Insurance investigations our specialty
I did a presentation for Five Miles from Anywhere, an international scion society of the Baker Street Irregulars, on June 3, and it was very well received. The presentation was entitled “Sherlock Holmes as a forensics pioneer”, which is a theme of my latest book, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: Ten Steps from Baker Street. You can download the presentation here for viewing.
Ten Steps is available for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Dr-Watson-Collection/dp/B0BW23B3QK
April is blog tour month for my latest book – Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: Ten Steps from Baker Street. Here is the tour schedule:
Virtual Book Tour – April 3 – May 5
April 3 – RABT Book Tours – Kick Off
April 4 – Book Reviews by Virginia Lee – Spotlight
April 5 – Liliyana Shadowlyn – Spotlight
April 6 – Writers N Authors – Interview
April 7 – Buffy Kennedy – Guest Post
April 10 – Nana’s Book Reviews – Spotlight
April 11 – Crossroad Reviews – Spotlight
April 12 – Paws. Read. Repeat – Review
April 13 – Book Corner News and Reviews – Spotlight
April 14 – Book Junkiez – Excerpt
April 17 – Sapphyria’s Book Blog – Spotlight
April 18 – Momma Says to Read or Not to Read – Spotlight
April 19 – Matters That Count – Review
April 20 – The Faerie Review – Spotlight
April 21 – Texas Book Nook – Review
April 24 – Books Blog – Spotlight
April 25 – The Mystery Section – Excerpt
April 26 – Kim’s Book Reviews and Writing Aha’s – Spotlight
April 27 – A Life Through Books – Interview
April 28 – Just Another Reader – Spotlight
May 1 – On a Reading Bender – Review
May 2 – Jav Bond Writes – Review
May 3 – Indie Author Book Reviews – Spotlight
May 4 – Our Town Book Reviews – Excerpt
May 5 – RABT Reviews – Wrap Up
Please visit these sites and give the tour hosts some love!
My new book of Sherlock Holmes stories is on preorder now on multiple sales channels. It contains ten new stories, written in the style of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Read of Holmes’s first case after he arrives in London, as he becomes known as The Wizard of Montague Street. Follow Holmes and Watson in The Adventure of the Persistent Pugilist, as they investigate Another Case of Identity, encounter The Witch of Ellenby, and more. Expeirence the joy of reading brand new Holmes stories once again!
Here are some of the preorder links. More will be added in time.
We all know who they are. Sherlock Holmes. Superman. Batman. Tarzan of the Apes. There are others. These are not just wildly popular fictional characters today – they are cultural icons. It’s the dream of every fiction author to create such a being, but how? What are the characteristics that these and other extremely popular characters share?
1. They were the first of their kind. Sure, there were fictional detectives before Holmes came on the scene, but he was the first to employ his “methods” – forensic investigation, deductive reasoning, a chameleon-like ability to become almost anyone he chose. John Clayton, Lord Greystroke, was the first child to be raised by non-humans in the wild and to gain special powers because of it, while retaining all of the exemplary characteristics of the perfect man – strength, courage, and the morals of his time and culture.
2. They had a compelling story. Kal-El was introduced as the lone survivor of a lost world. Bruce Wayne was orphaned by the powers of evil. John Clayton was also orphaned in one of the wildest, most inhospitable places imaginable. All of these characters possessed inestimable characteristics that allowed them to rise above great adversity to become paragons of their times.
3. They were crafted with meticulous detail. I can close my eyes and see Holmes’ rooms in Baker Street or Tarzan’s cabin in the jungle. Many of the details about them were ancillary, that is, they were not important in the context of a particular story, but in aggregate, they served to define a unique, unforgettable individual whom a reader could feel that they knew intimately.
4. While each character was a product of his era, they also had characteristics that appealed across generations. Holmes has been updated many times with varying degrees of success, as has Tarzan. Batman and Superman undergo almost continuous transformation in the comic books, graphic novel and movies about them. These updates are successful only if the character does not lose their essential iconic characteristics.
I’m sure that Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Bob Kane and Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster had no idea that they were creating cultural icons when they were developing their respective characters. But what they did do was pay attention to the principles of good writing, and let nature take its course.
I’d love to hear from my readers in the comments about these or any other characters you feel are iconic and what makes them so.