The MX Book - Sherlockian Interview - Tom Turley
Posted by Steve Emecz on
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 Tom Turley.
1. Please tell us a little bit about yourself, and your story.
I'm a retired historian and archivist and live with my wife Paula in Montgomery, Alabama. MX published my first Sherlock Holmes pastiche in 2014, and I just finished my eleventh. Four of the stories (which involve Holmes and Watson in the historical events that led to World War I) came out last year as a full-length book, Sherlock Holmes and the Crowned Heads of Europe. The others have appeared in previous anthology volumes and in The Art of Sherlock Holmes. My latest pastiche, "What Came Before," is based on a ghost story, entitled "Afterward," by the American writer Edith Wharton. Mrs. Wharton herself figures in the story, and the initial investigation is carried out by Dr. Watson and Priscilla, his third wife. Holmes, of course, solves the case before the end.
2. Why did you want to participate in this project?
Initially, I saw the MX anthology primarily as a way to get my stories published. Over time, however, I have developed friendships with publisher Steve Emecz, editor David Marcum, and a good many of my fellow MX writers. I'm proud to have participated in a project that helped to save Undershaw, Conan Doyle's old home, and has contributed nearly $100,000 to the school for disadvantaged children housed there. As an added benefit, I've been able to read a wide variety of pastiches by outstanding Sherlockians, whose writing has enriched my own.
3. What are your current and upcoming projects?
My long-term plan is to write a few more short stories and then publish my non-Crowned Heads pastiches as a full-length collection. I'm thinking of calling it Watson's Wives and Other Tales, because several of the stories include the Doctor's wives. (I've accepted Baring-Gould's conclusion that there were two besides the well-known Mary Morstan.) Recently, I've been invited to contribute an essay on Sherlockian chronology to a forthcoming anthology entitled Writing Holmes! It will be a project for later in the spring.
4. Any last thoughts?
That sounds a little ominous! Nothing profound occurs to me, but anyone who wants to know more about my writing can peruse my author's pages on Amazon and Goodreads . I'm also including the MX link to Sherlock Holmes and the Crowned Heads of Europe . Finally, the first two Crowned Heads stories ("The Case of the Dying Emperor" and "The Adventure of the Inconvenient Heir-Apparent") are out as separate audiobooks, wonderfully narrated by Keith Spilsbury. Both are available on Audible.
