CONTEST: Share Your Thoughts about Sherlock Holmes on Screen, Win the Original Canon on Audiobook

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard the phrase “You never forget your first Sherlock Holmes.”  It seems that no discussion of the various incarnations of Sherlock Holmes on the screen is complete without a mention of that particular viewpoint.  But it’s true; the first actor you see portraying the Master Detective, on stage or screen, tends to shape your perception of him for the rest of your days.  That’s not to say that there will not be other actors that you enjoy in the role; performers who capture the unique brand of indifferent elegance that you like to see in Sherlock Holmes or that portrayed Dr. John H. Watson with the perfect combination of loyalty and military hard-headedness (or whatever characteristics you personally like to see).  But the first Sherlock Holmes inevitably colors how you view all other portrayals, and even how you read the Sherlock Holmes canon and pastiches.

Whatever your preferred pairing, and however you may personally define a successful Sherlock Holmes actor, there is certainly no shortage of options from which to choose.  So in that spirit, over the next month I’ll be hosting a new blog contest, and all you have to do to win is share a little bit about your favorite Sherlock Holmes actor.  Here are the details:

THE PRIZE PACKAGE:

A new copy of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Volume 1 (A CSA World Classic), unabridged on audiobook CD: Read by the incomparable Edward Hardwicke, who played Dr. John Watson in the Granada Television series from 1986-1994.  This collection contains audio versions of the following classic stories from the Sherlock Holmes canon: “The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot,” “The Adventure of the Abbey Grange,” “The Adventure of the Cardboard Box,” “The Man with the Twisted Lip,” and “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans.”

A new copy of Sherlock Holmes: Three Tales of Avarice, unabridged on audiobook CD: Part of a series of “thematic” audiobooks, this volume contains three stories from the canon centering on the subject of “avarice,” Edward Hardwicke expertly and vividly renders the following three tales: “The Adventure of the Priory School,” “The Red-Headed League,” and “The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.”

HOW TO WIN:

Tell me about your favorite Holmes and Watson pairing, on stage or screen.  For example, do you prefer Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce?  Jeremy Brett and either of his Watsons?  Or is it Lieutenant Commander Data and Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge from Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Elementary, My Dear Data”?  Or would you like to mix up things a bit and pair up Benedict Cumberbatch with Ian Hart?  Rupert Everett with Jude Law?  If the actor has taken up the mantle of the world’s first consulting detective and his doctor, then tell me who your favorites are, and a one sentence reason as to why.  Leave the entry providing the pair of actors and explanation in the comments below.  Entries can also be submitted via e-mail at betterholmesandgardens[at]gmail[dot]com, by direct message on Twitter, or by Facebook comment.  Feel free to enter as many times as you wish, but each entry must be unique.

The contest is open from now until 11:59p.m. EST on Saturday, September 24, 2011.  At that time, a random entry will be chosen from the correct entries using Random.org.  The winner will be announced on Monday, September 26, 2011 via blog post, Twitter, and Facebook. 

Best of luck, and have fun!

CONTEST: Share Your Ideal Sherlock Holmes Story and Win a Prize Package of Sherlock Holmes Pastiches

If there is anything that can be considered a fault in the original Sherlock Holmes canon, it would probably be the finiteness of it.  After four novels and fifty-six short stories, the original tales end.  And although readers may turn to them again and again (and again and again and again), the endings never change, the villains are always the same, and the twists are somehow a little less revelatory than before.  Readers can analyze and examine and scrutinize each story for new details and new methods of orientation, and those details can be revealing and brilliantly new in their own right.  But “the song remains the same,” as the saying goes.

And this is why so many Sherlock Holmes devotees turn to pastiches—to fill the gap that the longing for a new, as yet unsolved, mystery leaves.  A list available online numbers the current Sherlockian pastiches at nearly 9,000 separate volumes, and it’s probably not too much of a stretch to imagine that new stories are being added to that number every day.  There are a myriad number of ways to categorize these stories.  Some books try to capture the original and authentic voice of Dr. John Watson and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Some try to imagine the Great Detective’s early life, and the back-story that was not revealed in the original canon.  Some pit Holmes and Watson up against forces beyond rational understanding.  And some stories even place Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the position of his most famous creation.

Whatever your preference, and however you may personally define a successful pastiche, there is certainly no shortage of options from which a reader can choose.  So in that spirit, over the next month I’ll be hosting a new blog contest, and all you have to do to win is share a little bit about your ideal Sherlock Holmes pastiche.  Here are the details:

THE PRIZE PACKAGE:

A new, paperback copy of The Italian Secretary, by Caleb Carr.  In a fine example of a traditional-style pastiche, Carr excellently captures Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s voice in a mystery that pits Holmes and Watson, yet again, against a seemingly paranormal force.  When the Detective and Doctor are summoned by the British government (in the personage of Mycroft Holmes) to Edinburgh, Scotland, they set about investigating the strange deaths of two men working on renovating the Royal Palace of Holyrood, but find themselves possibly up against the centuries-old spirits of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her slain music teacher.  Caleb Carr is also the author of The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness, featuring turn-of-the-century psychologist, Dr. Laszlo Kreizler.

