#BSIWeekend 2022 ; Gretchen Altabef Wins the Doylean Award; and our Latest Calls for Submissions

 

Brian Belanger, Derrick Belanger, Ross Davies, and Peter Blau catching up during the BSI Luncheon

Hi everyone,

It has been awhile since I posted a blog update, and I can't think of a better time than after another amazing #BSIWeekend in NYC. Brian and I had a great time hanging out with fellow Sherlockians, meeting with Belanger Books authors, and saying hello to some of our readers.  The weekend activities started on January 12th and went through January 16th. Here are some of our favorite photos from the weekend festivities.

The first event we attended was the ASH Wednesday dinner where we caught up with friends that, because of the pandemic, we hadn't seen in two years.

We also got to meet one of our authors, Hal Glatzer. he has a great Baron Maupertuis story in The Nefarious Villains of Sherlock Holmes. Hal was heading back to Hawaii that Thursday, so we were fortunate to run into him that evening. We are looking forward to spending more time with him next year.

On Thursday, we attended the first annual Doylean Awards at the Mysterious Bookshop. The event was hosted by the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Society. I had the honor of handing out the awards in the category of Fiction. Here's a picture of Brian and I with Mark Jones of the Doings of Doyle podcast, as well as awards presenters Monica Schmidt, and Ross Davies. Brian is holding up the ACD Society logo which he designed. Gotta love that moustache!

I also got my yearly thrill of having a book signing in The Mysterious Bookshop. It is always great to see our books on their shelves. A huge thank you to Otto Penzler for having this little piece of paradise in the big city.

A huge shout out to our own Gretchen Altabef who won one of The Doylean Awards for Fiction for her story "Sir Arthur and the Time Machine" which is featured in the anthology Sherlock Holmes: Further Adventures in the Realms of H.G. Wells Volume 2. 

You can watch the entire awards ceremony by clicking on the link below, and you really should. Ross put together a wonderful awards show, and he really helped revive the ACD Society. I will look forward to this awards ceremony every year from here on out. I also want to give a shout out to Monica Schmidt for being a wonderful presenter and for just being all around awesome. She tried her best to get me to wear a real bow tie to the BSI dinner. Maybe next year!

After the Doylean awards, Brian and I stopped by McSorley's, our favorite Ale House, with Anna Behrens of The Monadanock Sherlockians, a scion society in Keene, NH. Anna is putting together a Sherlock Holmes week at her local library with theatre performances. Look for more information about the event here soon.

Friday evening, I had the honor of attending the Baker Street Irregulars dinner. I had attended the virtual dinner celebration in 2021, but this was my first time at the dinner in New York. I have to say for Sherlock Holmes fans, it is a magical evening. From meeting and chatting with Sherlockians from around the world to getting to recite the Musgrave Ritual with 200 other guests, it was a dream come true. The picture below is me with my good friend Nancy Holder.

Of course, one of the other delights of the evening is hearing the new investitures. I was excited to hear all of the names called, but I was particularly happy when Mark Jones of the Doings of Doyle podcast was invested. It seems like every Sherlockian journal I opened last year had at least one article from Mark, and they were all well researched and well written. 

While the BSI dinner was the highlight of the trip, a close second was the Merchants' Room on Saturday. That's where Brian and I got to meet a number of our authors and have a book signing. 

Here's Brian setting up the Belanger Books table.

Author and editor extraordinaire Ray Riethmeier is seen here signing The Pontine Dossier. Ray also signed copies of Sherlock Holmes: Stranger than Truth and Sherlock Holmes: Stranger than Fiction. Brian and  I also had the privilege of meeting Ray's charming wife. 

Next up, author Shana Carter is standing by the Belanger Books banner. Shana is incredibly talented and wrote an excellent sequel to The Cardboard Box titled "A Box of Salt" for The Nefarious Villains of Sherlock Holmes.

It is always delightful to see Dan Andriacco and his wife Ann during BSI weekend. Dan stopped by our table to sign copies of Sherlock Holmes: A Three Pipe Christmas. 

