-being-a-sherlockian-edited-by-christopher-redmond-paperback/">About Being a Sherlockian</a></i>, which is as much an explanation to the external world about our unique hobby as it is a journal of sorts, bringing us into the mind of familiar (or at least familiar types of) Sherlockians.<br />
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The book embraces the world of traditional Sherlockian societies and friendship, as well as creators, scholars, the fandom, collectors, and other branches of this amazing adventure.<br />
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As Chris notes,<br />
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"Perhaps most of the readers will be those who are already Sherlockians, but if the book should fall into the hands of someone who is not, I think it will give a very appealing picture of the endless riches to be found in What It Is We Do." </blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgLy10783xe4oRw5Yt8ZrKxMatdnwBhmEFjR-uJch3LBnKUzLkQHpTPZTeKXquMd0xFyjOnOBbAW54wTTgs-JjKwNtNsRIsmmP3ZO73UQ6OiUkPHBVgCPu_WLE5HZsr8fMKxPbQJUyJyS/s1600/About+Being.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="About Being a Sherlockian by Christopher Redmond" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="636" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgLy10783xe4oRw5Yt8ZrKxMatdnwBhmEFjR-uJch3LBnKUzLkQHpTPZTeKXquMd0xFyjOnOBbAW54wTTgs-JjKwNtNsRIsmmP3ZO73UQ6OiUkPHBVgCPu_WLE5HZsr8fMKxPbQJUyJyS/s640/About+Being.jpg" title="About Being a Sherlockian - cover" width="424" /></a></div>
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<br />
Edgar Smith long ago penned an essay in <i><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/">The Baker Street Journal</a></i> called "<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/02/what-is-it-that-we-love-in-sherlock.html#.WhZao0qnHb0">The Implicit Holmes</a>" that opened with the line "What is it that we love in Sherlock Holmes?" It became an instant classic and is an essay that so many of us use to help explain our interest in the stories.<br />
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But <i><b>About Being a Sherlockian</b></i> goes much further than that. It explores the deeper ties we have not only with Holmes, but with each other. And that's something that keeps many of us coming back to society meetings or even the <a href="http://bsiweekend.com/">Baker Street Irregulars and Friends Weekend</a>.<br />
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Get over to <a href="http://wildsidepress.com/about-being-a-sherlockian-edited-by-christopher-redmond-paperback/">Wildside Press</a> and purchase a copy of <i><a href="http://wildsidepress.com/about-being-a-sherlockian-edited-by-christopher-redmond-paperback/">About Being a Sherlockian</a></i>. See if the stories don't resonate with you.<br />
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And just in case, perhaps you'd like to listen to <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose108">Episode 108: Becoming a Sherlockian</a> as a companion piece.<br />
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About Being a Sherlockian — It's More Than the Stories

"some sixty members assembled" [VALL] We use the term "Sherlockian" fairly frequently around here. To us, it'...

