I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere

Authors Reflect on Part 2 of the World's Largest Sherlock Holmes Collection

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"a train of reflection" [VALL]</h4>
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<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/07/behind-worlds-largest-new-sherlock.html#.VbxAx25Viko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The world's largest collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories</a> is on its way to being realized. The <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1229605719/the-worlds-largest-new-sherlock-holmes-story-colle" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a> campaign for the collection assembled by <a href="http://mxpublishing.com/" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a> has just over a week left before it concludes, and we're continuing to give some of the 64 participating authors a chance to reflect on their involvement. This is the second installment in the series (you can <a href="http://ihose.co/mxauthors1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">read part 1 here</a>) in which I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere will publish the answers of two questions that we asked each author:<br />
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<li>Tell us a little bit about your story without giving too much away. Where and when does it take place? Why did you choose that time for your story?</li>
<li>Why did you want to contribute to the anthology?</li>
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 Here are the responses from the participating authors in chronological order by the time their story takes place:<br />
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<b><a href="http://willthomasauthor.com/">Will Thomas</a></b></h3>
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The story I wrote was set in 1889, during Holmes and Watson’s early career. The duo is full of energy, and the adventure is more of a schoolboy lark compared with the more somber stories after "The Empty House." The mystery is classic early Holmes, and I can picture the original readers of the <i>Strand Magazine</i> puzzling over the clues. The setting is Tunbridge Wells because I have always been interested in those stories which take place in the south of England.<br />
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I have been a Sherlockian since I was seventeen. When I first joined a local scion I was the youngest member by about twenty-five years. Now I’m the same age as most of the members.<br />
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Being the founder of the<a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Bartitsu_Forum/info"> Bartitsu Forum</a> on Yahoo, I considered bringing Holmes’s martial skills into play, but the pair of them were still so young I decided to have them tossed about by a character in the story instead. Presumably, this is what made Holmes feel he needed a little more training.<br />
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<b><a href="http://annmargaretlewis.com/">Ann Margaret Lewis</a></b></h3>
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In my story, "The Affair of Miss Finney," Sherlock Holmes solves a brutal case of rape, and Mrs. Watson (Mary Morstan) is a huge help. I chose this time period because I wanted readers to see more of sweet Mary. She was special to Watson, so I’d hope she’d be special to Sherlock fans.<br />
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Besides my love for Holmes, I have a son who is special needs (Autism spectrum), so aiding a project for kids with special needs is close to my heart. I hope we can make Undershaw and Stepping Stones a load of cash, so they can preserve the past, and make sure those kids have a future.<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Historical-Sherlock/314567048570655">Vincent W. Wright</a></b></h3>
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The title of my tale is "The Adventure of the Bookshop Owner" and is a classic Holmes-style mystery. It revolves around the murder of man who owns a small bookshop in north London. A fresh, young Inspector brings the case to Holmes, Holmes contacts Watson (who is married and in private practice) for his faithful assistance, and they attempt to settle some of the peculiarities of the case. The whole affair turns out not to be as straightforward as they all at first believed.<br />
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The case is set on the evening of July 1, 1890, and is wrapped up shortly after. Being a chronologist I knew I had to try and place it somewhere that would not conflict with other cases. This is nearly impossible to do, but I did find a small opening in 1890. I had already decided to have it occur on the 1st of July, so it all worked out in the end.<br />
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When I was contacted to possibly write something for the anthology I was somewhat taken aback. I had never written a pastiche, and was not a big reader of them. I took a day to consider it, and finally decided that it would be fun to give it a shot. I was flattered and honored to be asked as it was my presentations and papers on Holmes and Watson that had caught the ear and eye of the editor. I wrote 1500 words the first day, lost them all in a computer mishap, and started all over again. I was stunned at how fast the story came together. It was quite enjoyable. After some major rewrites and a few character changes it all came together. I have numerous people to thank for their assistance, and others to give a nod to for their encouragement. (They all know who they are.)<br />
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I love being a part of this project, and look forward to learning about the benefits it reaps for Undershaw and Stepping Stones.<br />
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<b><a href="http://amzn.to/1MblqCP" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">William Patrick Maynard</a></b></h3>
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My story is "The Singular Case of the Unrepentant Husband" and concerns a friend of Mrs. Watson who believes she is being haunted by her late husband's ghost. The story takes place in London in the 1890s. I wanted to set the story after Holmes' return both for the advances in technology near the turn of the last century and the opportunity to portray the changes in Holmes and Watson's relationship. Too many writers favor the 1880s for classic Holmes and Watson. I wanted to take a slightly different approach.<br />
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This is the third Holmes anthology I've had the honor to contribute to, and since I principally work as a continuation author for Sax Rohmer's Literary Estate, it is a pleasure to pay tribute to the author and characters that were the greatest influence on Rohmer's work. Additionally, when an editor invites you to contribute a story to a Holmes collection, one has an obligation to try their very best to deliver something that is hopefully worthy of the name. There will never be another Conan Doyle (or another Sax Rohmer). All of us merely try to pay tribute to their genius and their immortal creations.<br />
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<b><a href="http://amzn.to/1MghCSc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Matthew Booth</a></b></h3>
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The story is called "The Verse of Death."  It is set in 1890 which, I think, is the ideal era for Holmes, because it is a time when he is at his peak.  Watson is married and living away from Baker Street.  He calls on Holmes one afternoon, and his visit coincides with a visit from Inspector Lestrade, who is investigating the murder of a retired financier who has been murdered in his bedroom.  There are no means of access to the room – the door is locked and the windows all fastened.  Holmes is initially uninterested, and he dismisses the case, but he alters his view when Lestrade tells him that prior to the murder, the victim had received threatening messages in the form of macabre poems which foretold his violent death…<br />
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I wanted to write as traditional a Holmes story as I could – I have always felt that the purpose of a pastiche is to continue the trend of the original.  So, with something like the Holmes stories, I think you have to approach it as though the story you are writing has been compiled from notes which come from the same battered tin dispatch box as the originals.  It has to feel authentic, and it should be able to stand between two original Holmes stories without a casual reader being able to see the joint.  Otherwise, what’s the point?  It was important to me to try and make it sound as authentic as possible, whilst retaining the same elements of mystery and Gothic romance which make the best of the original Holmes stories so endurable. <br />
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I think it is an ambitious and exciting project.  I am a writer and a lifelong Holmes fanatic and the opportunity to contribute to such an important collection of new Holmes stories was too good to miss.  I like the idea of a collection which spans the entirety of Holmes’ career, and the notion of three volumes covering specific periods of his life is a good one.  It allows something for everyone, which is not always the case with collected anthologies of this type.   <br />
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But it is not simply having the opportunity to contribute to a new series of Holmes stories (which is of course always a welcome thing).  There was also the added incentive of the cause behind it.  The preservation of Undershaw is an important project and being asked to contribute to it by doing something which I love was a request which was impossible to turn down.  I think the caliber and the number of writers who agreed to participate is testament to the passion for (and the importance of) the cause.  I think it’s something of which everyone involved with should and will be proud. <br />
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<b><a href="http://amzn.to/1eZ3ZYI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">J.R. Campbell</a></b></h3>
My story involves the theft of some skulls and is set in London at a time when skull collecting was a (relatively) new hobby. Since the internet, any Londoner with a credit card can plop a skull on their mantle and call themselves a collector, but things were different back in the day. If pressed, I’d say the tale was set in 1895, but then, when pressed, I always answer 1895. While I understand the urge to set out definitive time lines and such, I can’t say it’s a passion I share. Minds more clever than mine can schedule it where they like; I’ll not argue.<br />
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This is where I’m expected to say good things about the Undershaw Preservation Trust, certainly a cause worthy of any compliments I could send their way. Although the banner under which this anthology rides is good, for my part, there are a number of writers in the company with whom I am very excited to be sharing pages with. Some, like Bob Byrne, Peter Calamai, and Matthew J Elliot, I’ve had the pleasure of working with before. Others, like Christopher Redmond, Bert Coules, and Lyndsay Faye, I’ve admired from afar. And there’s always the pleasure of discovering new favorites. I’m looking forward to reading all three volumes of this collection.   <br />
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<b><a href="http://literallystories2014.com/authors-k-z/sm-sz/stapleton-robert-v/">Robert V. Stapleton</a></b></h3>
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The story: In the early spring of 1891, with Sherlock Holmes out of the country, Professor Moriarty is bored. Breaking with his usual habit, he is tempted into taking part in hands-on criminal activity. This includes the theft of plans for a steam-powered flying machine. The timing of the story is important because it ties in with a genuine machine that was built, and may well have flown, in France in the autumn of 1890. <br />
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The motivation: This story was originally written for another project, but I was then invited to submit it for possible inclusion in this anthology. Because of the timing of the story, it dovetails neatly with Conan Doyle’s other stories of Sherlock Holmes.<br />
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<b><a href="http://samwiebe.com/">SamWiebe</a></b></h3>
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"The Glennon Falls" is a story about Professor Moriarty. On the eve of his rendezvous with Holmes at Reichenbach, he's thinking about his childhood tutor, a lower-class Scottish woman who dares to challenge him intellectually. I wanted to look at the formative events of Moriarty's life, and suggest that while Holmes is Moriarty's greatest adversary, he wasn't the professor's first.<br />
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Hopefully, the stories find receptive readers, and hopefully, the anthology raises some money to support a cultural landmark.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.pmrp.org/">Jeremy Holstein</a></b></h3>
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The bulk of my story takes place during the Great Hiatus, when Holmes was presumed dead. It mainly focuses on Doctor Watson, and how he is dealing with both Holmes being gone and his wife's illness. A chance encounter with Inspector Lestrade leads to Watson being invited to help investigate a case, and the story progresses from there. I chose that particular era as I enjoy bringing Watson more into the spotlight. He is usually overshadowed by Holmes.<br />
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Why participate in the anthology? Because David asked me to! Honestly, it was very flattering, and for a good cause to boot. His timing was, of course, terrible as I was in the midst of preparing a stage production of Charles Augustus Milverton for the Post Meridian Radio Players (we do Sherlock Holmes productions every summer,) but I couldn't say no. The lure of contributing to an anthology alongside other pastiche authors, many of whom I know and admire, was too seductive to pass up.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.billcrider.com/">Bill Crider</a></b></h3>
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My story takes place in early 1894 when Holmes isn't officially in England, and maybe he's not officially in the story, either.  It's based on an actual historical event, so that dictated the setting.<br />
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It seemed like a great cause, and I wanted to be part of it.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.gaslightgrimoire.com/">Peter Calamai</a></b></h3>
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My pastiche takes place during The Great Hiatus and is set in Ottawa, the capital of the then relatively new Dominion of Canada. I choose the time because then Holmes was free to travel across the Atlantic, although under an alias. It was also a time when Irish renegades in the United States, known as the Fenians, were engaged in trying to undermine the Canadian government by force.<br />
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I choose the place because I know it well and had researched that time period.<br />
