sseitz

Christmas

2009-12-26T11:24:54Z

Wow, survived another one. Pleased that Dan and Alaina are here and that we got through the day with no major disasters, a little less than pleased that I now have to add the ebb and flow of back pain to my gauge of how well my days go.

Starting next week, my workload doubles at least when I add the Message for the Week to my duties at the Eagle Times. It is to be hoped that this is a sign of confidence.

Deerstalkers

2009-12-24T15:25:06Z

For the Sherlockians, William Gillette in a deerstalker:

May you all find a blue carbuncle in your Christmas stocking!

Enough with Tiger Woods already!

2009-12-13T13:28:57Z

The world has definitely become too candy-assed in recent years.

Not that long ago, we were honest about human sexuality. We are hard-wired to seek multiple partners; that is necessary to ensure the continuation of the species. Marriage is also necessary, to keep track of bloodlines and property. Conflict is inevitable, and we used to recognize that and look the other way. Not all marriages are perfect.

No more. Tiger Woods may have damaged his marriage and embarrassed his family, but that's hardly of great consequence to the world at large. O.J. Simpson committed murder, for chrissake, and wasn't treated this badly.

When sanctimonious right-wing Republicans who always harp on "moral legitimacy" and "family values" (which are never specifically defined, by the way) get caught with their pants down, they deserve all the calumny they have earned for their hypocrisy. But Woods was never among them, and powerful men have been using their power to seduce beautiful women for thousands of years. Why in the world are we acting so surprised that it's happening now? That, too, is hypocrisy.

Athletes haven't been heroes for at least 30 years. David Letterman pled guilty and went back to work. Nobody cares anymore. Woods deserves that much.

So Much for Rallying the Troops

2009-11-07T23:54:46Z

The stunning lack of response to my suggestion that Sherlockians try to take advantage of the upcoming Holmes film to get people to start reading about him (including "Sherlok Holmes and the Plague of Dracula," naturally) is most dissapointing. As usual, it's all up to me.

What Robert Downey, Jr. Can Do For Us

2009-11-02T13:06:00Z

I have been giving some thought on how the upcoming Robert Downey, Jr. version of Sherlock Holmes can accomplish more than make money for Warner Bros.

We have a little more than a month to take advantage of this. The film provides an opportunity for the scion societies to build membership, a chance to plan Holmes-themed events, and, I hope, a chance to sell some books. (For those who don't already know, I wrote "Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula.")

It is unfortunate that Warner Bros. has chosen Christmas Day to release the film, but let's not forget the significance of Jan. 6, just twelve days later. There is adequate planning time for both Christmas and the New Year.

I am willing to appear at events within driving distance of Springfield, Vt., (for me, a radius of 50 to 100 miles). For those clubs willing to buy "Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula" directly from Mountainside Press (www.mountainsidepress.com), I will sign them for use any way they wish. I would also like to know which theatres are showing the Downey film as soon as you know, just in case I can schedule signings there. (If they've booked the film, they should be running the trailer by now.)

Among the things clubs could do:

-- Sponsor special matinees by buying a block of tickets. Maybe high school or college English classes might be interested.

-- Buy up a bunch of tickets as special prizes for a contest.

-- See if the theatres would be interested in allowing panel discussions after showings of the film. Most theatres will schedule special performances if they have a guaranteed number of seats sold.

-- Set up booths at the theatres and bookstores for curious new fans.

-- Piggyback onto whatever the bookstores are doing. (Those of us who are authors should be doing that anyway.)

I'd like to pool ideas, so please share your thoughts.

Opportunities like this seldom come along; we should not let this pass us by. Let's try to work together for the good of the Master, and for ourselves.

Steve

P.S. Some of you may get more than one copy of this; my apologies. It would take me more than an hour to edit the duplicates out.

