Sherlockian Interview - Brenda Seabrooke
Publié par Steve Emecz le
For fans new to your work, tell us a little about your writing style
The time, the place, the moment dictate my writing style. The minute I sit down at my computer to start a new Holmes story, I step into that world of fog, candlelight, horse-drawn conveyances, the language, sights and smells of that bygone world and become Dr. John Watson observing and writing the adventures of the world’s first consulting detective. It is as if I’m in a movie that I’m writing the story for, word by word and I don’t know what will happen until I type it.
This is your second collection of short stories (the first being Sherlock Holmes: The Persian Slipper and Other Stories) - how are they similar and how do they differ?
I don’t think of them as separate entities but as a continuum of the Sherlock Holmes cases as recorded by Dr. Watson.
Why short stories rather than novels?
Before my Holmesian journey, I wrote 14 novels, 2 poetry books and 6 picture books all for young readers. One day a London street dog walked onto my keyboard and I wrote two novels about Sherlock’s dog (Belinger Books). Derick, the editor suggested I write a story for a collection of Holmes stories for grownups at MX and I did and kept going. (I also write other stories both mystery and literary ones.)
Which is your favourite story in the new collection and why?
I have two: The Open Window and Springheeled Jack. The first is a favorite because I went back to the early days of the Twinings Tea Shop and 19th century medical practices and found Mrs. Mary Seacoal, a Crimean War nurse. Two nursing students appeared and a boy needed treatment but the doctor wouldn’t see him. Why not?
The second I like because of the intricate plotting required, the unusual perpetrator, and the ruse that Holmes used to solve the case.
What are you working on at the moment?
Besides more Holmes stories, I am working on a mystery set in Florida.
There's a continued stream of screen adaptations, are there any in particular that you enjoy?
I love the Granada TV series that takes you back to that time and that place so elegantly!
Of the other Holmes writers out there, do you have some favourites?
I love them all! Each of us writes our version of the cases. The Victorian period was rich in personalities and possibilities. I like to go back in time and sightsee outside of my head.
Sherlock Homes - The Crimson Trail and Other Stories is available pre-publication from this site now and also already released on Kindle.
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