Hi everyone,
We are more than halfway through August, and therefore, more than halfway through our campaigns for The Great Game of Sherlock Holmes on Kickstarter and In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on Indiegogo. Both campaigns are doing great with In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson already past its initial funding goal, and The Great Game of Sherlock Holmes at 85% of its goal. In today's blog post, we have an author interview with Dean Wilkinson, the creator of The Great Game of Sherlock Holmes as well as a FREE Solar Pons eBook!
Author Interview with Dean Wilkinson
Dean Wilkinson has been a comedy writer for over 30 years in platforms such as TV, radio, stage, books, comics, console games and apps. Dean has written for myriad console games. Amongst the big names he scribed scripts for are Stephen Fry on Little Big Planet, Matt Berry on Worms: Revolution and John Cleese on Smart As.
I interviewed Dean, via email, about his work on The Great game of Sherlock Holmes as well as some of his other projects.
1. Tell us about The Great Game of Sherlock Holmes. How did
you come up with the concept? What makes this a fun game to play?
Dean Wilkinson (DW): I’d never seen a statistic trumping game based on the original Sherlock Holmes canon by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It just seemed like an obvious thing to do.
There’s nothing complex about The Great Game. It’s a game that can be played in a few minutes or longer if you wish. There’s lots of Sherlock Holmes games out there where you spend ages deducing and gathering clues, and I find them boring. I want to be entertained.
Also, this game is a fantastic introduction to the Sherlockian world. Holmes is like classical music insomuch it’s still perceived to be for intellectuals. It’s not. It’s for everyone and there is so much fun and excitement in the original 60 stories. We’ve captured that.
1. One of the stretch goals for the Kickstarter campaign
is the Reichenbach Challenge cards. How does the challenge work?
D DW: The Challenge cards are a rock, paper, scissors – make or break – option to ending the game. We invented 3 Bartitsu style moves. You play the challenge and pick a move. It’s pure chance whether you win or lose, but if you win you get all your opponents cards. A great way to round up a game, and you can even make it a game on its own.
4. Beyond The Great Game of Sherlock Holmes, you also worked on a different game, the video game Little Big Planet. How did you contribute to the game's development?
DW: I was brought in on game one to build up the Little Big Planet universe and give it a reason for being there. So I invented the Imagisphere, the realm where all dreams and ideas go. It was such an honour to work on the game and write for my comedy hero Stephen Fry, too. He’s a genuinely lovely bloke.
5.
The Great Game of Sherlock Holmes also comes with a puzzle book. The puzzles reminded me of your Sheerluck books. How are they similar? More importantly, will we see another Sheerluck book soon?
DW: The two are slightly similar. Sheerluck is about ghosts and the supernatural and there are fun quizzes in the books based on the stories and long roster of ghostly villains. We want to do more Sheerluck Versus The Paranormal books. At the moment, I am working on an animation version. Sheerluck, Watson, Mycroft, and even atomic sprite will be back.
Do you have ideas for future Sherlock Holmes games? If so, are any of them in development?
DW: I am working with Belanger Books on several Sherlockian projects. Look for some to pop up soon. The one which I am most excited about has the Victorian martial art Bartitsu at its core. Holmes was an exponent of it, and was a real martial arts form at the end of the 19th century. It’s still going and is fascinating.
Any last words of wisdom?
DW: The Great Game of Sherlock Holmes is already getting rave reviews from young and old Sherlockians. It’s an ideal gift for anyone you might think would want to dip their toes for the first time in Conan Doyle’s amazing world of Sherlock Holmes. Come on in, the door to 221b Baker Street is open, and Holmes and Watson are waiting to make your acquaintance.
You can learn more about Dean Wilkinson and all of his amazing projects by visiting his website. You can back The Great Game of Sherlock Holmes on Kickstarter by CLICKING HERE.
Every week in August, we are offering a free Sherlock Holmes eBook. This week features a free eBook from the Sherlock Holmes of Praed street - Solar Pons! If you've never read the Pons stories by August Derleth, this book is an excellent place to start. Get the FREE eBook on Amazon for the next five days!
A dozen new Pontine exploits round out the quintet in these pages – from The Adventure of the Sussex Archers to The Adventure of the Innkeeper’s Clerk – and between these two tales are such memorable stories as The Adventure of the Haunted Library, The Adventure of the Intarsia Box, The Adventure of the China Cottage, The Adventure of the Crouching Dog, The Adventure of the Whispering Knights, and others, including among them The Adventure of the Missing Huntsman – in which Pons and Parker invade the fox-hunting country of England, and The Adventure of the Ascot Scandal, one of Pons’ briefest and most amusing problems.
Stretch Goal #1 - If the campaign reaches $750, all backers will receive a Bonus Story by Derrick Belanger in the book.
Stretch Goal #2 - If the campaign reaches $1,000, all backers' names will be added to a special thank you section in the book.
Back the book today on Indiegogo and see your name in print in a special thank you section by CLICKING HERE!
Before we wrap up, one last announcement. Our Kickstarter for The Sherlock Holmes Advent calendars has blown past its goal and now has over 100 backers! Check out the cool project by CLICKING HERE!
Belanger Books is a small press owned by artist Brian Belanger and author Derrick Belanger specializing in new Sherlock Holmes books, Solar Pons, Children's books, Classic Sci-fi, Steampunk, and genre specific anthologies. Some of our books have been #1 bestsellers in their categories on Amazon.
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