The Eagle Times Returns, or Back in the Working Class

2009-10-19T14:45:40Z

The Eagle Times has returned from the ashes, and has seen fit to put me to work covering Springfield. Not long after that, my car officially died, leaving me in the market for a cheap heap.

Employed Again

2009-10-10T16:43:09Z

Back in the paying job market.

The revived Eagle Times has taken me on as its Springfield correspondent, which means I get to cover this town thoroughly, with the occasional foray into nearby Weathersfield, which usually only makes the news when Mt. Ascutney is open.

The pay is less than stellar, of course, because the new Eagle Times is basically a startup and its work force is about two-thirds smalle than it was under the previous ownership. We hit the streets on Monday.

Meanwhile, I have turned my Clarion duties over to Langdale Pike, who will fill in until the Clarion finds better backing, or money.

The Firebug and Me

2009-09-26T15:16:48Z

For those of you following my friend Wally on Facebook, here's the arson story, which happened when I was in college.

My girlfriend, myself, and some of her friends had planned to spend an evening pub crawling and see a local band. However, one of the girls got roped into bringing her cousin. He'd recently been released from the Vermont state mental hospital because he was a pathological firebug and had burned down the main Catholic church in Burlington several years before, in the late sixties or early seventies. (For some reason, the diocese replaced it with a hideous mud-colored Pizza Hut-type structure with a crucifix on top.)

Needless to say, everyone was a bit nervous, especially the smokers. This guy couldn't stop staring at the candle sticking out of the old chianti bottle at the center of our table. People got themselves away from him as quickly as possible; the girls, as they tend to do, went to the bathroom in a pack and the guys fearlessly went prowling for alternatives the dance floor. That left me alone with a convicted arsonist who looked on the tiny candle frame with longing, love and memory glowing in his eyes.

Finally, he asked me where I was from, and I told him, "Brattleboro."

"Really?" He came back to reality. "Do you know Ray Jablonski?"

It would figure that I did. Raymond was a classmate and petty thief who missed graduation due to a badly bungled break-in and burglary, not that he would have gotten as far as graduation anyway. Apparently these two were cellmates for a while and had the gift for getting caught in common. So we spent a good portion of the evening discussing Raymond and Brattleboro's other contributions to Vermont's correctional system.

(To digress a moment: Why does it take so long for women to get back from the bathroom? Or would we rather not know what goes on in there?)

I prefer to think I defused a potentially ugly situation; to the others in our group, however, I was some sort of minor pariah because I had the temerity to talk to this guy as if he were a human being. So much for doing the decent thing. Some day I will understand why so many people are like this.

Beer Cooler in Space

2009-09-15T23:18:40Z

You've got to love MIT. Click on this:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/the-150-space-camera-mit-students-beat-nasa-on-beer-money-budget?npu=1&mbid=yhp

If Lincoln Were President Today

2009-09-09T13:58:54Z

Click here:

<a href="http://punditkitchen.com/2009/09/09/political-pictures-abraham-lincoln-president-today/"><img src="http://punditkitchen.wordpress.com/files/2009/08/political-pictures-abraham-lincoln-president-today.jpg" alt="abraham lincoln" title="political-pictures-abraham-lincoln-president-today" width="438" height="512" class="mine_5105668" /></a><br />see more <a href="http://punditkitchen.com">Political Pictures</a>

Facebook argument

2009-09-04T19:18:54Z

Today, the topic is health care, and the bogus scare tactics used by the hard right to derail it.

But let's be clear: as Rep. Welch succinctly put it today, the Republicans want to make this issue Obama's Waterloo in hopes of destroying his presidency. Health care is simply the vehicle they chose, because otherwise they'd have to talk about how the stimulus plan is stabilizing the economy, just as Obama said it would.

The reason for all this is to bring conservative Republicans back into power for the exact same government we just voted out: of, by and for robber barons. Do not be fooled that this health care "debate" is about anything else.

