Why I Started Writing The Autistic Sleuth

 Why I Started Writing The Autistic Sleuth

 

The idea for The Autistic Sleuth first came to me about six years ago.  There were a bunch of factors that spurred my thoughts on the topic.  A lot of the television shows I watched– Sherlock, Hannibal, Bones, CSI, Doc Martin, The Bridge,and many others, had a character that was possibly on the autism spectrum, but other than a fleeting reference, nothing at all was said about it.  The trope of autistic detectives was mentioned– and criticized– on an episode of Community, and I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.  Over the past four years, I started creating a list of television and movie detectives with autistic characteristics, and I also started writing a list of topics and themes recurring in these productions.  I grew increasingly surprised by how long these lists had become.  

 

Multiple times over the past five years, I tried to start writing a book about this subject, but I never got very far, just a few paragraphs before the well of inspiration froze up on me.  Then, this past fall, I forced myself to keep writing on this topic, and slowly, intermittently, created the essays that would form The Autistic Sleuth.  I wasn’t sure if I could make this topic work as a book, but I was surprised by the final product.  I hope that this book conveys a complex psychological, neurological, scientific, and artistic subject matter in a readable manner for all sorts of readers.

 

 

–Chris Chan

 

Chris Chan’s book The Autistic Sleuth, written with the professional guidance of his mother Dr. Patricia Meyer Chan, will be released on September 19^th!  He is the author of the Funderburke and Kaiming novels Ghosting My Friend and She Ruined Our Lives, released by Level Best Books.  He is also the author of the comedic novels Sherlock’s Secretary and Nessie’s Nemesis, published by MX Publishing, as was his anthology Of Course He Pushed Him and Other Sherlock Holmes Stories Volumes 1 & 2.  His Agatha-nominated book Murder Most Grotesque: The Comedic Crime Fiction of Joyce Porter was published by Level Best Books.  His first non-fiction book, Sherlock & Irene: The Secret Truth Behind “A Scandal in Bohemia” is available for sale at Amazon.com and the MX Publishing website, as well as at Book Depository (with free worldwide shipping there).  It is also available in a Kindle edition.