Alistair Duncan's Blog, page 92

This may seem odd but....

Yes - I've just written a book on Arthur Conan Doyle's years at Undershaw. I know, you don't need to remind me. However I do have a question which I need answers to.

Does anyone out there know anything about the design and layout of the house's garden? It was something I never came across in my researches and was, I will admit, something I wasn't overly concerned about.

I intend to raid the home library in an effort to unearth facts but if anyone out there knows anything it would be useful. It is for a little side project.

Thanks.

AENC Snippet - 4 Conan Doyle and Parliament

When Conan Doyle was campaigning to enter Parliament it was suggested that his conduct was inappropriate for a member of a certain London club. Conan Doyle was forced to defend himself in the press.

Want to know more. Order now.

Grrrrrr

I have recently taken delivery of three postcards. Not a newsworthy event as such but it is mildly irritating for me. The postcards depict the Beacon Hotel, The Hindhead Golf Club clubhouse and the home of Grant Allen.

The latter two in particular would have been fantastic for inclusion in the new book.

Oh well. Perhaps in the second edition......

AENC Snippet - 3 Conan Doyle during the Boer War

In 1900 Arthur Conan Doyle went out to South Africa to work at a field hospital. He did this because he was desperate to serve his country during the Boer War but was considered too old for active service.

In his autobiography and private letters he was rather disparaging about the head surgeon Robert O'Callaghan and his suitability for his position.

Was this justified? I think not....to find out more order now.

AENC Snippet - 2 Hound of the Baskervilles

Have you ever wondered where Conan Doyle got the idea for the Barrymores for The Hound of the Baskervilles? Have you ever wondered why the Barrymores talk of leaving Sir Henry's employment even though they won't leave before the end of the novel?

A theory can be found in my new book. Order here

AENC Snippet - 1 William Gillette

William Gillette, the American stage actor, brought Sherlock Holmes to London's Lyceum Theatre in September 1901. The play had done very well in the United States but its London debut was met with boos and shouting.

Many people have believed that this was due to people objecting to such an iconic British figure being portrayed by an American. The truth was somewhat different.

Want to know more?

Order now.

AENC - Snippets

I have decided, with just over a week to go until the release of my next book, to post some teaser items. First to follow shortly.

Editing hat on

As some of my Twitter followers will be aware I am trying my hand at a bit of editing. I freely admit that I have never edited for someone else before but this is not any old editing job. This is the editing of a Sherlock Holmes pastiche.

I can say nothing specific about the title at this stage but the task has proved an eye-opener. It is one thing to self-edit, another to deal with an editor who is going through your work, it is quite another to do the editing for someone else.

The problem of course is that you have to be critical, bordering on nasty, about the things that don't seem right. I'm also putting a lot of myself into someone else's work and, even though my name will not appear on the end result, I feel that my reputation is on the line as much as that of the author.

Why? Simple. Not only am I doing the regular thing of hunting for typos and anachronistic language I am also having to recommend changes where my Sherlockian knowledge tells me things are amiss. So the part of my reputation that is on the line is not my reputation as an editor (I have none to damage) but my reputation as a Sherlock Holmes 'expert'.

Gulp!

Mysterious

I'm told that the Mysterious Bookshop in New York has placed an order for some copies of An Entirely New Country. Many thanks indeed.

Pipe Ashes to Ashes - an amusing thought

I have often wondered what it must have been like to be a person reading the Sherlock Holmes stories as they came out. Anybody that has come to Sherlock Holmes since 1927 has had the benefit of having all the stories instantly available, the entire canon has been there for us to dip into.

What must it have been like to be one of those people who had to wait for the next instalment to be published, one of those people who mourned the publication of The Final Problem without the assurance that Holmes would return?

I also wonder what it must have been like for people when Holmes ceased to be contemporary. As I have mentioned before, Holmes began his adventures operating in the same world and age as his readers but as the world entered the 20th century Holmes remained largely in the 19th. By the time 1927 was reached Holmes had not had an adventure later in time than 1914 and his last published adventure Shoscombe Old Place was set at the turn of the century, nearly three decades prior to its publication date.

So, looked at another way, Holmes went from being a contemporary detective to being almost a retro detective. He operated in the past but it was a past that many of his readers were directly familiar with. Or, to put it yet another way, Holmes became trapped in the recent past - he entered his own version of Life on Mars.

How about that? A parallel between Sherlock Holmes and Gene Hunt.