I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the compliments of the season. [BLUE]
Whatever holidays you celebrate – or if you celebrate no holidays at all – we at the Consulting Rooms hope that you are enjoying time with your own friends and loved ones. This has been a difficult year for many, so if you are finding this time of year particularly hard, please also know that we are thinking of you.
Just in case you somehow missed the news, the latest teaser trailer for the fourth series of the BBC’s Sherlock hit the Internet this past weekend.
There has already been plentiful discussion and dissection of the 48 seconds of footage, and there are still two weeks to examine each frame for those clues that might be seen but not observed.
What are your thoughts on what the new season might hold?
In a feat of amazingly poor timing, we had a bit of a glitch with the Shop yesterday, causing orders not to go through. The problem has been corrected, and we apologize for the inconvenience!
If you’ve been waiting for print copies of back issues of our fabulous publications, now is your chance! Some of these titles have only a few remaining copies, and when those are gone, they’re gone! Visit the Shop now for:
A cold rain dashing against the side of the house… bare trees shuddering with every gust… the barometer as downcast as a bad disposition…. What better time than winter to curl up in front of the fireplace and crack open a book? On everybody’s reading list this season is the brand new volume About Sixty: Why Every Sherlock Holmes Story is the Best, edited by Christopher Redmond, JHWS “Buster”, and published by Wildside Press in October.
A few of the authors at the Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes conference in Minnesota
It’s a singular achievement. Sixty writers – including a few members of the John H Watson Society – were asked to tackle one each of the sixty tales that comprise the Sherlock Holmes Canon, making a concise case why that particular story belongs at the top of the heap. The essayists are a diverse blend of experienced Sherlockian commentators and recent converts who bring a fresh perspective. Whether you’re familiar only with the better-known titles, like The Hound of the Baskervilles, or you know your way around more obscure stories such as “The Missing Three-Quarter”, the results are both erudite and entertaining. This book will have you reaching for the Canon time and again to reacquaint yourself with that world where “it is always 1895.”
Chris Redmond, JHWS “Buster”
Sherlockian author Sonia Fetherston, JHWS “Gypsy”, was one who contributed to About Sixty, with her chapter on “A Case of Identity.” She recently asked Chris to join her for a Q&A concerning not just the book and its contributors, but a bit about the eminent editor himself:
SF: Can you give me sixty reasons why people should buy this book?
SF: Okay, maybe two or three reasons, fleshed out a bit?
CR: Because it presents insights into Sherlock Holmes not from one well-informed Sherlockian mind but from sixty different minds, hearts and viewpoints. Because it is anchored in the Canon itself and won’t easily go out of fashion. Because it contemplates every part of the Canon in proportion, not just a few favoured stories or topics.
SF: Who is your target audience: readers of the Holmes Canon, or prospective readers of the Holmes Canon?
CR: The book is certainly for people who have read the stories — there are spoilers in almost every essay. It would be heart-warming, though, to think of a first-timer using this book: reading each canonical story in turn, and then turning to the corresponding essay.
SF: In 1927 Arthur Conan Doyle developed his own list of the twelve Sherlockian stories he thought were the best, among them “The Speckled Band” and “The Red-Headed League.” Did his list play any role in prompting this project? How did you get the idea for your book?
CR: The Introduction to About Sixty tells a little about the origins of the idea, going all the way back to a daydream many years ago of writing sixty essays myself. Such a book would have been monotonous, I think, but involving sixty authors with sixty different voices brought it to vibrant life. A few of the authors mention ACD’s list, but I’ve never taken it very seriously. For one thing, it was done before he had written the last dozen or so of the stories, and for another, he was famously bad at judging the quality of his own work. Also, of course, this book doesn’t try to list stories that are in second, third, and subsequent places — it makes it clear that all sixty tales are in a tie for first!
SF: Many people would agree with Conan Doyle that a tale like “The Speckled Band” is highly ranked. But what are some Sherlockian stories you reckon are most difficult to defend… most difficult to think of as being “the best?”
