BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Chit-chat

SusiGo · September 16, 2012 4:57 pm

I like to imagine the three of them chatting away somewhere over a brandy, pipe and cigarettes, somewhere in London or Berlin.

Davina · September 16, 2012 6:20 pm

Or a nice cup of tea perhaps? She wasn't killed by a hound though was she?

SusiGo · September 16, 2012 6:38 pm

No. She was SPOILER poisoned END OF SPOILER.

ancientsgate · September 16, 2012 7:20 pm

SusiGo wrote:
My daughter just moved to her own little flat in the house and look where she put my latest book. *insert proud smiley*

German! Scary! *smile* What are your books about? Translation of titles, please. Thx.

SusiGo · September 16, 2012 7:38 pm

I write historical novels and crime fiction placed in 1920s Berlin. This one (to the right) would be "The Dead Woman of Charlottenburg". The purple ones are canon: Sign of the Four, The Valley of Fear, The Hound of the Baskervilles.

ancientsgate · September 16, 2012 7:39 pm

SusiGo wrote:
I write historical novels and crime fiction placed in 1920s Berlin. This one (to the right) would be "The Dead Woman of Charlottenburg". The purple ones are canon: Sign of the Four, The Valley of Fear, The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Thanks!

The Charlottenburg one is an original story? Is there an English version available?

And the canon books are direct translations of the ACD English?

sherlockskitty · September 18, 2012 7:25 pm

welll---susie those books are interesting! I figured out the hound one, thank you for translating the other two.

Inspiration for the day--

Have a lovely day alll. Do something nice for someone else, even if it's a smile. A smile means friendship to everyone. ("Small World" by Robert and Richard Sherman)

SusiGo · September 18, 2012 8:05 pm

ancientsgate wrote:
SusiGo wrote:
I write historical novels and crime fiction placed in 1920s Berlin. This one (to the right) would be "The Dead Woman of Charlottenburg". The purple ones are canon: Sign of the Four, The Valley of Fear, The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Thanks!

The Charlottenburg one is an original story? Is there an English version available?

And the canon books are direct translations of the ACD English?

Yes, the Charlottenburg one is written by me and I hope for an English translation some day. And I guess the ACD books are direct translations, I haven't read them myself.

veecee · September 18, 2012 8:26 pm

You'll have to let us know where to pre-order our copies.

Harriet · September 19, 2012 2:36 pm

SusiGo wrote:
Yes, the Charlottenburg one is written by me and I hope for an English translation some day. And I guess the ACD books are direct translations, I haven't read them myself.

Funny, I'm already reading it for a week now and like it, I had seen it on your website. But then some interference - was it The Road Less Travelled? - came it between , so it is again waiting for me, tststs...

Yes, I think your book is good. I encountered a strange moment today when I was in my local book store and fetched my order and the bookseller put Leo Berlin right in fromt of me on the counter. I said: "I didn't order that as well, perhaps later if Charlottenburg keeps going well", and she said: "No, it's for the lady behind you."
I turned around and saw an elegant lady in her 50ies. I could not resist and checked for a secret co-Sherlockian, saying loudly to the bookseller: "I learnt about the author in an internet forum."
No reaction from behind me, but don't you think it was definitively worth a test?

SusiGo · September 19, 2012 2:41 pm

Of course I don't have any Johnlock on offer . It's great you're reading it and your experiment was definitely worth a try. It's always exciting to hear that people actually buy my books. What a shame that she wasn't a member of our forum, that would have been funny.

Harriet · September 19, 2012 3:13 pm

SusiGo wrote:
Of course I don't have any Johnlock on offer .

... and if you WORK on it?
No, sorry, I think publishing with dtv is very flattering indeed, congrats!

I would have been really surprised to find this lady a forum member, but one can never tell.
Maybe she was just undercover, someone from Mycroft's staff

SusiGo · September 19, 2012 3:29 pm

Yes, she's observing us and telling him what we write about his little brother.
Don't know if I would be able to write fanfic and I'm afraid I don't have the time. However, I'm sometimes really impressed by the high literary quality of these stories. Some authors are really talented.

