From Mortality to Reichenbach

As you FF.N readers will know, the last chapter of Mortality has been uploaded. Even with the climax past, there was enough room for some treats in the final chapter, particularly one face-off that I just have not seen in fanfiction. (Yes, you will have to go read the chapter to find out who the players are.)

And I’ve actually had the epilogue sitting on my hard drive for a few days now (muchas gracias to Riandra for her encouragement to go ahead with the rather different style!). The title is simply “War,” regarding The War That Never Was between Scotland Yard and Moriarty’s empire (or family, as it would have been called at the time). The whole thing is written looking towards what is inevitable—or, in the terminology of the piece, “Reichenbach.” I’ll be uploading it soon, and I am so excited.

As a side note, the epilogue rounds the current total word count off to 80,000 words. Officially, the longest work of fiction I’ve ever written. And with all the bonus material coming, I think I can look forward to a final total of 90,000, at least.

Now for a shout-out. I started out last week with definite depression, for a variety of reasons and no reason at all. (I am an artist; this, sadly, is my definition of “normal”.) Someone on FF.N helped not only to pull me out of depression but also to pull me back in to Sherlockiana, in general. Azolean. Azolean started off my week by reviewing a couple of my Sherlockian fics and going so far as to buy AMM off of Amazon.

Wow.

Now, if it had ended right there, it would have been really cool. But this person went further than that, going on to pick up Mortality and review the entire thing chapter-by-chapter.

Yes. Seriously.

In one week.

It was fantastic. It was one of the best things that had happened to me in a long time (alongside finding out that a certain idol of mine was actually reading the book, as well). Let’s rate it up there right below being introduced to Doctor Who (as far as great things this summer go). Yes, really!

I was practically living from review to review, and I truly missed the reviews when Azolean had gotten to the last chapter. But what an uplifting experience! Everyone loves getting praise on their stories, and even something simple, along the lines of “I loved this!” can be encouraging. But Azolean, despite reading the entire thing in a week, took the time to praise details (and sometimes criticize, and even that was very respectful and very welcome).

It was absolutely magnificent.

So borne up on a wave of glorious feedback, I actually went on to type out the prologue for The Road to Reichenbach. In fact, I’ve even started the first chapter! As I told Ria in answer to a question on the prologue, 90% of the dialogue is Canon, most of the body language is Granada or Granada-based, and then all the introspection is me.

Mortality is the book that I’ve been wanting to do since halfway through AMM… and Road is the book that I’ve been wanting to do since halfway through Mortality.

Road has also been, by far, the most difficult book of the three to plan. AMM was so easy—short, character-centric pieces. Quite often, I was churning out two or three in a day. From beginning to end, half a year… and only four months were actually spent in intensive writing and editing. Mortality, on the other hand, has always had a pretty loose outline, with plenty of room for improvisation. I knew the general direction I wanted the story to go, and I kind of gave the characters free rein.

In fact, the one time that I didn’t was the time that the entire thing had ground to a halt smack-dab in the middle. I then backed up and rewrote a few chapters, and moved on. The epiphany, the element that kept the book going from that point on, was Watson. Watson wanted to be the hero, and, seriously, who was I to deny him? The rest you readers know: Watson’s search-and-rescue operations make up Act II of the story.

Anyway, Mortality is a fairly-straightforward story. It needed more plotting than I’ve tried to give a story in a long time, but, even so, it’s not very complex. Its real strength lies less in plot (surprise, surprise) and more in characterization, not merely of Holmes and Watson, but of Lestrade, Mycroft, Wiggins, Moriarty, Moran…

And while I’ve been excited about The Road to Reichenbach, I’ve also been frustrated and worried. Think about it: Holmes has an ostensible plethora of cases that keep him in France from early January to late April. Plus, in FINA, he describes the past few months thus:

“[I]f a detailed account of that silent contest could be written, it would take its place as the most brilliant bit of thrust-and-parry work in the history of detection.”

You do see my problem, right? I still can’t write a mystery to save my life, and Mortality was hard enough for me to figure out, at times. How in the name of all that’s wonderful was I supposed to try to match that kind of genius vs. genius?

Bottom line: I couldn’t. I don’t have the mindset required for that kind of story. Which was what I knew all along, and I was trying to force myself to do something I knew I couldn’t manage. Well, that’s pretty self-destructive, isn’t it? So I stopped. I stopped and remembered my strength.