CR: I think everybody would agree that “The Mazarin Stone” is awkward and wooden, possibly because it was first written as a play and should have stayed that way. Many people dislike “The Three Gables” because of its descent — offensive, but typical for its time — into racist cartoons, and also because its plot depends on sleazy sexual intrigue. Still, both of these stories also have their strengths, as authors in About Sixty demonstrate. My favourite example of a rehabilitated story, though, is “The Veiled Lodger”, which is often scorned because it doesn’t call on Sherlock Holmes to be much of a detective. In About Sixty, Jaime Mahoney does a brilliant job of rehabilitating it, pointing out that it’s (these are my words, not hers) a haunting human story of love, hate, joy, sorrow, patience and courage.
SF: Your essayists are an eclectic mix of veterans and newcomers to the Sherlockian fold. How did you go about choosing these people to participate?
CR: I started by asking my immediate circle of friends, then reached further to various parts of the Sherlockian world, always to people I could contact by e-mail. I tried not to call on well-known people who were already busy with other projects, but in a few cases I wavered, and was glad to have their reputations helping to bolster the project’s reputation. A few of the authors I didn’t know at all, but came recommended by people I had already enlisted. In a few cases I’m sure I was taking a risk with people who really hadn’t written much in the past, but there was nobody who didn’t meet the standard, and some of the lesser-known authors came up with particularly interesting and thought-provoking essays.
SF: Marshaling sixty busy writers, not to mention sixty creative egos, must have been a challenge.
CR: People were astonishingly willing to write, hardly anybody had trouble meeting the deadline, most of the essays took only very modest editing, and hardly anybody was anything but cooperative and grateful for any suggestions. The book was a lot of work, certainly, but it came together as if it truly was meant to be.
SF: You have a reputation for being a lifelong Holmes enthusiast. Tell me about your own introduction to Sherlock Holmes. What was the Sherlockian story that hooked you, and kept you coming back for more?
CR: I gobbled up all the stories when I was a young teenager — that’s what people did in those days. The story I chiefly remember reading was The Hound of the Baskervilles, probably because it was so creepy. In some cases I probably was too young to appreciate the stories properly, and one of the real benefits of working on About Sixty has been that I needed to return to each story with a mature eye and absorb what a perceptive Sherlockian was saying about it… insights that in some cases I should have experienced decades ago.
SF: You’re planning a dinner party for six characters from the Canon. Who will be sitting around your table, and why those particular characters?
CR: Not Sherlock Holmes, I think; I don’t want the risk of criminal relics in the butter-dish. But Watson, certainly, the doctor with the gifts of friendship and congeniality, and with an endless stock of stories to retell from his Reminiscences. Where there is Watson, there must be women, starting with his charming wife Mary Morstan. She’s a blonde, and somehow I imagine Watson arriving with a redhead and a brunette as well, perhaps Violet Hunter and Beryl Stapleton, who both have their own tales to repeat. But there needs to be a balance of men and women, so let’s add Arthur Cadogan West (solid and decent and good-hearted, but he needs to get out more) and Nathan Garrideb (he definitely needs to get out more).
SF: Quick! Tell me which books are on your bedside table right now? Aside from your well-known love of Conan Doyle’s creations, what else are you reading?
CR: I am embarrassed to say that in the past year or two I haven’t done much serious reading at all. I spend far too much time online! I have almost given up reading nonfiction, although the last book I finished was Thinking It Over by Hesketh Pearson, the autobiography of a London actor and author of the prewar era (one of his books was a biography of Arthur Conan Doyle). I gobble up Sherlockian pastiches, while rolling my eyes at how bad most of them are. It’s a pleasure just now to be reading Denis O. Smith’s Lost Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes — he really captures the style and flavour of the originals, as few other authors manage to do. I have a half-formed plan to give up reading new books for a year or two, and rediscover some classics that I loved as an undergraduate, particularly Renaissance poetry and drama. I might follow that up with the collected novels of Anthony Trollope.
SF: What other Redmond projects are on tap for 2017….and beyond?
