"With due discretion the incident itself may, however, be described, since it serves to illustrate some of those qualities for which my friend was remarkable."-- Dr. John H. Watson, "The Adventure of the Three Students"
Many Sherlockians, myself included, enjoy writing about Sherlock Holmes; we try, like Dr. Watson, to illustrate some of the qualities for which Holmes is remarkable. Pastiche writers make up one niche of Sherlockian writing as an almost innumerable number of writers attempt to tell stories (with varying degrees of success) worthy of Holmes's abilities. A new worthy collection will debut later this week when the upcoming anthology, Sherlock Holmes Into the Fire becomes available for preorders.
It has been ten months since I first wrote about the plan for seventeen writers to each craft a Sherlockian adventure inspired by one of Arthur Conan Doyle's Round the Fire stories. Much has happened in the meanwhile. Everyone involved in the project has worked hard to craft stories worthy of Holmes and worthy of our readers' time. A great number of hours have been spent editing the works to a high level and in building a pleasing framework to hold the writings.
The original Round the Fire Stories is an entertaining collection of odd and sometimes weird stories Doyle said "are concerned with the grotesque and with the terrible — such tales as might well be read 'round the fire' upon a winter's night." Bringing Holmes in to make sense of these oddities is a challenge for writers; a challenge our seventeen met with gusto.
I would like to say a lot more today but I will wait until later when the official launch happens. I don't want to say too much until I can say everything! Today, I do need to practice "due discretion" as Dr. Watson does. We like to illustrate his fine qualities, too.