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The question isn’t why did I want to contribute to the anthology but why wouldn any admirer of Arthur Conan Doyle <b><i>not</i></b> want to contribute to the preservation goal? Also I was eager to have some pastiches set in Canada. And I enjoy writing in the prose style of that era, and believe that I do it well.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.lyndsayfaye.com/">Lyndsay Faye</a></b></h3>
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My story is set just after Sherlock Holmes returns, in 1894.  He hasn't yet interacted with Inspector Lestrade apart from the brief arrest of Colonel Moran, and Lestrade comes to Holmes and Watson with news of a grotesque murder--a man without a mark on him was found entirely drained of blood.  But something much more personal seems to be irking the inspector, and for Holmes to solve the crime, he has to not only unravel the bizarre mystery, but deduce why his old friend from the Yard is displaying such uncharacteristic animosity towards him.  "The Adventure of the Willow Basket" is more than a crime story--it's a story about forgiving friends and allies when they've been forced to make terrible choices.<br />
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I contributed to the anthology because not only is Undershaw a great cause, but it's amazing to be a part of the biggest Sherlock Holmes anthology ever!  That's historic, and as a rabid Sherlockian, I couldn't miss the opportunity.</div>
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<h3>
<b><a href="http://www.mxpublishing.com/brand/Marcia+Wilson">Marcia Wilson</a></b></h3>
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The adventure is set in two separate time periods, opening after the Great War and moving to the late 1890's after Sir Henry returns from his Constitutional. Ever since <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> was published, Holmes and Watson have been plagued by a hungry public to go back to Dartmoor and tell the stories they believe should have happened.  I was thinking of poor Conan Doyle, and any writer who is urged to keep milking a story long after the story has ended.  So, in a way, that's a tribute to all writers. I got the idea, strangely enough, from Keye Luke's Charlie Chan.  Solving a case backwards isn't nearly as easy as it sounds because you have to be twice as careful!  It is even harder when no one else knows what in the world you're doing!<br />
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I like to use the melting pot diversity of England, and this was my best chance to use two unusual beasts: female naturalists, and the Onion Johnnies of Brittany. There was an innate closeness with the traders that appealed to me, and a tip of the pen tribute to Conan Doyle's scripted comment of Mortimer noting a sense of attachment in the Celts.  Mostly, I like the idea of an ill Holmes fooling an ailing Watson into distracting himself into writing down one of the stories he has withheld for a long time--in the beginning Watson is writing about his aches and pains in his memory, but by the end he's forgotten them.  In the wake of the Great War, Holmes chooses to let Watson write "it" up because it will give the public something to think about.  <br />
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Lastly, Stapleton's moth to me was one of the biggest loose ends in <i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i>.  A brief look into the world of moth collecting and you'll see some amazing stories about the men and women who dedicate their lives and souls to the furtherance of insects.  There are not a few crimes involved!<br />
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Why contribute to the anthology? David Marcum always has good ideas!  We've often commiserated over the difficulty in finding good solid Canon out there--by which we mean not just a Sherlock Holmes adventure based on the books and set in Victorian or Edwardian times, but where characters <b><i>besides</i></b> Sherlock Holmes are treated with respect. Here, I can show the strengths of Watson and Lestrade--they know they can trust him even if they haven't a clue as to what he's doing...again.  There's more than just trust when they demonstrate they can let Holmes be his strange, unfathomable self: they show that they know he gets results and he knows what he's doing.<br />
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With David's vision, I saw everyone had a chance to raise the bar on pastiches and show there are creative ways of fundraising for worthy causes. I don't want a brick with my name on it--I want Undershaw to continue on in this fresh new way much as my Sir Henry is re-creating Baskerville Hall in a fresh new way.  The idea of writing for a charity like Undershaw...well, who wouldn't jump at the chance for something like that? In a way I see these stories as the ultimate fan letter to ACD.  How many times has Holmes done something on behalf of the underdog?  These stories show the positive ways he has affected us.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="http://www.bertcoules.co.uk/holmes.php">Bert Coules</a></h3>
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"The Saviour of Cripplegate Square" is the script of my original BBC drama, commissioned as part of the Further Adventures series, the sequel to the world's first complete dramatised canon.  It opens in the sitting-room of 221B on a stormy winter's night: rain beats against the windows, the wind howls in the chimney, the fire crackles in the grate, and Sherlock Holmes is in the mood to tell a dark tale of his earliest days as a detective.<br />
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In general I was careful not to be too specific about the dating of any of the Further Adventures, but this particular story's mood of reminiscence and revelation seems to sit nicely with the time of Holmes's reappearance from his wanderings and Watson's return to the old Baker Street rooms, twin events which Sir Arthur himself pins down exactly; so - newly dated specially for this collection - the year is 1894.<br />
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I went to Undershaw many years ago, soon after I started work on the BBC's complete canon.  I explored the rooms, walked through the garden, sat in the summerhouse, absorbed the abundant atmosphere and expressed my fervent hope to the lingering spirit of Arthur Conan Doyle that I wouldn't disgrace his creations and his memory.  I want to feel that any future writers who find themselves embarking on a similar task will have the opportunity to do as I did.<br />
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<h3>
<b><a href="http://www.mikehoganbooks.com/">Mike Hogan</a></b></h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxK0aM1vd0fk-zh7kxhdnA-Yi0C-ZeGNvIaYpcha3TKhLDx-JF7bs6LHlOIlz2fHe20Fq8hj9F_o4HU58Vs3NDplkJyiuIpVKzy0c11fVlJKWHhzmad-MbCaOLDxT2whI0CFaEnF5Bxd5/s1600/Mike+Hogan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFxK0aM1vd0fk-zh7kxhdnA-Yi0C-ZeGNvIaYpcha3TKhLDx-JF7bs6LHlOIlz2fHe20Fq8hj9F_o4HU58Vs3NDplkJyiuIpVKzy0c11fVlJKWHhzmad-MbCaOLDxT2whI0CFaEnF5Bxd5/s200/Mike+Hogan.jpg" width="200" /></a>Most of my Sherlock Holmes stories are set in the early days of the friendship between him and Doctor Watson, which gives me a chance to explore their contrasting characters and have a little respectful fun suggesting Watson's understandable exasperation with his friend's eccentricities. Living with a man who conducts smelly experiments in the sitting room, pockmarks the wall with revolver rounds and encourages street Arabs, Holmes' Baker Street Irregulars, to drop by barefoot can't have been a bed of roses!<br />
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But I needed to set my story of the lady on the bridge at a time after the premier of Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest' as that play figures prominently in the plot. I chose the mid-nineties and I was able to include telephones, the Kinematograph, and the newly-completed Tower Bridge.<br />
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At the time of my invitation from David Marcum to contribute to an MX anthology, we had in mind a much less ambitious project than the amazing three-volume compendium that has grown from his and Steve Emecz' original conception. I'm very proud to be part of that extraordinary effort, to be in such distinguished company and to make a small contribution to the renovation and maintenance of Undershaw.<br />
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<h3>
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Carl-L.-Heifetz/e/B00E8R96PG">Carl Heifetz</a></b></h3>
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The story takes place in 1895, a time when great discoveries are made in the area of bacteriology and infectious disease. It involves a sickness among members of the same family and has all of the hallmarks of a mini epidemic. Fortunately, Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes are there to save the lives of the sickened individuals and solve the nature and source of the illness. At the end, they are able to bring two feuding brothers together in a family reunion.<br />
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I am always happy to write about my hero Sherlock Holmes. Over the years, from 1984 to 2010,  I have published pastiches and treatises in  independent Sherlockian journals. As a microbiologist, I have focused on Mr. Holmes’ use of “the method of scientists” to solve his mysteries. Also, I have been interested in enhancing the infectious disease aspect.<br />
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In 2013, I finally published a novella, <i>The Voyage of the Blue Carbuncle</i> as an homage to both Sherlock Holmes and my other addiction, <i>Star Trek</i>. The book has received excellent reviews.  As a big fan of Arthur Conan Doyle, MD, I felt impelled to turn my talents towards helping preserve his beautiful estate for future generations.<br />
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<b><a href="http://misterdg.wix.com/author">Dick Gillman</a></b></h3>
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"The Man on Westminster Bridge" is set, as one might expect, in Victorian London. It is a story of despair, greed and carefully crafted revenge.</div>
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What is it that drives a man to try to take his own life? Holmes witnesses such an attempt as he crosses the Thames at Westminster. Fortunately, Holmes is on hand to literally pull the unfortunate fellow back from the brink of the abyss… and so unfolds a new case for Holmes and Watson.</div>
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The story revolves around a small gambling syndicate at Bairstow’s, a Gentleman’s club in Westminster. The seemingly impossible luck of one particular member, Major Tobias Cooke, is such that a scandal threatens to engulf the club and ruin some of its members.</div>
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After a visit to the club by Holmes and Watson, young Wiggins provides the intelligence Holmes needs to bait a trap. Holmes delights in ‘setting up’ an unsuspecting Watson as a carefree gambler with money to burn. All that is needed now is a little Dutch courage for Watson and a pair of white, opera gloves for Holmes to work his magic!</div>
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I particularly wanted to contribute to the anthology for two reasons. Firstly, I thought it would be a privilege for me to have my story included in a work that has so many great authors of the genre. It is a showcase for my work, and I was so pleased that my story was accepted for Volume 2 by editor, David Marcum, who has worked tirelessly on the project.</div>
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Secondly, with my close links to education, I thought that the donation of the royalties from the sale of the books to help a very special school was inspired. Undershaw should be preserved and brought back to its former glory. It is a piece of our British literary heritage and should be as revered as the homes of other great writers.</div>
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These three volumes from MX are a unique collection. I saw it as a once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of something that will benefit both our current and future generations. </div>
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<h3>
<b><a href="http://carolenelsondouglas.com/">Carole Nelson Douglas</a></b></h3>
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I wrote a poem, not a story, about a character and relationship frequently written and sung about and filmed in the Sherlock Holmes universe. It takes place in the mind of Sherlock Holmes and is called "The Bachelor of Baker Street Muses on The Woman."<br />
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I read and reread the Sherlock Holmes stories as a child, and Holmes and Watson have never left my life and work. In my all-girls' high school, I imported them into an assigned skit I wrote and performed. (I was short, so I had to be Watson in an eyebrow pencil mustache.)<br />
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As a daily newspaper reporter, I had 35 inches to fill on deadline with a subject who'd barely uttered a word. I turned his reticence into a case for Holmes and Watson to solve, and the story won the top journalism award in the state. <br />
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As a full-time fiction writer, I wondered why no women had written a spin-off Holmesian series or used a woman from the Canon as a lead character. My Irene Adler series was the first, and the first novel,<i> Good Night, Mr. Holmes</i>, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.<br />
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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has contributed so much to my pleasure and imagination. Saving and restoring Undershaw is the least all of his readers and literary beneficiaries can do, especially with its new mission for learning disabled children.</div>
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<br />
That concludes this week's spotlight article.  In <a href="http://ihose.co/mxauthors3">the next installment</a>, we will post the responses from the authors in the third and final volume of <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1229605719/the-worlds-largest-new-sherlock-holmes-story-colle">The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories</a>. <br />
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If you would like to be entered to win a copy of the three-volume anthology, here's how you can qualify:<br />
<ol>
<li>You must be <a href="http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub&publisher=445106&sitescope=45933">subscribed to our email updates</a>; <b>AND</b></li>
<li>You leave us a comment below describing why you're excited about this new anthology.</li>
</ol>
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One winner will be selected at random from all entries. Drawing will take place on Wednesday, August 19, 2015.<br />
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And don't forget: the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1229605719/the-worlds-largest-new-sherlock-holmes-story-colle">Kickstarter campaign</a> will be active until Sunday, August 16, 2015 at 6:59 pm EDT. There's still plenty of time to pledge and get your copy of all three volumes before they are available to the public.</div>
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<b>Editor's note:</b> <i>Please note that Will Thomas's story actually appears in the first volume of the anthology.</i><i><br /></i>
<i>--</i><br />
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</div>