CR: I hope to be making an announcement soon about another anthology, every bit as eclectic as About Sixty and with some of the same authors. Beyond that, there are always lots of ideas, but I don’t know which of them will catch fire. My long-term hope is to write a book, provisionally called Reading Sherlock Holmes, that elaborates my ideas about what can be found in the Canon and how to discover and enjoy it; but I don’t quite know when that’s going to happen!
Ah! That sounds like something we’ll be reading next winter, when the wind is sobbing “like a child in the chimney,” as Dr Watson would say!
It’s been quiet for a while here on the Society blog. With so much going on in the United States and in the world, many of us have found our focus has not been as much on Sherlockiana/Watsoniana as it was perhaps a few weeks ago.
Elsewhere on this site, we say that the John H. Watson Society seeks a level of equality in scholarship and enthusiasm for the life and work of John H. Watson, M. D. We are an open and inclusive Society, seeking the collegiality and conviviality of Members worldwide and at all stages of involvement in Watsonian, Sherlockian and Holmesian interests. Mostly, we are about having fun.
I am proud to be a part of an international Society that celebrates the best friend one could hope to have. In that spirit, I hope this site gives a place to be among friends for good conversation and companionship.
Tomorrow, we will have an interview with Chris Redmond, JHWS “Buster”, editor of the new book, About Sixty: Why Every Sherlock Holmes Story is the Best. In the comments, for this week’s discussion, please share your favorite story and why.
The latest issue of the Watsonian is making its way to members’ mailboxes around the world. Digital subscribers should have received an email including a link to download the new issue. (If you have the Paperless Membership or the Print + PDF Membership and you did not receive an email, please contact Selena Buttons.) We’re very proud of this issue, and you’ll find it’s chock-full of good stuff.
In addition to returning features “Roxie’s Canonical Ramblings”, “Pondicherry Ponderings”, and “The Pawky Puzzler”, we’re thrilled to introduce “Thoughts from under Willow’s Tree”. We hope you will enjoy the beautiful color illustrations from Kayla Kinoo and Phil Cornell and the new title page illustration from Basil Chap. There are thoughtful essays on Dr Joan Watson of Elementary and the young man who might not have been John Watson in Young Sherlock Holmes. There are explorations of Victorian-era camping and phrenology, as well as a report from the “Bringing Traditional Sherlockians into Today’s Fandom” panel at the most recent 221B Con. In addition to traditional articles, this issue includes poetry, Canonical toasts, and an illustrated essay.
This issue’s contributors reflect our commitment to blending the wisdom and background of great Sherlockians and the enthusiasm of those newly drawn to The Game. Some have been writing for the Watsonian since its inception, while others are appearing for the first time. It is bittersweet that this issue includes an essay from the late Peter H Jacoby, whose previous papers on Dr Watson’s medical and military training appeared in earlier issues.
We hope you will find something interesting, educational, entertaining, and thought-provoking in this issue. Digital (PDF) copies of the issue are available in the Shop: Watsonian vol. 4 no. 2.
This week’s Quiz is a single question, submitted by Enrico Solito, JHWS “Devon”
Animals are important in the Canon. In four different sentences, one person is described with similarities to three different animals. Who is it, what are the animals, and in which story does the person appear?
Submit your answers for a total of 5 possible points (1 person, 3 animals, 1 story) by email to Selena by Sunday, October 23.
If you’ve been bitten by the bug to create your own Canonical Quiz, don’t forget you can send your questions to Selena, too!
This year’s Sherlock Seattle WATSON WASHINGTON Con is less than two weeks away now. And, this year, it’s all about our favorite fellow, Doctor John H Watson.
This year we’re taking the focus off of Sherlock Holmes and instead we are celebrating his amazing companion, Dr. Watson! As such for 2016 we are Watson Washington, a convention where we celebrate all things John Watson, from the original ACD canon stories to the latest incarnations of the world’s most famous doctor, and you’re invited to join us!