There is circulating on Facebook and YouTube linking nationalized health care with long outdated and repealed eugenics programs. Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAwS0mxfSc4

Keep in mind the following:

1) No credits. We don't who created this video.

2)This Dr. King is a long-time, professional anti-abortion activist, and the pastor holds the same progressive and understanding views as Justice Clarence Thomas. (Thomas was the only one who supported a school system which strip-searched a 13-year-old girl in an overzealous and baseless hunt for drugs.) The video makes no attempt to play fair or get its facts straight.

3) Justice Ginsburg's July New York Times interview concerned women on the federal bench, and abortion is barely mentioned. The quote here is taken out of context. The reporter and Ginsburg were talking about Medicaid funding for abortion, not population control. Here is the complete quote:

"Q: Are you talking about the distances women have to travel because in parts of the country, abortion is essentially unavailable, because there are so few doctors and clinics that do the procedure? And also, the lack of

"JUSTICE GINSBURG: Yes, the ruling about that surprised me. [Harris v. McRae — in 1980 the court upheld the Hyde Amendment, which forbids the use of Medicaid for abortions.] Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of. So that Roe was going to be then set up for Medicaid funding for abortion. Which some people felt would risk coercing women into having abortions when they didn’t really want them. But when the court decided McRae, the case came out the other way. And then I realized that my perception of it had been altogether wrong."

Ginsburg was talking about her perceptions at the time, not about her own views, and she admits those perceptions were wrong. The video leaves that out. (Keep in mind that the author of the Hyde Amendment, the late Henry Hyde, was a confessed adulterer who led the impeachment drive against President Clinton on grounds of sexual impropriety. Tell me why this isn't pure hypocrisy.)

4) The views of John Holdren are similarly misrepresented. The video claims he favors draconian population control policies in his (and three others') 1977 textbook, "Ecoscience." Holdren, et al., were analyzing possible scenarios that might result from overpopulation. (China actually went ahead and did one of them with their one-child only rule.) Discussing something is not the same as endorsing it.

Here's what's been discredited so far: the notion that having a choice of government health insurance is the same as nationalizing health care, when in fact, it is a choice; Sarah Palin's hysterical accusation of "death panels" to ease the elderly out turned out to be a flaming lie; there is nothing in anybody's proposals about covering illegal aliens. This video is in the same vein in that it tries to link the horrors of the past to nationalized health care, what's known as a "causal leap." It's just not true; otherwise, why hasn't it happened in countries which already have, and plan to keep, their national systems?

Far too many people who call themselves conservatives seem incapable of arguing important issues on the merits. If there were a genuine, well-reasoned basis for opposing health care reform, we just haven't heard it. Choosing shrill and untrue rhetoric and shouting down serious discussion are the tactics of tyrants and fascists.

Writer's Block: As the Cookie Crumbles

2009-09-01T14:31:11Z

If you ran the fortune cookie factory, what message would you make sure gets put in a cookie?

Submitted By 123ekaterina

View 668 Answers

Help! I'm a prisoner in a Chinese bakery!

RIP Eagle Times

2009-07-10T16:03:18Z

With nearly no warning, the Eagle Times, which covered Claremont, New Hampshire and Springfield, Vermont, closed its doors today. The move takes three weeklies with it.

I feel bad for the friends and colleagues who have lost their jobs. If I could get a print edition of the Tribune off the ground, I could help some of them.

This leaves us with only the Vermont Journal, which carries no real news, as our remaining competition. All we need now is an angel. There is a huge market here, and the sharks are circling already.

Things are going to get pretty interesting over the next couple of months.

Needed: Agent

2009-07-01T18:44:44Z

I am currently putting a list of agents together to promote "Secrets Can't Be Kept Forever," which is a mystery set in contemporary Vermont. It should be sufficiently R-rated to attract a solid audience, or so I'm hoping.

Of course, if anyone knows of an agent looking for a new client, I'd appreciate knowing.