Authors Reflect on Part 2 of the World's Largest Sherlock Holmes Collection

"a train of reflection" [VALL] The world's largest collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories is on its way to being re...

+ Read more »

by Belanger Books

The Latest Sherlockian Collectible

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"They all sat like wax figures"[VALL]</h4>
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://amzn.to/1KVF72J" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt=" Sherlock Funko set of 6" border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHcwmVjZlydjXSBgHx2yN5lAVdoxMHyfDoxg5sfxlzqZlOQ2gLoevYleHjjTAssT6qwHrgBTpqVzYxk0fqOPuMgtdukOZf3noPKNbEG-mTH3KEFSRepwwCGCSN0GjiQyC6sgIuXND6HMB/s640/Sherlock+Funko+set.jpg" title="Pop! Sherlock set" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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We've seen Sherlock Holmes <a href="http://ihrc.umn.edu/assets/img/Holmes001_000.jpg" target="_blank">figurines</a>. We've seen Sherlock Holmes <a href="http://amzn.to/1DvmrV0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">action figures</a>. Heck, we've even got a Sherlock Holmes <a href="http://amzn.to/1IN7mdc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">bobblehead</a>. But the latest iteration should prove to be a bigger craze.</div>
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If you haven't heard of Funko Pop! Vinyl figures, they're stylized miniatures that stand just under 4 inches (10 cm) tall with extremely large heads, designed after pop culture icons. For example, there is a Pop! Marvel set, a <a href="http://amzn.to/1MahqCm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pop! <i>Walking Dead</i> set</a>, a <a href="http://amzn.to/1eXC7o0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pop! <i>Game of Thrones</i> set</a> - even a <a href="http://amzn.to/1MS904f" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pop! <i>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</i> set</a>.</div>
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But the one you're here for is the <a href="http://amzn.to/1MahzWs" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pop! <i>Sherlock</i> set</a>.</div>
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As you can see above, the set comes with six different figures - two Sherlocks, John, Mycroft, Jim Moriarty and Irene Adler.</div>
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You can get <a href="http://amzn.to/1IN8mhh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the standard Sherlock</a>, poised and ready for action in his gloves, great coat and scarf:</div>
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://amzn.to/1MaiMgz" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvzH7Ii1X2JWqfn80l7tN0H4IPC0MszMtwC85-1N3TJWRmizUKT5cNuKe1-subhhS58Ye-H7DGj0ZdIG-AeEec764WxNN2_lx2_yJdZPrs20q7ukSM-mZ5_hbT5ezAs04noFlmvciLhGC5/s640/Sherlock+Funko+Sherlock1.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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Or there's always a more homey <a href="http://amzn.to/1eXDnHD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sherlock, with his violin</a> handy:</div>
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And what's Sherlock without his <a href="http://amzn.to/1PaXTBD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">trusted sidekick John</a>?</div>
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Working things from behind the scenes in the government, <a href="http://amzn.to/1gPCXoJ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mycroft has his trusty umbrella by his side</a>:</div>
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://amzn.to/1gPCXoJ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt=" Pop! Mycroft" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUx6O-b5d5i-L_htH9xzdLwohHWxEf1zmA9jHFgE_h_W-qF1Uzcu1yUo1qy9jWSONDL8WBvKYCVCncq1EKikZWJgjL9oHZkjynuO4lxVp9ohiejVWLjDdQ7XPcjRXOclzTjv28AFdeatDx/s640/Sherlock+Funko+Mycroft.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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The woman makes an appearance as well - <a href="http://amzn.to/1PaZsje" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">adventuress Irene Adler</a> (played by Lara Pulver, who was on <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose41" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 41</a>), with her handy mobile phone (locked, we assume) is resplendent in her white dress: </div>
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://amzn.to/1PaZsje" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkusUAKqkFL-fTVDzAvYemU_JuvS3B5yyI4QslmirmmSwEbx4g_LnmW8z_XylCdnJhr9iLkDanMrDD6vmCp8GTXs4uehldyAFqRjg2JhUiIdWLVwIEgRHG27DhKmQo6msIz5cYM6RxQsb/s640/Sherlock+Funko+Irene.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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And finally, we come to the ultimate criminal, the Napoleon of crime, <a href="http://amzn.to/1SZU6gh" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jim Moriarty</a> and his freshly bitten apple:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY5sJIZHs8ackfoR5fIHF5erlSYqrPosD2LEjt1nv0HA-j8laiZnaDiswgwQfSaPyBaawr1NzezXfaDhyrjbybrMU2yOZw_U5hG8BlL9pzZEeqHmnVjGSbedwygPy9r8f_hL_BvzbgHH31/s1600/Sherlock+Funko+Jim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY5sJIZHs8ackfoR5fIHF5erlSYqrPosD2LEjt1nv0HA-j8laiZnaDiswgwQfSaPyBaawr1NzezXfaDhyrjbybrMU2yOZw_U5hG8BlL9pzZEeqHmnVjGSbedwygPy9r8f_hL_BvzbgHH31/s640/Sherlock+Funko+Jim.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So what do you think? Are you on board with these figures? Will you add them to your collection? Let us know!</div>
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--<br />
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The Latest Sherlockian Collectible

"They all sat like wax figures"[VALL] We've seen Sherlock Holmes figurines . We've seen Sherlock Holmes action figu...

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by Scott Monty

Mr. Gillette Goes to Washington

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"at Washington for it" [VALL]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLTjXfmI91x_Lr6DMpjd4QuzOmm8bi6sE4CoxDu2cN5-fDtHUEXPsX7aRBaAwHCz4O9zIRUHGOYzLPgIn4Ui-zsKXBOvV4FwR2JAhhuYRxiJoldjdeoYTWi4e6uXxIwhEis6ozj3Pdmgq/s1600/REDC+Gillette.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLTjXfmI91x_Lr6DMpjd4QuzOmm8bi6sE4CoxDu2cN5-fDtHUEXPsX7aRBaAwHCz4O9zIRUHGOYzLPgIn4Ui-zsKXBOvV4FwR2JAhhuYRxiJoldjdeoYTWi4e6uXxIwhEis6ozj3Pdmgq/s640/REDC+Gillette.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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If you missed the chance to see the William Gillette <i>Sherlock Holmes</i> (1916)<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/06/sherlock-holmes-in-san-francisco.html#.VcNSmm5Viko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in May</a> or in Paris in January, you may have another chance.<br />
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From Peter Blau, BSI, 2s. ("Black Peter") comes information about the a showing of the film in the Washington, DC area, in conjunction with a meeting of the <a href="http://www.redcircledc.org/" target="_blank">Red Circle of Washington, DC</a>.<br />
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The Red Circle will hold its next lodge on Friday, September 25 in Bethesda, Maryland. Attendees will be fortunate to hear Bob Katz, BSI, 2s. ("Dr. Ainstree") and Andy Solberg, BSI ("Professor Coram") discuss their recent work on the BSI Manuscript series in a talk titled "Of Morley and Manuscripts." You can listen to Bob and Andy on IHOSE <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose63" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 63</a> (<i>Irregular Stain</i>) and <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose76" target="_blank">Episode 76</a> (<i>Out of the Abyss</i>).</div>
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The following morning, September 26, the Red Circle will present a theater screening of William Gillette's <i>Sherlock Holmes</i> at the Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema in Bethesda. Discount hotel rooms are available at the Bethesda Hyatt for out of town guests. <a href="https://www.landmarktheatres.com/Booking/bethesda-row-cinema/1721747" target="_blank">Tickets are available directly from the box office</a> According to Peter, "it's a grand opportunity to see this long-lost film on the big screen." We agree.<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxg04VCiXEMBZbheRrwdieQc36OJ7wEXYWMIp95cli3wncB7IoP2JcV5bH1WxwqGCWh2Ye1Q59LA8rGWCzbiH5Jo3Voi4p6fCZ7Qpt5fdeAvS0P66qwFW_fSBNlUI6hgHLHh57YbwqoYo/s1600/Gillette+Poster+Washington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxg04VCiXEMBZbheRrwdieQc36OJ7wEXYWMIp95cli3wncB7IoP2JcV5bH1WxwqGCWh2Ye1Q59LA8rGWCzbiH5Jo3Voi4p6fCZ7Qpt5fdeAvS0P66qwFW_fSBNlUI6hgHLHh57YbwqoYo/s640/Gillette+Poster+Washington.jpg" width="512" /></a></div>
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For more information on the screening, and a link to the theater box office, will be found on the Red Circle's web site: <a href="http://www.redcircledc.org/">www.redcircledc.org</a>.<br /><br />Why not plan a weekend in Washington? Fellow Sherlockians, great discussion and a rare opportunity to see a long lost cinematic gem.</div>
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<br />--<br /></div>

Mr. Gillette Goes to Washington

"at Washington for it" [VALL] If you missed the chance to see the William Gillette Sherlock Holmes (1916) at the San Franc...