Our own Robert Ryan, JHWS “Caesar” and author of the “Dr Watson at War” novels, and Lawrence Albert, JHWS “Bertie” and the voice of Doctor Watson for Imagination Theater, are the Guests of Honor.
They’ll be joined by Elinor Gray, JHWS “Misty”, Ariana Maher, JHWS “Carla”, and Beth Gallego, JHWS “Selena Buttons” for a special panel at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday called “A Society for our Dear Doctor”.
While there are a plethora of societies celebrating Sherlock Holmes, there is only one society that specifically celebrates our favorite doctor – the John H Watson Society! Come meet some of it’s members and learn about how this society was recently founded, their current activities (such as publications, treasure hunts, and online discussions), and our enthusiasm for Dr John H. Watson!
We will also be in the Dealers’ Room with copies of the Watsonian and other publications for sale, as well as the opportunity to join or to renew your membership.
Will you be in Seattle for the Convention this year? Check in in the comments to this post!
Margie Deck, “Gwen”, and Sheila Holtgrieve, “Daisy”
Elinor Gray, “Misty”
Alessandro Melillo
Stephanie Thomas, “Hyacinth”
Well done, everyone!
And, of course, the ANSWERS:
Watson is very specific about the day and date that Miss Violet Smith visits 221B. He is also incorrect. When does he say she came, and why is it wrong?
Saturday, April 23, 1895
April 23, 1895, was a Tuesday
Holmes says engaging in this sport is “always a treat”. What sport, and where did he engage in it?
Boxing
The “country pub” near Charlington
This city was the target of a devastating attack 45 years later, but at the time of this story, it is home to a person most significant to Miss Violet Smith. What city, and whom does she say is there?
Coventry
Note: Ron Lies, “Chips”, and the team of Margie Deck, “Gwen”, and Sheila Holtgrieve, “Daisy”, sent in an alternate answer of “Westminster” – Cyril Morton lived there at the end of the story, and Westminster was also bombed in 1940.
Her fiance, Cyril Morton
This was an unconventional way to choose a groom, especially as neither candidate had yet met the bride. How was the decision made, and between what two parties?
A game of cards
Bob Carruthers and Jack Woodley
It may have felt like 90 days, but it was really nowhere near that long. What, and how long was it?
(Note from Selena Buttons: Recently, I had the great pleasure of meeting Lucy Keifer, JHWS “Talia”, and getting a peek at the prototype of this excellent board game. The crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter runs through the end of this month. I’m already a backer, and I hope you’ll join me so we can all get a chance to play, so I’ve asked her to write up this post telling you all about it!)
The (Board) Game is Afoot: Introducing Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty’s Web
(because Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective and 221B Baker Street are not very good)
by Lucy Keifer, JHWS “Talia”
I listened the Sherlock Holmes radio plays from the 50s before I could read. Holmes has been in my life since always.
Then in high school I got my hands on a Leslie Klinger Annotated, and the second I knew Higher Criticism was a thing I wrote a paper about how “The Greek Interpreter” makes a lot more sense if the whole thing is just a training exercise staged by Mycroft to see if Melas should be promoted to more important spy-work. (Come on. He’s “sent for at strange hours by foreigners who get into difficulties” and speaks “nearly all” languages. He’s a spy.)
And that might have been it, if my mom and sister hadn’t been stuck in traffic, and my sister hadn’t noticed that the car next to her had a license plate that read SHOLMZ. Obviously, when traffic was completely stopped and they were parallel with the SHOLMZ car, Mom calls over to the guy driving it.
“I like your license plate! Are you a detective?”
“No. I’m the foremost Sherlock Holmes annotator.”
“Then you must be Leslie Klinger!”
“I am Leslie Klinger.”
“My daughter has all your books! She just wrote an article! Will you read it!”
(People have trouble saying no to Mom.)
So Les Klinger read my article, liked my article, asked if I wanted my article in the Baker Street Journal. Then, once that happened, I was invited to the BSJ Contributors dinner, which happened to be part of the New York BSI Weekend. I went, realized that Sherlockians are actually the best people in the world. And then just kept coming back.
