Speckled Band possibilities…

One of the things I thought of over the Christmas break was that I might do my own version of Speckled Band – the Sherlock Holmes story I mean. I thought of this for a few reasons. One, it’s the reason why most people end up here nowadays – my absence during the middle part of last year decimating my core readership and all – so I probably already have some sort of interest there, market wise. Another reason for doing the story is that no-one has ever done it like I plan to do it so it’ll be unique in that regard. Also, I could “save” a bit of time in designing a new blog skin by just using some of the artwork from the book. Of course I won’t have really saved any time whatsoever as the making of the artwork will likely take a year or two to finish….

I will probably leave the original story intact and not mess with it at all. I mean it’s long out of copyright now so I don’t need to pay anyone to use it, and it’s a top story anyway! Why would I want to mess with it? It’s the story Sherlock Holmes fans know well and love and it’s my favorite Holmes adventure. I’m not sure exactly why that is? I only know that it captured my imagination when I was a kid and I’ve never lost that interest since. Who knows, maybe I’ll start illustrating my own versions of all of the Sherlock Homes stories. Then again, probably not…..It would just take too long the way I do things!

And speaking of which, that would be the main reason stopping me from illustrating the story -Time!!! I mean I already have a couple of books on the way – though they’ll likely be done by the middle of the year now that I have a big chunk of my website work out of the way. It’ll also depend on how much time Amy has to work with me on getting the illustrations organized and the composition right. Anyhow, we’ll see what happens and I’ll keep people updated on any progress that’s made.

Of course I’ve broken one of my “cardinal rules” insofar as not mentioning future projects until they’re well and truly in the pipeline. Sometimes things can take years to finalize and other times they may not see the light of day at all! I’m slowly learning to be more organized and productive with my time though – mainly to do with the drama of last year – so there’s a good chance at least that something will get done about it. It would be weird to see my name alongside Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle but I could get used to it quite easily I think.

Now I’ve just got to see if I can drum up any interest with my publishers! Either that or start hitting the publisher yes/no acception/rejection trail again…

Speaking of stories/writing etc. I’ve found a new website that will do books for you in the same vein as CafePress. The bonus with Lulu though is that it will do full color books which, as a children’s picture book author, is perfect for me. I’m not sure if I will use it as a commercial venture but it sure would be good for small print runs and publisher mock-ups. After all it would be a lot easier to send publishers a “finished looking” book rather than photographs and text. Being a 3D artist it’s not really viable to stuff actual artwork into an envelope and send it off, so this is a good option.

Mmmm, I wonder if I should do a 3D version of Sherlock Holmes & The Speckled Band?