Episode 24: The Detective and The Woman

Listen [HERE]

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Our very own Amy Thomas talks to Ardy, Jenn and Sarah about her pastiche The Detective and The Woman, originally written for NaNoWriMo 2011.

A short summary: Irene Adler finds herself a widow at thirty-two, wealthy but emotionally broken. At the same time, Sherlock Holmes finds himself unable to return to England after faking his death at Reichenbach Falls and is drawn into an investigation of two men with designs on Irene Adler. The Detective and The Woman throw their lot in together to uncover a dangerous plot. In the process, they meet legendary inventor Thomas Edison and experience life in Florida at the turn of the 20th century.

We want to know all! How did she come up with the idea? What was it like writing a pastiche in the cracks of the Canon? How did she go about getting it published? And did she sleep at all during November last year? There's lots of laughter, lots of love for Holmes and Watson, and Amy finally gives her answers to the BSB questions.

The novel is now available from MX Publishing—we’d appreciate it if you got it from our bookshop because that way, you get a great book and we get some pennies towards bandwidth!

In other news, we are hosting a meetup and flashmob in Trafalgar Square on April 21 in support of the Undershaw Preservation Trust—more information and link to RSVP [HERE]. This is in conjunction with AnotherBohemianSoul’s costumed walk on the same day, more about that [HERE]. We hope to see lots of you there!

Also, Wear Sherlock are inviting contributions for a photo montage to raise awareness of the cause—if you want to participate, [HERE]’s how!

We Need Your Help: We've Maxed Out On Bandwidth... again

We really love the fact you like us, we really do... but did you have to use up 500GB of bandwidth in 14 days? Really? That's just excessive. In all seriousness, we're constantly floored about the reaction we get and just how many people listen to us (44,000 listens as of today 2/2/12). What this means, however, is that every time someone listens to an episode, they take a bit of bandwidth with them. We've had to upgrade three times, and now here comes the fourth.

We haven't been able to release a new episode because our bandwidth has been maxed out. It's likely all out episodes will become unavailable on podOmatic within the next day or two, and will remain dormant until the 18th of February unless we upgrade. That means if we don't upgrade we'll be episode-less for an entire month... and once we post a new one it'll kill it anyways. The fact is, there are too many of you now (don't worry we still love you!)

So in short, we have to upgrade, because if we don't, The Baker Street Babes Podcast cannot exist.

Sadly, this costs money. As in $400.

We all love this podcast to pieces and all of you, but we're all working or are students and that is a lot of money. We've earned some cash from our cafepress store, but those funds take 30 days to clear, so we can't tap into it. What we need are donations. So we need your help. If you click the shiny yellow button below, you can donate any amount in any currency and save the laughter and dulcet (okay, maybe not dulcet) tones of The Baker Street Babes. The paypal address is spazzkemmi@yahoo.com (an embarrassing number from Kristina/Curly's teenage years).

All donators will be thanked personally. You can rely on that. If you can't donate, don't feel bad. We know it's a tough economic climate, so if you can't give, please spread the word. Reblog this, tweet this, facebook it, shout it in the streets, email your long-lost cousins and sing a song for your grandmother. Do whatever you can. Around 1500 of you follow us here, we have nearly 2000 of you on twitter... we know you're out there, and this is us getting on our knees, begging you to help. Please, please, and please.

Come on, John Watson is currently suffering, do it for John.

Much Love,

The Baker Street Babes

41,730 Listens To Date!!!

That is a ridiculous number. When we started the podcast it was just a little project between friends. It's become so much more than that now as a whole, but at its core, we're still just a group of friends chatting about Sherlock Holmes.We are sickeningly delighted that so many of you have listened to our episodes. Many of you have joined up recently, and that is amazing. Please continue to listen and laugh. We literally couldn't, and wouldn't do this without the amazing support of all of you. I'm using amazing a lot. It's a good word. For those of you who maybe haven't listened to them all or haven't started yet, you can find all of our episodes RIGHT HERE. We have 18 so far, with two side-recordings of other Sherlockian events. We jump around a lot in the Sherlockian/Holmesian world, and will even moreso in the next few months. Once again, thank you all SO MUCH for this. It's so amazing (there's that word again), and we're so chuffed it hurts.


