Trinidad Author Adds To Sherlock Holmes Saga
TRINIDAD, Colo. (AP) - Kim Krisco loves a good Sherlock Holmes mystery.
He has followed the famous London-based fictional detective for most of his life by reading all short stories featuring Holmes.
Now Krisco, 68, is following in the footsteps of the master storyteller Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by adding five, totally new Sherlock Holmes adventures.
Krisco, author of three books on leadership, has written "Sherlock Holmes - The Golden Years."
"He's one of my favorites. I've read every one of them - 56 short stories and four novels that feature Sherlock Holmes," Krisco said.
"Sherlock Holmes fans are very serious people and you can't violate what they call the canon - the canon of the master. You have to understand and know everything about Sherlock Holmes to write one of his stories."
The book captures the voice and style of Doyle, as Holmes and Watson find themselves unraveling mysteries in and around turn-of-the- century London that, as Holmes puts it, "appears to have taken on an unsavory European influence."
Krisco, who has lived in Trinidad for the past 18 years, said his stories read as historical mini-novels. The book contains five stories.
"One of the biggest and hottest items right now in the media is Sherlock Holmes. There's a big BBC series, there's the CBS series 'Elementary' and three Sherlock Holmes movies about to come out," Krisco said.
"I started to write a series of Sherlock Holmes stories in what they call pastiches, which is that I write the story in the style and voice of the original author. In this case, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle."
He said the book started out as a series of mysteries based upon British mythology.
Krisco traveled to the United Kingdom in May of 2013 to do research. One of his treks took him to Aviemore, Scotland, and Ben MacDhui Mountain, where he was introduced to the Legend of the Grey Man of Ben MacDhui. There, he learned about a creature known locally as 'Fear Liath Mor,' reported in dozens of sightings as a humanoid about 10-feet tall, covered in hair, and having long arms. When he spoke with locals about this creature, one local historian remarked, "It's a mystery that only Sherlock Holmes can solve."
Krisco said that gave him the idea to change the entire series of stories he was writing into a collection of Sherlock Holmes mysteries.
He said the book breathes new life into the beloved "odd couple," revealing deeper insights into Holmes's and Watson's friendship that has become richer with age.
"It's about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in their post-retirement years. He retired in 1904 and didn't reappear again until 1914," Krisco said.
Krisco said he wanted to write about what the duo was doing between 1904 and 1914.
Along the way, Krisco said that he had to create new villains because others had died.
"I had to hire an editor in London to help me mainly get the American out of my language," he said.
"The English speak a certain way and use certain terminology and terms. Other terms are foreign to them."
He said all of his stories are historically accurate.
He is working on a screenplay for one of the five stories in his book called "The Kongo and Nkisi Spirit Train."
Krisco's diverse career created a circuitous route to his becoming a full-time writer. He has taught college; managed instructional media and distance learning programs; written and directed TV and films; and served in corporate communications, human resources and training functions.
As he puts it today, "I am being re-educated by nature." This is his way of saying that he lives in relative seclusion in an area of the Colorado Rockies, in a straw-bale home that he and Sara Rose built themselves.
His book is available in print and eBook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and most all bookstores.
"Without a doubt, Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular human fictional characters every created," Krisco said.
"He has qualities or abilities that anyone can have. He's not like a super hero; he just pays close attention and observes everything very closely. This is a skill that anyone can develop.
"People like that he is the same person story after story after story."
- By ANTHONY A. MESTAS, The Pueblo Chieftain
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