Belanger Books and Games

09/16/2024

Here is the recording of the 50th anniversary birthday celebration of Dr. Watson's Neglected Patients. The conference featured phenomenal talks by Eric Scace, Larry Feldman, Dr. Ed Chan, and a special tribute to Ron Lies by Jim Hawkins.

A two hour celebration featuring talks by Derrick Belanger, Eric Scace, Dr. Ed Chan, Larry Feldman, and Jim Hawkins.

09/06/2024

It is almost time for the September Five Miles from Anywhere meeting! The meeting is this Saturday, September 7th from 5-6 London time, 12 - 1 pm Eastern time and 10-11 Mountain time, and our speaker is Sherlockian author Tom Burns. Tom will be discussing his story, "The Picture of Oscar Wilde" which is part of Tom's new pastiche collection, Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson: A Peek into Watson's Dispatch Box.

There are also a few exciting announcements that I can't wait to share with the group!

Please message me or email me at [email protected] and I'll send you a pdf of Tom's story and the zoom link for the meeting.

08/31/2024

Devastated to hear of the passing of David Stuart Davies a good friend and quite frankly one of the best Sherlock Holmes authors of all time. I finally got to meet David and his wife Kathryn when I visited London last year. We had a pint at a pub (no surprise with David) and then saw the latest production of his masterpiece, Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act. I was honored earlier this year when David contacted me asking for Belanger Books to publish his final play, Mycroft Out of the Shadows: A Brother's Tale, a companion piece to Sherlock Holmes: The Last Act. I'm glad we were able to publish the play as well as create an audio version before David passed. There is a hole in the Sherlockian world that will never be filled. David will be greatly missed.

08/31/2024

I'm at the Sherlock Holmes: Crimes for Christmas Launch Party on BackerKit - come join!

08/26/2024

Please join us on Saturday, September 14th from 3 - 4:30 as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Watson's Neglected Patients with a virtual conference. Please email me at [email protected] to RSVP, and I will send you the zoom link for the celebration.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Sincerely,

Derrick Belanger
Chief Surgeon, DWNP

08/23/2024

FYI - CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS - Steel True, Blade Straight and the Pontine Dossier

Steel True, Blade Straight 2024 (DEADLINE EXTENDED)

Note: We've received a significant number of poetry submissions but fewer stories and articles. We are now accepting story and article submissions until September 30th.

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

2024 Annual

Edited by Derrick Belanger, BSI

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, and Dr. Watson's Neglected Patients, a 501c(3) nonprofit scion society of The Baker Street Irregulars (BSI).

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 - 5,000 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 [email protected] with the headline: ATTN: STEEL TRUE BLADE STRAIGHT 2024 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: September 30 , 2024 (stories and articles only)

Publication Date: December 2024

THE PONTINE DOSSIER: MILLENNIUM EDITION 2024

Edited by Derrick Belanger, PSI

The next volume of Solar Pons Scholarship from Belanger Books!

Belanger Books is proud to bring back The Pontine Dossier in an annual edition. The Pontine Dossier: Millennium Edition 2024 will feature Pontine articles and scholarships. We would love it if you'd consider contributing.

Cover to the 2023 issue of the Pontine Dossier

Guidelines: An article of Pontine Scholarship about Solar Pons, characters in the Solar Pons canon, or author August Derleth. Length can vary from as few as 1,000 words to as many as 5,000 words or more. We are leaving this wide open to get as many and as varied submissions as possible.

Please submit your manuscript as a word document to [email protected]. Title your email:

ATTN: PONTINE DOSSIER SUBMISSION.

Multiple submissions will be accepted.

If your article(s) is accepted, you will receive a free print copy of the Dossier.

Submission Deadline: Please submit your article by September 30, 2024. We hope to release the new edition of the Dossier in November, 2024.

08/18/2024

Hi everyone,The first week of the campaign for Sherlock Holmes and the Great Lady Detectives is off to a smashing start. In less than a week, we managed to reach 500% of our initial goal!!! That's incredible, and we have you - our backers - to thank for the successful campaign.Throughout the campaig...

07/15/2024

Now on Kickstarter! Two book projects from Belanger Books, The American Adventures of Solar Pons and Sherlock Holmes Takes the Stage. Dozens of all new Sherlock Holmes and Solar Pons adventures! Back the projects today on Kickstarter at the links below.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/belangerbooks/the-american-adventures-of-solar-Solar Pons

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1606726313/sherlock-holmes-takes-the-stage

August Derleth's classic detective returns in an anthology of all-new adventures!

06/17/2024

For those of you who missed the Gillette Castle event for the book release of Torrington Road, the recording of the talk is at the end of this linked project update. You can scroll to the bottom to see the presentations by me, Paul Schiller, and Brian Belanger. We didn't have mics so the sound isn't great, but you can hear all of the talks.

