A wee trip to Hindhead

Yesterday took me to Hindhead to see Lynn Gale and hand over an early copy of An Entirely New Country. It was a suitably foggy day.

We then proceeded to a nearby hostelry where we had a little chat about the book and our hopes for its success. You can help....buy now - links here.

One sneaked out

A certain lucky(?) individual received a copy of my book from Amazon.com yesterday. Thanks to a small oversight on Amazon's part they released a copy (at least one that we know of) before the official date. A few words in the right ear and this has been halted.

Just goes to show that automated systems are not a substitute for a good old fashioned human being.

The debate draws near

The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate draws near. Yesterday I put together my thoughts for team three and submitted them for inclusion in the team's slides.

My fear for The House of Silk

There has been much raving in the press about the new Sherlock Holmes story The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz. Journalists seem to be lining up to report that it is excellent. They also seem to be saying that Horowitz writes in the style of Conan Doyle which begs the question - are they qualified to judge that? To my mind, the individual reader will decide that for themselves and the opinions are bound to be wide ranging.


I am still waiting for my copy to arrive but a day does not seem to go by where I don't see a sign proclaiming it to be Holmes's darkest case and so on.

I fear that these adverts are raising my expectations to a level where it may not be possible for the book to reach. Much is also being made of this being the first Conan Doyle Estate sanctioned book. Why? Is it a guarantee of quality? What level of input did the estate have?

Please don't get me wrong. I am not condemning the book. That would be daft as I am yet to read it. My fear is that the publicity surrounding it will do more harm than good.

Have you read it? Does it live up to the hype? Please let me know - just don't write any spoilers.

Happy birthday Mr Brett

As you will have read elsewhere today is Jeremy Brett's birthday. For my generation this great man IS Sherlock Holmes and no one has come close to matching him. Older generations may adore Douglas Wilmer or Basil Rathbone - younger generations love Benedict Cumberbatch but, for me and countless others, Brett is best (although the others are good).

As I've stated elsewhere, it was Basil Rathbone that first got me interested in Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle but it was Jeremy Brett that made me stay the course. It was Brett who ultimately caused me to be sat here writing this blog entry with nearly three decades of fandom and four books behind me.

For that, and so much more, my thanks sir. May you rest in peace - that peace is richly deserved.

More can be read here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Brett

Look what has just arrived

The 'author copies' have arrived.

Sorry folks they are all taken.

Not long now

It is a little over a month now before An Entirely New Country is released. I imagine that the first batch of review copies will be heading out soon.

Links to it and my other books can be found here. The links are all Amazon but the books can of course be purchased from other retailers such as Book Depository, Play.Com and Barnes and Noble.

Phew!

I have just submitted my last radio play review. This was for The Old Court Theatre Radio Company production of Sherlock Holmes - A Drama in Four Acts. The decks are now clear.


Next!