Lose Yourself in New Pastiches

by Lyndsay Faye

When kindly folks ask me to write about Sherlock Holmes, my answer ought to be carved into a woodblock so I can stamp it on every occasion: I would love to. Yes, absolutely! But I do this for a living, weirdly - the writing, storytelling, etc. And it takes me about three weeks to craft a good short story, so I am careful about my pro bono projects. I always say, if you’re not good enough for poetry, write short stories. And if you’re not good enough for short stories, write novels.

I write mostly novels, by the way.

I can recall the exact moment when David asked me to contribute a Holmes pastiche for the first volume to benefit Undershaw. I remember it because I immediately said absolutely yes, turned it in, saw it in print, and then was relentlessly hounded for more pastiches until the point when I said (pretty much) never ever ask me this again.

So he asked me to write a forward.

I’m not telling this story in a negative light, in case anyone was wondering. In fact, David is responsible for a huge amount of new stories existing. He badgers, he cajoles, he solicits, he wheedles, and he cadges. It works. I value very few things more than I value new Sherlock Holmes stories, so I applaud these results.

Let this be a proclamation: David Marcum, and the authors featured herein, have brought more Sherlock Holmes stories into the world. The tales are fantastic. They are traditional, which is tricky. They are labors of love. And David Marcum loves Sherlock Holmes the way I do, never quite forgetting about him as we walk around grocery shopping or vegetable chopping or bar hopping.

Lose yourself in new pastiches. Nitpick them. Love them. Analyze them.

Whatever you do with them, I’m simply glad they exist in the world.

Lyndsay Faye

BSI, ASH

July 2018