Characterization.

January to April 1891 needs someone who can really do that “silent contest” justice. That person is not me. However. However, I can do the characters justice. Yes, we’ll still see Holmes in France. We’ll get to see some of what he’s doing. And we will indeed be seeing the build-up to the infamous Monday mass-arrest.

Honestly, I think the Yarders are going to be much stronger characters in Road. I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of Bradstreet, Hopkins, and MacDonald—and, of course, more of Gregson. Morton, I can’t speak for just yet. But I expect we’ll see him, however large or small his role is.

Thus far, my chapter outline has seven chapters to detail events that Doyle depicted in one short story. It will probably grow as I reach that point. Honestly, the entire thing is really even more open for improvisation than Mortality, and it’s both scary and exciting. I’m not entirely sure where this road will take me, but I can’t wait to find out.

And now that I’ve gotten you all excited for The Road to Reichenbach, let me just remind you… Mortality still isn’t finished. There’s a lot of editing to be done. And that’s my first priority, up until I submit it for publication.

Next up, a review of Daniel Smith’s Sherlock Holmes Companion. Stay tuned!

Mortality, Writer's Block, and Other Ramblings

...Wow, it has been a long time since I last posted. I am so sorry. You have my BFF & beta-reader to thank for a post right now...

The first draft of Mortality is almost finished. I am so glad. It's been over a year, now, since I started writing it, and now I'm so close and yet so far. So close: just one chapter and an epilogue to go. So far: it took me a month to get through the previous chapter, which wasn't even average length. Not to mention the fact that I've got missing scenes to write in and the entire thing to edit.

I'll be really glad when I can move on to The Road to Reichenbach. Mortality has been one long angst/torture-fest for Holmes & Co, and that was initially fun to write... initially. A few months ago, however, I reached the point where I was tired of writing all this angst and depressing stuff, and I was more than ready to move on. Months ago. Last month (or possibly May, I can't recall for sure), I wrote a scene in which Holmes suffered a panic attack. I was assured by my ever-encouraging reviewers that the scene was good, but it was the first time I've ever hated a scene while I was writing it. I didn't want to put Holmes through that panic attack, but I had to. It wouldn't have been a realistic recovery without a few bleak moments like that, and I knew that. But I really didn't like it.

Still... even when I can't write, I do other things to promote Deliver Us from Evil. It now has its own set of TV Tropes pages: the Main Page, a Character Sheet, a Quotes Page, a YMMV page which details some reviewer reactions (that's an entertaining page to work on), and Awesome, Funny, Heartwarming, Nightmare Fuel, and Tear Jerker entries. Please, do check it out!

On my deviantART account, I actually have several Sherlockian gallery folders: one for AMM illustrations, one for general Sherlock Holmes, one for Granada Sherlock Holmes (including a second-place contest entry!), one for A Study in Regret (for which I really enjoy doing fanart), and one for Deliver Us from Evil, which includes cover-art for Mortality, as well as a couple of blurbs. (I really ought to do more fanart for myself.)

On a rather unrelated note, I can't wait for NaNo... I'm going to be writing my "potential novel" Greater Love (see my Sherlockian novel list for details). No matter what else I'm doing at the time - college or editing or Doctor Who/canon!Holmes crossovers or whatever - I am definitely writing that novel.

Did I say Doctor Who? I did, didn't I? Did I mention that my cousin finally pulled me into it? 'Course, if you do keep track of me on FF.N, you probably already knew that. But no Wholock for me, thanks - I crave Wholmes. Hence my very-much-AU planned crossover, Fantastic, My Dear Holmes, starring the Ninth Doctor, Beth Lestrade, Rose Tyler, and Sherlock Holmes. (And probably John Watson and clone!Moriarty, as well.) Be prepared for timey-wimeyness, fluff, unashamed romance, hurt/comfort... and more fluff!

And check back here next week! I've made a resolution to break my writer's block and get myself back onto the blogging scene, so I am going to do a post once a week, every Wednesday. Next time, it'll be about Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes, and Sherlock. Stay tuned!

Bringing Sherlock Holmes to Life in 2012

There’s no denying it: in the past few years, Sherlock Holmes has gathered up so much momentum that he’s blasted out into orbit. Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes and Steve Moffat & Mark Gatiss’s Sherlock became cultural phenomena overnight. The Arthur Conan Doyle Estate authorized Anthony Horowitz to write a new addition to the Canon. And now, with the advent of e-book publishing, there are more Sherlockian pastiches than ever.