Novel vs. Film

2009-06-08T18:22:40Z

There has been much discussion of late on the Sherlock Holmes boards concerning the upcoming Guy Ritchie film, starring Robert Downey, Jr. Included in these discussions are many lamentations about fidelity to the source material, a position on which I've changed my mind over the years. My reasoning is below.

***

I’d like to weigh in on cinematic adaptations, if I may. I speak not only as a novelist and screenwriter myself, but as a journalist who has interviewed a few authors whose work has been adapted to film: most notably Dennis Lehane and Jodi Picoult.

Lehane told me that the novel and the movie have as much in common as apples and giraffes, and should not be considered together. He was quite pleased with “Mystic River,” including the surprise casting of Lawrence Fishbourne as Det. Whitey Powers. Lehane felt that the racial switch added a dimension he never considered. (For that matter, Stephen King has said he wished he’d thought of the ending Brian DePalma used for “Carrie.”)

Jodi generally supports the movie; I've never heard her express disappointment. She has told me on several occasions that she is usually pleased with results, and she recognizes that changes often need to be made to accommodate the differences between the two media. Although she initially disapproved of Nick Cassavetes’ decision to change the ending of “My Sister’s Keeper,” since seeing the film she seems to have come around.

Film is very much a collaborative art, while writing is a solitary and individual artistic endeavor. Legions of decisions must be made to bring a film to life. A screenplay is simply the floor plan. A single casting decision can determine a film’s fate: suppose, for instance, that Warner Bros. cast Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan in “Casablanca,” or that MGM had gotten its first choice of Shirley Temple for “The Wizard of Oz”? Would the James Bond films have been as successful had someone other than John Barry written the music for most of them? (Considering how the Bond title tunes have fared without him, I would say not.)

Retaining the tone and spirit of a novel in a screenplay is extremely difficult even when screenwriters and producers care, which most don’t. (We all know that making money for everyone but the writer is the primary purpose of most commercial films.) Alfred Hitchcock concerned himself primarily with the visual aspects of his films far more than he did with fidelity to the source; anyone reading Robert Bloch’s “Psycho” would be surprised to discover that Norman Bates is described as fat, blonde and forty. But casting Anthony Perkins against that proved unforgettable. You wouldn’t recognize “The Birds” from reading Daphne DuMaurier’s story, but did that matter as you gripped the arms of your seat in the dark? Hitchcock was right.

Another example: there have been two adaptations of Patricia Highsmith’s “Ripley’s Game,” one starring Dennis Hopper and one starring John Malkovich as sociopath Tom Ripley. Their two interpretations of the character could not be more different; each actor sees Ripley in a unique light. Hopper’s version is an urban street hustler, which contrasts sharply with the refined and elegant Ripley given us by Malkovich. But both are smooth, remorseless killers. Who is to say which one is right?

Even when the novel’s author is closely involved, the film frequently comes out differently. Take John Irving’s “The Cider House Rules,” which took 15 years to bring to the screen. While Irving himself maintained control over much of the film, most of the book had to be excised because otherwise he would have had a five-hour movie on his hands. (Irving quoted my review in his Oscar acceptance speech, which was quite flattering.) The story had to be stripped to its essentials in order to be filmed.

Finally, the process of writing has to be organic if your fiction, whether on page or screen, is to be any good. Characters have an annoying tendency to blow the author’s wishes off and go in their own directions. A vital discovery in my own pastiche came about when Watson asserted himself during a key bit of exposition – doctors make deductions, too, based on their training and experience. Similarly, I would be willing to bet that Nick Cassavetes changed the ending to “My Sister’s Keeper” because of the way the script evolved during the writing.

In the end, I would say that if you really want to see the book you read on the screen, the best way is to produce the film yourself. Otherwise, a film should be judged on its own merits, regardless of the source material.