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by Scott Monty

Sherlockian Oval Stickers

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"Apply 221B" [NAVA]</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1Sd66JagMVb_9qptGRL477ShSq_lPwN-D7smCIeXB9rBKpSN5Ef-B2tm5BoJtp_2ctTPNFoLtF-q1OCnNkRtWHtgykGjUDx_k2IdJ9eI7P4aoAiMBFu5ytdTJpfgfMS717MRCe5BYwKt/s1600/221B+Sticker.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY1Sd66JagMVb_9qptGRL477ShSq_lPwN-D7smCIeXB9rBKpSN5Ef-B2tm5BoJtp_2ctTPNFoLtF-q1OCnNkRtWHtgykGjUDx_k2IdJ9eI7P4aoAiMBFu5ytdTJpfgfMS717MRCe5BYwKt/s640/221B+Sticker.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Back in stock after a few years, it's the oval sticker that the Sherlockian world can claim as its own.<br />
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You've likely seen the oval stickers made famous on automobiles all over Europe: GB (Great Britain), IRL (Ireland), D (Germany), NL (Netherlands), etc. Or perhaps you've seen their American cousins: MV (Martha's Vineyard), OBX (Outer Banks), as well as any of the two-letter state abbreviations. We've even seen some fun ones like WINE (Napa Valley) and USMC (US Marine Corps).<br />
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Years ago, we were bothered that Sherlockians didn't have one of their own. And then we found ourselves behind a vehicle sporting an oval sticker reading "26.2" — the length of a marathon. And we quickly realized that more than letters could sit within the logo.<br />
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We immediately set out to create our own version and we came up with the 221B oval sticker, which sold out fairly quickly. We've added an 1895 version as well, so you can tell everyone that you may drive a horseless carriage, but "it's always 1895."<br />
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Select the design or designs that work for you — including any you might like to give as a gift or include in holiday cards this year. Make your vehicle an homage to Sherlock Holmes. Don't drive? No problem — use it on your laptop, refrigerator, pinboard or even your cat. Well, maybe not your refrigerator, let's not be silly.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglH5HR-c-OFinBq11JlMEC2p-Rm304nLU2tHWdyJkxM7CS5TDdRfciBYACwp1KEBnT1jYMDeebufFjB79Ib88pxcFpRqWqO744cc-hf0x4WyzG2wfpVBkDI1pGWWuRklFWA1wfsSL6SoLr/s1600/221B+Sticker.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglH5HR-c-OFinBq11JlMEC2p-Rm304nLU2tHWdyJkxM7CS5TDdRfciBYACwp1KEBnT1jYMDeebufFjB79Ib88pxcFpRqWqO744cc-hf0x4WyzG2wfpVBkDI1pGWWuRklFWA1wfsSL6SoLr/s400/221B+Sticker.PNG" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlCUY-HGXbkVBiJwNWhmPckewjChHhq6nhOcHZ9IwHT_0ZTZeZiXqWaI4FyD4uvdlX8eFKOjcwdei_RhdFQrzTjgm5EABlQcIF32YZ_ybMX-qM5wRTCkeaVHG7KH-YcVhDWmkFye_t9xK/s1600/1895+Sticker.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLlCUY-HGXbkVBiJwNWhmPckewjChHhq6nhOcHZ9IwHT_0ZTZeZiXqWaI4FyD4uvdlX8eFKOjcwdei_RhdFQrzTjgm5EABlQcIF32YZ_ybMX-qM5wRTCkeaVHG7KH-YcVhDWmkFye_t9xK/s400/1895+Sticker.PNG" /></a></div>
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Sherlockian Oval Stickers

"Apply 221B" [NAVA] Back in stock after a few years, it's the oval sticker that the Sherlockian world can claim as its ow...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Qualify for the Quiz on #IHOSE80

<div>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"the records of your detective have reached us here" [HOUN] </h4>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKCdVTJ3Uz5Sx7qghyphenhyphenWjhQk8b8Hra-OJ_vIr2xr7t8NWsxqubPHmhYQPKVqJIx-JHEmjT2qK1BKcY_ZmFjeO_1RE_dDa6kKCtQsH9oLT_zpPhUOFZibYKIIigIin_0xIrR-88pypQn3Rt/s1600/IHOSE_caption+19+-+RESI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKCdVTJ3Uz5Sx7qghyphenhyphenWjhQk8b8Hra-OJ_vIr2xr7t8NWsxqubPHmhYQPKVqJIx-JHEmjT2qK1BKcY_ZmFjeO_1RE_dDa6kKCtQsH9oLT_zpPhUOFZibYKIIigIin_0xIrR-88pypQn3Rt/s1600/IHOSE_caption+19+-+RESI.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />
While we had a take a short hiatus from "Mental Exaltation," our quiz feature in the last episode of IHOSE due to time constraints, we're going to be back on track for Episode 80.<br />
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You can listen to <a href="http://ihose.co/ihose78" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Episode 78</a>, in which we put Sandy Kozinn to the test (annotated below at 1:04:30).<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/210468269&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false" width="100%"></iframe><br /></div>
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<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">If you've listened to NPR shows like </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Weekend Edition Sunday</a></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">, you'll know that there are opportunities for listeners to participate in quizzes. In the former, a guest typically plays on behalf of a listener; on the latter, the listener plays live on the air.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">As </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> (the podcast) has a connection with NPR - we've been called "a cross between NPR's </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Car Talk</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> and </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Fresh Air</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">" - we thought it would be entirely appropriate to model our own quiz program after the two above.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Here's how "</span><b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Mental Exaltation</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">" works:</span></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">
<li>Each month, we'll post a qualifying question to determine a listener who'll play / be played for on the program. Winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries.</li>
<li>If you'd like to enter, you must <a href="http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub&publisher=445106&sitescope=45933" style="color: #006f85; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">subscribe to I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere by email</a>.</li>
<li>We'll either have a guest play on your behalf or we'll patch you into the show to have you play over the phone or Skype.</li>
<li>If your player or you succeeds in passing the test, you'll win a random item from our I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere Grab-Bag of Goodies (that's the IHOSE GBG).</li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">We're going to be joined on Episode 80 by Zach Dundas, author of <a href="http://amzn.to/1OIsCVS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>The Great Detective: The Amazing Rise and Immortal Life of Sherlock Holmes</i></a>. Our quiz and the qualifying question are directly related to the book, so stay tuned!</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://amzn.to/1OIsCVS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixq9WeaAQ5f1BjGZYztrtGpW6NJfZzySqsFZmSBBPSLDQoq44DB1JNFoTJeAicgkEYFfIFsD70MH_o-H6aZMjZP63Wl82-gazA0k1vggtDcOI1SUVNcviVs8fqfOL-lIw_STav0FDhsJne/s400/The+Great+Detective.Dundas.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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<b>Qualify now</b></h3>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Our next quiz recording will take place on Friday, August 7. You have until </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Sunday, August 9 at 11:59 pm ET</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> to qualify. And here's how to enter:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #0e0e0e; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe frameborder="0" height="750" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1O1KLf8aJ-462g5QIoY4IvirPOpkZn1KUS0fDf-10LwA/viewform?embedded=true" width="640">Loading...</iframe><br /></div>
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Good luck!</div>
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Qualify for the Quiz on #IHOSE80

"the records of your detective have reached us here" [HOUN] While we had a take a short hiatus from "Mental Exaltat...

+ Read more »

by Scott Monty

Authors Reflect on Part 1 of the World's Largest Sherlock Holmes Story Collection

