Pastiche Progress!

A breakthrough!

Note: this is a kind of meta post for me to help keep track of my goals for Sherlock stories in 2026. Feel free to ignore it. ;-)

My goal for 2026 is to ‘get things done!’ More specifically, I intend to finish the stories I have begun but have yet to conclude. Today, I am pleased to say I have finished one!

The Case of the Captain’s Cauldron was supposed to be around 5,000 words, but I just couldn’t end it. I was having too much fun! But it’s also now clocking in around 15,000* words. I posted the first instalment to Substack on January 19, 2025, and the last, today, February 2, 2026. So, yeah, it took a year!

That’s ridiculous! :-)

However, as you may recall, 2025 was a rough year, so I have plenty of excuses. But with ‘Cauldron’ done, I can move on to the next unfinished story. Here’s my list:

• The Case of the Immaculate Garden** (2,059)

• The Case of the Saint Nicholas Clerks (1,232)

• The Case of the Lost Galleon (2,270)

• The Case of the Bromine Belligerents (3,593)

• The Case of the Learned Automaton (4,195)

The Case of the Captain’s Cauldron is currently available on Substack for paid subscribers to read. I will be polishing it shortly, putting it in eBook format, and sending it to subscribers (paid). When I get that far, I’ll put it up on my Payhip store in eBook and PDF formats for purchase. Cauldron will also be part of the future Kickstarter I’m working on.

That’s about it.

On to the next unfinished story.

I just don’t know which one. :-)

Thanks again for all your support. Truly, it is appreciated!

*EDIT: Actually over 16,000 words. Yep, I’m counting. I love word counts! :-)

**EDIT: I thought there were more, and I’ve found one!"