Saturday, January 8, 2022

Making It Your Own by Vicki Delany

Jenn McKinlay: Confession time. I am a Sherlockian or a Holmesian, depending upon your preference. Either way, I'm a huge fan of all things Sherlock Holmes so it's unsurprising that I'm delighted to see Vicki Delany's latest Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery is hitting the shelves on Jan 11th!!! Just look at that cover! Fabulous!

 

BUY NOW!

 Vicki Delany: There’s no such thing as an original idea. It’s all been done before. Some people say there are 32 basic plots. Some say there are two – a person goes on a journey; a stranger comes to town. 


I say it doesn’t matter. You might not be able to come up with a truly original idea, but the trick to writing is to take what’s been done before, and make it your own. 

Say you have an idea for a great tale: A fatherless boy is secretly watched over by a wise older man of unspecified power, and the boy eventually takes his rightful position as a person of great importance. 

Harry Potter, King Arthur, Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins. They all follow the same basic outline, but each story is individualized when the teller makes it their own. (Why the standard trope always features a boy and a man, is an article for another day). 

Think of Sherlock Holmes. It would probably be impossible to count the number of Sherlock Holmes pastiche characters out there. Sherlock first appeared in 1887 and over the years since he not only continues to be relevant but has grown and spread immeasurably. 




What is it about Sherlock Holmes that has captured the popular imagination arguably more than any other figure in fiction? Is it his incredible intellect that has us all enthralled? Is it the gaslight streets, the long dresses, frock coats and top hats? Maybe it’s the sometimes-stiff, formal language. Is it Dr. John Watson himself, ever confused but always loyal, or the simple friendship between two such different men? 

Regardless of the reason, there’s no doubting the continuing popularity of the Great Detective and the attempts to imitate or recreate him. 

As I have done, with Gemma Doyle and the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium. Gemma owns the shop, but she is also the Sherlock character. She’s my attempt to reimagine the Great Detective as a modern young woman. At her side is Jayne Wilson, ever confused but always loyal. 


Running a bookstore, keeping up with friends, and trying to have a love life doesn’t make it easy to be a consulting detective. But, as Gemma constantly says, she isn’t actually a consulting detective. In true cozy fashion however, she seems to just fall into situations. 

I took an old idea, a non-original character, and changed and adapted it to make it my own. 

The situations Gemma and Jayne find themselves in don’t have to be original ideas either. In the latest in the series, A Three Book Problem, they’re hired to feed and entertain guests at a recreation of a Victorian English Country House Weekend. 

In the manner of Agatha Christie or Naigo Marsh, the guests gather at the secretive mansion, the servants move silently and efficiently around the house, guests tour the expansive grounds, tensions explode, secrets are revealed. And someone is murdered! There is a limited circle of suspects – the killer can only be a guest or servant who was in the house for the special weekend. The detective searches for clues and studies the suspects. She reaches the conclusion through an intense study of personalities and actions. No need for forensic analyses, record checks, tracing cell phone signals here. 

Once I had the bones of the story (the unoriginal idea, if you will) I made it my own. I created the characters and set the plot in motion. I gave them all secrets and reasons to be in that house. It is certainly my intention that no one will be able to figure out the killer or the motive because they’re read it someplace else! 

The stories we love the most, whether of the fatherless boy or the Great Detective, continue to inspire writers to adapt, to improvise, to create new and more modern versions for new generations of readers to enjoy. 

Make it your own. 

I’d love to know -- what recreated plots or characters you love? Or hate. Because yes, some don’t deserve to be resurrected!

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than forty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Catskill Summer Resort mysteries for Penguin Random House, the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane Books,  and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates) for Crooked Lane. 

Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It Crime Writing Festival. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards. Vicki is the recipient of the 2019 Derrick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.  

The latest in Vicki’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series is A Three Book Problem(Crooked Lane Books, January 2022) 












48 comments:

  1. Monk was supposed to be a bit of a take on Holmes as well, and I LOVED that series. I need to read more of the Holmes stories and others of the golden age of mystery. Someone, I skipped over that in my journey from the Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden to contemporary mysteries.

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    1. The original Holmes stories (most of them) are well worth reading. They are dated, sometimes, but give a real insight into the two characters.

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    2. LOVE the originals! And reading them as a writer is fascinating, too. There's a real music and rhythm to them, as well as the relationships and the setting in history. Not to mention the plots :-) ..and the brilliance of having them in Watson's POV so Sherlock can have secrets.

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    3. Holmes with humor! I still laugh when I remember the pilot of Monk

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  2. Congratulations, Vicki, on your newest Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery. Now I’m intrigued and looking forward to seeing who turns out to be the killer . . . .

    Recreated plots and characters . . . I can’t think of any I particularly hate, but I particularly enjoyed the rebirth of Miss Marple as Jessica Fletcher and the Columbo, based on Dostoevsky’s Porfiry Petrovich . . . .

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  3. Vicki, this sounds so delightful! I enjoyed the Enola Holmes movie a couple of years ago.

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    1. It thought it was great. I hear there's another coming out.

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    2. Another Enola Holmes would be fine, but either recast or redirect the Sherlock character. He really didn't work for me.

