For The Only One in the World Raymond Gates sets his story "The Enemy Within" in Australia. We asked Raymond to tell us about writing his story for our Sherlock Holmes anthology.
What is the most unexpected tidbit you learned while researching your story?
I'm not one who's spent much time in the Holmes and Watson universe, so when I wanted to introduce a sister for Watson, I was surprised to discover Harriet Watson's existence [courtesy of the BBC's Sherlock]. Who knew? Well, obviously fans did, but I sure didn't! Serendipity?
What was your favourite thing about writing a story for The Only One in the World?
The Holmes and Watson universe is, for the most part, outside my normal genre (horror), so one of my favourite things is taking the challenge of writing outside my comfort zone.
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Raymond's story:
an editor's eye view from Narrelle M Harris
The characters are so well-known and loved: it can be quite intimidating to attempt to write about them in a way that's not going to alienate fans. My other favourite thing was to take the characters and do something (to the best of my knowledge) completely different with them.
What is quintessentially Australian about your Holmes or Watson?
I guess this depends on your definition of 'quintessentially Australian' – it tends to represent an ideal that appeals to non-Indigenous Australians, including stereotypical and often racist characteristations of Aboriginal peoples. Often Aboriginal characters are portrayed for their Aboriginality – not the doctor or detective or whatever else; their character is 'the Aboriginal.' In that respect I hope my Holmes and Watson are anything but 'quintessentially Australian.'
More about Raymond:
Raymond Gates is an Aboriginal Australian writer currently residing in Wisconsin, USA, whose childhood crush on reading everything dark and disturbing evolved into an adult love affair with horror and dark fiction. He has published many short stories and is working on his first collection of short stories and first novel. Learn more at: raymondgates.com.