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by Scott Monty

Baker Street Elementary — Warlock Holmes

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"Mr. Holmes, you are a wizard, a sorcerer" [SECO] </h4>
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One of the advantages of having powers that are uncommon is that one's peers might tend to think toward the fantastical. Sherlock Holmes's clients, and even Dr. Watson on occasion, thought that the conclusions he drew were otherwise impossible to attain. Holmes of course set them straight with his explanation of the details that he observed. But to the mere common folk, it might appear as witchcraft or sorcery.<br />
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If we look throughout the Canon, there are a number of mentions of the cultish. There are but two concerning witchcraft, however. For example, when Inspector MacDonald sees the message that Holmes deciphered in <i>The Valley of Fear</i>, he said,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Birlstone! What’s this, Mr. Holmes? Man, it’s <b>witchcraft</b>! Where in the name of all that is wonderful did you get those names?”</blockquote>
In "Shoscombe Old Place," the reference was more to the appearance of a corpse:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
He turned and tore open the coffin-lid behind him. In the glare of the lantern I saw a body swathed in a sheet from head to foot, with dreadful, <b>witch-like</b> features, all nose and chin, projecting at one end, the dim, glazed eyes staring from a discoloured and crumbling face.</blockquote>
However, turning away from the distaff side and instead searching for the term "wizard, we're rewarded with no fewer than four entries in the Sherlock Holmes stories:<br />
Inspector Hopkins in "The Abbey Grange":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“I believe that you are a <b>wizard</b>, Mr. Holmes. I really do sometimes think that you have powers that are not human. Now, how on earth could you know that the stolen silver was at the bottom of that pond?” </blockquote>
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The Right Honourable Trelawney Hope in "The Second Stain":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Thank you! Thank you! What a weight from my heart. But this is inconceivable—impossible. Mr. Holmes, you are a <b>wizard</b>, a <b>sorcerer</b>! How did you know it was there?”</blockquote>
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James M. Dodd in "The Blanched Soldier":<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“From South Africa, sir, I perceive.”<br />“Yes, sir,” he answered, with some surprise.<br />“Imperial Yeomanry, I fancy.”<br />“Exactly.”<br />“Middlesex Corps, no doubt.”<br />“That is so. Mr. Holmes, you are a wizard.”</blockquote>
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And in "The Retired Colourman" from Watson, no less:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I am convinced that he was following me.”<br />“No doubt! No doubt!” said Holmes. “A tall, dark, heavily moustached man, you say, with gray-tinted sun-glasses?”<br />“Holmes, you are a wizard. I did not say so, but he had gray-tinted sun-glasses.”</blockquote>
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Over at Baker Street Elementary, we can see the humble beginnings of such a reputation...<br />
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Baker Street Elementary</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> follows the original adventures of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, as they and their friends work through the issues of elementary school in Victorian London. An archive of all previous episodes can be viewed at </span><a href="http://www.bakerstreetelementary.org/" style="background-color: white; color: #006f85; font-family: verdana, geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;">www.bakerstreetelementary.org</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "verdana" , "geneva" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">.</span></div>
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Baker Street Elementary — Warlock Holmes

"Mr. Holmes, you are a wizard, a sorcerer" [SECO] One of the advantages of having powers that are uncommon is that one...

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by Scott Monty

Treason or Espionage?

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<span style="text-align: start;"><b>"Besides he is not a traitor." [LAST] </b></span></h4>
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<br />The word "treason" has been tossed around in a political context quite a lot in recent months, and sometimes, I'm afraid, by people <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-treason/2017/02/17/8b9eb3a8-f460-11e6-a9b0-ecee7ce475fc_story.html?utm_term=.7e4ac57b98f0">who don't know precisely what it means</a>. <br /><br />Regrettably, it seems possible that Sherlock Holmes (who had, according to Watson in <i>A Study in Scarlet</i>, "a good practical knowledge of British law") didn't know either.<br /><br />He uses the word "treason" four times in a single story, "The Bruce-Partington Plans," and nowhere else in the Canon, though it turns up once in a metaphorical context in <i>The Valley of Fear</i>. Indeed, Holmes and Watson toss around the words "treason" and "traitor" throughout the Bruce-Partington tale, referring to the deeds of the unexpected villain who stole the secret submarine plans and attempted to sell them to European spies. <br /><br />"To treason," Holmes tells the perpetrator at the climactic point of the story, "you added the more terrible crime of murder." The reply? "Before God I swear that I did not!" True enough, for it turns out that he didn't, himself, commit the murder; and stealing government documents, while it may be espionage, isn't necessarily treason.<br /><br />British legislation on the matter dates back to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treason_Act_1351">Treason Act of 1351</a>,  still in effect though many times amended. This law offers many ways of committing treason, from attempting to kill the sovereign (the King or Queen), to violating the sovereign's eldest daughter, using force or other constraint "to intimidate or overawe both Houses or either House of Parliament," and, most important, "adhering to the sovereign's enemies, giving them aid and comfort." To this day, the authors of pastiches love to see Sherlock Holmes battling treason and espionage — and, most of all, attempts to kill the sovereign. But possibly they, too, are a little hazy about what treason is.<br /><br />The phrase about "adhering" to enemies of the state was little changed when it was incorporated into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_Three_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Section_3:_Treason">Article III, Section 3</a> of the Constitution of the United States:  "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." This definition is elaborated, but not much, in the relevant statute, <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2381">18 US Code chapter 115 s.2381</a>. <br /><br />It was not felt necessary to make provisions in the Constitution about the sovereign's eldest daughter, and assassinating a President of the United States is not treason (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Czolgosz">Leon Czolgosz</a>, the most recent presidential assassin to face trial, was convicted of murder under New York law).<br /><br />As for the lifting of those Bruce-Partington plans, stealing and spying are not "levying war," and since the story is taking place in peacetime, it would be difficult to argue that the agent Hugo Oberstein represents any particular "enemies" to whom the villain is adhering. Declare him guilty of theft and espionage, then, but not, by American standards, guilty of treason, and be grateful for a constitutional clause designed to protect the weak and misguided as well as the strong and upright. <br /><br />I suppose it might be possible to argue under British law that the sovereign can have "enemies" even in peacetime, but if there is case law to that effect, it doesn't jump out at the casual researcher. The most recent people to be convicted of treason in Britain committed their evil deeds during World War II (they include <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joyce">William Joyce</a>, "Lord Haw-Haw"), and the most famous in modern times was Arthur Conan Doyle's acquaintance <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement">Roger Casement</a> during World War I. In the United States, similarly, there were a few cases after World War II. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg">Julius and Ethel Rosenberg</a>, executed in 1953, were convicted of espionage.<br /><br />The villain in "The Bruce-Partington Plans" should have been sentenced to death if he was indeed guilty of treason, but Watson's narrative makes clear that he was not: he "died in prison towards the end of the second year of his sentence." Probably not treason then, but espionage, although it too could bring the death penalty, as could just three other crimes: murder, arson in Her Majesty's dockyards, and piracy.<br /><br />It is notable that Oberstein was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, a reminder that foreigners may spy but cannot be guilty of treason, a crime of betrayal. It is notable also that Oberstein gets minor mention in another canonical story, "The Second Stain," in which another British subject, Lady Hilda Trelawney Hope, turns over government documents to another foreign spy. One wonders exactly why Sherlock Holmes did not accuse her of treason too. <br /><br /><div>
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Treason or Espionage?