The other constant in my life is board games. We are a board game industry family (and I swear, that’s really a thing). Dad’s been a board game exec since ever, and I grew up playtesting board games, critiquing board games, thinking about why board games work, being able to explain why this one is good and this one isn’t. I do a lot of board game design work now, especially since Dad became a freelance consultant/inventor, and our family basically became a very small game company. I’m just legacied in at this point.
And it always bothered me that the Sherlock Holmes board games were so, well, bad. I mean, Holmes solves crimes! He calls his crime solving a game! When he’s played by Johnny Lee Miller he makes these really cool crime-solving collages that look like a game!
So of course the first game I properly invented (with Dad) had to be about Sherlock Holmes.
This is a crime solving game. It’s played a board of moving tiles – Professor Moriarty is a tile at the center, and all the unsolved crimes in London are tiles around him. Obviously, he’s behind everything – you just have to prove how. So you make chains of tiles (witnesses, informants, clues) and build a case against him. You play as Holmes, Watson, Irene, Lestrade, Mycroft, or Mrs. Hudson… and Moriarty, he plays himself. He steals clues, kidnaps witnesses, kidnaps you, and everyone either wins or loses together. I love cooperative games, and there aren’t nearly enough.
And I make little canonical in-jokes, and came up with special abilities for the characters that reflect their personalities. (Like Mycroft gets to know what Moriarty is going to do slightly before he actually does it.) There are references to Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper that snuck in there too. Not sure how that happened.
Me & my family at the Kickstarter launch party
And now Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty’s Web is on Kickstarter, and people from Hong Kong and Denmark want to buy my game, and I’m getting in touch with all these interesting websites and podcasts and cons and game cafés. And my family is so completely behind me, helping me invent the game, doing the art, making the Kickstarter video, doing social media and marketing, and I’m just so overwhelmed by how lovely it’s all been.
So that’s my story. I’d love it if you wanted to check out my game. Please do if you enjoy casual light strategy, co-operative games, mystery solving, story generation, Sherlock Holmes, Victorian England, and/or pretty watercolors.
My sister Emily and me, debuting the game at Comic-Con.
More information about Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty’s Web:
As you recover from the mental exertions of the Treasure Hunt, try out this short quiz on “The Solitary Cyclist”. There are five questions, each of which has a two part answer, for a total of 10 points. Submit your answers by email to Selena by Sunday, September 18.
Watson is very specific about the day and date that Miss Violet Smith visits 221B. He is also incorrect. When does he say she came, and why is it wrong?
Holmes says engaging in this sport is “always a treat”. What sport, and where did he engage in it?
This city was the target of a devastating attack 45 years later, but at the time of this story, it is home to a person most significant to Miss Violet Smith. What city, and whom does she say is there?
This was an unconventional way to choose a groom, especially as neither candidate had yet met the bride. How was the decision made, and between what two parties?
It may have felt like 90 days, but it was really nowhere near that long. What, and how long was it?
It’s the end of August, and there are only a few days remaining before the close of the Fourth Annual JHWS Treasure Hunt. I would like to thank and congratulate everyone who participated, including my teammates in “An Experience of Canon Extending Over Four Teammates and Three Separate States”. I think we did pretty well, but we will see what “Gwen”, our Treasure Hunt Master has to say about our answers!
Margie Deck, JHWS “Gwen”, is the mastermind behind this year’s test, and some of those questions certainly showed how she earned the name of “Pawky Puzzler”! She will be stepping down from the role of Treasure Hunt Master so that she can play along with the rest of us next year. Before she hands off the baton, I want to thank her for all her hard work!
Now that the Treasure Hunt is ending, I’d like to remind everyone that we are currently looking for a Quizmaster to preside over our regular quizzes. This person would create and post short quizzes every two weeks (except during August, the month of the Treasure Hunt). Some of our past quizzes can be found on the Quiz Page. We are also looking for submissions of individual quizzes, if you would like to just try it out. Have you been bitten by the bug to create your own Canonical Quiz? Send it to selena @ johnhwatsonsociety.com!