Plus, his adventures just won’t stop being fantastic. He fights alleged witchcraft, faces off the Queen of Fairies, remains in combat with Dracula, fires off texts on his mobile… When you get right down to it, Sherlock Holmes is a very big action hero.

But.

There’s also a pervasive idea that one must reimagine the stories to get a Sherlock Holmes fit for the modern audience. After all, we’re a culture that’s been inundated with a Hollywood mindset. Two generations have grown up with Star Wars… and Star Wars’ fast pacing. Modern novels reflect that fast-paced mindset. Allow a film or a novel to ramble… and you run a definite risk of losing your audience.

What does that mean for the Great Detective? Guy Ritchie & Co. believed it means that you have to amp up the action, lose the “stuffiness” of the insidious iconic image—in their own words, “Reinvent Sherlock Holmes.” Steve Moffat and Mark Gatiss dreamt up a Sherlock Holmes set in modern London that would be as heavily influenced by the present day as the Canon was by its own era.

I’m not saying that either idea is actually wrong. I’m not here to say that.

But.

The fact remains that neither adaptation of Sherlock Holmes sticks very closely to the source material. In fact, very few adaptations have. Furthermore, out of the many dozens of actors that have portrayed the Great Detective since the 1890s, only Peter Cushing, Jeremy Brett, and Clive Merrison have actually portrayed Sherlock Holmes in the original stories (barring the numerous versions of The Hound of the Baskervilles).

So why don’t we ever get a fresh retelling of the Canon on screen? Did Granada raise the bar too high, or do people just want to do their own thing with Holmes? And why don’t we ever get a fresh retelling of the Canon in print?

A harder question to ask, I know. But with so many details that Sir ACD, ironically, messed up—including entire plot points and devices—one would think that some brave soul would try to tackle the Canon without going so far as to alienate the stories from the original material.

Now, to be entirely fair, I do know of two people who have done so. Michael Hardwick’s The Revenge of the Hound takes place in 1902, uses the story “The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax,” and serves to settle such points as Watson’s Edwardian marriage, Holmes’s refusal of knighthood, and his retirement. Marcia Wilson, known better to those of us on FF.N as aragonite, has her own cycle of books (only the “prequel,” You Buy Bones, published thus far) centered on Lestrade, his fellow Yarders, and Watson that fills in quite a lot of blanks in the Moriarty/Great Hiatus story arc in the Canon. Best of all, these two authors are magnificently faithful to the original stories.

And that’s where yours truly is working hard to be. You’ve seen me bandy around the terms “epic” and “saga” in conjunction with my series-in-progress, Deliver Us from Evil. I’ve also billed it as historical suspense/thriller, because these books are in no way actual mysteries. It’s the influence of Hollywood rearing its head, but it’s Hollywood with a distinct twist—I’m not veering away from the source material. In fact, I’m in bed with it.

Deliver Us from Evil, Book I: Mortality starts out with the beginning of the Culverton Smith Case. We meet Victor Savage, we watch him die, we watch Holmes himself fall prey to Smith’s cunning. We get that awful conversation between Holmes and Smith from Holmes’s point-of-view. And then we find out that Smith was being backed by Moriarty.

Behold—Mortality’s tie-in to the events of “The Final Problem.” At the outset of the novel, Holmes and Watson are less than seven months away from Reichenbach. Book II will cover Reichenbach and hopefully clear up some problems with the original story. Books III and IV will go into the trials and tribulations of Holmes, Watson, and Scotland Yard during the Great Hiatus. Book V will deliver a modified “Empty House” as well as a clearing-up of the mysterious figure known as Colonel Moriarty.

In regards to what I’m doing with Deliver Us from Evil, I like to think of Sherlock Holmes himself as an antique watch. The watch needs some dusting, some polish, has some parts that don’t work and need replacing… Sherlock Holmes is like that. He just needs a little TLC to shine brighter than ever—in his original glory. No steampunk tales or 21^st century retellings need apply to make Sherlock Holmes an action hero… or antihero, as the case may be.

