Sherlock Bones Series by Tim Collins
Tim Collins is originally from Manchester but now lives in London. He is the author of over thirty books including Wimpy Vampire, Cosmic Colin and Dorkius Maximus. His books have been translated into over thirty languages and he has won awards in the UK and Germany, including the Manchester Fiction City award (2011 Winner) and the Lincolnshire Young People’s Book Award (2012 Winner). We quizzed him about the new book in his Sherlock Bones series, which features intricate artwork and illustrated puzzles – including search-and-finds, mazes and number riddles – that are woven into the action, so the reader feels immersed in the exciting detective plot.
Can you tell us a bit about your new book?
Sherlock Bones and the Mischief in Manhattan is the latest (and fifth) book in the Sherlock Bones series. It takes Bones and his sidekick Dr Jane Catson to the US, where they’re confronted by a masked villain who wants to test their detective skills. Like the rest of the series, it blends fiction with brain-boggling puzzles.
Where did you get the inspiration for this story?
The characters of Sherlock Bones and Dr Catson are of course inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. And the supervillain in the new book is a tribute to classic comic book baddies like The Joker. Would Conan Doyle have considered it sacrilege? Or would he have told us to shut up about Sherlock Holmes and ask him about spiritualism instead?
Do the themes, the characters or plot come first for you when writing?
If you’re writing series fiction for young readers, it makes sense that the characters come first. After all, the series is usually named after the main character. The Sherlock Bones books are whodunits, so you need a handful of interesting suspects each time.
What do you hope readers will take from the book?
I hope young puzzle fans will be drawn into the detective story, and maybe seek out the original Sherlock Holmes stories one day. Conan Doyle has been the gateway into Victorian literature for many people, myself included.
What did you think when you first saw the illustrations for the book?
I love John Bigwood’s illustrations. I especially like the way he draws cats as short and round. In every book, I make sure to include a few new species of animals, just to see how he does them.
Is creative block ever a problem for you?
Not in the sense that I can’t think of what to write next. But I sometimes abandon books a third of the way through when I’ve thought of a better idea. Which then turns out not to be a better idea when I’m a third of the way through that.
Were you a reader as child?
Yes, but I didn’t read many of the things you’re supposed to have read. I remember buying books from the Co-op, and I would gravitate towards movie adaptations. I can even remember reading some EastEnders tie-in books, which seem like a pretty drab choice now. But the key to making children readers is letting them choose what they want, whatever they’re drawn to.
What were your favourite books as a child?
Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns came out in the same year, and inspired a lot of media coverage about comics ‘growing up’. Those are the books I read then that I still return to now.
What are your top tips for budding young writers?
When you’re describing a scene, think about how things sound, smell and feel as well as how they look.
Vary the length of your sentences. You might think that using lots of short sentences makes something fast-paced, but it actually becomes quite hard to read after a while.
If you want to finish a longer piece of writing, keep going until you get to the end without looking back at what you’ve done.
Sherlock Bones and the Mischief in Manhattan by Tim Collins, illustrated by John Bigwood, is published by Buster Books. Out now. https://www.mombooks.com/contributor/tim-collins/
Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the Federation.
