by Toni L.P. Kelner / Leigh Perry
The late great Donald Westlake says he came up with Dortmunder, the protagonist of his hilarious caper novels, when he had an idea for a book that was just a bit too zany for Richard Stark, his established series protagonist. I had a similar experience when Laurie King and Leslie Klinger invited to write a short story for For the Sake of the Game: Stories Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes Canon, which was just released this week.
It's a terrific collection, with a song written by Peter Beagle, a graphic story by William Kotzwinkle & Joe Servello, and short stories by Rhys Bowen, Reed Farrel Coleman, Jamie Freveletti, Alan Gordon, Gregg Hurtiz, Harley Jane Kozak, D.P. Lyle, Weston Ochse, Zoe Sharp, Duane Swierczynski, and F. Paul Wilson. And me, feeling delighted to be in such a talented company.
My original plan was to write a story in my Leigh Perry persona that featured Georgia Thackery and her skeletal pal Sid from the Family Skeleton series. Since both Georgia and Sid are fond of pop culture, and have made references to the Great Detective more than once, I decided to send them to a Sherlock Holmes convention. It wouldn't be an erudite gathering like the Baker Street Irregular meetings--this would be a Holmes in the media fan con, with cosplay galore. Surely I could sneak Sid into a group like that!
I confess that this decision was partially for marketing reasons. When I publish a short story, I certainly hope people like it for its own sake, but I'm also hoping that people will like the characters enough to hunt up the books in the series. So naturally I wanted to take the opportunity to introduce new readers to Sid and Georgia.
I got started on "The Adventure of the Six Sherlocks," trying to come up with an excuse for Georgia to attend and a way Sid could move around unnoticed. But I got bogged down. The explanations were getting too complicated and taking up too much space for a short story. Maybe I could have done it in a novel, but it just wasn't working in the amount of space I had to work with.
Then, just as Dortmunder appeared to Westlake and volunteered, Tilda Harper said she'd take the job in my story. The difference is that she wasn't a new character at all. While some people only know my for my current series, the Family Skeleton books are actually my third series. Tilda was the protagonist of the second, the three books of my "Where are they now?" mysteries. She's a Boston-based freelance entertainment reporter who specializes in tracking down the formerly famous. And all too often, she finds murder.
Tilda was perfect for the job. While Georgia and Sid are fond of pop culture, Tilda lives and breathes the stuff. And of course she had the perfect excuse to be at this convention--she was going to interview an actor who'd played Holmes on TV. So I tossed in a friend of hers from the first book in her series, and it all came together.
Okay, it wasn't quite that easy. The Family Skeleton books are written in first person, while the "Where are they now?" mysteries were written in third person. Also, Georgia is a nice person, and as both a mother and an academic, is careful with her language. Tilda is single and a whole lot more acerbic. Cussing is fine with her! So it's a very different voice to work in. Not to mention that it's been long time since I wrote the Tilda books. Maybe some writers remember all the details of their previous work, but I afraid I'm not like that. I had to do research in my own series, which was an odd sensation. (Good news: I still like those books!) So by hook and by crook, I managed to slip back into that persona to finish the story. For fans of that series, you know where Tilda is now!
But just because I couldn't resist it, I threw in an exceedingly brief cameo for Sid, dressed appropriately for the occasion.
And just in case you read "The Adventure of the Six Sherlocks" and be intrigued by Tilda, you can check out those books, starting with Curse of the Kissing Cousins. All three books in the series are available as ebooks and as audio downloads and CDs.
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