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    3. Count me in as another who loved that first Enola Holmes movie. I haven't read the books but I am looking forward to the 2nd movie.

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  4. VICKI: Congratulations on your latest Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery. I enjoy your take on re-imagining Holmes with Gemma, the bookstore and her cast of supporting characters. I also like it that Gemma has EVOLVED/GROWN throughout the series. Some cozy series characters stay the same.

    In terms of recreated plots or characters, I grew up reading the original James Bond books by Ian Fleming and watching the movies in the 1970s and 1980s with my family. Although I still go and watch the new Bond film (because it's Daniel Craig), I have not enjoyed reading the new Bond books that are written by some well known authors.

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    1. I've never read the Ian Flemming books. Perhaps I should.

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    2. VICKI: I find the Fleming books have not aged well. Lots of misogyny and racist attitudes.
      and Bond is a macho super-spy from the 1950s/1960s. But I loved seeing him travel to exotic locations, and eat luxurious food/drink. And the villains in the Bond books were memorable, unlike the bad guys in the recent films.

      The new Bond movies are changing with the times and include a new female, black 00 agent to help the aging Bond fight the bad guys.

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    3. All of which is good to see. The earlier movies were extraordinarily misogynist as well.

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    4. Very true, and not surprising, since the early movies were faithfully based on the Fleming books.

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  5. I cut my fiction teeth writing Star Trek fanfic. Good exercise!

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  6. Welcome Vicki! So pleased to see you this morning. I loved the way you described taking the well-known plots and characters and making them your own!

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  7. By the way, until someone actually put up the money to fight the Doyle estate, and won, Dame Jean Conan Doyle always demanded (a) approval of all manuscripts, (b) a grateful acknowledgement on the back of the title page, and (c) 10% of all money earned by the author from the work. Also, as I remember, a number of copies. Publishers wouldn't touch you if there was a threat of suit, and most authors couldn't afford to defend one anyway. So authors went along, even though the estate's claims were dubious. (I handled a number of such contracts.) These concessions are no longer a requirement-- but that doesn't mean that if you encroach on the inventions of someone else's pastiche, you couldn't be sued by THEM!

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    1. Good point, and something authors need to keep in mind. In my books at no time do I say my character is Sherlock Holmes. She sells things in her store that are readily available in the market and just happens to be super smart and observant.

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  8. Congratulations on your latest release!

    We recently watched "Only Murders in the Building" which reminded me of the Pink Panther movies and "New Tricks" and "Rosemary and Thyme" on TV.

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  10. Hi Vicki, welcome to JRW. Your series are on my TBR list for this year.

    I have enjoyed all of the recent Holmes-Watson cinematic recreations. In particular, I loved Lucy Liu as a smart, capable foil for her Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) in the American TV series, Elementary.

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  11. Congratulations, Vicki - the new book sounds like a winner! I have loved many Sherlock Holmes pastiches -- Laurie R. King's series featuring Mary Russell, wife of SH, that launched with the fantastic THE BEEKEEPERS APPRENTICE comes to mind. Also Anthony Horowitz's THE HOUSE OF SILK. Also Anthony Horowitze's Alex Rider books.

    Amazing how many great stories the original Sherlock has fertilized. Lots of Jungle Reds have published short stories that pay homage to the Hollmes canon. Mine, "Understudy in Scarlet," was in Laurie King and Leslie Klinger's collection ECHOES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES. Hank's "The Adventure of the Dancing Women" appeared in the same collection.

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    1. I’ve read those collections of short stories and love them. Also love Lauries series. All of those books are stocked in the Emporium and I believe Hank’s story even got a specific mention in one of the books when a customer was asking after it

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    2. WHAT??? Oh, that is so fantastic..thank you! (I am very proud of myself about that story :-) xx It was a real challenge to write!)

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    3. I had a story in that collection, too, told from the viewpoint of Watson's daughter. It was great fun!

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    4. I have a copy of that ECHOES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES signed by both Hallie and Hank. Can't have enough Sherlock or inspired by Sherlock stories.

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  12. I am suspicious when an author of a series suddenly starts co-authoring numerous books in the series--it doesn't always work. The voice of the character can morph into something not quite true to the original. Like bad fanfiction.

    This series has been on my horizon for awhile now--need to ferret out the first one and get started.

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    1. I hope you enjoy it Flora. The first is Elementary She Read.

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    2. Flora, it is SO good. Back when my library had a Mystery Book Club (Frelling Pandemic!), we read ELEMENTARY, SHE READ as one of our monthly picks.

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  13. Oh, this is SUCH a brilliant idea! Applause! And I adore everything Sherlock and Watson. How about the Anthony Horowitz Hawthorne and Horowitz books? SO GREAT. And so careful to create that same feisty but affectionate bond between the two. The relationship is so important! Cannot wait to read this..YAY! xxx

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    1. Thanks Hank. You got a mention in one of the books when a customer at the Emporium asked for the short story collection containing a story by HANK PHILLIPI RYAN!