"SHPoD" on Kindle, and New Novel

2009-05-24T15:59:05Z

There will be many of you (I hope), eager to take advantage of the fact that "Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula" has now been posted on Kindle for less than half the retail cover price. Here's the Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Plague-Dracula/dp/B002AKJYMI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1243180374&sr=1-1

As some of you know, I have damaged my leg somehow and have difficulty getting around. But the positive aspect of that is that I can't do much other than write. Yesterday I finished typing my next novel, "Secrets Can't Be Kept Forever" into the computer and am in the process of editing the copy now. I'll need a couple of mystery fans to look it over for comments before I start trying to charm agents into peddling it. If you'd like to, and can turn it around in two weeks or less, please let me know.

Simpsons Stamp Cancellation Special: Tell Everybody!

2009-05-01T19:51:22Z

This coming Thursday, May 7, the U.S. Postal Service is launching a line of stamps featuring the Simpsons. Because the official home of the Simpsons is Springfield, Vt., for that one day, we get a special stamp cancellation. Here's the link to the Rutland Herald story to see what it looks like:

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20090430/NEWS04/904300372/1003/NEWS02

If you don't live anywhere near Springfield and would like one, here's what you'll need:

1) PayPal

2) Willingness to buy a personalized copy of "Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula" from me for $21.

All you need to do to send an e-mail request to me at stephen@seitzbooks.com. I then send you a PayPal request. Once the money is in my account, I will personalize a copy of my book for you (or whoever you intend to give it to, given that birthdays, weddings and graduations are in the air), and mail it to you on the 7th. If you want a message other than the ones I normally use, please let me know in your e-mail.

If you want to take a chance on snail mail, the address is:

P.O. Box 426
Springfield, VT 05156

Be sure to send a check or postal money order, obviously. This is very much a pay as you go operation. If your check comes too late, I'll contact you to see if you still want the book anyway.

Deadline for this offer is 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

This will only last from about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 7th, so the window is very tight.

Attack of the Right-Wing Troll

2009-04-19T20:10:28Z

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the vitueration and ignorance below comes from someone living in a bunker in Idaho. I was recently drawn into a flame war over on Facebook, where a certain right-wing idiot started slandering my profession -- to wit, the "biased liberal media" bullshit spouted by those with no journalistic training of any sort and who have never been anywhere near a newsroom. As usual, I was the only professional who took part in the discussion. Years of practical experience in the field doesn't count with the right wing, as you can tell.

As the page's host asked us to take it outside, I, of course, obliged. It doesn't seem to matter to this person that I spent six years at the New Hampshire Union Leader, one of the most conservative papers in the country, which, despite its conservative editorial page, is a solid professional publication that sticks to the highest principles of journalism and has never asked me to slant my coverage or re-edited a story to fit a particular point of view. It apparently doesn't matter that every week, Vermont's Republican governor comes on my show to discuss the issues.

Below is the single message I sent this person, followed by her reply.

***

Go to Google and type in my name plus "Union Leader". I worked for one od the most conservative papers in the country for six years, and my coverage played no small role in winning a Senate seat for John Sununu. Ask yourself how they could keep me on the payroll for so long if my coverage is so biased against conservatives.

The plain fact is, you don't know what you are talking about. Please refrain from spouting these vicious and untrue slanders against me or my profession.

SS

I've said nothing about your person, Steve--but your profession is filled to brimming with lying, perverted, misological hacks. You, Love, haven't got the foggiet clue who I am or what and who I know--if I were you, I'd lay off....or I can show you just what I do know.

STOP HARRASSING ME!!!

You have yet to say anything worthwhile, Steve, but only continue to whine ad nauseum about how unfair we've allegedly been to you. Unless you are actually going to discuss issues, instead of your thin-skinned, bruised ego, then shut the hell up. No one is interested in your personal indignation. What people are interested in is ending the biased meida stranglehold on information to the masses.

NOW, GO AWAY SNIVELLING LITTLE MAN....

By the by: I'll google you NEVER--you've already told me everything I need to know about you, Love....(read above).

