One exchange from the interview:
Read the entire interview.Gumshoe: From the first book, I've been intrigued with the Amlingmeyers and the books. What was the genesis for a cowboy Holmes? It certainly seems to work -- the Wild West and the Victorian Era being so close in feel with the clash of old traditions and customs with the new technological marvels? But what drew you to this era and these characters?
Steve: The thing that intrigued me in the beginning was that the Wild West and the Victorian Era are actually the same, chronologically: They overlap almost perfectly. And yet everyone views them so differently. One's rootin', tootin' and...well, *wild*. The other's supposedly repressed and oh-so "civilized." So I wanted to show those two opposites colliding. And who better to represent the Old West than an illiterate cowboy? And who better to represent the Victorians than Sherlock Holmes?
But there's a simpler explanation, too: It's all about my dad. He's both a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and a huge fan of Western movies, so I grew up to both myself. And since I ended up being a writer, maybe it was inevitable I'd try to mix the two.
Visit Big Red's blog to learn more about Steve Hockensmith and his writing.
The Page 69 Test: On the Wrong Track.
My Book, The Movie: Holmes on the Range.
--Marshal Zeringue