The book with the most authors to sign was Margie Deck and Nancy Holder's anthology Sherlock Holmes of Baking Street. Below is author Les Klinger who wrote the book's introduction. Les is a great guy and always has an interesting story to tell. This time he told me about the time he got to read Stoker's handwritten original manuscript of Dracula. 

It is always wonderful to catch up with fellow educators. I had the pleasure of first meeting Rob Nunn in person at the 2020 BSI weekend. We've worked together on the Beacon Society program committee and shared stories of teaching Sherlock Holmes. Rob also was invested in the BSI at the 2022 dinner. He was given the appropriate name, "Elementary".

Brigitte Latella always has a smile on her face. Brian and I met Brigitte at our first visit to the BSI weekend in 2019 which was the year she was invested in the BSI. Brigitte has written a number of excellent essays for Belanger Books. Here she is signing Baking Street.

Next we have the incredible editor and author Nancy Holder. She, along with Margie Deck, created Sherlock Holmes of Baking Street. They are a powerhouse of an editing team, and I hope Margie gets to join us at next year's BSI weekend.

Last photo from the The Merchants' Room book signing. Here is Nancy Holder with Steve Mason. Steve is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. You may know him from his weekly comic strip Baker Street Elementary which runs every Sunday on the I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere blog. More on Steve in a bit.

After the Merchants'' Room ended. Brian and I had to pack up and then we dashed off to the BSI Luncheon. The luncheon is always a treat. Brian and I talked with Ross Davies about our upcoming Sir Arthur Conan Doyle journal (more on thiat at the end), and we finally got a chance to catch up with Peter Blau who is a living legend in the Sherlock Holmes community. I first met Peter when he was visiting Denver. He was surprised to find out I was an American.

The last event Brian and I attended was Saturday evening when we went to the "Lost in New York with a Bunch of Sherlockians" dinner put on by Jerry and Chrys Kegley. This evening is a blast! If you go to New York for BS weekend, make it a point to attend this dinner. You won't be disappointed.

Okay, here are the last photos from BSI weekend. While at the Lost in New York dinner, I had the honor of giving Steve Mason the Susan B. Diamond Beacon Award, presented to those who have gone above and beyond in bringing Sherlock Holmes to young people. I won the award myself in 2020, so it was nice to deliver it to the winner in 2022. I apologize for the blurry photos.

As much fun as the BSI weekend was in 2022, many of our friends couldn't make it due to the ongoing pandemic. Let's hope we finally put covid in the rear view mirror so we can have an even more exciting time in 2023!

CURRENT CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS 

 

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson: Medical Mysteries

Description: A collection of traditional Sherlock Holmes stories that must somehow connect to the theme of “medical mystery”. This could include Holmes investigating a crime committed at Bart’s hospital, having a nurse as a client, or figuring out the cause of a strange illness killing off some of London’s wealthiest citizens. The topic is quite broad on purpose and we invite authors to be creative with their submissions.

This anthology is in collaboration with Dr. Ed Chan who is raising awareness of lung disease caused by Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria, a very difficult-to-treat (often times incurable) and increasingly prevalent form of pneumonia (related to tuberculosis) caused by microorganisms that are acquired from our home and outdoor environments. A portion of the proceeds raised from the book will go to help fund research work on this disease to the Denver Research Institute, one of several non-profit (501c3) organizations mandated by the U.S. Congress to help orchestrate research relevant for military veterans. DRI is affiliated with the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System. NONE of the proceeds will go for Dr. Chan's salary.

Guidelines: a 5,000 - 10,000 word pastiche (okay to go over or under some) that is canonically accurate (i.e. Holmes and Watson should be the Holmes and Watson we encounter in Doyle’s writings) and connects to the medical theme of the anthology.

Authors may submit multiple stories to the anthology.

Rights: All authors shall retain the rights to their submitted work outside of the anthology and may reprint their submission one year after the anthology’s publication date.

Payment: Authors shall receive $100 for each accepted submission and a paperback copy of the anthology.