"Besides he is not a traitor." [LAST] The word "treason" has been tossed around in a political context quite a lot ...

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by Chris Redmond

Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells

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<b>"...the scientific use of the imagination." </b>[HOUN]</h4>
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Imagine Sherlock Holmes trying to solve the case of an invisible man attacking London, matching wits with a traveler from out of time, tracking down a human / feline hybrid, or using his deductive skills to help fight Martian and lunar invaders! These are just some of the stories included in the new anthology <b><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1306925656/sherlock-holmes-in-the-realms-of-hg-wells-antholog" target="_blank"><i>Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells</i></a>.  </b>The anthology is currently  available at a discount via a <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1306925656/sherlock-holmes-in-the-realms-of-hg-wells-antholog" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a> campaign.<br />
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We interviewed some of the authors to learn a bit about their contribution to this interesting anthology. We asked each of them the same four questions:</div>
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<li>Please tell us a little bit about your story without giving too much away.</li>
<li>Which Wells story or stories do you connect to your Sherlock Holmes narrative? Why did you choose that story/ those stories?</li>
<li>Why did you want to participate in this project?</li>
<li>What are your current and upcoming projects?</li>
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<b>Katie Magnussen </b></h3>
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<b>1.</b> Sherlock Holmes has just come back from pretending to be dead, and is bored. Really bored. So bored that he doesn't hesitate to drag Watson into a travelling freak show while they're out for a walk. They see a bizarre creature in a cage, one whose escape happens to coincide with a string of savage deaths in the area. In order to stop the killings, Holmes has to discover the creature's origins.</div>
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<b>2.</b> The idea for the story comes from <i>The Island of Dr. Moreau</i>. I wanted to write something a little different, a little bizarre, and my mind instantly went to Moreau. It's delightfully terrifying, and almost all of the horror comes from the humans rather than the "monsters." The problem with a Moreau-based story was that I was not comfortable using Holmes as a stand-in for the protagonist, or somehow putting Holmes and/or Watson on the island, but I loved the idea of Sherlock Holmes tackling the ideas of that novel, and so instead of putting Holmes on the island, I brought the island to Holmes. I tried to give the same attention to the horrors of mankind as Wells did in his story, but tempered down to a more Doylean attitude, plus a healthy dose of good-old Watson optimism.</div>
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<b>3.</b> I've always loved crossover Sherlockiana. Put Holmes in the future, in the past, on another planet, meeting any figure of literature or history you can think of, and I'll read it. That doesn't mean I'll like it, I do have standards, but I'll certainly read it at least once. When presented with the opportunity to participate with a collection of tales combining the greatest detective with one of the fathers of science fiction, how could I say no?</div>
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<b>4.</b> I'm currently working on the third book of my sci-fi mystery series "The Adventures of Watts and Sherlock," following the lives of a doctor and a detective solving crimes in a bleak futuristic world. The first two books are available in ebook and print formats on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Katie-Magnusson/e/B01FWXYFWI" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, and hopefully the third will join them before Christmas. Anyone interested can visit <a href="http://www.wattsandsherlock.com/">www.wattsandsherlock.com</a> or <a href="http://facebook.com/WattsandSherlock">facebook.com/WattsandSherlock</a> for updates!</div>
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<b>John Linwood Grant</b></h3>
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<b>1.</b> If you’re a lover of the Holmes canon, then you should recognize Holmes’s return to Upper Swandam Lane, scene of "The Man with the Twisted Lip." When the moon shines down on the spread of a new and insidious drug throughout central London, Holmes, Watson and Special Branch must identify not only the killers of a respectable Chinese merchant, but the true origin of the "red opium" and make some difficult decisions about what to believe when they encounter a very troubled man.</div>
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<b>2.</b> I wanted something as canonical as it could be and yet still be a definite tribute to H.G. Wells’s science fiction. So I crossed the Wells/Doyle wires and chose a relatively minor aspect of <i>The First Men in the Moon</i> as my spark. I should pretend to be literary, but have a nasty feeling that I might have been influenced by seeing Lionel Jeffries in the dubious film adaptation of <i>First Men </i>when I was a child.</div>
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<b>3.</b> I suppose I simply like the work of both authors, having grown up with them. Also, rather than utterly rework Holmes, in cases like this I do enjoy sliding him just a touch outside of his original zone, enough to open up possibilities but not absolute certainties. This seemed a great opportunity to tease again.</div>
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<b>4.</b>  Currently I’m promoting my recent collection of strange Edwardian-based stories, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Persistence-Geraniums-Other-Worrying-Tales/dp/1976108926">A Persistence of Geraniums and Other Worrying Tales</a></i> — murder, madness, and the supernatural — and plotting out a much longer work featuring my recurring character Mr. Dry, the feared Deptford Assassin. I’m also editing <i><a href="http://greydogtales.com/blog/occult-detective-quarterly/odq/">Occult Detective Quarterly</a></i> magazine as usual, and will soon be editing a new anthology called <i>Hell’s Empire</i> which you might consider a demonic version of Wells’s <i>War of the Worlds</i>. Rather appropriate, really.</div>
