Socially Distant, But Far From Idle

Sometimes I wear this tie when I've pretending to be a writer. 

I’ve been mourning the loss of so many Sherlockian activities, as I mentioned last week. But I have not been idle. Here are some of the writing projects that have occupied me in this Age of Quarantine, with apologies for the necessary lack of specifics:

• My next Sebastian McCabe – Jeff Cody book, a collection of three novellas, is in the hands of its second beta reader. This one, Murderers’ Row, fills in some blanks in the series. Two of the stories take place before the most recent McCabe-Cody novel, Too Many Clues. MX should publish the book in September. 

• Meanwhile I’m making strides every day in plotting the next McCabe-Cody, which will be back to novel length. The title, not yet ready for unveiling, is a quote from Sherlock Holmes.  

• My new Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel for Wessex Press, The Sword of Death, just got back to me from the second reader and I have incorporated his suggestions. Look for this one next January at the Baker Street Irregulars Weekend.

• On Thursday of last week I finished editing eight out of nine essays for a book coming this fall from Belanger Books. It’s a project I’ve had in mind for years, putting between the same covers a Canonical Sherlock Holmes story with two related pastiches. Each story will be accompanied by three essays and five original illustrations. This will be a handsome hardcover book in slipcase. 

• On Friday I sent the Baker Street Journal an essay I’ve been working on for years. But I didn’t know that’s what I was doing until last week! 

That doesn't even include the reading that I've been doing. 

So, though I miss the non-virtual contact with my friends, I’m not bored! I hope that you, too are being productive at this unique time in history.