A new, hardcover edition of The Shadow of Reichenbach Falls, by John R. King.  The young ghosthunter, Thomas Carnacki, and his companion, Anna Schmidt, are picnicking beneath Reichenbach Falls when they witness a conflict between two men, and watch one man fall, apparently, to his death.  But it is only when they pull the now-amnesiac man out of the water, that they realize the man they call “Harold Silence” (the name of the tailor in the man’s shirt label) may be more extraordinary than appearances reveal.  Read my review of the novel here.  The author is also known as fantasy novelist J. Robert King, and more information about his publications is available here.

A new, hardcover edition of The Sherlockian, by Graham Moore.  Written as a dual narrative, Moore’s debut novel features both a nineteenth century and twenty-first century plotline.  In the 21st century, Baker Street Irregular Harold White investigates the suspicious death of fellow Sherlockian Alex Cale and the theft of a rare Arthur Conan Doyle diary.  In the 19th century, Doyle—along with companion Bram Stoker—is living out the events that are featured in that diary, which are also the months leading up to Doyle’s decision to resurrect Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles.  You can read my review of the novel here, or learn more on Graham Moore’s website.  

HOW TO WIN:

If you were to write your own Sherlock Holmes pastiche, what would you call it?  What would it be about?  Provide the title of that hypothetical story and a one sentence description of the plot.  Feel free to be witty and clever (who doesn’t appreciate a good pun?), thoughtful and precise (share a bit of the novel you plan to write one day), or anywhere in between.  Leave the entry providing your title and description in the comments below.  Entries can also be submitted via e-mail at betterholmesandgardens[at]gmail[dot]com, or by direct message on Twitter.  Feel free to enter as many times as you wish, but each entry must be unique.

The contest is open from now until 11:59p.m. EST on Saturday, July 23, 2011.  At that time, a random entry will be chosen from the submissions using Random.org.  The winner will be announced on Monday, July 25, 2011 via blog post, Twitter, and Facebook. 

Best of luck, and have fun!

CONTEST: Enter the “Better Holmes & Gardens” Trivia Contest and Win a Sherlock Holmes Reference Prize Package

[Update, May 3: New Contest Rules, see below for a new way to win!]

Sometimes I wonder if being a Sherlockian doesn’t ultimately go hand-in-hand with an innate love of trivia.  How many of us have uttered the line, “I am an omnivorous reader with a strangely retentive memory for trifles” (LION), as if it were a personal maxim, engraved on our family crest?  But there’s some truth to it.  Sherlock Holmes devotees effortlessly remember dates, ramble off long lists of authors and scholars, and can be depended on to spot the smallest mistake in accuracy or continuity.  On the whole, the Sherlock Holmes community tends to be well-read, devoted academics, tireless researchers, with minds like industrial magnets when it comes to information that interests them.

In that spirit, I’m launching a new blog contest, and all you have to do to win is brush off your own personal bank of Sherlockian trivia, and correctly answer any of three questions in the following categories: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes on the Page, and the London of Sherlock Holmes.  Here are the details:

THE PRIZE PACKAGE:

·    A new, hardcover edition of Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters, by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower, and Charles Foley.  The collection of previously unpublished correspondence creates a unique, well-rounded portrait of the multifaceted man who created Sherlock Holmes.  The letters in the volume reveal Doyle’s thoughts on nearly every aspect of his life, from the death of his wife, his fascinating friendships with many well-known contemporary figures, and even his apparent ambivalence towards his most famous creation.  A must-read for fans of the Great Detective, though they may not necessarily enjoy what they learn about his maker.

·    A new, paperback copy of the Sherlock Holmes Handbook (Second Edition), by Christopher Redmond.  Author of In Bed with Sherlock Holmes: Sexual Elements in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Stories of the Great Detective and Welcome to America, Mr. Holmes: Victorian America Meets Arthur Conan Doyle, Redmond has created an infinitely readable reference work on the Great Detective, covering all aspects of the works, the scholarship, and the community.  Redmond is also the proprietor of Sherlockian.net.

HOW TO WIN:

Correctly answer any of the following three trivia questions:

1.   Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a fan of what type of fountain pen, and even used it to write some of the final Sherlock Holmes stories? (You only need to provide make and model—all other details are superfluous, but not unwelcome.)

2.  Sherlock Holmes on the Page:
In the famous pastiche, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., edited by Nicholas Meyer, Watson states that four stories from the canon are “forgeries by other hands than mine.”  Name them.  (I do not mean the two canon stories that Watson claims to have made up himself, in order to protect Sherlock Holmes.)

3.   The London of Sherlock Holmes:
What actual London residence has been claimed by several scholars as the mostly likely model for Pondicherry Lodge, the home of the Sholto family in The Sign of Four?

Submit your answers via e-mail at betterholmesandgardens[at]gmail[dot]com.  Please do not leave answers in the comments.  Submissions with one correct answer will count for one entry; submissions with two correct answers will count for two entries.  Any submission with all three correct answers will count for six contest entries.

You may enter multiple times if you believe you answered incorrectly, but your entry will only count once for each question.  Please use the subject line: “Sherlock Holmes Trivia Contest Entry,” so I don’t accidentally delete your entry as spam.

The contest is open from now until 11:59p.m. EST on Saturday, May 21, 2011.  At that time, a random entry will be chosen from the correct entries using Random.org.  The winner will be announced on Monday, May 23, 2011 via blog post, Twitter, and Facebook. 

Best of luck, and have fun!