Submission: Email submissions to derrick@belangerbooks with the headline: ATTN: MEDICAL MYSTERIES. Please attach the submission as a word document.

Submission Deadline: February 15th, 2022.

Publication Date: Spring 2022

 

 

Steel True, Blade Straight

The Belanger Books Journal of Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Inspired Stories, Poems, and Scholarship

2022 Annual

Description: This anthology will have stories, poems, and scholarship inspired by and about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. While the anthology will contain new Sherlock Holmes stories, the intent would be for at least 25% of the material to be stories and poems inspired by the life and non-Sherlockian writing of Sir Arthur. Another 25% of material would be scholarship on Holmes and Doyle.

All proceeds from the Anthology will be donated to The Beacon Society, a 501c(3) nonprofit scion society of The Baker Street Irregulars (BSI), that serves as a link to other scion societies, providing teachers, librarians, children museums, and children theaters with local resources to bring the magic of Sherlock Holmes to life.

Guidelines:

Stories - 3,000 - 10,000 word submissions that connect to the writing of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These can be Sherlock Holmes stories, or stories connected to Sir Arthur’s additional writings (far too many to list here).

Poems - format and length are open. The poetry submission would have to somehow connect to the life or work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Scholarship - 1,000 - 3,000 word submissions. Essays must connect to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle or his writing (Sherlock Holmes or other work).

Multiple submissions in the same or more than one category are welcome.

Payment: All authors will receive a paperback copy of the anthology.

Rights: All authors shall retain the rights to their submitted work outside of the anthology and may reprint their submission one year after the anthology’s publication date.

Submission: Email submissions to derrick@belangerbooks with the headline: ATTN: STEEL TRUE BLADE STRAIGHT SUBMISSION. In the body explain: 1. Type of submission (story, poem, story), and a brief description of how the submission connects to Sir Arthur. Please attach the submission as a word document.

Submission Deadline: April 30th, 2022

Publication Date: Summer 2022.

 

Sherlock Holmes: A Year of Mystery 1883 & 1884

Edited by Rich Ryan

“When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which present strange and interesting features that it is no easy matter to know which to choose and which to leave.” - Dr. Watson

Synopsis: Watson mentions that 1883 and 1884 are two of the years with strange and interesting cases, yet the canon contains only a single adventure in 1883 ("The Adventure of the Speckled Band") and not one adventure from 1884. What happened during Holmes and Watson’s third and fourth years in Baker Street? What thrilling mysteries did they solve? Find out in  Sherlock Holmes: A Year of Mysteries – 1883 &  Sherlock Holmes: A Year of Mysteries – 1884. 

Each collection contains a dozen cases, one for each month of the year, from January to December.

Submission Guidelines: Stories must be canonical in nature. Holmes and Watson should be young and still developing their friendship.

Authors interested in participating should first send a synopsis of their adventure and the month of the year they wish it to take place. If your story does not need a specific month (i.e. it takes place in autumn and could be in September, October, or November) please let us know that as well. Once your synopsis has been accepted, you should begin drafting the story.

Please note: We are not following the Baring-Gould timeline. Watson stays in London with Holmes throughout 1883 & 1884.  No Constance in this anthology since she wasn't ever mentioned in the Canon.

Submission length: 5,000 – 10,0000 words (it is okay to go over some).

Payment: Authors shall receive a payment of $100 OR $50 plus a percentage of the Kickstarter project profits (whichever amount is GREATER) and a paperback copy of the anthology. 

Rights: Authors shall retain rights to their work. We only retain the rights to the story within the publication.

Submission deadline for proposals is March 15th, 2022. Submission deadline for stories is May 31st, 2022.

Send proposals and submissions in a word document that is double spaced, in Times New Roman, and in 14 point font to rich.ryan52@gmail.com with the heading ATTN: SHERLOCK HOLMES A YEAR OF MYSTERY 1883 or ATTN: SHERLOCK HOLMES A YEAR OF MYSTERY 1884.

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.