I am delighted to announce that my book “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the London Dock Deaths” has been picked up by Italian publisher Mondadori for their Italian language Sherlock Holmes series.
This is the second of my books to be selected, and I am honoured that they feel my books are suitable for translation.
The book is due out next month, or so I am told. Thanks are due to Luigi Pachi at Mondardori and Steve Emecz at MX Publishing.
“The Adventure of the Bloody Duck and other tales of Sherlock Holmes” is the title of my anthology of six short stories due for publication by MX Publishing on 19th June 2022.
There are a couple of offers going on to help celebrate this.
The first is a Kickstarter with a number of rewards on offer, including autographed copies of the anthology, and, if you are interested, the chance to be a character in a forthcoming story.
The second is a ‘3 for 2’ offer from MX Publishing on books by their Australian authors.
I started this blog quite a few years ago, sharing mostly musings on odd subjects and reviews of theatre, television, movies, and, of course, books.
At the time I never thought that I would end up being a published author. To be honest, I still have to pinch myself sometimes because I think I’m asleep dreaming all this.
Now that I am an author I am realizing just how valuable book reviews are to the author. Yes, a review is just one person’s opinion, but they can help us make our books better.
Book reviews help me get a feel for what my readers want. To get the balance between dialogue and action right. To set the scene properly. To make sure that my stories make the person feel like they are in Victorian England. One of the best pieces of feedback I received was being told that the reader felt like they were actually there, racing around London with Holmes and Watson.
Another lovely person told me that they ship my version of Lestrade with one of my original characters. Dorothy. I went around for days with a huge grin on my face. To me this means that my characters felt real enough for someone to become emotionally invested in them. As a writer I want people to become emotionally invested in my characters. Hell, I’m emotionally invested in them. I have to be, or else they fall flat and become nothing more than the written equivalent of paper dolls.
So if you read a book and enjoy it, why not review it? It doesn’t have to be much. A rating on GoodReads or Amazon, even a few words in a Twitter post with a link to the book. It all helps.
My third book, “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the London Dock Deaths” was published in February this year by MX Publishing. Of course, I am not alone, MX Publishing releases a number of exciting books each year.
MX Publishing has their list of new books for 2021 (and also their 2020 releases) on their website. They also include books by their subsidiary imprint, Orange Pip Books.
On scanning the list I have found many books I am truly looking forward to reading.
“Spiral Mind” (Orange Pip Books) – Janina Arndt
“Sherlock Holmes and the Secret of the Three Monks” – Johanna Reike
Those are only a few. I attach a link to the list for your perusal.
One of the things I love about MX Publishing is their willingness to publish female authors and to publish Sherlock Holmes stories that are a bit too ‘out there’ for Holmesian traditionalists. There are plenty of traditional Holmes stories too, but it is MX Publishing’s willingness to step out of the comfort zone that makes them so good.
Check out the list and maybe tryout a new author or two.
During lockdown last year, the wonderful Margie Deck had the idea of an anthology based on the play of words between Baker Street and Baking. Enter Nancy Holder and with the support of Belanger Books the idea became a reality.
“Sherlock Holmes of Baking Street” is not a cookbook. It is a book the theme of Sherlock Holmes and baking. It is a skillful mix of essays, fiction, and an interview. Included in the mix is a new short story from me: “Best Served Cold” which is not for those with a delicate stomach!
The anthology is now on Kickstarter, with some great packages for supporters. Why not pop over and check out the delicious menu of writers and snag yourself a great deal at the same time.
My third book, “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the London Dock Deaths” was launched online via zoom over the weekend.
It was a fun hour, with me reading the first two chapters of the book, and Steve Emecz from MX Publishing asking me questions.
The launch was recorded so if you would like to see it check out the link below. Thanks to everyone who came and to Steve and MX Publishing for hosting the event.
This little booklet (60 pages) tells the story of the murder of Christina Collins in 1839. The poor lady was murdered by boatmen on the Trent and Mersey Canal. Not an unusual story in and of itself, but this crime was the inspiration for Colin Dexter’s award winning Inspector Morse novel “The Wench is Dead”. […]
“Murder on the Brighton Express” is a novel in the Railway Detective series by Edward Marston. Detective Inspector Robert Colbert aka The Railway Detective investigates the derailment of the London to Brighton Express in October 1854. Is it simply driver error, or something more sinister? The resulting story is a deliciously tangled web of death […]
This book was originally published in 1862 as the fourth volume of Henry Mayhew’s ground-breaking sociological work “London Labour and the London Poor”. The edition I read was edited by Peter Quennell and published in 1983 by Bracken Books. Henry Mayhew was an interesting man. Genuinely interested in the lives of the people he was […]
“The Casebook of Inspector Armstrong Volume One” is written by Martin Daley and published by MX Publishing. Inspector Cornelius Armstrong is a police inspector in the Northern English city of Carlisle in the Edwardian period. The book contains two stories:“The Italian Murder” in which Armstrong investigates the murder of a young Italian immigrant, and“King Edward’s […]
“Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Beer Barons” is written by Christopher James and publishhed by MX Publishing. The delivery of a beer barrel containing the body of a man to 221b Baker Street is the catalyst for a new adventure for Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson. This one takes them to the […]