antennapedia

I have the Holmes story outlined, with the basic shape of the mystery in place. I have a setting (January 2001 -> January 1886) and a mechanism to set the plot in motion. I also know how to write it: alternating first person viewpoints of Giles and Watson. Perhaps in the form of journal entries written by each. (I was pretty sure I'd do that for Watson; just now occurred to me that I need to do it for Giles as well. Okay, I'm committed.) I keep wanting to write action-adventure with Giles. The climactic scene is fisticuffs at night as the three men burgle a house to recover an artifact essential to Giles' return.

I am amused to note Holmes's fanonical birthday, as mentioned in the excellent wikipedia article, is January 6, 1854. Therefore he's nearly exactly 100 years older than our man Rupert.

I have Baring-Gould at home. Must skim it, as well as re-read the stories set in that year. Though I remember "The resident patient" pretty well. The Holmes chronology is so screwy. Pardon me for saying this, because I do love him, but Conan Doyle was such a freakin' hack. Couldn't keep Watson's marriages straight; couldn't keep the location of his war wound straight; couldn't keep his damn middle name straight. The dates I can cope with. We can just pretend that Watson was playing games with dates to obscure identities. But really, that war wound...

Don't want to deep-end on research, though. I think I need to just fling myself into that Holmes-inspecting-Giles scene.