A Peculiar Author Interview with Stacey Longo and a Defense of the MX Sherlock Holmes Anthologies

With just over two weeks to go, the My Peculiar Family Kickstarter campaign is nearly funded, but we still have some cool prizes left. One of my favorites is the Stacey Longo award. For $75 dollars, you get the My Peculiar Family anthology in paperback, your name listed on the book's patron page, two volumes of horror anthologies which contian Stacey Longo stories, and this very cool handmade pillow which looks like a blood stain. I interviewed Ms. Longo about her gruesome contribution to My Peculiar Family and her current projects. Please consider getting one of her deliciously devilish awards before they sell out!

1. Tell us a little about your story. What makes it so peculiar?

My story is the tale of Gussie, an assistant in an apothecary. She uses her position to help women in unfortunate situations deal out dark deeds. Gussie is perfectly fine with the idea of playing God—deciding if the women who come to her in desperation really need her poisons. She misjudges one such client's situation, with ominous repercussions.

2. What made you want to participate in My Peculiar Family?

When the Dome first mentioned it to me, I was immediately on board. The premise of this anthology was wildly ambitious and creative, and I thought it was a fabulous project to be a part of. He had some great names attached, and some amazing stories came about from this project. I was honored to even be asked.

3. What are some of your other projects you'd like to tell the readers about?

I have a young adult horror mystery, My Sister the Zombie, coming out this summer from Caliburn Press. It's the tale of two sisters who are trying to figure out who's doing all the murdering and brain-eating in town. Since one of the sisters is the only zombie in the tri-state area, naturally, she's a suspect. The girls have to catch the real killer before the undead sister gets a bullet to the brain.

4. Any last thoughts?

Please support My Peculiar Family by donating to the Kickstarter campaign (http://kck.st/1Wel4OZ). You'll be glad you did!



A Bit of Sherlock Holmes Controversy

I was surprised to see some controversy in the thread of my I Hear of Sherlock article on the 4th Volume of the MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories. The question raised was does MX Publishing really donate the royalties from the anthologies to preseve Undershaw. Steve Emecz graciously replied:

"I can confirm that the costs for MX, in outright financial costs and in time - which is in the hundreds of hours - [we which do have to also attribute a cost, even if at minmum wage] on this project have significantly outweighed any profits that we would have made, and are ever likely to make. MX is a tiny outfit with no paid employees with all efforts put in alongside our day jobs. I will happily, in private, share more information but feel its inappropriate to discuss this further in public. We can ask both Stepping Stones and Happy Life for public statements about whether they are happy with the effort if you think that is needed.

For the latter, that we spend weeks living in with the children every Christmas and New Year in Nairobi in Kenya is a vital part of what we do and extremely difficult to put an accurate cost on. Those that would like to understand more about what MX is about can read 'The Happy Life Story: Saving Abandoned Children on the Streets of Nairobi', the short book my wife wrote about the project last year. I understand the concerns, as for many years we too have been frustrated by lots of people that claim to 'support' causes, yet have raised no funds and importantly given little time to it. I commend all the authors in this project, and several others, for donating their royalties which will make a material difference - especially David Marcum who has given many hundreds of hours of his time."

Thank you, Steve Emecz for clarifying. MX Publishing has done a wonderful job of keeping the spirit of Holmes alive through your hundreds of Holmes titles. The Sherlock Holmes community commends you for all of your hard work in helping to preserve Undershaw and in publishing some of the best pastiches of the 21st century.

You can see the full IHOSE blog post here: http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2016/0...

On a final note, my latest e-book from Endeavour Press was just released. The book entitled Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure Of The Primal Manhas Holmes investigating a supposed Yeti body which has been brought to London. The novel also explains in detail what Holmes was up to when he visited Tibet during the Great Hiatus. You can find the book on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes...

Look for a lengthier blog entry on Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure Of The Primal Man, more author interviews for My Peculiar Family, and another I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere article soon!!

Derrick Belanger is the author of the #1 bestselling book Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Peculiar Provenance which was in the top 200 bestselling books on Amazon. He also is the author of the MacDougall Twins with Sherlock Holmes books, the latest of which is Curse of the Deadly Dinosaurand edited the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle horror anthology A Study in Terror: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Revolutionary Stories of Fear and the Supernatural. Mr. Belanger also is a frequent contributor to the blog I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere. Mr. Belanger resides in Colorado and continues compiling unpublished works by Dr. John H. Watson.