There’s a reason why Sherlock Holmes has endured, why millions have loved him for one hundred and twenty years. There’s nothing wrong with falling in love with Rathbone’s WWII-era Holmes, RDJ’s steampunk Holmes, Cumberbatch’s modern Holmes… but understand that you’re not falling in love with the original. Because the original awaits adventure in a sitting room that’s gaslit and protected from Victorian smog…

Because the original lives in a world that is, for the most part, always 1895. And that, dear reader, is where Sherlock Holmes’s greatest adventures will always be.

Future Sherlockian Novel LIST

Yep, here it is. Prepare to be shocked at the insane amount of project ideas you’re about to see.

The Deliver Us from Evil Saga

Description: Almost definitely a five-book series now, Deliver Us from Evil (a.k.a. DUE) covers the events in the lives of Holmes, Watson, and Lestrade from October 1890 to Autumn 1894—the Culverton Smith case, Holmes’s employment by the French government, Reichenbach, the Great Hiatus, the publishing of the Adventures and the Memoirs in The Strand Magazine, the Moriarty trial, Mary Watson’s death, “The Empty House,” and the shocking affair of the Dutch steamship Friesland.

Target Dates: An ongoing project for the next few years. Possibly one book per year, with a small chance of Mortality making it to press before Christmas.

Book I: Mortality

            Scotland Yard and Dr. John Watson struggle to prevent the goal of London’s greatest crime lord: the destruction of Sherlock Holmes.

Book II: The Road to Reichenbach

            Caught in a terrible war, Sherlock Holmes finds that the choices he makes will have far-reaching consequences.

Book III: To Take Up the Pen

            With Holmes gone and his reputation maligned, Dr. Watson sets out to honor his memory in The Strand Magazine.

Book IV: Those Dark Hours

            As Holmes and Watson approach a final confrontation, they must wonder when the cost will become too high.

Book V: Dawn’s First Light

            When Holmes and Watson reunite, they set out to defeat their one great enemy left: Colonel John Moriarty.

The Sons of Sherlock Holmes Series

Description: A nine-book series focusing on Davy Wiggins and the boys known as the Baker Street Irregulars, from their inception in 1880 to their continuation in World War I.

Target Dates: N/A

Book I: The Twelve Apostles

            When a young detective rescues a street boy, they join forces to create one of the most famous detective forces ever.

Book II: The Silent Army

            No storyline available. The book covers the progression of the Irregulars from meeting Dr. Watson in 1881 to meeting his fiancé in 1888.

Book III: His Father’s Son

            No storyline available. The book focuses on Davy Wiggins’s coming of age and his relationship with his mentor/father-figure, Sherlock Holmes, especially as Reichenbach looms. Might also cover the events of the Ripper Case.

Book IV: Children’s Crusade

            No storyline available. Ought to be basically the same as the once-projected novel, An Irregular Point of View, covering the Irregulars during the Great Hiatus. The name comes from the fact that, for the first time, the Irregulars are heavily targeted by the Moriarty syndicate, even the children—which leads to Watson’s disbanding the group.

Book V: The Prodigal Father

            When Sherlock Holmes returns to London, he finds that he must heal more than his relationship with Watson.

Book VI: The Irregular’s Wife

            No storyline available. When attempts are made on the life of Wiggins’s wife, he enlists the help of his employer. The catch? The young Mrs. Wiggins is a common street girl, and not even she has a clue why someone should look to murder her.

Book VII: Our Twilight

            No storyline available. As Holmes thrives, so do the Irregulars… But. The world is entering into the 20^th century and is growing more dangerous as it does.

Book VIII: The Breaking of the Brotherhood

            No storyline available. In Autumn 1903, Holmes retires and moves away to Sussex. The Irregulars are left devastated. Can Wiggins, long since a consulting detective in his own right, hold his old band together?

Book IX: Once and Future

            No storyline available. With the onset of World War I and Holmes’s employment in British Intelligence, he sets out to reunite the Irregulars. But many, including Wiggins, enlist in Kitchener’s Army. The new generation of Irregulars that forms will be spearheaded by none other than Helen and Sherlock Watson, the eldest of Dr. Watson’s children.

The Boyhood of Sherlock Holmes Series

Description: From Sherlock’s birth to the famous meeting in St. Bart’s, 1881, follow the first twenty-three years of Sherlock Holmes’s life—his loves, hopes, joys, and losses.

Target Dates: N/A

Book I: The Little Violinist

            No storyline available. Sherlock’s first few years of life, seen from not only his POV but also his mother’s and brother’s.

