Part 1:
About the RUSS-L List
a) What is this list about?
RUSS-L is an open mailing list for discussion of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Laurie R. King. In addition to analyzing the Russell books, we also discuss the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories about Sherlock Holmes, and occasionally the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries written by Dorothy L. Sayers (since there are numerous references within the Russell books to Sayers and/or Lord Peter). Brief digressions into other, tangentially related topics (i.e. mysteries in general, feminism, Judaism) are also permitted.
b) When did the list begin?
The RUSS-L list was created by Rebecca Anderson in the spring of 1996 as a refuge for fans of the Russell books, since extended discussion of Laurie King's work was not welcomed on HOUNDS-L, the original Sherlock Holmes discussion list. The founding members were Maggie F.X. Laffey, Rebecca Anderson, Irene Mikhlin, Jo Pitesky, and Sylvia Thomas.
c) Who is the moderator of the list?
Since August 2006 the RUSS-L list has been moderated and maintained by Liz Barr, also known as "The Beekeeper".
d) How do I subscribe to the list?
Send a blank message to RUSS-L-subscribe@yahoogroups.com .
e) How do I send a message to the list?
Once you have subscribed, address your messages to RUSS-L@yahoogroups.com .
f) How do I set the list to digest format?
Send a blank message to RUSS-L-digest@yahoogroups.com .
g) How do I set the list from digest back to regular format?
Send a blank message to RUSS-L-normal@yahoogroups.com .
h) How do I set the list to NoMail while I'm away from home?
Send a blank message to RUSS-L-nomail@yahoogroups.com .
i) How do I unsubscribe from the list?
Send a blank message to RUSS-L-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com .
j) Where can I find the web page for the list?
See the RUSS-L page at Yahoo!Groups, or The Mary Russell Holmes Page.
k) What does the motto mean, "After 1914, Holmes is ours"?
In an interview a couple of years ago, Laurie jokingly remarked that scholars of the canon can say whatever they like about Holmes's life up to the final Conan Doyle story, "His Last Bow" (which takes place in 1914), but that "After 1914, Holmes is mine." The members of the RUSS-L list, having discovered this quote, pounced upon it with glee and turned it into our group motto.
l) What are "noms" and how do I get one?
"Nom" is short for "nom de plume" (Fr., "pen name") and refers to an alias or nickname adopted by some list members. A RUSS-L nom can be the name of a character, the name of an object, or just a pithy phrase from either the Russell books or the original Sherlock Holmes stories (although it is generally understood that no one uses "Mary Russell" or "Sherlock Holmes" as their nom). Please note that Noms are NOT required on the list, nor do they indicate any special status; they are purely for fun.
m) How do I get on the Birthday List?The Birthday List is maintained by Inge Demmendaal, a.k.a. "Incitement to Riot". If you would like to receive birthday greetings when your natal month rolls around, send your birthdate to Inge at i.m.demmendaal@wanadoo.nl .
n) What do BEEK, MREG, etc. mean?
For the sake of brevity and convenience, the titles of the Russell books have been abbreviated to four-letter tags:
BEEK = The Beekeeper's Apprentice
MREG = A Monstrous Regiment of Women
LETT = A Letter of Mary
MOOR = The Moor
MRSH = "Mrs. Hudson's Case" (short story)
OJER = O Jerusalem
JUST = Justice Hall
GAME = The Game
LOCK = Locked Rooms
o) What is the "canon" and what is the "kanon"?
In Sherlockian circles the term "canon" refers to the original Sherlock Holmes stories, as edited by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In Russellian circles the term "kanon" refers to the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes stories edited by Laurie R. King.
p) What are "repastiches" and where can I find some?
The writer of a "pastiche" attempts to emulate or duplicate the atmosphere and narrative style of someone else's work. Sherlockian pastiches purport to chronicle adventures of Sherlock Holmes not previously revealed, using the style and voice of Dr. John Watson.
By this definition the works of Laurie King are not really pastiches, as she does not use Watson as a narrator but rather provides her own original narrator in the form of Mary Russell. However, they usually get thrown in with the pastiches anyway, because of the presence of Sherlock Holmes as a major character.
