Words are like oxygen
The Only One in the World: “The Enemy Within.” by Raymond Gates I knew I wanted a story with an Indigenous Australian viewpoint for this anthology and naturally turned to Raymond Gates to see if he was interested. Raymond and I both had stories in Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook so I knew he could deliver on the Holmesian mystery […]
» Read moreToday I ask Pamela Hart five questions about her new book! 1. What’s the name of your latest book – and how hard was it to pick a title? Digging Up Dirt. Originally this was known as Current Affairs, but after discussion with my publisher, who felt that it gave the wrong emphasis to the story, I came up with Digging Up […]
» Read moreThe Only One in the World: “Prince Ha-mahes and the Adventure of the Stoned Mason” by LJM Owen Almost as soon as I pitched the idea of The Only One in the World to Clan Destine Press, I began to pester Dr LJM Owen about the idea of a Holmes from ancient history – an area of particular expertise for […]
» Read moreThe Only One in the World: “A Scandalous Case of Poisoning” by Katya de Becerra Only One publisher, Lindy Cameron, gave me Katya’s name to approach about a Russian-influenced story for the anthology. Katya sent me a great pitch about a female Sherlockian character – Marina Holmesova – in post-collapse Moscow of the 1990s, featuring her medical student flatmate, Antonina […]
» Read moreThe Only One in the World: “The Problem of the Lying Author” by Lisa Fessler When Lisa sent me her submission, I was struck at once by how easily Holmes as Holms fit into the world of Wilhelminian Germany in 1893. As the story unfolded, it was also pleasing to see how some canon-esque themes, technology and character quirks slotted […]
» Read moreThe Only One in the World: “The Saga of the Hidden Treasure.” by Kerry Greenwood and David Greagg You cannot imagine my excitement when Kerry Greenwood and David Greagg suggested they could write an Icelandic Viking Holmes for the Sherlock Holmes The Only One in the World anthology. (Or perhaps you can!) David and Kerry co-plotted ‘The Saga of the […]
» Read moreThe Only One in the World: “The Adventure of the Disappearing Village” by Natalie Conyer Natalie is another with whom, like Jay Ganguly, I’ve shared a Table of Contents, this time in Scarlet Stiletto: The Ninth Cut (2017). We found we had another touchpoint when Nat submitted her story set in Poland, as I’d lived in Krakow for a time […]
» Read moreThis week’s prompts came from AliAprhys, Hotaru Tomoe, Some Silly Ficcer, and Alexx on Fire. Thanks for the ideas! Follow me on Twitter to send me prompts for next week’s story! My Constant Heart Being a journalist had its up days, its down days, and its utterly weird days. Kaylee Pirbright wasn’t entirely sure which one this was, yet. Being […]
» Read moreThe Only One in the World: “The Affair of the Purloined Rentboy” by Greg Herren Clan Destine Press’s publisher, Lindy Cameron, put me onto Greg Herren and JM Redmann in New Orleans, so we ended up with two stories from that city set in different times and with very different moods and themes to top and tail the anthology. I […]
» Read moreThe Only One in the World: “S.H.E.R.L.O.C.K.” by Atlin Merrick I loved Atlin’s writing in the Sherlock Holmes realm before we ever met, and when she pitched her idea of a ‘global’ Holmes story for The Only One in the World I knew it would be a beautiful fit for the theme. Atlin has a gift for reimagining how Sherlock […]
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