This is a reminder that the deadline for the October Fall issue of The Watsonian is August 1st, which is this coming Monday.
The Society welcomes scholarly papers, articles, original fiction, miscellanea or other submissions. One need not be an experienced or academic writer; some of our most engaging articles come from individuals with a love for the writing and appreciation for the pleasures gained over the years.There is always room for your research, thoughts, ideas and creativity. The Society is an inclusive group; we desire interested Watsonians to take part and to approach the Society with innovative projects. Whether you are a first time author is not important; that you try is what counts.
Submissions should be up-to-date Word documents and sent via email attachment to: publisher@johnhwatsonsociety.com. Pippin says timely procrastinators are welcome.
When the Society began, back in 2013, biennial dues were set for members receiving print copies of The Watsonian with either US domestic or international postage. As of our last publication cycle, the cost of mailing issues overseas was greater than the amount received in international dues. The dues received from all members has left us with insufficient reserves for the printing and posting of our publications, as well as the smaller expenses of Internet hosting, PayPal fees, etc. All the Society work has been a true labor of love, as the Society has no paid employees. We have had a generous benefactor who has kept us afloat, but the time has come to do the thing we’ve postponed as long as possible: change our membership structure.
Current members who are not due to renew before December 31, 2016 need do nothing at this time.
New and renewing members have two options: Print subscription or Paperless.
Introducing: Paperless Membership
The new Paperless Membership is retroactive to January 1 2016 and ends December 31 2017. This 24-month membership is available world-wide at $50.00 USD and includes downloadable PDF issues of The Watsonian for Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, and Fall 2017, as well as the Fiction Series title, “The Doctor and the Duellist”. The Fiction title and the Spring 2016 Watsonian will be available upon purchase of membership; the following issues will be available as they are published.
If you wish to receive print copies of the journal, then the Membership with Print + PDF Subscription is for you. This 18-month membership is available within the US at $52.50 or internationally at $67.50, beginning July 1, 2016 and ending December 31, 2017. It includes either US domestic or international postage for print Watsonian issues for Fall 2016, Spring 2017, and Fall 2017. In addition, you will receive electronic access to those issues, too.
As of January 1, 2017, membership will be available on an annual basis (January 1 – December 31) and include two issues (Spring and Fall) of The Watsonian. The annual rates will be:
Paperless: $25 (World-Wide)
Print + PDF: $35 (US Domestic) or $45 (International)
(All prices in US Dollars)
These changes allow more flexibility for you and allow us to continue to publish our excellent journal, host our Annual Treasure Hunt, and maintain our home here on the Web.
I know this may be a bit confusing, so please don’t hesitate to e-mail me with any questions or concerns.
Brad at Sherlock Peoria posted recently about the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it reference to the fire at 221B Baker Street in “The Final Problem”.
“They set fire to our rooms last night. No great harm was done.”
So says Sherlock Holmes to Doctor Watson. It does indeed seem to have caused very little harm, since three years later, in “The Empty House”, Holmes says that “Mycroft preserved my rooms and my papers exactly as they had always been.” An impressive feat, considering how quickly paper burns.
That fire came up in a quiz a couple of years ago, and there was a discussion in the comments in which Ariana (“Carla”) suggested that Holmes set the fire himself.
What do you think? Did Moriarty (or his agents) set the fire? Did Holmes set it himself? Or perhaps Holmes fibbed, and there was no fire at all?
(Click on Russell Stutler’s illustration of the Baker Street rooms to see an enlarged version. Be sure to visit his site for his annotations!)
“The campaign brought honours and promotion to many, but for me it had nothing but misfortune and disaster.” – A Study In Scarlet (STUD)
With that comment, within the first two hundred words of STUD, we are given a strong viewpoint of Dr Watson’s regarding his participation in the Second Anglo-Afghanistan War of 1878 – 1880. That said, Dr Watson was honoured, as were all surviving troops that took part in the skirmishes of that conflict, for service to Queen and country.