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Baker Street Babe Amy To Publish Sherlock Holmes Pastiche!

That's right! Our very own Amy is publishing her own Sherlock Holmes pastiche named The Detective and The Woman: A Novel of Sherlock Holmes by MXPublishing.

England’s greatest detective and the woman who outsmarted him are thrown together by a criminal plot with implications that stretch across the Atlantic. Their investigation leads them to south Florida, where they meet legendary inventor Thomas Edison and employ disguise, wit, and courage to outsmart a diabolical villain.

The first time I met Sherlock Holmes, I was about eight or nine. I enjoyed the stories, but I was too young to understand the subtle humor or fully appreciate the cleverness of the plots. A few years later, a friend bought me a copy of The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King, and I was introduced to the concept of Sherlock Holmes pastiches--works that place Conan Doyle's characters into new stories and contexts. The BBC's Sherlock series inspired me to re-read the the original Holmes canon in 2010, and I realized how much wittier and more engaging the stories and characters were than I remembered. National Novel Writing Month in November 2011 gave me a chance to try my hand at writing my own pastiche, an homage to the Baker Street detective and The Woman herself, Irene Adler. 

The Detective and The Woman: A Novel of Sherlock Holmes will be out on April 16th, 2012, and will be available through pre-order. You'll be able to pick it up online and in stores near you.

Kristina Announced as the London Representative for The Undershaw Preservation Trust

From the Undershaw Preservation Trust's Facebook Page:

The Undershaw Preservation Trust would like to welcome Kristina Manente as our London representative. Kristina is the founder of The Baker Street Babes, the web's only All-Female Sherlock Holmes podcast. Attracting thousands of fans from the most traditional of Sherlockians and Holmesians to the fandoms of the internet, The Baker Street Babes talk about every inch of the Sherlock Holmes world, and have been avid supporters of The Undershaw Preservation Trust. After finishing her MA in Medieval History this September, Kristina hopes to continue her education with a PhD in Cultural Heritage. Passionate about history and preserving it for future generations, Undershaw's plight has been close to her heart since she saw the beautiful former home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Babes have been working with Undershaw for a few months now, but today it starts in a whole new capacity. Kristina aka Curly, is now the London Representative for the Trust, and will be working with UPT for publicity and support.


www.saveundershaw.com

With Mark Gatiss as our Patron/Sponsor the UPT was set up in August 2009 by John Gibson, FRICS and co-founders Lynn Gale and Sue Meadows to secure Undershaw the former home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for future generations.

Episode 12 is Anthony Horowitz!

Anthony Horowtiz is the writer of The House Of Silk, the first novel to be made "canon" by The Arthur Conan Doyle Estate. Regardless of how you feel about that, it's something, and we intend to try and get to the bottom of it. Don't know much about The House Of Silk? Well here's a synopsis courtesy of http://anthonyhorowitz.com/sherlockholmes/

It is November 1890 and London is gripped by a merciless winter. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are enjoying tea by the fire when an agitated gentleman arrives unannounced at 221b Baker Street. He begs Holmes for help, telling the unnerving story of a scar-faced man with piercing eyes who has stalked him in recent weeks.

Intrigued by the man's tale, Holmes and Watson find themselves swiftly drawn into a series of puzzling and sinister events, stretching from the gas-lit streets of London to the teeming criminal underworld of Boston. As the pair delve deeper into the case, they stumble across a whispered phrase 'the House of Silk': a mysterious entity and foe more deadly than any Holmes has encountered, and a conspiracy that threatens to tear apart the very fabric of society itself...

With devilish plotting and excellent characterisation, this is a first-rate Sherlock Holmes mystery for a modern readership, remaining utterly true to the spirit of the original Conan Doyle books. Sherlock Holmes is back with all the nuance, pace and powers of deduction that make him the world's greatest and most celebrated detective.

The Babes were given an advanced copy of the novel ahead of its release, but didn't want to post their own reviews until we were sure we were able to interview him. And voila! The always lovely and always enigmatic Jenn will be interviewing Mr. Horowitz later this week, and that interview will become Episode 12. Our own reviews will follow, some good, some maybe not as perky. Regardless, judge for yourself. The House of Silk is now available in your local bookstore or online.