Book II: A Threefold Cord

No storyline available. Young Sherlock forms friendships village girl Anne Middleton and Irish Tinker Breandán Delaney, creating memories that will remain with him for the rest of his life. (Eccl. 4:12)

Book III: Lord of the Manor

            No storyline available. With Father in London and Mycroft in Cambridge, Sherlock has been man of the house since he was ten. But now, as he enters his teens, he learns about leadership, the use and abuse of authority, and the responsibilities that come with being in-charge.

Book IV: Detective in the Making

            No storyline available. Separated from kith and kin for the first time, Sherlock struggles to find his feet at Cambridge. He finds a friend in Victor Trevor and eventually becomes enamored with the idea of becoming a detective.

Book V: Hours Yet ‘Til Dawn

            No storyline available. Just after quitting Cambridge to set up in London as an independent detective, Sherlock’s parents die in a fire, and he knows it was deliberate. The nineteen-year-old sets out to find his parents’ murderer and comes to know Inspector Geoffrey Lestrade in the process.

Book VI: The Passing of an Era

            No storyline available. As young Mr. Holmes struggles in his fledgling career, he makes a lasting friend in the Welsh-Jewish Annie Rhys but loses Anne Middleton and Breandán Delaney. The next three years of his life are lonely… until he meets first Davy Wiggins and then, several months later, John H. Watson, MD.

The Sherlock Holmes and the Great War Saga

Description: Yes, originally, this was meant simply to be a novel. But WWI? With Holmes in British Intelligence, the Watson children heading the Irregulars, Watson and Wiggins on the frontlines, and Lestrade & Co. still in the harness, you have all the makings of an epic series.

Target Dates: N/A

Book I: An East Wind

            No storyline available. As Europe gears up for the most devastating war yet in history, Sherlock Holmes returns to London to enlist Dr. Watson’s aid against German spymaster Von Bork. The next month will be the hardest either have known in years, for Watson and Wiggins are leaving with Kitchener’s Army. Holmes resumes residence in 221B for a final time as he goes fulltime with British Intelligence, and Helen and Sherlock Watson round up a new generation of Baker Street Irregulars, including Inspector Lestrade’s youngest child, Michael.

Book II: Valleys of Fear

            No storyline available. The war drags on. Watson, Wiggins, and the sons of Scotland Yarders stay in touch with their families. Holmes does good work in Room 40; Helen, Sherlock, and Michael do their part not only in aiding Holmes but also in solving their own mysteries. And then one of the Zeppelin raids on London destroys the Watson home…

Book III: The Quest

            No storyline available. When Lt.-Colonel Watson goes missing in 1918, Holmes and Helen set off together to find him. Along the way, Helen rescues a severely injured Wiggins, and Holmes witnesses the death of another of his original twelve Irregulars.

The Greater Love Duology

Description: A possible duology, anyway, this story is very much an Alternate Universe. Many Sherlockians have read or know of tales in which the Great Detective is no longer the Great Detective but a criminal genius. But, as I told my Apprentice mentor, I wanted to write one that portrays the beauty of the friendship between Holmes and Watson even under nearly impossible circumstances… And one that sees a damaged young man come to redemption through brotherly love. This will actually be a fleshing-out of “88. Wicked” from AMM.

Target Dates: The initial novel will likely be started as soon as the Mortality manuscript is complete. You can thank my longtime beta-reader and BFF teenelizabeth for that.

Greater Love: A Tale of Redemption

Discharged from the army, lonely Dr. John Watson seeks to befriend a young criminal genius. (John 15:14)

Possible sequel: Greater Love: A Tale of Miracles

            After years of success as a private detective, Sherlock Holmes is endangered when details of his criminal past threaten to emerge.

Standalones

Beware—here be AUs!

Have Yourself a Chaotic Little Christmas

Description: I mentioned this one about a month ago—not a novel, but a collection of short stories. Allow me to reiterate: “Those of you keeping track of the Sherlockian part of FF.N probably saw the advent calendar challenge in December. That was hilarious fun, and I plan to edit my own Christmas collection in hopes of publishing it in time for next Christmas. This anthology includes vampires (not what you think, trust me), Jack the Ripper, Moriarty, Mary getting the better of Holmes, picnics in graveyards, WWI, the Irregulars, Lestrade, Irene Norton, Kitty Winter, and whole lot of delicious crack!”