Harriet · September 19, 2012 3:50 pm

I realised that I have a lot of "fanfic" in my brain actually since my teen days, but would probably never write it down for someone else.
Maybe it's a brave thing to go and publish it. Maybe also something that deserves a praise, almost(!) no matter what quality
I sometimes also get fine literature in my mind, real good words, but so small bits that I stopped going on with it at a certain point in my life.

For you as a writer, what makes the difference to writing fanfic?
And don't you have to be a fan of your characters?

Last edited by Harriet (September 19, 2012 3:52 pm)

SusiGo · September 19, 2012 4:05 pm

Yes, I have to be a fan of my characters in a way and I definitely have favourites. I must admit that I prefer writing about male heroes which is a bit awkward with my historical novels as German readers often seem to expect heroines. Of course it's nice to write about women as well but, well, it's just fun to invent characters of the opposite sex, I guess.

About the difference to fanfic: On the one hand I started writing with the definite idea of wanting to see my books in print and being sold in bookshops. It's a great feeling to know that people go there - like the lady in your case - and say I want to read a book by X, it was recommended to me or I read another of hers and liked it. That's one reason. And the other one is that I want to invent my own characters. I really like some fanfics and have absolute respect for the writers but nevertheless they use characters and plots that have been invented by someone else. I hope it doesn't sound condescending which it absolutely isn't.
And a last reason: I think I wouldn't dare to write down and publish some of my own ideas about Sherlock and his gang. .

Harriet · September 19, 2012 5:24 pm

SusiGo wrote:
I must admit that I prefer writing about male heroes which is a bit awkward with my historical novels as German readers often seem to expect heroines.

You know, historical novels with heroines often trouble me. Because as you put it, many readers seem to expect them.
What comes out is often predictable. To make an interesting book, maybe it is better to take a challenge, put up with the awkwardness you mentioned.
Not against heroines, though. Also heroes don't make a good book just for themselves.
Maybe they need both to be the result of a challenge and not mere calculation of What sells or What is easy for readers.
Too strict again with struggling writers?

SusiGo wrote:
About the difference to fanfic: On the one hand I started writing with the definite idea of wanting to see my books in print and being sold in bookshops. It's a great feeling to know that people go there - like the lady in your case - and say I want to read a book by X, it was recommended to me or I read another of hers and liked it. That's one reason. And the other one is that I want to invent my own characters. I really like some fanfics and have absolute respect for the writers but nevertheless they use characters and plots that have been invented by someone else. I hope it doesn't sound condescending which it absolutely isn't.

No, I think I see what you mean. One can want / love a foster child or one's biological child. Both is fine.

SusiGo wrote:
And a last reason: I think I wouldn't dare to write down and publish some of my own ideas about Sherlock and his gang. .

I come to wonder now, could it be that it's more personal to share a fanfic than publish one's own work (not even talking about Johnlock in particular) ?

veecee · September 19, 2012 5:56 pm

Harriet wrote:
SusiGo wrote:
Yes, the Charlottenburg one is written by me and I hope for an English translation some day. And I guess the ACD books are direct translations, I haven't read them myself.
Funny, I'm already reading it for a week now and like it, I had seen it on your website. But then some interference - was it The Road Less Travelled? - came it between , so it is again waiting for me, tststs...

Yes, I think your book is good. I encountered a strange moment today when I was in my local book store and fetched my order and the bookseller put Leo Berlin right in fromt of me on the counter. I said: "I didn't order that as well, perhaps later if Charlottenburg keeps going well", and she said: "No, it's for the lady behind you."
I turned around and saw an elegant lady in her 50ies. I could not resist and checked for a secret co-Sherlockian, saying loudly to the bookseller: "I learnt about the author in an internet forum."
No reaction from behind me, but don't you think it was definitively worth a test?

She may have been a Sherlockian, but not on the forum. Maybe if you had been wearing a Sherlock t-shirt...

Harriet · September 19, 2012 6:15 pm

But then, if a Sherlockian, why should she get Susi's book, if not for the forum connection?

I'm awaiting my Sherlock t-shirt any day, actually, reapersun's Moominlock t-shirt

Mattlocked · September 19, 2012 9:21 pm

Harriet wrote:
But then, if a Sherlockian, why should she get Susi's book, if not for the forum connection?

Because you find the words "Sherlock Holmes" in Leo Berlin.

SusiGo · September 20, 2012 6:07 am

Which I had totally forgotten until someone reminded me of the fact.