And remember! We have our own Facebook page now. Please come down and show us you love us as much as you do on tumblr and on twitter!

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Same Person, Different Podcast: The Geek Girls Network interview Curly

As you may recall, our very own CurlyFourEyes was interviewed by the awesome Kristin and Nicole of the GeekGirlsNetwork podcast a while ago. The episode is now online on their website, so you can have a listen to Curly talking about the Great Sherlock Holmes Debate, answering Holmes-themed questions about who would win in a fight, and having fun with Benedict's last name.

Their podcast is generally awesome, so you should also follow them on Twitter @geekgirls and @NicoleWakelin and let them and/or us know your thoughts once you're done listening!

News: Collaboration, Conferences, and Dining

It's been an amazing twenty-four hours for The Baker Street Babes. Tons of things have happened and one of these is our new collaboration with MX Publishing! If you follow our tumblr or twitter, you would have seen a post about The Great Sherlock Holmes debate that they are hosting.

Well! Not only are we collaborating with them to bring you book reviews and interviews with authors of new pastiches and works on Sherlock Holmes, but we will be one of the Team Members for the debate! We're entering on the side of BBC Sherlock, but the debate itself it going to be a lot of fun! So if you tune in on the 10th of November (8pm GMT, 3pm EST, Noon PST), you will see the Baker Street Babes in action!
You can learn about the amazing people at MX below!

About MX Publishing
 MX Publishing is one of the UK's leading independent publishers based in London. We have two main divisions - Coaching and Therapy including NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and Victorian Literature and History. We have a host of Holmes authors including the internationally acclaimed Alistair Duncan, Paul R Spiring, and Brian W Pugh. In addition to Holmes we are interested in sporting history and on occasion also consider historical fiction. MX Publishing is the #1 publisher of women Sherlock Holmes authors in the UK.

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Curly is lucky enough to be attending two swanky Sherlock Holmes soirees in October! A Study In Scandal conference in Toronto, Canada and Watson's Tin Box Dinner in Columbia, MD. She'll be writing full reports of both events!

Was Arthur Conan Doyle a scandal magnet? After all, this is a man whose integrity is engraved in stone - his headstone, in fact - which reads “Steel True, Blade Straight,” a champion of the falsely accused who, together with his great detective, is forever associated with justice and moral rectitude.
And yet, controversy pursued him during his lifetime and has dogged him into his afterlife, resulting in a kind of mystery story in its own right.
Now we will be the detectives, conducting an investigation into the spurious (or are they?) charges levelled against him in an effort to gather enough evidence to justify them or dismiss them as myths and innuendo once and for all.
We will also explore the culture of scandal endemic in Victorian literature, theatre and popular culture which no doubt exerted its influence on the Canon and Conan Doyle’s other writings

 
Watson’s Tin Box is dedicated to reading and discussing the stories of Sherlock Holmes. Ours is a congenial group which invites and encourages members of all levels of knowledge and understanding of the stories, from the seasoned Sherlockian to the beginner, whom we all envy as they are discovering Holmes for the first time. The goal is to enjoy the stories and each other’s company!





We'll be updating you more about our newest developments, including some AMAZING interviews we've got set up, but for now just spread the word about the podcast. Tell your friends and other Sherlock Holmes fans about it!

Three Episodes?!

Provided no one gets pneumonia or loses their head, The Baker Street Babes Podcast will have THREE EPISODES THIS MONTH!

That’s right THREE EPISODES IN ONE MONTH!! And they are…

Episode 5: Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes

Episode 6: Lyndsay Faye & The Pastiche (http://www.lyndsayfaye.com/)

Episode 7: Paget & The Art of Sherlock Holmes

Will probably think of more exciting titles later. But yes! Three episodes in one month and it’s going to be incredible.

We can’t tell you yet… but we have a truly amazing guest coming on in the future. Like… ohmygodyouactuallywanttocomeonomg. So we’ll just tease you with that.

Also, please take a look at our new store!! See our new fancy bar up above? That's right, we have a ton of new navigation!

If you want to be an affiliate, please, let us know! We're still updating, so if you're not on there right now or immediately, don't fret, we're just bums.