The Sherlockian Interview - Mike Adamson

The final four volumes (49-52) of The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories are now on Kickstarter (click here). Every day we will be featuring one of the authors in the collection. Today its Mike Adamson.

How did the story come about?

I have two stories in the final round of volumes. The first is “The Adventure of the Twentieth Gun,” which is a direct sequel to my story “Such Profitable Treason,” featured in MX Volume 46. This concerned the theft of a batch of Hiram Maxim’s first machine guns, and Holmes being approached to help the police track them down. As readers will recall, all but one of the guns were recovered—thus the title of the current story, which deals with the grim purpose to which an unknown, shadowy mastermind may well put a single weapon of mass destruction. This 1889 tale features the first and so far only occasion on which I have set the action in a completely fictional locality.

My second story in the final batch is “The Wages of Loyalty,” and considers the old adage that when one trusts people with sensitive information vital to all, one really aught to pay them enough to be immune to bribery. Leaving the burden of fidelity to patriotism alone is not always wise, as Holmes discovers when he accepts Mycroft’s commission to intercept a returning overseas agent and probe the discrepancies in his account of past dealings. This 1900 piece is set in one of my favourite places, the Yorkshire sea town of Whitby, and I had the inestimable benefit of period research performed on my behalf by the staff of the Whitby Public Library.

Have you contributed to anthologies before?

I have contributed to some twenty-one Sherlock Holmes anthologies at this time, this being around half a dozen volumes of the MX series and the rest from Belanger Books. It is a great pleasure to write Holmesian pastiches and I hope to continue to do so for a very long time! Over the years, I have contributed to some fifty other anthologies in the speculative genres, plus numerous print and online magazine placements. My published work presently totals some 1.4 million words.

Do you write on any other subjects?

My writing runs the gamut of genre, from science fiction, fantasy and horror, to mystery, literary, maritime, historical and adventure. I have published on numerous occasions stories within the worlds of H P Lovecraft, as well as writing in the domains of H G Wells, Jules Verne, Alexander Dumas, Clarke Ashton Smith and R E Howard. Coming out in 2025, my Lovecraft collection Of Old Gods and Dreamlands is forthcoming from Belanger Books;  my vampire anthology Crimson Blade is now available from Hiraeth Books; and my science fiction collection Tales of The Middle Stars is impending from Jay Henge Publishing.

Where can fans find more about your work? (e.g., Blog, Amazon profile, etc.)

I have two main channels of contact with those wishing to follow my work. Since 2015 I have run a writing blog, “The View from the Keyboard” and since late 2023 my dedicated author website, “The Worlds of Mike Adamson,”. 

The latter is in desperate need of an update at this time, but is filled with art and writing, including free reads, and comprehensive guides to where my work can be found in print and online. Catch my Amazon profile at Mike Adamson on Amazon.