Nancy Springer Q&A
Question:
What is it about the Holmes canon that has inspired so many offshoots starring everyone from irregulars to noncanonical wives, children, and siblings?
Answer: I wish I knew. No other fictional character ever has been as “real” as Sherlock Holmes. I wish I knew how Conan Doyle did it.
Question: What was it like infusing the world created by Conan Doyle with a feminine, one would say flowery touch?
Answer: Fun. Rollicking good fun.
Question: Have you always had an interest in ciphers or did the creation of Enola lead you into a deep dive of cryptography?
Answer: Writing about Enola Holmes led me there. I had no interest in secret codes until I learned how many of them Victorian women had to use, and why.
Question: It’s been over a decade since your last Enola Holmes Mystery, did the success of the Netflix movie, leading to renewed interest in the series, so much so that readers could literally not get a physical copy of any of the Enola Holmes books, inspire you to continue her adventures, hopefully over several books, or was it just a happy coincidence?
Answer: I actually wrote Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche* and some other Enola Holmes novels after the 2008 recession, but they didn't sell then.
Question: For me, adaptations are an obsession. Though contrarily I totally believe, unlike many others who don’t hold this stance, that books are the final product in and of themselves and adaptations are just a nice additional. Has having the first Enola Holmes book adapted changed your opinion on the series?
Answer: I'm not sure I understand your question**. I'll just say that when writing about Enola Holmes, I try to stick to my original vision of her and not let the movie intrude.
*Out today!
**I was trying to weigh in on the book world controversy where some people don't believe a book has really "made it" until it has been adapted. Which is a total disservice to the awesomeness of literature in my humble opinion. But as you can see with so many people only picking up Nancy's work once it was adapted, to them, having work being adapted matters.
Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche by Nancy Springer
Murder Most Fair by Anna Lee Huber
Murder at Wakehurst by Alyssa Maxwell
American Midnight: Tales of the Dark selected by by Laird Hunt
The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith
Poison for Breakfast by Lemony Snicket
Friends Forever by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham
I've been a fan of Hayley Atwell's for what seems like forever, but looking at her credits it's been about fifteen years starting with the Sally Lockhart films. But it was her portrayal of Agent Carter, giving us a non-superpowered kick-ass female lead in the male dominated Marvel universe that forever made me a fan. That and her hilarious lip-synch videos and self-deprecating social media presence. So I was aware of The Long Song since the day it first started filming back in 2018. And since the day later in 2018 that it aired in England. Nowadays with shows being shown almost simultaneously stateside thanks to premium cable channels and services like BritBox I kept waiting for The Long Song to finally air here. And I waited. And I waited. Seriously, Howards End with Hayley's portrayal of Margaret Schlegel ran on Starz and even re-aired TWICE on PBS and still I waited for The Long Song. Until finally it was announced as part of Masterpiece's 51st season. I would finally get to see the adaptation of Andrea Levy's book! And ironically, considering how long I waited to see this, I think now was the perfect time for it to air. Right when America finally said enough and embraced Black Lives Matter on a scale it should have always been embraced it's more important than ever to look back and see the horrors of what we have done in the past. To not flinch away from uncomfortable truths. And the truth of the matter is Hayley is nothing more than odious comic relief, as she should be in this setting. As she herself said "I play a heinous, vile old cow [as] Variety reviews my portrayal: 'an actor who typically radiates warmth, does a remarkable job of curdling the atmosphere of every room unlucky enough to have Caroline in it.'" The real star is Tamara Lawrance as July. A slave who was taken away from her mother to be a plaything for Caroline. Who, despite everything, is a source of joy. Her life keeps beating her down again and again yet she is a "joyous survivor" as one reviewer said. And that's the heart of The Long Song, showing the horrors unflinchingly but celebrating the joy of surviving and creating a better world.
