Improbable Press Blog — The Watches of the Night

After a moment, though, the grasses crackled and shifted, and Holmes’ warm shoulder pressed into mine. ‘There,’ he said softly, pointing with one long, thin finger at a smattering of stars. ‘Cassiopeia.’I grinned. ‘Why, Holmes. You’ve been swotting up.’‘Astronomy - nil,’ he quoted, with a laugh. ‘It’s hardly good business to advertise one’s weaknesses. Proving another’s misconceptions wrong, however, is. I have taken advantage.’‘Show me, then. What else have you learned to prove me wrong?’'The constellations,’ Holmes murmured. His voice was close against my ear. ‘The stars.’ His long hands gestured toward the sky, as though directing the heavens, and...

By Darcy Lindbergh Writing The Watches of the Night was about really getting back into the canon of Sherlock Holmes and picking it apart at the seams, trying to sort out where I could elbow my own way in. Conan Doyle's writing is really such a joy to read, and comparing the original stories to some of the academia that has sprouted up around it – both the traditionally-accepted and the more creative lines of thinking – to decide how I wanted to follow it along was a really fascinating job. As with any writing, there was a ton of...