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"they reflected the thoughts which possessed him" [STUD]</h4>
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<a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/07/behind-worlds-largest-new-sherlock.html#.VbxAx25Viko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The world's largest collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories</a> is on its way to being realized. While the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1229605719/the-worlds-largest-new-sherlock-holmes-story-colle" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a> campaign is well underway for the collection assembled by <a href="http://mxpublishing.com/" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a>, we thought it would be a great idea to give some of the 64 participating authors a chance to reflect on their involvement. For the next three weeks, I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere will publish the answers of two questions that we asked each author:<br />
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<li>Tell us a little bit about your story without giving too much away.  Where and when does it take place?  Why did you choose that time for your story?</li>
<li>Why did you want to contribute to the anthology?</li>
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In addition to a chance to learn about the authors, their motivations and the stories they've written, you also have a chance to <b>win one copy of the three-volume series from MX Publishing</b>. See below for more details.<br />
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For this week's article, we are posting the answers we received from the authors in the first volume of the anthology.  Here are the responses from the participating authors in chronological order by the time their stories take place:</div>
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<b style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://221beanbakerstreet.info/" target="_blank">Hugh Ashton</a></b><b>  </b></h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXd1nTWhnl6JTfrTA0KJwrVcLiBB9INC1BDqY3utBiqOPqSfIrXQkqKIUHaXoyFve7uiwNlduk_1Cg9an1HNRRC9l4snvpa78HqdRUOPQ8tBa8BRWOvFNC3Zz4KYdyxMDrtqs8PWGbDQR/s1600/Hugh+Ashton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXd1nTWhnl6JTfrTA0KJwrVcLiBB9INC1BDqY3utBiqOPqSfIrXQkqKIUHaXoyFve7uiwNlduk_1Cg9an1HNRRC9l4snvpa78HqdRUOPQ8tBa8BRWOvFNC3Zz4KYdyxMDrtqs8PWGbDQR/s200/Hugh+Ashton.jpg" width="200" /></a>It's a classic locked room murder mystery, involving some forensics by Holmes. It takes place in the Midlands city of Lichfield, where I have some personal connections (soon to become stronger!), and you can actually find the scene of the crime on Google Maps, as well as various other locations mentioned in the story. It's an early mystery - in many ways I prefer the early Holmes to the later. Holmes is less blasé in his judgements, and maybe less arrogant.</div>
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It's an extremely worthy cause - and (being somewhat geographically isolated) it's also good to feel that I am part of the wave of Sherlockian enthusiasm which is sweeping the world.<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5827545.Adrian_Middleton" target="_blank">Adrian Middleton</a></b></h3>
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One aspect of Holmes adventures always interested me - his veiled references to various cases for the Vatican. The early years of his career were a curious time for the Catholic Church - recently forced to give up the Papal States to the new Kingdom of Italy, their traditional nemesis - England - was turning into something of an ally. So with all the religious politics of the time - a new Pope, the influence of Cardinal Newman in England, the impending rise of the Rosicrucians and the Golden Dawn, 1881 seemed to be the perfect year to peek into that aspect of Holmes' life, with maybe a hint of the darker trends of that time.   </div>
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It's all about the cause. I've always been involved in regeneration projects, and I feel very strongly that the loss of Undershaw to the nation could be a very real prospect at a time when homes are in high demand and there is little public money available help new heritage causes as they appear. These anthologies are already succeeding in raising awareness, but they also need to raise the funds that will help Stepping Stones preserve Undershaw for the benefit of future generations.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/David-Marcum/e/B00K1IKA92" target="_blank">David Marcum</a></b></h3>
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The story is called “The Adventure of the Pawnbroker’s Daughter.”It’s set in early 1882, about a year after Holmes and Watson meet. By this time, Watson is comfortable working with Holmes, but Holmes still has some tricks to show him. I knew that I wanted to write about that early period, but initially I didn’t know the details of the story. The first idea that came to me was actually for the story’s epilogue, set in the mid-1890s. In it, Watson is carrying out a task for Holmes and sees something that reminds him of the events of the earlier case. The vision of that epilogue scene literally burst into my head, and then I had to try and find out what was going on with that early case. </div>
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I don’t write with an outline. Rather, I just try to transcribe the story as Watson is telling it, and I’m often surprised at the direction a story goes. I’ve talked with several other writers of Holmes stories, and they work the same way – if you trust Watson, it just turns out better. In this case, I had seen that epilogue, but I didn’t know yet why it occurred. As the story unfolded, I was interested to note that Holmes reveals one of his methods to Watson, which coincidentally is something that I learned during training way back in my twenties when I was employed as a Federal Investigator with an obscure U.S. government agency, now long since defunct. It’s something that I still use myself on occasion – when I can remember to do so – in my second career as a civil engineer.</div>
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When I first had the idea for the anthology, I began to contact a wish list of people that I knew produced traditional and Canonical pastiches. That’s what I want when reading about Holmes, and therefore that’s what I asked for. As someone who has also made occasional trips to Watson’s Tin Dispatch Box, I quickly realized that I didn’t want to arrange this little excursion and then not climb on board myself when the train pulled out of the station. As the first person who was able to read all of these stories assembled in their entirety, I can say that they are absolutely amazing, and I hope that my own small channeling of Watson’s voice lives up to the work of all these other incredible authors.</div>
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<b><a href="http://www.sherlockholmessociety.in/" target="_blank">Jayantika Ganguly</a></b></h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3etXHtZWgOu0QSW50aGTsPSB_1VebRQq5jHkMUdg553g1i6swM0kbOOYdYGcK-diAnaHQ7hxvDPo2Q3tTQHzZ40-I5KFqguq6wL3yJR8WPFJw0vE30BmiApA51ACjA3FdBGcUDm8pukBK/s1600/MX-Ganguly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3etXHtZWgOu0QSW50aGTsPSB_1VebRQq5jHkMUdg553g1i6swM0kbOOYdYGcK-diAnaHQ7hxvDPo2Q3tTQHzZ40-I5KFqguq6wL3yJR8WPFJw0vE30BmiApA51ACjA3FdBGcUDm8pukBK/s200/MX-Ganguly.jpg" width="148" /></a>My story is called, "The Adventure of the Defenestrated Princess." That is pretty self explanatory, eh? It's set in London, 1882. Formative years, because that's a fascinating period in the Holmes-Watson dynamic...catch 'em early, as they say! Also, it reveals a softer side to the great detective, much to the good doctor's amusement. Oh, no, Sherlock's not in love or anything! (He'd kill me if I did that!)<br />
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Why contribute? What Sherlockian wouldn't? Brilliant publisher-editor duo, biggest (and most varied) anthology of pastiches ever, supports Undershaw - the list goes on! Sixty authors in one book!<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Denis-O.-Smith/e/B00GSLB9TQ" target="_blank">Denis O. Smith</a></b></h3>
My story – “The Inn on the Marsh” – is set in the early 1880s, at a remote and windy spot on the English coast, in the county of Norfolk. A young married couple stay for their honeymoon at an old inn there, “The Wild Goose”, but when they visit there again, later in the same summer, they find that the entry in the register relating to their previous visit has been removed, and the landlord claims never to have seen them before. Soon Sherlock Holmes is involved, and finds there is more to the situation than meets the eye.<br />
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I wrote this particular story because when David Marcum asked me if I would like to contribute a story to the anthology, I wanted to try to come up with something that I thought would be quite different from anyone else’s story. I myself live in Norfolk, and both the terrain and the weather I describe are true to life. I chose to set it in the early 1880s because to me that is the most interesting time in Holmes’s career – when he was not so well-known as he was later to become, and was still struggling, to some extent, to establish himself.<br />
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As soon as I heard of the proposed anthology, I was keen to contribute (if I could think of anything suitable) as the cause seemed to me a very good one. Conan Doyle’s time at Undershaw was an important period in his writing, and without the work of the Undershaw Preservation Trust it seemed likely that it would all vanish into the dust of history. Also, David wrote me such a nice letter that I couldn’t possibly decline the proposal!</div>
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<b><a href="https://girlmeetssherlock.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Amy Thomas</a></b></h3>
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The story takes place early in Holmes's and Watson's partnership when the two are living at 221B Baker Street before Watson's marriage. The setting is London, a traditional one for a Holmes story, complete with a client who approaches Holmes by coming to the flat. As a reader, I am interested in the entire timeline of the Canon, but when I think about the most traditional, quintessentially Holmesian stories, I usually find myself thinking about the early years. That's why, when I sat down to write a traditional story in Watson's voice, which isn't something I normally do, I gravitated toward an early point in Holmes's timeline. <br />
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First, I hugely enjoy writing about Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, something usually I do in my series of <i><a href="http://amzn.to/1Iv722w" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Detective and The Woman</a></i> novels. Second, I enjoy a challenge. I'm not used to writing in a Watsonian voice with a style that is imitative of Doyle, and I was attracted to the challenge of producing a story in that style. Third, I care a great deal about Undershaw. I worked with the Undershaw Preservation Trust to help save the property from destructive development, and I'm thrilled that the new owners are committed to preserving his legacy for the public. I'm delighted to contribute to a project that will provide practical help with the restoration.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.scandalousbohemians.com/" target="_blank">Kevin David Barratt</a></b></h3>
I am a member of a group called The Scandalous Bohemians based in Yorkshire who meet every other month to discuss all things Holmes over a few drinks. For our Christmas meeting last year I decided to write a Christmas ghost story. Taking "The Adventure Of The Speckled Band" as my starting point, I wrote "The Haunting Of Sherlock Holmes." John Hall, another group member, liked it and wanted to share it with a friend. That friend was David Marcum who also liked my story. Although I have given talks to our group, this is my first published story and I am absolutely thrilled and excited to be involved in this wonderful project.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Luke-Kuhns/e/B009Y7ZPC8" target="_blank">Luke B. Kuhns</a></b></h3>
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"The Allegro Mystery," is about a French ballerina who is performing in London. When something from her past comes to haunt her, it could be deadly, and possibly end her career! It's up to Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson to help save her life before things turn dastardly. The question is, will they?<br />
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The story takes place in Autumn-ish 1885. Originally it was an undisclosed time because I wanted to avoid any clashes with other stories, but my main reason for setting it officially in 1885 was down to the fact that I love the early years of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. When it's just the two of them solving mysteries, and back in time for supper in the warm study of 221b Baker Street. <br />
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I loved David's idea of having a new series of short stories. I've got several collections of shorts that range from classic pastiche to Sherlock Holmes Meets the mind of H.P. Lovecraft. The world loves Sherlock Holmes and it was Nicholas Meyer who said something along the lines of we write more Sherlock Holmes because we want more Sherlock Holmes, and these three massive volumes of stories reflect that desire. But I also like that David wanted traditional stuff. I love a bit of Sherlock crossovers, whether that's Sherlock meets Frankenstein or Churchill or battles supernatural elements. As long as the characters are true to what Doyle did and the story is good, I'm happy. But nothing ever beats that classic Victorian or Edwardian setting that made Sherlock Holmes so popular. So, I'm happy that these volumes are kept to that setting. The Victorian era was bizarre enough, there's a lot to have fun with!<br />
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<b><a href="mailto:slperkinswrites@gmail.com">Summer Perkins</a></b></h3>
My story, "The Deadly Soldier," is set in the mid-1880s in London. Someone has been hired to make an attempt on Professor Moriarty’s life and it’s up to him to use his powerful skills of deduction to find out the man’s identity in order to save himself. I chose to set the story in the 1880s as that is one of the classic Holmes decades in history, and I wanted it to have the same sort of historical feeling as the original Conan Doyle stories. <br />
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I’ve been a fan of Sherlock Holmes—and Professor Moriarty—in their many incarnations in books, film, and television for years, and I wanted the opportunity to put my own spin on a Sherlock Holmes tale. I’m also proud to do my bit to help the Undershaw Preservation Trust, because they’re doing incredible work, and I feel it’s important to preserve historic sites for future generations.<br />
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<b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5873437.Deanna_Baran" target="_blank">Deanna Baran</a></b></h3>
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My favorite moments in the canon tended to happen when Holmes was in disguise. His feats of observation and deduction were always eagerly anticipated; it would take more skill than I have to write a Holmes story, omit them, and convince the reader that the detective is indeed Holmes. Those were a given. But Holmes also needed opportunities to assume various identities like the skilled actor he was, and discourse like a credible musician. For such a Holmes, an appropriate setting incorporated Christmas pantomimes and the song-and-supper clubs of the era. Knowing Watson's reputation for unreliable chronology, it was also important to give "The Case of the Vanishing Stars" a solid grounding in time. After research turned up weather reports and concert reviews, I could find no better placement for my story than early December, 1885.<br />
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As someone who has been a museum curator, librarian, teacher, and rehabber, the MX project hit upon so many of my pet enthusiasms: children's education; the restoration and protection of a historic house; taking a neglected building and making it useful once more while maintaining its original integrity. It was a privilege to participate in this remarkable project.<br />