***

Let's start with the bad grammar and numerous spelling mistakes that characterize the right-wing idiot diatribe. "foggiet clue"; "harrassing" (something I never did); "meida"; and what the hell is "misological"?

Another typical item: refusing to do even the most basic research. Between the Internet and NewsBank, damn near everything I've written since 1997 is easily available for all to see. The only complaints I've ever had come from people like this, or their equally ravenous and ignorant counterparts on the left. This cow believes what she believes, and damn the facts.

Oh, and let's not forget this: "if I were you, I'd lay off....or I can show you just what I do know." Threats, too: another sign of an unstable mind. Probably she's porking Randy Weaver.

Well, as St. Thomas More once said, silence implies agreement. If I stand by and allow people like this to slander my profession, then the implication is that I agree with them. Not me, brother.

James Bond Special

2009-04-10T13:33:49Z

A note to the Bond fans out there: this Sunday's Magical Music Museum features the scores from the James Bond films over the years. For those of you in the Springfield, Vt. area, the show can be caught on 106.5 FM and 1480 AM at 10 p.m. Eastern time USA on Sunday nights. On the Web, you can catch us at http://springfieldsvariety.com.

The first hour is sort of an overview, featuring variations on the Theme, different interpretations of "Goldfinger," and even unusual treatments of some John Barry pieces you wouldn't expect to be covered by other artists.

The second hour, my filmmaker son Dan (thetathx1138 to most of you) joins me for a scene-by-scene walk through "The Living Daylights," John Barry's last Bond score. It'll be a good time.

"SHPoD" Sells Out Again!

2009-03-24T23:15:53Z

This time at Amazon.com.uk, where it continues as a presence on the "Dracula" bestseller list. They're down to their last copy.

Now if only we could get someone to actually promote the book ...

I'm on Twitter now, too.

2009-03-20T13:06:57Z

Since I'm back in the sales game, I thought I'd go whole hog.

We've worked most of the bugs out of "The Magical Music Museum," which airs on Sunday nights between 10 p.m. and midnight on 106.5 FM, WCFR in Springfield, Vermont. It's also online at http://springfieldsvariety.com. (Yes, we changed formats and Web address as well.)

As I've been on Twitter for all of ten minutes, I haven't seen a lot of action.

Also, I can't let today go by without wishing a happy birthday to my son Dan, who's coming to visit and may find himself co-hosting the Museum if we can fit the time in.

The Museum's Second Grand Opening, and Back in the Sales Boat

2009-03-15T21:43:35Z

The eternal conspiracy to make me look bad reached a peak last week, when somebody failed to tell the station computer about the new daylight savings time. That meant a bunch of programs conflicted over time, and the system responded by kicking out a lot of the weekend's programming -- including the "Magical Music Museum." We try again tonight. If it actually flies, I'll send out real notification next week. I also hope the promise of podcasts turns out to be true.

I am also selling ads again. I have no choice. The news biz is moribund and we haven't been able to get the Tribune off the ground, though it will continue in a somewhat diminished form. I will continue to cover what news I can, but the most productive hours of my day will have to be spent pushing advertising. If I can't make that fly, I'm out of options. Age and sex discrimination are completely legal when it comes to men.

Magical Music Museum

2009-03-07T13:55:28Z

Don't waste any more Sunday nights. Go to http://www.wcfram.com and listen to my new show, the Magical Music Museum!

The premiere is tomorrow night. What happens is that I go through my vast pile of strange and unusual recordings and fling them out on the airwaves to an unsuspecting world. The show airs between 10 p.m. and midnight. If you're anywhere near Springfield, Vermont, the frequency is 106.5 FM.

This week, for instance, you'll be treated to the Austin Lounge Lizards, the great Mrs. Miller, love poetry courtesy of Jack Webb, the best of The Transformed Man, the Ballad of Bilbo Baggins, and more. So don't miss out!

