2019 awaits!

When the first announcement of registration opening for the annual Dayton Sherlock Holmes weekend came this week, my first thought was, "Wow, that was early! They just held tha . . . . oh, wait."

2018 has hit its autumn, and 2019 is barreling toward us at surprising speed. All of those summer things I remember working toward for so very long are in the rearview mirror, and bright new future events are starting to pop up in the distance.

The Left Coast Sherlockian Symposium has a Twitter account and a month, but no set date yet, but with Portland, Oregon being one of those places in the U.S. that Sherlockiana hasn't taken me yet, combined with that wonderful "first time" aura, rife with possibility and nervousness . . . well, definitely keeping that on the calendar for 2019 if possible.

But the calendar for 2018 is far from done. "From Gillette to Brett V" is almost here for Sherlockian film buffs and those who just want to gather in the happy presence of like-minded souls. Hate to miss that one, as good memories from previous FGTB events abound . . . of course, some of those are so old they literally involve drinking Petri wine. (One of those little Sherlockian accomplishments from the event creators that may go unsung, but still very memorable.)

And Christopher Redmond's Sherlock Holmes Is Like collection is being published soon. After About Sixty and About Being A Sherlockian, Chris has shown a real talent for gathering a varied and inclusive mix of writers for some delightful varieties of work on a given theme, and I'm very excited for the chance to settle in and read this one . . . and maybe even blog another tournament of essays, as I did the first. (Doing the second would have pitted Sherlockian life against Sherlock life, which was a bit too much of a cage match for my taste.)

But the fact that it's already time to start looking forward to 2019 and all the usual suspects for Sherlockian fun is rather astounding . . . and I hope I'm not committing a faux pas like stores putting Christmas items out in August just by mentioning it already. This year still needs focus!

Peoria's own Sherlock Holmes Story Society has "Resident Patient" on tap for this Thursday and three more 2018 meetings after that, so I'd better give this year a little more attention!