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Doyle vs. Holmes

How many writers wish they could write a character like Sherlock Holmes? My guess is most of them. Sherlock Holmes is the best-known fictional character still, although that whippersnapper Harry Potter has quickly risen to number two in recent decades. Put together a deerstalker, a magnifying glass and a pipe, and readers all over the Continue reading
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Robot Love

With everything going on in the world, life on Electric Street is pretty calm this summer. Except for a quick drive to the Maritimes and frequent jaunts to Toronto, I am at my desk, writing drafts and learning new things. Doing my electric company A long, long time ago, I can still remember … my Continue reading
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189 Days to Christmas

Since I am doing a little light research for my Archie Sloss novel, I discovered that the Glasgow Police appointed their first detective in 1819 and followed with a designated Criminal Department in 1821. Is everyone on the same page as me? I’m thinking Netflix’s Dept. Q Christmas Special, where DC Rose Dickson (played by Continue reading
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Saltare non possum, ergo scribo

~~~ I can’t dance, therefore I write I, like most people, could slice my life into phases. Suburban kid, Journalism undergrad, newly married executive wife, urban single mother … (clip cut here) … eventually civil servant, and now full-time writer. In September 1990, my life path changed, the way it does. Although I had Continue reading
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One April Fool

It’s finally spring and to distract you from all the insanity of the gift that keeps on giving down south, I offer you an update of life here on Electric Street. Doing: March is brilliant when you have a little Irish within you! I was busy with several Ottawa-area events in celebration of Saint Continue reading
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Archie Sloss: The Burglar Who Stole the Heart of Victorian Society

PART TWO: Western Australia, circa 1873 – Archie Sloss, the escaped convict and robber, was in hiding from the police with a price of two hundred pounds on his head. How would he get away? Archie tells us that nine days after the police raided the hideout, Donald Macvittie, a respectable Scottish shepherd, bought passage Continue reading
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The Remarkable Life of Archibald Sloss: A Genealogical Discovery

This month, the blog is part one of a longer story, because I need to testify. Yes testify … to the remarkable life of Archibald Sloss, born in Stirlingshire in 1830. Archie, alias Archie Baird, the ex-Duke of Portland Prison, Old Dad Sloss, or “The Burglar with the Blue Scar” was my grandmother’s grandfather’s older Continue reading
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Wishing You the Best for 2025!

It’s that time of the year already. The world is chaotic when all we want is peace. But it’s time to look ahead, and, whatever our religion, we light the darkness and look ahead with hope. I am taking a few weeks off to share the joys of the season with friends and family. I Continue reading