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<b>Daniel D. Victor</b></h3>
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<b>1. </b>The ambiguous ending to the original version of H.G. Wells’ story, “The Country of the Blind,” merely hints at a positive outcome. We never learn whether the protagonist successfully escapes from an isolated land where everyone is blind. Despite his love for a blind woman and his early belief that “in the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king,” his plans to gain power go awry.  Once the village elders decide to put out his eyes, those strange growths on his face deemed responsible for his maddening references to something called “sight,” he concludes it’s time to flee. My story, “An Adventure in Darkness,” explains how the protagonist successfully returns to London where, to recreate his previous experience, he marries a beautiful blind woman. When violence threatens the relationship, Holmes and Watson are called in to set matters right.</div>
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<b>2.</b> I chose “The Country of the Blind” as my starting point for two reasons. First, I think it’s an exquisite story, a fantasy that readers can relate to on a literal level.  In a similar situation, wouldn’t most sighted people attempt to assert authority over those who cannot see? In fact, the set up seems typical of any situation in which an individual—however wrongly—feels stronger than everyone else.  Second, though a fable of sorts, the story takes place in a believable setting, one that doesn’t clash with the realistic world of Sherlock Holmes. Even in today’s real world, we occasionally learn of the discovery of an isolated community. Who’s not to say that hidden in the mountains of Ecuador, as in Wells' story, or somewhere else there really does live a group of blind people cut off from the rest of humanity? </div>
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<b>3.</b>  For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a fan of H.G. Wells. In graduate school I wrote a long, analytical paper about him called “Of Science Romances and Utopian Dreams.” (As a college freshman, I wrote a paper on Sherlock Holmes.) I've gone so far as to feature Wells as a character in my Holmes pastiche, “The Baron of Brede Place,” which is about Wells’ friend, writer Stephen Crane; and I have Wells reappear in “An Adventure in Darkness.” </div>
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<b>4.</b> I’m currently working on two distinctly different novels. One, a mystery, links Sherlock Holmes to the fiction of Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The other, a more contemporary piece, dramatizes significant events in my forty-six years of public school teaching. Together, the projects comprise two major academic interests of mine, literature and education.<br />
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To learn more about Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells, <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1306925656/sherlock-holmes-in-the-realms-of-hg-wells-antholog">go to the Kickstarter page here</a>.  You can back the project until November 18th.<br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: "times new roman";"><b>Derrick Belanger</b> is the author of the #1 bestselling book in its category <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="1519511957" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="1519511957" data-amzn-link-id="9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance" href="http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Adventure-Peculiar-Provenance/dp/1519511957/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_3292728" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_3292728" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=9e2003200f68f2fe44eb4bcdd1a73f6d&_cb=1451973203084" style="border: none; cursor: move; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>, which was in the top 200 bestselling books on Amazon. He also is the author of the MacDougall Twins with Sherlock Holmes books, the latest of which is <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B017862MVS" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="B017862MVS" data-amzn-link-id="5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur" href="http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Dinosaur-MacDougall-Sherlock-Holmes-ebook/dp/B017862MVS/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_7842789" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Curse of the Deadly Dinosaur</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_7842789" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=5293cce6e7483fecbc2d08a80a6fd7fa&_cb=1451973247482" style="border: none; cursor: move; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>, and he edited the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle horror anthology <a amzn-ps-bm-asin="B00P4E8AVI" class="amzn_ps_bm_tl" data-amzn-asin="B00P4E8AVI" data-amzn-link-id="a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a" data-amzn-ps-bm-keyword="A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural" href="http://www.amazon.com/Study-Terror-Revolutionary-Stories-Supernatural-ebook/dp/B00P4E8AVI/ref=as_li_bk_tl/?tag=thebakerstree-20&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&linkCode=ktl" id="amznPsBmLink_5010397" rel="nofollow" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural</a><span style="font-weight: normal;"><img alt="" border="0" height="0" id="amznPsBmPixel_5010397" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?source=bk&t=thebakerstree-20&bm-id=default&l=ktl&linkId=a71c0c4edf6b4a9c56848bf35d8b468a&_cb=1451973259426" style="border: none; cursor: move; height: 0px; margin: 0px; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; width: 0px;" width="0" /></span>. Mr. Belanger has recently started the publishing company <a href="http://www.belangerbooks.com/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Belanger Books</a> which released the Sherlock Holmes anthology <a data-amzn-asin="1533202273" href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Watson-Sherlock-Anthology-Stories/dp/1533202273/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Beyond Watson</a>. He resides in Colorado and continues compiling unpublished works by Dr. John H. Watson.</i><br />
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Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells

