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Welcome! Like the book of the same name, this blog is an eclectic collection of Sherlockian scribblings based on more than a half-century of reading Sherlock Holmes. Please add your own thoughts. You can also follow me on Twitter @DanAndriacco and on my Facebook fan page at Dan Andriacco Mysteries. You might also be interested in my Amazon Author Page. My books are also available at Barnes & Noble and in all main electronic formats including Kindle, Nook, Kobo and iBooks for the iPad.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

What Was Your Gateway Drug?

One question I am always asked in interviews is, "How did you first encounter Sherlock Holmes?"

Most recently I answered that for the "Well-Read Sherlockian" blog post which appeared on Tuesday in honor of the official publication date of my new mystery, Holmes Sweet Holmes. I also answered there a question about who are my favorite mystery writers, which brought this e-mail from Leah Guinn, who writes the blog:

So, you like Preston and Child, too? Their Pendergast novels are like crack to me, and directly responsible for my obsession with Sherlock Holmes. I picked up Brimstone because I wanted something creepy, and in a few days, I'd convinced myself that it was OK to go back to the book store and pick up the whole series through Fever Dreams.

When I finally came off of that reading bender, I was just lost for a few days. Nothing seemed worth reading any more. Then I remembered a reviewer comparing Pendergast and Holmes, and then I remembered how much I liked Hanna's The Whitechapel Horror back when it came out int he '90s. So I read that again, and then I read Dust and Shadow, and then the canon, and then, and then  . . . 
 The different ways in which we come to Holmes is endlessly interesting. So many Holmes fans are also Star Trek and Doctor Who fans, for example, and many are not mystery fans at all except for Holmes. So what was your gateway drug to Sherlock Holmes?
   

1 comment:

  1. My gateway drug to Sherlock Holmes was Nicholas Meyer's "The Canary Trainer." Whenever I'm asked about my first Holmes story, I feel strange admitting that my first story was a pastiche, not canon. My mother gave it to me because she woke up one summer morning and realized that she was saddled with a preteen daughter who thought she could sing (I couldn't). And I think she spent a full day running around, going: "Quiet hobby, quiet hobby. My daughter needs a quiet hobby."

    Anyway, "The Canary Trainer" is really confusing for someone who has never read a canon story, and so... my quiet hobby was born.

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