Dear backers,Thank you for being a part of this momentous campaign. For the first time in 97 years, The Astounding Crime on Torrington Road is back in print!We thank you so much for backing this campaign and bringing this book to life. Brian and I (co-owners of Belanger Books) gave a reading with th...

06/10/2024

For those of you who can't make it to the Book release party at Gillette Castle on Saturday, you can still get the special Gillette Castle edition of The Astounding Crime on Torrington Road by backing the Kickstarter project. The only way to get this edition is through the Kickstarter project or at Gillette Castle State Park. The link to back the project is below!

The noir mystery novel by William Gillette, "the Sherlock Holmes of the stage", restored in an all-new edition!

05/26/2024

Congratulations to Paul Thomas Miller for winning the The Tony & Freda Howlett Literary Award (Sherlock Holmes Book of The Year, Sherlock Holmes Society of London) for his book Finding Sherlock Holmes: A Guide to Locations in England Mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes Canon and proudly published by Belanger Books!

https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Sherlock-Holmes-Locations-Mentioned-ebook/dp/B0CLHYQF92

05/01/2024

Hello everyone,

It is almost time for the May Five Miles from Anywhere meeting! This month's meeting is this Saturday, May 4th (Happy Reichenbach Day!) from 5-6 London time, 12 - 1 pm Eastern time and 10-11 Mountain time.

This month, we'll hear from the noted Sherlockian, and all around great guy, Rudy Altergott, BSI. Rudy ("Old Patrick") will be discussing how the workings of Vermissa Valley Lodge No. 341 of the Eminent Order of Freemen were based on those of a Masonic lodge. He will also discuss how, in LAST, Sherlock Holmes as 'Mr Altamont of Chicago' was influenced in his infiltration of Irish secret societies by Birdy Edwards, the Pinkerton who infiltrated the Scowrers in the backstory of VALL.

This is a meeting you won't want to miss!

If you'd like to attend please message me on Facebook or email me at [email protected], and I'll send you the zoom link.

04/22/2024

Latest blog post with four FREE eBooks (3 involving Sherlock Holmes, 1 Solar Pons, 1 modern mystery) PLUS our latest horror Kickstarter project, Alone on the Borderland and our first podcast, Wings of Mystery! Check it out at the link below.

Please consider backing Alone on the Borderland on Kickstarter as well as Wings of Mystery on Patreon!

Hello everyone, As always, we have a lot of exciting announcements in this blog post, and also what you all enjoy, a bunch of FREE eBooks ...

04/10/2024

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS for our latest Sherlock Holmes and Solar Pons plus Three FREE eBOOKS and our latest Kickstarter projects in my latest blog post. Read it at the link below:

Hi everyone, We wanted to share our latest call for submissions, update you on our Kickstarter campaigns, and, of course, to offer you FRE...

04/05/2024

Hello everyone,

It is almost time for the April Five Miles from Anywhere meeting! This month's meeting is this Saturday, April 6th (i.e. tomorrow) from 5-6 London time, 12 - 1 pm Eastern time and 10-11 Mountain time.

This month's meeting is going to be a lot of fun. Dramatist Hal Glatzer will present a recording of his play, Flatfinders 1881 which was performed in New York in January as part of the BSI weekend festivities. After the viewing party, there'll be a question and answer session with Hal about the play.

Please RSVP to let me know that you'll be joining us by sending me a message via Facebook messenger or emailing me at [email protected] and I'll send you the zoom link.

One final note, I will be attending a teaching conference on Saturday, so I will not be able to attend this month's meeting. That makes me quite sad as I know this will be a great meeting. On the plus side, longtime FIVE member Anna Behrens has graciously agreed to be the host for the meeting. I know she'll do a fantastic job.

03/15/2024

Winter eBook giveaway! FREE Sherlock Holmes, Solar Pons an even a sequel to The War of the Worlds PLUS the latest Kickstarter campaigns from Belanger Books and MX publishing! Check them out in the blog post below:

Happy end of winter everyone! As I'm typing up this blog post, I'm actually snowed in under a foot of snow, so I thought it would be the ...

02/28/2024

Now on Kickstarter, Caesar Now Be Still, a new novel by golden age detective expert Frank Schildiner set in the world of Sherlock Holmes!
Sgt. Wilson Hargreave, one-time protégé of the Great Detective, has few friends and fewer options as he searches the seedy underbelly of 1890s New York City for a maniacal killer. From the private clubs and posh parties of the elite to the merciless, gang-infested streets of the slums, the murderer's trail brings Sgt. Hargreave face-to-face with danger at every turn.
It will take every trick and skill learned from the Sleuth of Baker Street, and from his own criminal past, for Hargreave to survive...
Back the project on Kickstarter today at the link below!

A Minor Sherlock Holmes character in his own hard-boiled historical detective novel by Frank Schildiner