"...the scientific use of the imagination." [HOUN] Imagine Sherlock Holmes trying to solve the case of an invisible man att...

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by Belanger Books

Episode 132: Unquiet Spirits

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"full of spirits and energy" [GLOR] </h4>
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Bonnie MacBird returns to the show, this time to regale us with her own adventures that came with writing <i>Unquiet Spirits</i>, her latest Sherlock Holmes novel from HarperCollins.<br />
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The book is a sequel to the popular <i>Art in the Blood</i>, and follows Sherlock Holmes's adventures in England, Scotland and France in the months following <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i>. In preparing for this work, Bonnie did some traveling of her own and manages to weave her own tale of intrigue around whisky experts, old distilleries, a historical wine crisis, the inspiration for Hogwarts and much more.<br />
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And you'll want to stay tuned to make sure you can be part of a special drawing for a copy of <i>Unquiet Spirits</i>, available only to our Patreon subscribers. Be sure to listen to the entire podcast to discover how.<br />
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Information on sponsors, links, and notes available below.</div>
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<b>Sponsors</b></h2>
This episode includes our two longtime sponsors, plus a new addition. Please support our sponsors by visiting their sites:<br />
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<li><a href="http://www.wessexpress.com/">Wessex Press</a>, where you can discover the joys of <i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/newspaper3.html">Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle in the Newspapers, Volume 3</a></i></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bakerstreetjournal.com/" style="font-style: italic;">The Baker Street Journal</a>, with its own special blend of magic</li>
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Would you care to become a sponsor? You can find <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/p/contact.html#.Vc1Qx7JViko">more information here</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://traffic.libsyn.com/ihearofsherlock/ihearofsherlock132.mp3">Download</a> [Save As] | File size 27.9 MB, 1:00:26</h4>
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<b>Notes</b></h2>
1:32 Our spirits will not be quieted<br />
4:13 Getting prematurely delighted<br />
5:34 Welcome to Bonnie MacBird<br />
8:12 Inspiration for <i>Unquiet Spirits</i><br />
10:52 The wine calamity of 1889<br />
15:31 Researching whisky is hard<br />
22:28 Sherlock Holmes's school<br />
28:26 Surprises along the way<br />
33:46 Looking at Holmes's past<br />
40:21 Creating situations in which Holmes's powers are conveyed<br />
42:21 A strong female character<br />
44:41 Watson was discrete, despite being a promoter of Holmes<br />
50:26 Don't forget the annotations<br />
54:38 Why the magic happens<br />
57:15 A couple of items in the news lately</div>
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<b>Links</b></h2>
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<li><i><a href="https://macbird.com/unquiet-spirits/">Unquiet Spirits</a></i></li>
<li>Bonnie MacBird on <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose83">Episode 83: Art in the Blood</a></li>
<li><a href="https://fettes.com/">Fettes College</a></li>
<li><a href="https://macbird.com/unquiet-spirits/notes/">Annotations to <i>Unquiet Spirits</i></a></li>
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Many more links, articles and images are available in our Flipboard magazine at <a href="http://ihose.co/flipsherlock">ihose.co/flipsherlock</a> as well as through our accounts on <a href="http://facebook.com/ihearofsherlock">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://instagram.com/ihearofsherlock">Instagram</a>, and <a href="http://twitter.com/ihearofsherlock">Twitter</a>.<br />
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Episode 132: Unquiet Spirits

