Hallo, Hallo dear hearts,
I have had an appreciation for Sherlock Holmes – both in canon and outside of it – for quite a long time now. I am particular about which stories outside the canon of Doyle I seek out to read – as previously I came to love Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell series and the Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer. What I look for when sourcing out new after canon sequels &/or re-tellings of Classical Literature are the writers who not only pay homage to the original creator of the stories but of whom have truly created their own ‘voice’ of those characters in such a style as to give credence to why their stories are being told.
The interesting bit of course, is how each writer in turn chooses to enter into the realms of where the original canon of Doyle has left off and where new enroads towards telling new stories of Sherlock & Watson still remain. One thing I noted about Ms King’s approach was to place Sherlock in his retirement years whereas Mr Todd has chosen to gain entry through the portal given by Watson himself – when he had mentioned not every case might not be known of which had a hand of sleuthing aided by Holmes. In this, it makes for a plausible entry to re-join Sherlock & Watson directly.
As I was listening to the sampler of “A Reflection of Evil”, I noticed strong influences out of the canon itself and thus, was quite intrigued to listen to the whole story – seeing how Mr Todd interwove his story next to the ones we all know of being ‘Holmes’. Therefore, when I set to mind which topic I wanted to ask the author for the tour, I chose to focus on how he made the transition into voicing Holmes and giving us an authentic re-entry therein.
On the morrow, I’ll be sharing my ruminative thoughts about this audiobook – whilst today, I am hopeful for those of you who enjoy a wicked good story of Sherlock Holmes, perhaps this story or the other ones Mr Todd is creating might be of interest to you as well. As that is one thing about being a book blogger which is quite keenly splendid – we all get to help inform each other of the stories which are percolating on the horizon which could be of mutual interest to seek out!
I’d love to hear your thoughts about the premise behind this story as well as if you have an appreciation for Holmes – either in stories, motion picture (my personal favourite is Basil Rathbone) or television (such as Benedict Cumberbatch’s series, which I enjoyed until S3).
Guest Post about A Reflection in Evil
After months of inactivity, Holmes and Watson have two cases thrust in their lap in a single day. First, a mysterious woman from Swansea, Wales, seeks Holmes' help finding her husband who has disappeared in the middle of the night. As soon as she leaves, Holmes receives word that there has been a prison riot with several dead and a few inmates missing. Lestrade is asking for his services.
Holmes believes the two cases are not a coincidence, but he has no idea who is behind it and to what end. They go to Swansea in what could be either a wild goose chase or a setup. Will Holmes unravel the mystery before they get to Swansea? If not what will be in store for them when they step off the train?
Places to find the book:
ASIN: B078SC6TCM
on 5th January, 2018
Self Published Audiobook
William Todd’s Sherlock Holmes stories:
Sherlock Holmes in A Reflection of Evil
Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Broken Window
Formats Available: Paperback, Ebook and Audiobook
About William Todd
I have been writing online since the early 2000’s, primarily writing horror stories in the style of Poe and Lovecraft. I was the 2nd most popular author on the website storiesbyemail.com for two years before moving on.
I had my first book, a Victorian era horror compilation called Bumps in the Night, published by Mystic Moon Press just a week before they closed their website and never saw my hard work pay off. Afterwards I took publishing into my own hands, became an Indie author and haven’t looked back. My first self-published book was Dead of Night, another compilation of Victorian horror stories, published September 2016 by Createspace and on Kindle by KDP.
After its publication I left my comfort zone for mystery and wrote a short story about Sherlock Holmes in the Conan Doyle style. I loved it so much I then did a longer story A Reflection of Evil, both published in 2017 through Createspace and KDP. I have just released Beyond the Gossamer Veil, another compilation of both Victorian and modern supernatural/horror stories and am in the beginning stages of my third Sherlock Holmes installment.
Topic I selected for Mr Todd:
How did you initially feel inspired to re-create stories within the canon of Sir Arthur? And, how did you find your own thread of continuity therein to where readers who love Doyle’s work with Holmes could re-alight inside your stories finding a recognition of the Holmes they knew? Also, how many stories of Holmes do you think you will explore in your series?