Of course, I do take requests, and if you've got something bizarre that simply must be shared with the rest of the world, please let me know.

So I've Been Busy

2009-02-08T16:03:53Z

I promised myself I wouldn't let the blog go this long, but it's been busy.

I am making progress on my second novel, having finally resolved an important plot point in the home stretch. I should have a workable first draft in a couple of weeks, and then the real writing begins.

Leo and I may have some backing for the Tribune, which will enable us to bring a print version to the streets. If we can pull that off, this could prove to be a very good year.

Also, I'd like to attend Bouchercon in Indianapolis this coming October, because as the new Sherlock Holmes movie looms, it will provide an opportunity, at last, to really promote "Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula." Not to mention finding me an agent for the second book and get some genuine money for my work.

For those of you unaware, I still do the morning news for radio station WCFR here in Springfield. You can catch me at http://www.wcfram.com. Speaking of which: we have a new studio now in far less crummy quarters, and I have my own office. You may be hearing more from me yet. I'll ty to be better about keeping the LJ current.

My Year

2008-12-31T15:41:03Z

At last, 2008 is behind us!

I am sitting in my cozy, messy home office, staring out the window at the snow and hoping the coming year will allow me to build on the accomplishments of this year.

The Black River Tribune
The Tribune has achieved stability in that we have a regular readership of between 1,000 and 2,000 hits a month at the Web site, but a print edition is still tantalizingly out of reach for now. Thanks to our partnership with radio station WCFR and Valley Photofieds, we reach thousands, and reaction has generally been positive. Also, it's flattering to have people recognize my voice again; that hasn't happened since I was a DJ thirty years ago.

Some of the highlights of our first year include getting the Obama campaign to let us cover their rally in Unity, N.H., developing a good working relationship with Gov. Jim Douglas, and landing interviews with Robert Picardo (Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate Atlantis) and James Kyson Lee (Heroes), among other things.

In short, we are now a solid presence in this market, and our second year, we expect, will prove successful.

Sherlock Holmes and the Plague of Dracula
Last year saw "SHPoD" sell out its stock on Amazon.com for the eighth time. The novel is a slow, but steady seller, and I see no reason for that not to continue. Over at Barnes & Noble, the book hit No. 5 on their Sherlock Holmes list. Thanks to the international network of Sherlockians, I have made two valuable contacts: Dr. Flo Spector (aka Mrs. Hudson), and author Ann Margaret Lewis. Flo not only allowed me to join the White Rose Irregulars, she also put me up so I could get a signing at the Borders store in Columbia, Md., near Baltimore. That went so well only three copies were left by the time I was finished, and the Balitmore Sun called me to talk about Holmes. I also attended a gathering called "The Scintillation of Scions" and came home with a radio story for WCFR's listeners.

Ann is working on a pastiche on her own, and I am offering what help I can in making it a satisfying reading experience.

I have also formed an alliance with fellow local author Lisa Comstock, whose first novel, "The BrimTier Chronicles," just came out. We have attended two conventions together so far, and Lisa even managed to get a spot for herself at this year's New England Fan Experience in the Boston area. We hope to be appearing at the Book Nook in Ludlow sometime soon; keep watching this space.

Other Projects
Thanks to the Tribune's coverage of the film "Moonlight and Mistletoe," which was made in Chester, I was able to make the acquaintance of David Giancola. David is the head of Edgewood Studios in Rutland, the venue which produced the film for the Hallmark Channel. He kindly read my original screenplay, "Localvore," and, if we can somehow raise the money, may even produce it for us. (If you've got a million or two lying around looking for a home, please let me know.)

I am also close to finishing the first draft of my next novel, a contemporary mystery set in Vermont. I can't say much more than that; I don't even have a good title yet. But with any luck I'll get an agent to help me with it and, it is to be hoped, some real money. Again, keep an eye on the blog.

So, again, I hope everyone has a happy New Year, with all success and joy.