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  14. Oh, I love Holmesian inspired books. The chemistry between Holmes and Watson is special. Doesn't every detective novel riff on Doyle in that a protagonist and a sidekick are required, no matter if they are the boyfriend, the sergeant, the best friend...well, you get my drift.

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    1. I'd agree. Watson is the prototype for the sidekick.

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  15. I adore this series, Vicki. As a fan, I am always delighted when authors find new and different ways to bring Sherlock Holmes to the page. Thanks so much for visiting today!

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  16. Vicki, Congratulations on the new book. I have read an enjoyed many of your stories. I especially liked the Klondike series. One of the Murdoch Mystery story arcs strongly reminded me of your books. Molly Smith was my introduction to the interior of British Columbia and I think of her whenever we are near there. I heard you read once at a festival on Wolf Island, Ontario. It was a joy.

    I am less of a fan of the original written Holmes than I used to be. There are so many better renditions out there, including "Sherlock" and "Elementary" as well as your series and Laurie King's. I am so skeptical of the Holmes Society stuff and that desire for purity. There was an author at that same festival on Wolf Island who was quite proud of being a member of the Holmes Society. He radiated the persona of superior male British arrogance that I sense pervades that enterprise. On the other hand, give me a female Holmes(ian) character and I'm all in.

    "Strangers on a Train" (Highsmith, not Hitchcock) is the plot I don't think can be recreated successfully. Not that it wasn't wonderful, because I thought the original was just that. Now that the secret is out, though, it is too easy to identify the plot and usually easy to figure out the "how."

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    1. The much lamented Wolfe Island festival! Such great times. I won't try to guess who the author is your are referring to.

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    2. I don't remember his name... I went to Wolf Island with a group of women who shared my love of mysteries. That group has suffered some losses lately and the memory of that day is a very nice one.

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  17. Vicki, I can't wait for A Three Book Problem. I've already got my order in!

    I'm a big fan of Sherlock Holmes. I have been since my parents gave me a digest sized edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles and I read through the story so much that the book quite literally fell apart on me.

    I have an "old" copy of the whole original Conan Doyle stories that was my father's. I think it was printed in the 50's or 60's. I also have one of those faux-fancy Barnes and Noble editions that collect the Canon as well.

    And I read a variety of pastiches as well. Vicki, I read your series which I love. There's the Laurie R. King series too. I read some of the ones published by Titan Books (James Lovegrove is the author of the two I have). I've even got the Detective Comics #572 issue where Batman and the other detective based characters from DC Comics are trying to solve a mystery and meet Sherlock Holmes. And I love "Elementary" and "Sherlock" as well. I even enjoyed the Ian McKellen movie Mr. Holmes where he played the aged Holmes. And the Jeremy Brett series is always a joy. Brett is MY Sherlock!

    One of my bucket list items is to visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London.

    All that is to say I'm just very attuned to The Great Detective, have been and always will be.

    I don't know that I have any one plot I like to see recycled or wish wasn't recycled. I guess it all depends on how well the author tells their story within the recycled storyline. Plus, if we put a stop to recycling bad plots, the horror movie industry would be out of business!

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    1. To me, Brett is the definitive Holmes. I didn't like Mr. Holmes. Perhaps I didnt' like seeing Sherlock aging and losing his powers. I found it too sad. I love Laurie R King's books too. The growth of Mary Russell throught that series has been wonderful.

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  18. Hi Vicki! It's always a treat to see you here and I'm looking forward to the new book! And I agree that there are no new ideas, only new ways to approach them. My regular advice to aspiring writers is to take a story or setup that they love--Sherlock being a perfect example--change a few things and keep going. Every writer will take things in a new direction.

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  19. Congratulations on the new Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery, Vicki! I love the set-up of this series, with Gemma Doyle owning the bookshop and Jayne Wilson having the attached cafe. Everything is so clearly Sherlock Holmes, but it is also clearly an original take on the great detective. I am behind in the series, but I hope 2022 will see me catch up, because it is such great reading.

    I always see Sherlock Holmes as the universal symbol of mystery. No matter what language you speak, seeing just the shadow portrait of Sherlock Holmes says mystery to you.

    As pastiches go, I have long been a fan of Laurie King's Russell and Holmes series, and I've made some amazing friends through my love of the series and Laurie. I enjoy when Lyndsay Faye does anything with Sherlock, with her debut novel Dust and Shadow being a favorite. I've also enjoyed Anthony Horowitz's House of Silk and Bonnie MacBird's series. And, then there are so many great short stories and short story anthologies that have evolved from the Sherlock Holmes center.

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  20. I tend to love all things Holmes, so I'm excited to learn of your series, Vicki! Adding it to the TBR for sure.

    And for an odd Holmes twist, friend Rebecca Morean, writing as Abbey Pen Baker, is Watson to Holmes' daughter...I think? It's been a while since I read it (novel(s) and 3 "monographs"), but it's a fun take.

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    1. I've read at least one of the Abbey Pen Barker books. We corresponded as members of the Studious Scarlet Society.

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    2. Small world and all...I do love it when my writing circles collide!

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  21. I do like remaking of holmes but it never compares to basil Rathbones portrayel except for Robert downy in my mind. I would love to add this series to my collection one day.

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