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<b><a href="http://eyestrainproductions.com/">Shane Simmons</a></b></h3>
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"The Song of the Mudlark" has Wiggins of the Baker Street Irregulars bringing Holmes a mystery he hopes will intrigue the detective. A body has been discovered along the banks of the Thames, leaving yet another small child orphaned and at the bottom rung of London society. The police show little interest, and even Holmes dismisses the death as a mundane drowning until he learns the dead man has suffered a terrible head wound that's been inexplicably stuffed full of rusty coins. The story takes place in 1886, between the first appearances of the Irregulars in <i>A Study in Scarlet</i> and <i>The Sign of Four</i>. It was important to set it in this period if only to keep young Wiggins from aging out of his role as leader of the juvenile spy network.<br />
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I came to this anthology in a roundabout way, after being recommended by another Sherlockian anthology editor. I jumped at the chance to participate in such a prestigious collection, both for the content and its role in helping The Undershaw Preservation Trust. It pains me to watch grand old buildings of historic significance being left to rot and then suffer further indignities at the hands of developers and wrecking balls. Preserving Conan Doyle's home and putting it to good use while maintaining its integrity and links to the past is the obvious and best solution for the property.<br />
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<b>C.H. Dye</b></h3>
I decided to write about one of the cases Watson mentions as happening in 1887, which set my date pretty quickly, although I did  play with a few chronologies to get to decide which cases surrounded mine.  It was a little frustrating, as my original idea needed a lot more words than would fit, but I was able to narrow things down and discard the research I didn't need along the way. (It will turn into another story, sometime!)<br />
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I've written fanfiction for years under a nom de web, and I was lucky enough to be asked to write a story based on the strength of a recent fanfic I'd done.  It was a challenge, too.  Most of my writing has not been about cases which needed clues and deductions. It's much easier writing drabbles!<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.markmower.co.uk/">Mark Mower</a></b></h3>
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My story is entitled "The Strange Missive of Germaine Wilkes." It’s set in the late summer of 1887 and has Holmes and Watson assisting Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard with a weirdly coded message. It gave me the chance to write about corruption, counterfeiting, villainy and a marvelous new piece of Victorian technology (I can’t elaborate any further as it might spoil the story!). My first degree was in Modern History and I focused on the politics, economics and social history of the nineteenth century – all of which came back to me as I set out to write the tale.<br />
<br />
I found the whole idea of contributing to the preservation of Undershaw absolutely irresistible. That alone would have been inducement enough. But the chance to be in a new volume alongside many writers I have admired for so long (Denis O. Smith and Andrew Lane) and others who I have been introduced to and inspired by more recently (David Marcum in particular) made this something I would not have missed for the world. Unlike most of the other contributors, I am principally known as a non-fiction crime writer, but the whole experience has made me want to focus more and more on fictional tales.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Derrick-Belanger/e/B00LG13FY0">Derrick Belanger</a></b></h3>
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While staying in Cody, Wyoming on a trip to Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 2014, I learned that Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show had performed in London during the summer and autumn of 1887.  I thought it would be perfect to have Mr. Cody hire Sherlock Holmes to solve a case.  The story involves a murderer who, after ascending to a building rooftop, appears to have vanished into thin air.  One of the members of Mr. Cody's troupe has been accused of the crime, and it is up to Holmes and Watson to clear his name and find the true killer. The story also has a brief appearance from the Baker Street Irregulars, and it involves my own invented member of Scotland Yard, Sergeant Rousseau, who returns in my forthcoming novella, <i>Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance</i>.<br />
<br />
When David Marcum contacted me, and I found out that the proceeds for the anthology were going to help restore Undershaw, I did not hesitate to get involved.  As a middle school teacher myself, I am thrilled that Doyle's former home will host a school for special needs students and will become a bit of a museum for us Doyleans at the same time.  Kudos to Stepping Stones for finding a unique way to preserve this building, yet make it useful to the children of today. I believe Arthur Conan Doyle himself will be quite pleased with the results.<br />
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<br /></div>
<h3>
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Daniel-D.-Victor/e/B003D1RUO2">Daniel D. Victor</a></b></h3>
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In "Writing Great Fiction," an excellent lecture series in <i>The Great Courses</i>, novelist James Hynes had occasion to mention  Henry James' novella, "The Aspern Papers."  Intrigued enough to read the story, I was immediately struck by its sinister undertones.  So devious was the action that I concluded the mild-mannered James must have sanitized a mystery that I judged would require no less than Sherlock Holmes to unravel.  Since the original story was published in 1888 and reportedly based on actual events, I had to make my version take place earlier.  Thus, my story, which I call "The Adventure of the Aspen Papers," begins in 1887 with Henry James laying out the details of a case that involves Holmes and Watson in a murder investigation.<br />
<br />
Preserving Undershaw is a worthwhile goal, especially to fans of Sherlock Holmes. What's more, as a retired teacher, I like knowing that the building will be used as a school. I've also never written a Holmes short story and was curious to see how length-restrictions might affect my writing. And then there's the exhilaration I suppose all writers experience when seeing their names in print.<br />
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<h3>
<b><a href="http://www.stephen-wade.com/">Stephen Wade</a></b></h3>
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I’ve always been interested in the fictional possibilities of writing Lestrade into a kind of fascinating anti-heroism. The idea for this story- set in the late 1880s – came from photography. I wanted Moriarty and Lestrade to meet, and after seeing a carte de visite of a Victorian gentleman, I had the core of the tale. So it’s about vanity, the power of the arch-enemy himself, and the human comedy that is so full of potential in the little bungling sleuth.<br />
<br />
What Sherlock Holmes fan would turn down the chance to contribute? I think the possibilities for extending the Sherlock Holmes narratives are endless, and let’s celebrate that. David Marcum asked me to contribute, and this was to hand. Now I’m in the middle of a collection of Lestrade stories. Moriarty, let’s say, has some fun with the little man.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Investigations-Sherlock-Holmes-John-Heywood/dp/1780926073">John Heywood</a></b></h3>
A shoot is in progress on a Norfolk estate. One of the many distinguished guests is a South African mining magnate known as the King of Diamonds. Along with the other sportsmen, he takes his lunch in the field; within minutes, he is lying dead in the grass. His servant is arrested for murder, but was it really him? Or was the victim killed by one of the guests, perhaps somebody from his African past? And what part was played by the shadowy anarchist group to which the dead man’s servant belonged?<br />
<br />
In this story I have tried to picture the world of late Victorian England, both its opulent<br />
surface and its darker side. The story takes place in 1888, a year when:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>The South African diamond merchants De Beers was founded</li>
<li>Anarchist bombs shook respectable society from St Petersburg to New York</li>
<li>Jack the Ripper was at work in Whitechapel, and</li>
<li>Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson were sharing a flat in Baker Street.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
Why did I contribute?<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I was asked, and I thought why not?</li>
<li>I liked the idea of being involved in a collaboration with sixty other Holmes authors.</li>
<li>I support the preservation trust’s efforts to save Undershaw.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b><a href="http://www.darkregions.com/books/sherlock-holmes-the-impossible-cases-by-daniel-mcgachey">Daniel McGachey</a></b></h3>
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My story - or novelette, as I believe is the more accurate term for what it grew into (and I had to check the differences between a novelette and a novella, which, in this instance, is somewhere about 500 words) - is "The Adventure of the Seventh Stain." As you may very easily deduce, this has strong ties with an existing tale in the Canon. Rather, it begins by exploring the reasons why a certain narrative, when it finally appeared in print, had no real connection to the teasing hints to that story's contents made in a couple of previous accounts, before then going on to reveal a tale which "deals with interests of such importance and implicates so many of the first families in the kingdom that for many years it will be impossible to make it public." So this is Watson in 1904 looking back to the events of the summer of 1889.<br />
<br />
I didn't originally plan to do something which amounts to an unrecorded case based on a canonical reference, but the idea that there were potentially not just two but probably three and possibly even more accounts in Watson's dispatch box bearing the same title set me off and running... even though I had very little idea what I was running towards to begin with. But it was certainly a fun, if sometimes exhausting, journey to find out.<br />
<br />
Being invited to contribute to something by someone you didn't previously know on the basis that they've read and enjoyed your previous work is one of the best ways to be commissioned, I think. So when David Marcum got in touch out of the blue and explained what the project was, some of the names already involved, and what it was intended to raise money for, I jumped at the chance to get involved. <br />
<br />
My previous Holmes stories (and the novel I'm currently at work on) involve the supernatural - though carefully balanced, I hope, so as not to veer too far away from the Conan Doyle characters and world - so it was an exciting idea and a fresh challenge to attempt a non-supernatural, traditional Holmes and Watson adventure.<br />
<br />
That initial approach in no way suggested the size the project would grow to, so it's been thrilling to see a single volume expand to two and finally three books, and David's tireless enthusiasm and support have obviously been a huge part of that. And the biggest driving force has been to do something in aid of both Stepping Stones and the Undershaw Preservation Trust. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gave a great gift to the world, and one that millions are still enjoying to this day, with his writing, so it's an honour to help in some way to thank the man, however belatedly, by preserving this important part of his life and legacy.<br />
<br />
Also, I just really want to see a massive great collection of traditional adventures for Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, so even if I hadn't been involved, I'd have been rushing to buy it.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7482894.Martin_Rosenstock">Martin Rosenstock</a></b></h3>
My story is entitled 'The Two Umbrellas' and takes place in London in 1887. Moriarty has succeeded in manipulating a government employee who is smitten with a young actress into stealing some secret documents. Will Moriarty and his henchmen be able to smuggle them out of the country and thus compromise British security? I wanted to write a story that features Moriarty, so my story had to be set quite early, before his death in 1891.<br />
<br />
I decided to contribute because I liked the cause to which the money goes and I'm proud to be published alongside so many accomplished writers.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Craig-Janacek/e/B0050PQ2KW">Craig Janacek</a></b></h3>
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"The Adventure of the Fateful Malady," is set in 1889, with Holmes at the heights of his pre-Reichenbach powers. The entire tale takes place within the confines of central London, ranging between 221B, Charing Cross Hospital, and Harley Street, and features Holmes' first encounter with a man whose services he later calls upon in "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier." My hope is that this tale, by highlighting the medical aspects of Holmes' deductive powers, pays homage to the physician whose amazing diagnostic skills seemingly inspired Holmes' to develop his own special talents.<br />
<br />
I was thrilled to contribute an original work to this extraordinary collection for many reasons. First and foremost, it is a great cause - supporting education for disabled children - which is near and dear to my heart as a practicing pediatrician ("my day job!"). Secondly, this will be my first fictional manuscript to appear in a printed edition. While I can no longer travel without my Kindle, and I love seeing my other stories exist, if only in electronic format, there is simply no substitute for holding a real book in your hands. I hope that this is the first of many more to come from my desk.<br />
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<h3>
<b><a href="http://www.michaelkurland.com/">Michael Kurland</a></b></h3>
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My contribution is a short poem called "Sherlock Holmes of London," a verse in four fits and the opening lines are:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If you’ve a missing heir to locate, or a bank you have to guard, /<br />
There’s only one detective, and he’s not from Scotland yard.</blockquote>
<br />
And I wanted to contribute to the anthology to help preserve the physical memory of Sir Arthur. I have written five books and a bunch of short stories featuring Professor Moriarty, and where would Moriarty be without Sherlock Holmes?<br />
<br />
<br />
That concludes this week's spotlight article.  In <a href="http://ihose.co/mxauthors2nd" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the next installment</a>, we will post the responses from the authors in the second volume of <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1229605719/the-worlds-largest-new-sherlock-holmes-story-colle" target="_blank"><i>The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories</i></a>. <br />
<br />
<b>If you would like to be entered to win a copy of the three-volume anthology, here's how you can qualify:</b><br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>You must be <a href="http://www.feedblitz.com/f/?Sub&publisher=445106&sitescope=45933" target="_blank">subscribed to our email updates</a>; and</li>
<li>You leave us a comment below describing why you're excited about this new anthology.</li>
</ol>
<br />
One winner will be selected at random from all entries. Drawing will take place on Wednesday, August 19, 2015.<br />
<br />
And don't forget: the <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1229605719/the-worlds-largest-new-sherlock-holmes-story-colle" target="_blank">Kickstarter campaign</a> will be active until Sunday, August 16, 2015 at 6:59 pm EDT. There's still plenty of time to pledge and get your copy of all three volumes before they are available to the public.<br />
<br />
--<br />
<br />
<b></b></div>

