The MX Book - Sherlockian Interview - David Marcum

The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories -  Volumes XXXI-XXXIII is currently running on Kickstarter and we're interviewing the contributors. Next up is David Marcum - the creator and editor for the series.

1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself, and your story.

I’m a municipal civil engineer from East Tennessee, where I live with my wife and son. I’ve been a Sherlockian since age 10 in 1975, and since then, I’ve collected around 4,000 Holmes volumes – mostly traditional pastiches – and I’ve written and published 95 Holmes stories (so far) and edited around 60 books, mostly Holmes anthologies.

For this set, I have three new stories, one in each of the new volumes:

Part XXXI has “The Sethian Messiah”, in which a tosher brings a unique object found in the London sewers to Holmes, and from that Holmes is able to predict someone’s murder. He then takes charge of events, inserting himself and Watson into the action.

Part XXXII’s story is “The Adventure of the Minatory Messages”, set in mid-1889. Holmes and Watson happen to visit Dartmoor soon after Sir Henry Baskerville has returned to the area after the events of “The Hound” the previous fall, and they find that he’s receiving threatening messages.

Part XXXIII has “The Gillette Play’s the Thing!” It’s 1905, and Watson is visiting a retired Holmes in Sussex. William Gillette’s play “Sherlock Holmes” is playing in nearby Eastbourne, and they’ve been invited to meet with the young actor playing Holmes. Things quickly spiral beyond what they could have imagined.

2. Why did you want to participate in this project?

I came up with the idea for “The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories” in 2015 based on a desire for more traditional Canonical Holmes adventures. As a writer of Holmes stories, I couldn’t be the conductor of this train and not also include some of my stories.

3. What are your current and upcoming projects?

I’m already receiving stories for the Fall 2022 MX anthology volumes, “However Improbable . . . .” I’ve also promised to write more new Holmes pastiches for other upcoming anthologies, and with any luck, I’ll have written 100 of them in the next few months. I’m also getting started on editing another Holmes anthology for Belanger Books, as well as a few other projects.

4. Any last thoughts?

These books have grown beyond what I could have ever imagined. The royalties go to the Undershaw school (formerly Stepping Stones) for special needs children, located at one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s former homes, and very shortly we’ll pass $100,000 raised for the school. Additionally, we’ve created nearly 700 new Canonical Holmes adventures from over 200 contributors around the world. It amazes me every day, and I’m so thankful to have had this opportunity.