Target Date: I’ll get it edited and filled-out, and then see if MX Publishing will take it for this November. (Not December, as part of the fun of the original challenge was reading a new story each day of December!)

Nonexistent

            Sherlock Holmes finds himself trapped in the spirit realm when his archenemy ensures that the detective was never born.
Description: Yes, this is that nameless AU idea I had last fall, in which the Great Detective finds himself in limbo thanks to a certain mathematical genius in the FINA era. It’s up to Sherlock, Mycroft, Watson, and Lestrade to restore the time-space continuum and return Sherlock to his physical form.

Target Date: N/A

Merged

            A modern detective finds herself trapped in London 1890, and her way home may be through Sherlock Holmes.

Description: Yeah, that one. Y’know, I got caught up with Mortality and forgot all about poor little Merged. Well, that, and my ideas and drive for the story were floundering. I’d still like to do it sometime, though—I certainly still like the idea of Holmes/Kathleen. They were just plain cute together.

Target Date: N/A

Breaking through the Darkness

            A blinded Sherlock Holmes must learn to be a detective without his eyesight.

Description: You might recall this one, too—a projected fleshing-out of AMM AU “14. Blind”. Once again, thank you, Mam'zelleCombeferre, for pointing out what should have been obvious to me—“This could be an interesting whole story.”

Target Date: N/A

Not a Marrying Man

            As Sherlock Holmes embarks upon the adventure of matrimony, he must learn to make his fledgling family a priority.

Description: Mm-hmm, that one, too. What can I say? I still like Holmes/Agatha. I once said that the germ for this idea was “my incorrigible romanticism and insatiable desire to see Sherlock Holmes married. Originally, yes, this was going to carry a mystery or an adventure that had echoes the Moriarty gang. However, I realized that the story would be stronger if it focused on Holmes’s struggles to balance his life between his work and his marriage. One of the antagonists might actually end up being cocaine (AMM readers might recall a few stories on the subject).

Target Date: N/A

Brother and Sister: The Detective and the Doctor’s Wife

            Sherlock Holmes finds an unlikely comrade in his biographer’s wife, Mary Watson.

Description: If you’ve read AMM or Mortality, you know that I regard the relationship between Holmes and Mary to have a brother/sister chemistry to it. The idea for this novel was born out of a desire to fill in the blanks between SIGN and Mortality. I want to explore the development of a familial relationship between Holmes and the woman who, in his eyes, took his best friend away from him. This would include the Ripper Case, the Watson wedding, Mary’s miscarriages, and a few instances in which she proves herself to be quite useful, indeed.

Target Date: N/A

Sherlock Holmes and the Rulers of Darkness

When Sherlock Holmes investigates a haunted site, he realizes that his fight will be with “spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Description: What, you didn’t think I’d leave it out, did you? Allow me to reiterate that the novella idea is inspired by Haunted Castles of Britain and Ireland and Ephesians 6:12. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Again, think Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. It’ll be like that.

Target Date: N/A

Helen of London

            Being Dr. Watson’s firstborn can be difficult; being Sherlock Holmes’s goddaughter can be even more so.

Description: An anthology of short stories about Helen Watson and her father/daughter relationship with Sherlock Holmes. Will range from Helen’s infancy to post-WWII and include the Sussex Downs, WWI, Holmes and Watson giving up smoking in the ’20s, their deaths in 1937, and Helen’s reactions to the Basil Rathbone films.

Target Date: N/A

Sherlock Holmes and the Great War: The Leave-Taking

            When Kitchener’s Army leaves London, Sherlock Holmes and several Yarders are there to see them off.

Description: This novella will cover the departure of Kitchener’s Army as seen through the eyes of Geoffrey Lestrade, Tobias Gregson, Stanley Hopkins, Roger Bradstreet, Peter Athelney Jones, Alec MacDonald, and Sherlock Holmes. Each of these men are seeing a loved one leave for the war, and each of these men are scared. The Great Detective surprises them all by being the one to break down as the train pulls out.

Target Date: N/A

…That’s all of them. Wooow. Were you keeping count? Thirty-four. Thirty-four. Can you believe it?! That’s more than enough to keep me busy for ten years at least! At this rate, I’ll be writing nothing but Sherlock Holmes for the rest of my life!

Not, mind you, that I’d really mind.

Deliver Us from Evil... Underway!

