Genre: Mystery
Format: ebook
Buy: The Aristotelian (The Secret Archives of the Diogenes Club)
Summoned home, Cambridge mathematician Mycroft Holmes, must reason with his teenage brother, Sherlock, who has fallen in with unsavory characters and taken to strange activities. Their father, a distracted intellectual, is less distressed by Sherlock’s cocaine use than his single-minded pursuit of “particulars,” putting him at risk of becoming an Aristotelian. Older brother Mycroft attempts to turn him from detective work to a higher vocation. But Sherlock is intent upon solving their mother’s murder and Mycroft reluctantly agrees to assist.
Based on characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Aristotelian” is a short story of young and impetuous Sherlock Holmes pursuing clues while a more thoughtful Mycroft unsuccessfully tries to keep him out of trouble. All the while, a far more subtle mind is pursuing a murderous agenda.
Like me, Steve’s other job involves sitting in front of a computer writing code instead of stories. It’s my pleasure to introduce him to you as another example of a creative writer that breaks the computer geek stereotype. Welcome Steve!
1. Tell us a little about The Aristotelian.
The Aristotelian is a locked-room murder mystery wherein a teenaged Sherlock Holmes pursues the murderer of his mother against the wishes of his father and with the reluctant assistance of his older brother Mycroft Holmes. The story is told from the perspective of Mycroft and we see a Sherlock Holmes who is not yet at the peak of his powers, but formidable nonetheless. The story is a prequel to the full-length novel Steamship To Kashmir that takes place seven years later.
2. What inspired you to write this novel?
I was driven back to the canon of Arthur Conan Doyle a couple years ago and when I discovered my recollections of the character had been distorted by years of movies and television adaptations ranging from Basil Rathbone to Jeremy Brett. My interest in writing had flagged and this was my way of reconnecting with my muse.
3. Have you always had a love of Sherlock Holmes novels?
I discovered Sherlock Holmes in Junior High School and his smarter brother Mycroft impressed me as a mathematician with a shadowy role in the government. As I grew older I pursued studies in mathematics and after grad school I took a job as a cryptologic mathematician. Thus I have identified with Mycroft and his character was a natural lens through which to study the dynamic of the Holmes family.
4. Did you find it particularly challenging to write a new novel with a different twist on some beloved characters?
When I went back to the Arthur Conan Doyle canon I saw that the character of Mycroft had a lot of room for exploration. In particular, Mycroft seemed a fitting vehicle for writing some Steampunk stories. However, before I put Mycroft into a nuclear zeppelin, I wanted to put together a locked-room puzzle story.
5. What was your favorite part / chapter to write? Why?
Since an apparent suicide is found in a locked room, I had to devise a means of securing the door. And once I’d devised it, I had to test it with my wife standing by on the other side of the door to see how well it worked. It remained to provide the telltales that Mycroft would follow to the ultimate solution.
6. What is the most challenging part of being an indie author? The most rewarding?
The most challenge thing has been grasping the need of the writer to promote his or her work. In this day and age, you cannot throw your work over the fence and trust a publisher’s publicist to make it a success. Instead, the writer must make best use of the tools available to him or her to bring the work before the buying public. This is true even if you get a deal with one of the big six publishers.
The most rewarding has been getting to know other writers and connecting with readers.
7. When did you first starting writing? Why?
I have always been an avid reader and this has moved me from time to time to want to write something like what I’d just finished. After I read Snowcrash, I wrote a post-cyberpunk novel that’s now safely residing in a drawer. After I finished that novel, I realized how little I knew about writing. I started haunting writers groups and learning the craft in earnest.
8. Do you have anything else you would like to share with readers?
Some years back I went to a Christian Writers Conference and I was unfavorably impressed with the quality of prose intended for the Christian marketplace. Maybe it was just a bad conference, but I was reminded of how C. S. Lewis approached writing: He didn’t specifically set out to write Christian stories when he wrote Narnia, but he did set out to write the best prose he could that would appeal to both Christians and non-Christians. If you think your prose is good enough for a Christian market, but not a secular one, keep working.
Steve Poling grew up in Kent City, MI where he graduated from High School. He worked in a factory long enough to appreciate higher education, e.g degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science. He’s a geek. He is also a guy, building fast Pinewood Derby cars and potato cannons.
His first sale was a non-fiction article “A Tale of Three Emacs” to computer magazine. Since then he’s written several short stories and a novel. He writes SF, crime fiction, and the odd fractured fairy tale.
Steve Poling was born, raised and lives in West Michigan. He is a C++/C# poet by day and subversive fiction writer by night. Steve’s current writing project is a steampunk novel, Steamship to Kashmir.
Visit Steve Poling at his website: http://diogenesclubarchives.blogspot.com/, on Facebook, or on Twitter.
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