Authors Reflect on Part 1 of the World's Largest Sherlock Holmes Story Collection

"they reflected the thoughts which possessed him" [STUD] The world's largest collection of new Sherlock Holmes stories i...

+ Read more »

by Belanger Books

The Scandalous Sherlock Holmes Copyright Issue

<h4 style="text-align: center;">
"They are not very hard to deceive" [LAST]</h4>
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<br />
Much has <a href="http://www.sherlockian.net/acd/copyright.html" target="_blank">already been written about Andrea Plunket</a> (see Sherlockian.net), the woman who claims that she holds the rights to the name Sherlock Holmes and the stories, and who repeatedly has been told in court that she doesn't. But it is one thing to claim something, and it is another to have people actually buying licenses from you - <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2014/08/7th-circuit-orders-conan-doyle-estate.html#.VbmbF_lViko" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">as the Conan Doyle Estate found out last year</a>.<br />
<br />
It is true that Plunket has registered a number of trademarks concerning Sherlock Holmes, but strong doubts remain that these trademarks can be used to demand license payments from publishers when they want to publish Sherlock Holmes pastiches. However, many have accepted her trademark claims and believed that she is the copyright holder of Sherlock Holmes, and among them are some major book publishers, e.g. Penguin Books, Simon & Schuster and Oxford University Press.<br />
<br />
The Case of the Confused Copyright starts in the 1950s with Sheldon Reynolds, an American TV producer who was contacted by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's sons, Adrian and Denis, and after Denis' persuasive dinners in Paris, Reynolds agreed on buying a license for the Sherlock Holmes TV rights, and thereafter made a TV series in 1954 with Ronald Howard playing the great detective.<br />
<br />
<h3>
"You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins" [REDH]</h3>
We move on to the mid 1970s. Sheldon Reynolds was thinking about making a new Sherlock Holmes TV series and for that reason he contacted the copyright holder. At that time the copyright holder had for a few years been the Baskervilles Investments Ltd, which was owned by Princess Nina Mdivani Conan Doyle Harwood. She had been married to Denis Conan Doyle, who died in 1955, and then remarried his secretary (who was not really his secretary, but rather Nina's protégé) Tony Harwood. She was definitely not a princess, but she had claimed to be that all since the 1920s (along with her siblings, all of them "princesses" and "princes" who had fled from Georgia). The fascinating story of "<a href="http://wwd.com/eye/people/mdivanis-the-marrying-kind-3595202/" target="_blank">the Marrying Mdivanis</a>," who became famous for marrying the richest and most famous of heiresses and film stars, is unfortunately beyond the focus of this article.<br />
<br />
Reynolds contacted the Baskervilles Investments Ltd, only to find out that the company was held by a receiver, Mr William G. Mackey, appointed by the Royal Bank of Scotland. And Mr Mackey wanted to sell the complete Conan Doyle literary estate. So Sheldon Reynolds didn't walk away from the meeting with just a license to make a new TV series, but he decided to buy the whole estate. However, he didn't have any money. But his wife Andrea had. Or rather her mother, who had inherited a fortune from her late husband, an heir of Pfizer chemicals.<br />
<br />
For the next few years, Sheldon and Andrea Reynolds - together with her parents - ruled over the Sherlock Holmes copyright, until it ran out, fifty years after the death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A new copyright act had by then come into use in the US, which made it possible for Conan Doyle's only surviving child, Dame Jean Conan Doyle, to get the copyright back for some stories that were still in US copyright.<br />
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<h3>
"no claim on it at all" [SHOS] </h3>
And this is where it starts to get complicated. Andrea Reynolds, who nowadays is remarried as Andrea Plunket, says that a number of juridical errors were made when forcing her to give away the remaining copyright to Dame Jean. In the late 1990s, after the death of Dame Jean, Andrea Plunket started to sue companies who used Sherlock Holmes without paying her. She always lost in court. But that didn't keep her from continuing to run something that she called the <a href="http://www.sherlockholmesonline.org/" target="_blank">Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate</a> and claim on her web page:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson, Mrs. Hudson, Professor Challenger, Brigadier Gerard and the Hound of the Baskervilles among others are trademarked by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Estate. Use of any character or any book not in the public domain for any purpose whatsoever is prohibited without a license from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Literary Estate." </blockquote>
The web page is now under re-construction, so this text is from the old web page. It's a mix of trademark and copyright claims.<br />
<br />
The trademark business is a complicated one, and it is difficult to completely protect a name like Sherlock Holmes with a trademark. A blog post from the <a href="http://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/Blog/detail.aspx?g=645b6180-c549-4a61-8945-2a4239865fb2" target="_blank">World Trademark Review</a> tells more about the Plunket trademark case and her company Arthur Conan Doyle Characters Ltd.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.conandoyleestate.com/index.php/copyright/" target="_blank">Conan Doyle Estate Ltd</a> - whom you may remember from <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/search/label/%23FreeSherlock#.Vbmg1_lVikp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">its recent legal battle</a> with Leslie Klinger, BSI ("The Abbey Grange") - warns people about Andrea Plunket on its web page. One of its issues is that so many publishers accept Andrea Plunket's copyright claims at face value and believe that they are buying a legitimate license from her, often through her British agent Jonathan Clowes Ltd. It is not far-fetched to believe, thanks to the evidence presented, that a license from Plunket is totally worthless.<br />
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I have no insight at all into the money being paid, but I can clearly see that Jonathan Clowes and Andrea Plunket are mentioned on the copyright pages or in the acknowledgements of many books. And it's probably a good guess that money has been involved, since that is the aim of their business. We should also remember that outside the U.S., money never has to be paid for a license to write about Sherlock Holmes or to publish Conan Doyle's stories. There is no trademark or copyright stopping that. In the U.S., the situation was previously rather more complicated, until recently when <a href="http://ihose.co/freesherlock" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Leslie Klinger succeeded</a> in his lawsuit against the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. - with a few exceptions - couldn't force publishers to pay a license to publish Sherlock Holmes pastiches.<br />
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<h3>
"a question which has puzzled many an expert" [STUD]</h3>
So which authors and publishers have believed in Andrea Plunket's copyright and trademark claim? A quick search through Google Books gives an interesting list.<br />
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It's not surprising to find some self-published books on such a list. The author pseudonym Radkris, who has written <i>The Adventure of Black Drop</i>, published by AuthorHouse in 2011, mentions that the characters are used with permission from Clowes and Plunket - and actually also from Jon Lellenberg at the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.<br />
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<a href="http://www.mxpublishing.com/category/Sherlock+Holmes+Books" target="_blank">MX Publishing</a> - the biggest purveyor of Sherlock Holmes pastiches at the moment - published Kieran Lyne's <i>The Last Confession of Sherlock Holmes</i> in 2014. From the Acknowledgements page: "The characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are used here by the kind permission of Jonathan Clowes Ltd, on behalf of Andrea Plunket, Director of the Arthur Conan Doyle Trademark (EU)." However, on the copyright page it says: "Use of the Sherlock Holmes characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by permission of Conan Doyle Estate Ltd, www.conandoyleestate.co.uk". The matter is indeed complicated.<br />
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In 2012, the British independent publisher Robert Hale published <i>Sherlock Holmes and the Queen of Diamonds</i> by Steve Hayes and David Whitehead. Holmes and Watson are used with the kind permission of Clowes/Plunket. That is also the case in the Hale book <i>Sherlock Holmes at the Breakfast Table</i> by L. F. E. Coombs (2013).<br />
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It is a surprise to find Oxford University Press among the publishers who have accepted Andrea Plunket as the copyright holder - and has done so twice! In 2000 they published <i>The Book of Heaven: An Anthology of Writings from Ancient to Modern Times</i>, edited by Carol Zaleski and Philip Zaleski. Among the texts is an excerpt from Conan Doyle's <i>The Land of Mist</i>. Reprinted by kind permission of Jonathan Clowes Ltd., London, on behalf of Andrea Plunket, Administrator of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Copyrights.<br />
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In the same year, 2000, Oxford University Press published <i>The Oxford Book of Detective Stories</i>, edited by Patricia Craig. "The Blue Carbuncle" was included and again with a permission from Clowes and Plunket.<br />
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Other anthologies etc. mentioning permissions from Clowes/Plunket are <i>Jesus: Authors Take Sides</i> (HarperCollins, 1999; from Conan Doyle's "My Religion"), <i>Wildest Dreams: An Anthology of Drug-Related Literature</i> (Arktos Media, 2014), <i>Authors in Depth: Gold Level</i> (Prentice Hall, 2000), <i>The Practical Guide to Writing</i> (Pearson Education Canada, 2007), and <i>Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes</i> (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2002).<br />
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I find it a little bit sad to find such a great author as Robert Ryan on the list. His <i>Dead Man's Land</i> is a really good Doctor Watson story. In the Acknowledgements he writes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Very early in our discussions about writing a WWI historical thriller, my editor, Maxine Hitchcock, came up with the idea of a detective in the trenches, and had the patience and tenacity to wait until I had worked out it had to be a doctor and a famous one at that. David Miller, my clear-headed agent, then pointed out that Dr Watson has been trademarked by the Conan Doyle Estate. So thanks to him and to Olivia Guest of Jonathan Clowes, which administers the estate. She listened while I pitched the idea over the telephone, and supported its progress through to permission being granted." </blockquote>
A permission that, as we have seen, was rather worthless. The book was published by Simon & Schuster in 2013. On one of the first pages of the book, there is a "Note from the author" telling about the permission Ryan has been given to use the character Doctor Watson.<br />
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In a preface for <i>The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes</i> by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, published in 2013 by Simon & Schuster, Robert Ryan wrote more about the process of getting the permission:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"And so we started on the road to <i>Dead Man's Land</i>, the story of the good doctor's adventures in World War One. But there was one fly in this petroleum jelly ointment, in that Dr Watson has been trademarked by the Conan Doyle Estate, along with Holmes, Moriarty and Professor Challenger (although the tales themselves are all technically out of copyright in this country). So it seemed worthwhile getting the Conan Doyle Estate's blessing. I contacted Olivia Guest at Jonathan Clowes Agency (which represents the ACD estate), who asks me to pitch the story (at that point rather sketchy) over the telephone. She liked the concept enough to take it to Andrea Plunket who rejoices in the title Administrator of the Conan Doyle Copyrights and Director of the EU Trademarks. After a few tense weeks I received a green light." </blockquote>
I don't think the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/books/19sherlock.html?_r=3" target="_blank">especially happy about the confusion</a> that makes Ryan use their name for Plunket's company. He evidently has no idea that there is another, true Conan Doyle Estate Ltd.<br />
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The list of authors and publishers who have paid money to Clowes/Plunket is probably much longer. These are just the examples I have found at Google Books.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/7Efws7" target="_blank">opensource.com (Flickr)</a></td></tr>
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But maybe the most exceptional book to be found on the list is <i>The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</i>, published by <b>Penguin Books</b> in 2011 (a reprint of the 1981 edition). In the book the following text is found:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Copy<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">right <span style="background-color: white;">©</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12px;"> </span>the Copyright holders of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle works, reproduced by kind permission of Jonathan Clowes, Ltd, London, on behalf of Andrea Plunket. Trustee and Administrator. All rights reserved." </span></blockquote>
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This text is not found in the 1981 edition. Penguin, with their long history of Conan Doyle books, should not make such a mistake. And they should indeed know that there is no copyright protection of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, wherever in the world they wish to publish it. And that is a minor scandal.<br />
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(Thanks to my Twitter friends <a href="http://twitter.com/jankathecat">@jankathecat</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/raywilcockson">@raywilcockson</a> for research help!)<br />
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<i> Image source: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/9RQRd5">Christopher Dombres (Flickr)</a></i><br />
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--<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>