Yes, the first book of Deliver Us from Evil has actually appeared on FanFiction.Net!  Well, to be precise, the first book has been online since the 1^st of August.  Somehow, I never got around to making an announcement ‘til now—my blushes, Watson.

So!  This first installment is titled Mortality.  Rating is T.  Genres are Crime/Friendship (there are several genres into which the story could fit, I think, but these two seemed to be the best).  The main characters are listed as Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Lestrade.

Hold the ball!  Lestrade?  Why is Lestrade one of the two stars?  It’s not a pre-Watson story!

Well, dear reader, we’ll get to that in a minute.

The summary is as follows:

Late 1890: a young gentleman hires Sherlock Holmes to investigate his step-uncle, Culverton Smith. As Holmes digs deeper, he finds links to a powerful old enemy—and must come face to face with his own mortality. The first part in a series.

However, I’m thinking of changing that summary in order to draw more interest—the first nine installments have garnered only 22 reviews.  That, m’dears, is the worst review ration I’ve received in a long time—compounded by the fact that I’m getting about 100 hits per chapter.  A big shout-out to MadameGiry25 for her faithful and constructive reviews—and to VHunter07 and RachelG, as well, for their enthusiastic encouragement in their reviews!

Now, every story should be able to be condensed into one sentence—this is called a storyline, and it’s vital to getting a novel from the laptop screen to the bookstore shelves.  Here’s the current storyline (though I’m also going to rework this):

Late 1890: A murder investigation tangles Sherlock Holmes and those around him in a conflict that has been years in the making with a powerful enemy.

So how about this for the FF.N summary:

In November 1890, a murder investigation sparks off a chain of events that will end at a Swiss waterfall. Scotland Yard and Watson struggle to stop Moriarty’s most devastating plan: the destruction of Sherlock Holmes. First in a series.

Sound good?  Now, how about this for the storyline:

Scotland Yard and Dr. John Watson struggle to prevent the goal of London’s greatest crime lord: the destruction of Sherlock Holmes.

So, let’s return to the little (forgive the irresistible pun) matter of Lestrade as one of the stars, and why he’s listed as one of the two main characters on FF.N.  Frankly, it’s all due to his “bulldog tenacity,” as Holmes so aptly puts it.  Lestrade committed himself early on in the story and has refused to stay off the stage since—he still doesn’t mind being the follower, but he’s pretty keen about seeing this mess through to the end.

The same can be said of Davy Wiggins, Holmes’s grown-up leader of the Baker Street Irregulars, but this young man is more than just tenacious—he’s positively fierce in his loyalty.

So where does Watson fit into all this?  I was asking myself that question for months, because he most definitely was not getting enough screen-time.  That wasn’t fair—after all, we wouldn’t have the Canon if not for Watson!  Of course, he’s had four scenes thus far in the FF.N version, but four scenes in eight chapters… yeah, a bit not good.  But with the way the story was shaping up, he didn’t seem to be absolutely necessary oftentimes, which was appalling.

Then inspiration struck.  Don’t ask me how exactly—even though it was only this past weekend, I’m no longer sure of how that lightbulb turned on in my brain.  It was the solution to both my dilemmas: that of less show than tell and less Watson.  Originally, about three weeks were glossed over.  No longer!  The train has left Paddington Station, and this author has just barely gotten aboard in time!

But I’m excited, and this turn of events should certainly excite you, dear reader!  One word: undercover.  Let’s just say that… we know Watson will go to the ends of the earth to find Holmes if he’s missing, right?

Last but not least, I had originally planned to get Mortality finished by Christmas and out on Kindle sometime this coming winter.  I say originally because my plans have changed since then, and my audience might have to wait a few months (or even a year!) longer than originally planned.  That’s because I may well try to get Deliver Us from Evil to a publisher.  AMM hasn’t made any sales this month, and sales in August were few and far between—i.e. self-publishing is not yet a viable means of making a living for myself.  (Kindle is currently my sole source of income.)  So I’m going to get Mortality finished and spit-polished and go through the torture of writing a query letter & proposal, etc. and see if I can sell an agent and/or acquisitions editor on the book.  If you know or know of any agents or publishers who would be interested in a Sherlockian pastiche, please let me know!

Weeell, that’s all for now, folks!  Please keep track of Mortality, and please let me know what you think of it!  A little encouragement would not be amiss.

MORT status: 13 out of 20+ complete.