"Repastiche" is a term used for a pastiche of a pastiche, as it were -- in this case, stories written by fans of the Russell books, using Russell and Holmes as characters, which chronicle events other than those revealed by Laurie King. You can find numerous examples at The Hive, a Russellian repastiche archive maintained by list member "Foxhound" a.k.a. Kristopher Preacher.
q) Who is Jeremy Brett and why has he sometimes been discussed on the list?
Besides Basil Rathbone, the late Jeremy Brett is the best-known actor to have portrayed Sherlock Holmes. Many Sherlockians consider Brett to be the best Holmes ever to appear on camera. It was through watching Brett in the Granada TV serials that Laurie King first became interested in the idea of writing about a female detective of equal intelligence and knowledge to Holmes -- a character who became Mary Russell.
r) Why has the "tent joke" been banned from the list?
The Sherlockian joke which ends "...Watson, you fool, someone has stolen our tent" might have been funny the first time, but many of us have heard the joke about twenty times, so when some well-meaning person posts it to the list yetagain, it makes us all want to scream. There's nothing wrong with the joke itself, but repetition makes anything tedious, so... please don't.
s) I got a really important-sounding warning (virus or otherwise) in my e-mail today! Can I forward it to the list to make sure everybody knows about it?
No. Unless it has something to do with Sherlock Holmes or Mary Russell specifically, you may not forward any mass e-mailings to the list. 99.9% of these scary-sounding warnings are hoaxes anyway, so please check them with the Urban Legends Reference Pages before you share them with anyone else.
Part 2:
About Laurie R. King
a) Who is Laurie R. King?
Laurie is an American writer of mystery and suspense fiction, whose modern-day police procedural A Grave Talent won the Edgar for Best First Novel in 1993 and was followed by her first book about Sherlock Holmes and Mary Russell, The Beekeeper's Apprentice. She lives in southern California with her husband and has two adult children. You can find out more about Laurie by visiting her web site.
b) What books has Laurie written?
In addition to the Russell books (The Beekeeper's Apprentice, A Monstrous Regiment of Women, A Letter of Mary, The Moor, O Jerusalem, Justice Hall, The Game and Locked Rooms) Laurie has another ongoing mystery series about San Francisco police detective Kate Martinelli (A Grave Talent, To Play the Fool, With Child, Night Work and The Art of Detection). She has also authored three stand-alone novels, A Darker Place, Folly, and Keeping Watch. Her short work includes "Mrs. Hudson's Case" (a Russell story) and the award-winning "Paleta Man". She also contributed a chapter to the collaborative mystery novel Naked Came the Phoenix (2001), and has written a SF novel, Califia's Daughters (2004) under the pseudonym of Leigh Richards.
c) Where can I write to Laurie?
Write to her c/o P. O. Box 1152, Freedom, CA 95019, USA.
d) How can I get Laurie to sign my copy/ies of her book/s?
You can wait until she comes to your local area to do a signing, and bring your books there; or you can order signed copies of the books by mail from Laurie's local bookseller, Crossroads Books (Telephone (831) 728-4139 / Fax (831) 728-0132). Please do not mail your books directly to Laurie for her signature, as this costs her considerable time and inconvenience.
e) What project(s) is Laurie currently working on?
Laurie's most recent manuscript is a standalone suspense novel tentatively called Touchstone.
f) Where can I find out if Laurie will be coming to my local area?
Laurie's latest tour schedule is available on the Events Page of her personal site.
g) Is Laurie a member of the RUSS-L list?
Of a sort, yes. She doesn't participate, but she is a long-time supporter of the list and its associated web page, and occasionally takes a peek at the discussions.
Part 3:
About the Russell Books
a) What are the titles of the Russell books?
- The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1994)
- A Monstrous Regiment of Women (1995)
- A Letter of Mary (1996)
- The Moor (1998)
- O Jerusalem (1999)
- Justice Hall (2002)
- The Game (2004)
- Locked Rooms (2005)
b) In what order were the Russell books published?
See point a) above.
c) In what order were they written?
- The Beekeeper's Apprentice
(1987)
- A Letter of Mary
(1988-9)
- A Monstrous Regiment
of Women (1992)
- The Moor
(1997)
- O Jerusalem
(1998)
- Justice Hall
(2001)
- The Game
(2003)
- Locked Rooms
(2004)
d) What books in the Russell series are forthcoming?
The answer to this is presently unknown, but Laurie has spoken about wanting to write an adventure which takes place in Japan (prior to the events chronicled in Locked Rooms).
e) Is there going to be a movie made from any of the books?