My late teens coincided with Ewan McGregor being the darling of Indie films. For those who were introduced to him through Star Wars and his portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi, or, dare I utter the title, Moulin Rouge, let me tell you something, you are missing out on a whole heck of a lot of Ewan. As in all of Ewan. As in, he's naked. A lot. Like a lot a lot. Like full frontal in Velevet Goldmine, and in The Pillow Book, it's not just him naked, but his naked skin is then turned into a book and an old man does very inappropriate things to it... And let me tell you, that was memorable and creepy and it's been twenty-five years and I can't get it out of my head. When he was cast in Star Wars there were many jokes circulating as to how he'd get his "lightsaber" on screen... unless there is a cut of Star Wars I don't know about that didn't happen. Yet. Who knows what's going to happen on his Disney+ series. So, my point is, Ewan became mainstream and I missed the edge, I missed that wild abandon that marked his earlier roles. Seriously, Curt Wild in Velvet Goldmine, damn! Which is why I was so excited about Halston. It felt like it was a return to his roots while also being "Ryan Murphy Mainstream." The show is interesting in that while it does show a lot of the orgies and male prostitutes that surrounded Halston there's a disconnect. The pairings are very flat and emotionless and there's not as much naked Ewan as you'd expect. But it works. It's compartmentalizing Halston's life and it shows that his real passion, his real emotions, are for his work. With only five episodes Murphy does a wonderful job of showing us this way of life Halston lived and then how it all broke down. The series would not have worked with someone of lesser abilities than Ewan. He has the suave masters of the universe vibe that gets chipped away at piece by piece and the man who was almost glacial at the beginning is a sympathetic wreck by the end. It's a wonderful little piece that gives you insight into a man who changed fashion and a different time from the one we live in now. Looking back at Halston's life it's amazing how much he shaped the look of my childhood. He was one of a kind and deserved this tribute to his life.
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny
Unholy Murder by Lynda La Plante
The Back to Front Murder by Tim Major
Edie in Between by Laura Sibson
Bombshell by Sarah MacLean
The Last Debutantes by Georgie Blalock
The thing about David Tennant is you usually think of him as "the good guy." He was THE DOCTOR! Yes, there's the rare psychopath thrown in there, hello Kilgrave! But by and large he's the one bringing the baddies to justice, from killers of children to killers of song, and yes, I'm talking about Broadchurch and Blackpool. So it's interesting when he slips into the role of someone so evil and vile as Dennis Nilsen, the Scottish serial killer and necrophile who murdered at least a dozen young men in the late seventies and early eighties. He literally became Dennis Nilsen. It was beyond eerie. His flat affect, his casual way of discussing murder, everything came together to be the performance of a lifetime so much so that after the first few scenes you had to be remembered that this was David Tennant and NOT Dennis Nilsen. In fact there's one little trick they use in this adaptation that I usually disapprove of but which works to stunning effect here. I'm a stickler for shows that rely on old news footage thus breaking the forth wall. My problem is is that it usually doesn't work. It feels too out of place. Better to replace the footage with scenes you recreate. At first that is what I thought they were doing here. I literally thought the news footage was recreated to have David Tennant as Dennis Nilsen. It wasn't. This blew me away. David had nailed his performance so perfectly from appearance to body language that I couldn't tell the difference between scenes shot for this show and actual footage of Nilsen from the time of his arrest and trial. It's lucky I had the second season of Staged to binge after this three part series so that I could get the image of David Tennant as a serial killer out of my mind. But it's not just Tennant who shines, Jason Watkins, known for his rather deliciously over-the-top characters, many villainous, he's played over the years here brings in a wonderfully subtle performance as Brian Masters, whose book, Killing for Company, this miniseries is based on. The scenes between him and Tennant in the prison where they're having one on one conversations is the heart of this show. Watkins is able to show detachment when he needs to but also subtle disgust, of the level that will keep the channels open to Nilsen but not strip him fully of his humanity. Take it from me, who has watched a LOT of shows about serial killers over the years, this is one you don't want to miss. 
Firstly, a shout-out to the Fanibals who got 