This actually started out as an experiment. I had never written mystery before, having spent all my previous time in Victorian/Gothic horror. But one of the first books I truly loved and fostered my love of reading was Hound of the Baskervilles. I had read some other authors of Holmes stories and though the mystery was there the ‘voice’ didn’t ring true. I decided I would write a simple mystery but try to keep to the Conan Doyle voice as much as I could. That turned out to be The Mystery of the Broken Window, which as of the writing of this is in production for audiobooks. I will be the first to admit that I was fearful when it came out on Kindle and paperback. I had never written a mystery and this was my first attempt at Sherlock Holmes, so I already had two strikes against me. I was quite pleasantly surprised (and in all honesty a bit shocked) that it was well-received. I really loved the process and decided on a larger piece, which is what prompted A Reflection of Evil. Since it was the longer of the two I decided to publish it first in audiobook with Mystery of the Broken Window coming out shortly.
When I wrote both my stories I tried to keep to the timeline of the chronology of Holmes’ other exploits. I did my best to put these stories in between already known events. That, along with trying to the best of my ability stay true to the Conan Doyle voice of Holmes (which isn’t easy, and inevitably one’s own voice does creep in) I hope gives it an air of authenticity. I never tire of a good Holmes mystery, and Watson himself had said that there was a multitude of cases Holmes had been involved in that might never see the light of day. I picture my stories as some of those unknown cases.
As far as how many stories will I endeavor to write? I honestly don’t know. I am working on a third right now. I have ideas for a few more. I love writing them but more importantly I write so people can read (or listen). As long as there are eyes and ears connected to a brain that enjoy my stories I will continue to write them. Having said that I do have a Victorian duo of my own that I will also be working on. They started out in Memento Mori, a short story in my last horror compilation Beyond the Gossamer Veil, but I liked them so much they might be venturing out on their own at some point. The characters are Inspector Tobias Percy and Sargent Pettit of Scotland Yard. The villains they are after are more spectral than what Holmes and Watson are used to chasing.
This blog tour is courtesy of Audiobookworm Promotions:
Whilst participating on:
{SOURCES: Cover art of “A Reflection of Evil”, book synopsis, author biography, photograph of William Todd as well as the Audiobookworm Promotions badge and the audiobook tour badge were all provided by Audiobookworm Promotions and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets embedded by codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Writerly Topics Banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2018.
Comments via Twitter:
I am #sohappy my #GuestPost feature today is finding #SherlockHolmes #readers😉I thought this might interest everyone who likes after canon stories & writers who are #writing sequels past the stories we all know & love. #theclassicsclub might find this quite keen, too!😁 https://t.co/VAdqNVdFfm
— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) February 20, 2018
Author Guest Post | On re-writing and re-inventing adventures of Sherlock Holmes by the author William Todd https://t.co/FvoknT1vkN via @joriestory
— karen mace (@bookkaz) February 20, 2018
Author Guest Post | On re-writing and re-inventing adventures of Sherlock Holmes by the author William Todd https://t.co/h427PKVyIt via @joriestory
— Christina Philippou (@CPhilippou123) February 20, 2018
Author Guest Post | On re-writing and re-inventing adventures of Sherlock Holmes by the author William Todd https://t.co/JTscVMusny via @joriestory
— Jess the Audiobookworm 🎧 (@AnAudiobookworm) February 20, 2018
#BookBlogger's #ThursdayThoughts
Received lovey note on my #GuestPost feature for #audiobook of a NEW #SherlockHolmes #Mystery I enjoyed – wherein I mentioned I 💗#BasilRathbone's impression of Holmes.
Any other comments & thoughts? Thx @bookkaz for sharing
Kindly visit me 👇👇 https://t.co/VAdqNVdFfm— Jorie Story 📖🎧 (@joriestory) February 22, 2018
I’m with you Jorie. Basil Rathbone was the embodiment of Sherlock Holmes!
Wasn’t he though!?
I never tire of watching how he portrayed Holmes,… speaking of which I ought to have another marathon of his adventures! Reminds of when I start to miss the adventures of the Thin Man! Some Classics are meant to be re-cherished over and over again! Blessed you’ve left me a note! Thanks for visiting!!