A British filmmaker once expressed interest in filming The Beekeeper's Apprentice, but could not proceed with the project until all of the original Sherlock Holmes stories came into the public domain in the UK. At this point, no contracts have been signed.
f) Did Mary Russell really write the manuscripts?
The rules of the "Great Game" dictate that fans of the original Sherlock Holmes stories argue and behave as though Dr. John Watson really wrote them, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was just the editor. Among Russellians the same is true, therefore, of Laurie King's books, in which she presents Russell as the author and herself merely as the editor. In reality, however, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle really wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories, and Laurie King wrote the Russell books -- but shhh! don't tell anybody or you'll spoil the fun.
g) What is "Mrs. Hudson's Case" (MRSH) and where can I read it?
MRSH can be found in the mystery anthology titled Crime Through Time (1997), edited by Miriam Grace Monfredo and Sharan Newman, and published by Bantam Books.
Part 4:
About Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes
a) When is Holmes's birthday?
Holmes's birthday is never actually stated directly in any of the Conan Doyle stories. However, of all Shakespeare's plays, Holmes quotes most frequently from "Twelfth Night", and many Sherlockians have accepted January 6 as the most likely date for Holmes's birth.
b) When is Mary Russell's birthday?
The Beekeeper's Apprentice sets the date for her birth as January 2, 1900.
c) What type of Judaism does Mary practice?
Former list member Shelby Peck (now sadly deceased) believed that Mary is a Humanistic or Reconstructionist Jew. Definitions of the various types of Judaism may be found here.
d) Why does Holmes call Russell "Mary Todd" in BEEK?
When they disguise themselves as gypsies, Holmes takes the alias of "Mr. Todd", and since she is posing as his daughter, Mary becomes "Mary Todd". It should be noted that "Mary Todd" is also the name of a wildflower herb.
e) What's this about Holmes and Irene Adler?
In BEEK, Patricia Donleavy tells Holmes, "I know about you and the Adler woman after my father's death..." When questioned about the meaning of this line after writing BEEK, Laurie admitted to following noted Sherlockian scholar William S. Baring-Gould's theory that Holmes and Irene Adler had an affair during the Great Hiatus (the three years that Holmes was missing and presumed dead after his battle with Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls).
f) Does Holmes have a son?
Yes, by Irene Adler. This was confirmed in MREG, where Russell thinks that Miles reminds her of Holmes's "lovely, lost son", and later makes reference to Irene Adler having loved Holmes and let him go. Laurie once mused that in a future book she would like to write about Holmes's son in the trenches during WWI, but this seems to have been covered by Gabriel Hughenfort's story in Justice Hall. We may yet hear about him in some other capacity, though.
It should be noted, however, that according to Laurie the son is not, as William S. Baring-Gould suggested, Rex Stout's famous detective Nero Wolfe. His name, age, and details of how he became "lost" to Holmes are as yet unrevealed, but the books imply that Russell has met him and that he has been estranged from his father due to some tragic circumstance (possibly drug use or mental illness). He may even be dead.
g) Is the "younger son of a Duke" mentioned as one of Holmes's associates in BEEK a reference to Lord Peter Wimsey, and is this the same "Peter" that Mary encounters in LETT?
Yes. Laurie is a great admirer of Dorothy L. Sayers and her books about Lord Peter, and enjoys dropping hints and references to Sayers' work in her own books.
h) Will we see Lord Peter in any future Russell books?
Sadly, no. Laurie didn't realize this was going to be a problem at the time, but she used the character of Lord Peter without permission of Sayers' estate and has been advised that she may not do so again.
i) Is the mention in BEEK of Holmes disappearing and reappearing some weeks later with a cough and a scratch across one cheek a reference to the Peter Cushing movie "The Masks of Death"?
No. Laurie has never seen the movie in question.
j) Is it true that there's going to be a new Holmes movie starring Alan Rickman as Holmes, Gabriel Byrne as Watson and Catherine Zeta-Jones as the love interest?
No. Although the rumour was persistent enough to generate a brief magazine article (accompanied by an amusing caricature of Rickman as Holmes), it appears to be completely false. When one of my personal friends asked Rickman about it backstage after a performance of PRIVATE LIVES in London, he said without hesitation that he had never heard of this film project, much less been asked to play Holmes in it.
* * *