"full of spirits and energy" [GLOR] Bonnie MacBird returns to the show, this time to regale us with her own adv...

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by Scott Monty

Remembering John Hillerman

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 "lost without my Boswell" [SCAN] </h4>
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Best known as Higgins on <i>Magnum P.I</i>., John Hillerman died in his home in Houston on November 9, 2017. Often playing stuffy Brits, Hillerman was a Texan through and through. And "stuffy Brit" is of course the vein in which some Sherlockians knew him.<br />
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According to <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/john-hillerman-dead-magnum-pi-actor-was-84-1056800">The Hollywood Reporter</a>,<br />
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"He landed his first professional theatrical role in Middleton, Ohio, and  went on to appear in productions at The Cincinnati Playhouse; it was  there that he honed his British accent and natty style." </blockquote>
Aside from the long-running <i>Magnum P.I.</i> (1980-88), Hillerman was no stranger to the mystery genre. He was in the 1974 noir classic <i>Chinatown</i> and on the <i>Ellery Queen</i> TV series. For Sherlockians, he'll be remembered as Dr. John H. Watson to <b>Edward Woodward</b>'s Sherlock Holmes in 1990's TV movie <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpfFlwhg7EQ">Hands of a Murderer</a></i>.<br />
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Filmed in England with a script by Charles Edward Pogue who wrote <b><a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2007/02/much-shocked-by-death-houn_9.html">Ian Richardson</a></b>'s two Holmes outings <i>The Sign of Four</i> and <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i>, the Woodward/Hillerman outing has received mixed reviews among Sherlockians. It has its fans for Woodward's Holmes (a fine actor although miscast here) and Anthony Andrews' Professor Moriarty; it is a bit slow moving but does have the nice touch of mentioning <i>The Lost World's</i> Professor Summerlee as a member of the Diogenes Club.<br />
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As for Hillerman's stolid Watson we might do no better that to quote the good doctor himself from "His Last Bow":<br />
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"...you have changed very little - save for that horrible goatee." </blockquote>
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And for those with a penchant for Mel Brooks, <a href="https://youtu.be/3NaQxUEfxt0?t=22s">here's a nice tie-in</a> to our Boswell quote above:<br />
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<b>ADDENDUM:</b> I am reminded by Monica Schmidt that <i>Hands of a Murderer</i> was not Hillerman's only turn as Watson. The Season 4 Episode 18 of <i>Magnum P.I.</i> had Higgins recalling events from 1976 when a friend from Sandhurst, David Worth (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Macnee">Patrick Macnee</a>) went to Hawaii to attend a funeral of a friend. Worth believes he is Sherlock Holmes, Higgins is Watson and the friend was murdered by the infamous Moriarty. <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/06/remembering-patrick-macnee.html#.WgXOsGhSzb0">Macnee</a> played Watson for <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/06/remembering-sir-christopher-lee.html">Christopher Lee</a> and <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2017/05/remembering-roger-moore.html">Roger Moore</a> and was himself Holmes in more than one TV film. As Holmes might say. "The thing is beyond <span class="highlight">coinc</span>idence." [CREE]<br />
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