chs
@iamchs.bsky.social
Dear to me the hour when all the world doth sleep.
Writer of Victorian mysteries, gothic horrors, and TTRPG adventures.
www.christianhydesmith.com
Writer of Victorian mysteries, gothic horrors, and TTRPG adventures.
www.christianhydesmith.com
January 11, 2026 at 8:40 AM
#BluePitHype
Main character in my Gothic adventure, Live by Watchfire. She is born in the Natal Colony in Africa to a Zulu mother and white father, and later becomes a hunter of supernatural horrors in Victorian Britain.
Main character in my Gothic adventure, Live by Watchfire. She is born in the Natal Colony in Africa to a Zulu mother and white father, and later becomes a hunter of supernatural horrors in Victorian Britain.
January 10, 2026 at 11:18 PM
#BluePitHype
Main character in my Gothic adventure, Live by Watchfire. She is born in the Natal Colony in Africa to a Zulu mother and white father, and later becomes a hunter of supernatural horrors in Victorian Britain.
Main character in my Gothic adventure, Live by Watchfire. She is born in the Natal Colony in Africa to a Zulu mother and white father, and later becomes a hunter of supernatural horrors in Victorian Britain.
Today's #wipsnips word is "table".
This is from a WIP which blends reality and fiction, with Arthur Conan Doyle as the main character. It is framed as a modern narrator going through Doyle's notes.
Doyle becomes the very detective he was looking for as he gets thrown into a mysteirous case.
This is from a WIP which blends reality and fiction, with Arthur Conan Doyle as the main character. It is framed as a modern narrator going through Doyle's notes.
Doyle becomes the very detective he was looking for as he gets thrown into a mysteirous case.
![A snippet from a novel which reads:
From Doyle's notes, we know that he interviewed a retired Scotland Yard inspector about an old case.
They met on Saturday, 13 April, 1895—the day before Easter Sunday. After suffering a bullet wound, the inspector had retired to Haslemere, a quiet little market town tucked into the Surrey hills.
With his notebook at the ready, seated across the kitchen table, Doyle listened as the inspector launched into his tale.
Initially, at least, Doyle didn't imagine reviving Sherlock Holmes for this story, nor did he intend to frame it as a prequel. He was intent on casting the retired inspector in the central role, just as it had been in real life. Before long, however, he began to have serious reservations about the choice. In an early draft, he launches into a full tirade on the nature and quality of heroes in fiction, and how his poor inspector seemed to embody none of them:
"Beneath every scar lies a story [a reference to the inspector's wound]. Yet, as I have come to discover, today's discerning reader is not satisfied with a mere story. He demands a compelling hero. And since this was supposed to be a detective story, the hero should embody the virtues expected of the modern detective: a profound insight into human nature, a sharp and analytical intellect, and the faculty of a player [actor] who can assume any character that his case may require.
What, then, had I been given for my hero? A broad-shouldered inspector with the grace of a wardrobe and the subtlety of a battering ram. Indeed, he towered even over me, which makes me doubt very much that he could remain incognito across an entire field."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7wspljakrrwwsnmx4iua2tes/bafkreigqtq23qeoy7r7tssmuv5sxpn3qczrnug2dus4xnqescxppwcbhom@jpeg)
January 9, 2026 at 9:58 PM
Today's #wipsnips word is "table".
This is from a WIP which blends reality and fiction, with Arthur Conan Doyle as the main character. It is framed as a modern narrator going through Doyle's notes.
Doyle becomes the very detective he was looking for as he gets thrown into a mysteirous case.
This is from a WIP which blends reality and fiction, with Arthur Conan Doyle as the main character. It is framed as a modern narrator going through Doyle's notes.
Doyle becomes the very detective he was looking for as he gets thrown into a mysteirous case.
Nothing like kicking back with a cup of tea and a wholesome Victorian novel.
#writingcommunity #writesky #writersky #victorian
#writingcommunity #writesky #writersky #victorian
January 8, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Nothing like kicking back with a cup of tea and a wholesome Victorian novel.
#writingcommunity #writesky #writersky #victorian
#writingcommunity #writesky #writersky #victorian
Today's #wipsnips word: "canvas".
This is from the first chapter. The narrator and her father get caught in a freak snowstorm on a mountain pass in Africa.
This is from the first chapter. The narrator and her father get caught in a freak snowstorm on a mountain pass in Africa.
January 8, 2026 at 6:33 PM
Today's #wipsnips word: "canvas".
This is from the first chapter. The narrator and her father get caught in a freak snowstorm on a mountain pass in Africa.
This is from the first chapter. The narrator and her father get caught in a freak snowstorm on a mountain pass in Africa.
January 7, 2026 at 8:37 PM
