Ashley

Name: Ashley Polasek

Hails From:  Canada. Wait, New York, er, England, no, South Carolina.

About Me:  I hold a doctorate in the study of Sherlock Holmes adaptations, and I have an experience of presenting Sherlock Holmes-related papers at academic conferences which extends over many nations and three separate continents. My continuing quest is to gather the entire alphabet behind my name (current count, 9/26: BA, MA, PhD, FRSA, BSB, ASH). I live with my lovely husband, Mr. Hyde, and my fluffy Wheaten Terrier, Jekyll, in a house stuffed with books, relics of world travel, and sundry nerdy ephemera.

Things I love: literary puns, books, travel, theatre, swords, whisky, Victoriana, and DIY projects. Things I hate: willful ignorance, tedium, misused semicolons, and children with wheels in their shoes.

You can find me blathering about all of this and more on Twitter @SherlockPhD

How I First Encountered Sherlock Holmes: When I started dating an English chap while studying in Scotland, he assigned me the Canon as part of our “I want to get to know you quickly” reading list. I read every story by flashlight, huddled under the duvet with the North Sea crashing outside my window and fell in love. I’m no longer seeing the English chap, but I’ve been in a steady relationship with Sherlock Holmes ever since.

Favourite Character: The obvious choice is Sherlock Holmes, but I afford honorable mention to Lady Mary Brackenstall, who is a badass, and, as Lady Mary Fraser, is my ASH investiture.

Favourite Story: The Abbey Grange, The Blue Carbuncle, and The Man with the Twisted Lip. Sorry, I thought you said top three stories.

Favourite Adaptation: BBC audio’s “Sherlock Holmes” with Clive Merrison, with a side of Hammer’s “Hound” [1959], garnished with Granada, and all washed down with a generous gulp of “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”

One Random Fact:  I practice Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) in the Medieval German tradition of Johannes Liechtenauer and am a gold-medal-winning longsword fencer.