The House That Doyle Built

My first published poem will appear in Steel True, Blade Straight, the Belanger Books Journal of Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Inspired Stories, Poems, and Scholarship. The Ascent is inspired by the staircase at Undershaw, the home that Conan Doyle built for himself and his wife, Touie.

I got the idea for the poem while visiting Undershaw. The house has been carefully restored after years of neglect, including many of the features that Conan Doyle incorporated in order to accommodate his wife who suffered from tuberculosis. The shallow steps of the staircase are just one of the ways he tried to make life easier for her in their new home.

The journal is being funded through a Kickstarter campaign and will be available in paperback, hardback, and electronic formats. You can back it now at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/belangerbooks/writing-holmes-and-steel-true-blade-straight. It is due to be published by April 2023.