The Scandalous Sherlock Holmes Copyright Issue

"They are not very hard to deceive" [LAST] Much has already been written about Andrea Plunket (see Sherlockian.net), the wom...

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by Mattias Boström

You Say Sherlockian, I Say Sherlockian

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<span style="text-align: start;">"Each pigeon-hole had its label" [LAST]</span></h4>
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<br /><br />When the BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatch first aired in 2010, it garnered fans very quickly, and they naturally enough called themselves Sherlockians. What was the name of the series, after all, but <i>Sherlock</i>? <br /><br />And that would have been fine, if there hadn't already been a group of people called Sherlockians. The word "Sherlockian" has been in use since — well, I'm not quite sure since when, but for sixty years at the very least. "The ardent Sherlockian is a being apart," Edgar W. Smith wrote in one of his editorials in the <i><a href="http://bakerstreetjournal.com/" target="_blank">Baker Street Journal</a></i> in 1955. He was not, I'm pretty sure, talking about television fans, or even movie enthusiasts, but about those who read, enjoy and discuss the authentic Sherlock Holmes tales by Arthur Conan Doyle, which we have come to call "the Canon."<br /><br />Some of the Sherlockians in the BBC-fan group soon became Sherlockians of the Canonical kind as well. (Don't doubt it. I'm currently reading <i><a href="http://wessexpress.com/html/fixedpoint.html" target="_blank">The One Fixed Point in a Changing Age</a></i>, an anthology of serious writing by "a new generation", and believe me, it straddles the divide impressively.) Others, however, emphatically didn't. I heard a story recently of an old-line Sherlockian who got to know a new-style Sherlockian and suggested that they spend some time looking intensively at one of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Stories? the younger enthusiast asked. What stories? Not interested in stories. Only interested in Cumberbatch and Freeman.<br /><br /><h3>
"by some circuitous route" [LADY]</h3>
Let me say it another way: for some of the current generation, <i>Sherlock</i> is the gateway drug that leads them to the real Sherlock Holmes. For earlier generations, the gateway drug may have been Jeremy Brett, or even Basil Rathbone... or, one suspects, William Gillette. And for those who made the jump, read the Sherlock Holmes stories and got serious about them, it's perfectly reasonable to say that they became Sherlockians in the sense in which we've always used the word.<br /><br />I do think there's room for cavil about just how much somebody has to know before the label "Sherlockian" will stick. Does he or she need to know which story refers to the Netherlands-Sumatra Company and which one mentions Holmes's Stradivarius? (Those are the kinds of questions that, supposedly, were used by the early Baker Street Irregulars to determine who was going to buy the next round.) At a minimum, it seems to me, a Sherlockian has to be somebody who has read all four novels and 56 short stories with some attention. If you fall much short of that criterion you are, let's say, a Sherlockian-in-training. Which is a very fine thing to be, by the way.<br /><br />But there's no hope of taking the label "Sherlockian" away from the people who are dedicated only to television programs, so the ambiguity is likely to persist, and Sherlockians (type 1) will be rubbing shoulders with Sherlockians (type 2) at events like the GridLock con in Washington for quite some time to come.<br /><br />Honestly, it's enough to make you wish that old-school Sherlockians had adopted the name Holmesians instead. As it happens, their (our) British counterparts already did, and thereby avoided all sorts of misunderstanding.<br /><br /><br /><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image credit: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/aBNn9D" target="_blank">Tatiana Vdb (Flickr)</a></span></i><br />--<br /><br /><div>
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You Say Sherlockian, I Say Sherlockian

"Each pigeon-hole had its label" [LAST] When the BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatch first aired in 2010, it garnered fan...

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by Chris Redmond

EXCLUSIVE: Video Trailer to William Gillette's Sherlock Holmes (1916) and Giveaway

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"an object of interest to be celebrated" [SCAN]</h4>
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Last year, the world was taken by storm by <a href="http://ihose.co/1916film" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the discovery of the 1916 film <i>Sherlock Holmes</i></a> starring William Gillette, long thought to be the Holy Grail of lost films. The film was <a href="http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/first-hand-evidence-william-gillette-s-restored-1916" target="_blank">screened first in Paris</a> on January 31 of this year, then <a href="http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2015/06/sherlock-holmes-in-san-francisco.html#.VbFXlvlViko" target="_blank">at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in May</a>, both to excited and sold out audiences.<br />
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This October, Flicker Alley will present the Blu-ray/DVD restoration, in partnership with the <a href="http://sfsff.com/" target="_blank">San Francisco Silent Film Festival</a> and <a href="http://www.cinematheque.fr/" target="_blank">la Cinémathèque française</a>.<br />
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Exclusive trailer</h3>
As part of the preparation for the October 20 release of the DVD and Blu-ray and to celebrate William Gillette's birthday (b. July 24, 1853), I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere is proud to debut this exclusive trailer for the film:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/134142322" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
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Long considered lost until a complete dupe negative was identified in the vaults of la Cinémathèque française last year, this William Gillette film is a vital missing link in the history of Sherlock Holmes on screen. By the time it was produced at Essanay Studios in 1916, Gillette had been established as the world's foremost interpreter of Holmes on stage-having played him approximately 1300 times since his 1899 debut. This newly-restored edition, thanks to the monumental efforts of both the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and la Cinémathèque française, represents the sole surviving appearance of Gillette's Holmes on film. Presented with optional French and English intertitles and an original score composed and performed by Neil Brand, Guenter Buchwald, and Frank Bockius, Flicker Alley is honored to bring <a href="http://ihose.co/flickeralley" target="_blank">Sherlock Holmes</a> onto Blu-ray and DVD for the first time ever.<br />
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Bonus Materials Include:<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Sherlock Holmes Baffled</i> (1900): Courtesy of the Library of Congress and presented in HD, this is the earliest known film to feature the character of Sherlock Holmes.</li>
<li><i>A Canine Sherlock</i> (1912): From the EYE Film Institute, the film stars Spot the Dog as the titular character.</li>
<li><i>Più forte che Sherlock Holmes</i> (1913): Also from the EYE Film Institute, this entertaining Italian trick-film owes as much to Méliès as it does Doyle.</li>
<li>HD transfers from the Fox Movietone Collection: Interview with Arthur Conan Doyle and outtakes from a 1930 broadcast with William Gillette showing off his amateur railroad (University of South Carolina).</li>
<li>A PDF manuscript of the 1899 play <i>Sherlock Holmes</i> by William Gillette.</li>
<li>A PDF of the original contract between William Gillette and the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company.</li>
<li>A booklet featuring images from the film and information about the restoration project.</li>
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The DVD / Blu-ray is <a href="http://ihose.co/flickeralley" target="_blank">available for purchase directly from Flicker Alley</a>, currently discounted at $29.95 (normally priced at $39.95).</div>
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<b>Contest</b></h3>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">As part of the celebration of William Gillette's birthday, Flicker Alley is holding <a href="http://ihose.co/HBDGillette" target="_blank">a contest in which you have a chance to win</a> a copy of the DVD / Blu-ray of the 1916 </span><i>Sherlock Holmes</i> starring William Gillette. Just <a href="http://ihose.co/HBDGillette" target="_blank">visit their site</a> to enter the contest and to see the full set of rules.</div>
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The contest runs from now until August 7, so make sure you get to the site before it ends. Good luck!</div>
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Thanks to our friends at Flicker Alley for hosting this contest.</div>
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