The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, who know a thing or two about adaptations, is currently seeking support on Kickstarter for a Sherlock Holmes short story project, Multiverse of Mystery.
While this project is text fiction, do check out the list of creators involved, some of whom I’ve worked with recently during my editorship of Star Trek Explorer, such as Keith R.A. DeCandido, John Peel and Dayton Ward. Many of the writers have worked in comics. I’ve no doubt it’s going to be a terrific collection given the lineup, so if you’re a Sherlock Holmes fan, it’s worth checking out.
The multiverse seems to be everywhere all at once. It opens the mind to infinite possibilities and sparks new ideas to be found in new worlds.
But some things remain immortal, including the legend of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created the sleuth and his medical companion in the latter years of the 19th Century. They made such an indelible impression on the world’s consciousness that they have been homaged and imitated in countless ways ever since.
Now, members of the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers, who know a thing or two about adaptations, are taking the Holmes & Watson template a step further by offering you stories about Holmes and Watson throughout the multiverse.
This intrepid band of writers have placed the archetypal detectives into new genres, new alien worlds, or new historical time periods that may or may not exist. We go from medieval India to futuristic military sleuths, from 12th-century manhunters to gender-swapped consulting detectives, from… well, you get the idea.
These all-new stories are brought to you by a stellar array of writers including Lorraine J. Anderson, David Avallone, Jennifer Brody, Jennifer Brozek, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Teel James Glenn, Ammar Habib, Steven Phillip Jones, Neil Kleid, Gini Koch, Will McDermott, David McDonald, Scott Pearson, John Peel (Doctor Who), Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell, Ben H. Rome, Aaron Rosenberg, Dayton Ward, and Bryan Young.
The anthology will be curated by veteran tie-in authors Robert Greenberger (Star Trek, Thrilling Adventure Yarns), Carrie Harris (Marvel, Warhammer), and David A. McIntee (Doctor Who, Space: 1999).
The International Association of Media Tie-in Writers is an organisation dedicated to writers of licensed fiction all over the world.
Lorraine J. Anderson is a bookkeeper by day and a creative person by night and only confuses the two on rare occasions. Her work has been in a number of anthologies, and her fiction ranges from pure fantasy to murder mysteries. She lives in Michigan with three very naughty cats who redeem themselves with scritches and cuddles. Her official website offers links to her fiction and one of her hobbies, a YouTube channel, which includes her singing in public in front of actual audiences.
David Avallone is a writer and filmmaker. He writes on Batwheels for Warner Brothers Animation, and in 2024 he has a few comic book series on the way, including Elvira meets HP Lovecraft for Dynamite, and his original comic series Drawing Blood, co-created with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creator Kevin Eastman from Image. He hosts a couple of podcasts, including the award-winning The Writers Block. His comic work includes many iconic characters, like Zorro, Vampirella, Red Sonja, The Shadow, Doc Savage, and John Carter/Dejah Thoris. His writing career began with Star Wars stories for the West End role-playing game, and he’s gone back to prose only recently, with short fiction on classic characters Kolchak and Nick Carter.
Jennifer Brody, a.k.a. Vera Strange, is the author of the Disney Chills series, The 13th Continuum trilogy, and the Stoker Finalist Spectre Deep 6, prompting Forbes to call Brody “a star in the graphic novel world.” She is the co-author of All is Found: A Frozen Anthology and Star Wars: Stories of Jedi & Sith, where she penned the Darth Vader story. She’s a graduate of Harvard University, a film/TV producer and writer, and a creative writing instructor. She began her career in Hollywood working for A-List directors and movie studios on many films, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Golden Compass. She lives and writes in Joshua Tree, California.
Jennifer Brozek is an award-winning author, editor, and tie-in writer. A Secret Guide to Fighting Elder Gods, Never Let Me Sleep, and The Last Days of Salton Academy were Bram Stoker Award finalists. She was awarded the Scribe Award for best tie-in Young Adult novel for BattleTech: The Nellus Academy Incident and Grants Pass won an Australian Shadows Award for best-edited publication. A Hugo finalist for Short Form Editor and a finalist for the British Fantasy Award, Jennifer is an active member of SFWA, HWA, and IAMTW. She keeps a tight writing and editing schedule and credits her husband, Jeff, with being the best-sounding board ever.
Keith R.A. DeCandido is an award-winning best-selling author of sixty novels, 100 short stories, and a ton of comic books and nonfiction, including work in more than thirty licensed universes from Alien to Zorro. His most recent tie-in work includes several short stories for Star Trek Explorer magazine (where he’s been a pleasure to work with) and the Resident Evil graphic novel Infinite Darkness: The Beginning.
His original fantasy series Supernatural Crimes Unit will be debuting in the next year from the Weird Tales Presents imprint of Blackstone Publishing. The IAMTW favoured him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, which means he never needs to achieve anything ever again.
Teel James Glenn’s poetry and short stories have been printed in over two hundred magazines, including Weird Tales, Mystery Weekly, Pulp Adventures, Mad, Cirsova, and Sherlock Holmes Mystery. His novel, A Cowboy in Carpathia: A Bob Howard Adventure, won Best Novel 2021 in the Pulp Factory Award. He also won the 2012 Pulp Ark Award for Best Author. He was a finalist for the Derringer Short Mystery Award in 2022.
Robert Greenberger is a writer/editor/teacher who has worked in a variety of genres, both fiction and nonfiction. He has been editing the Thrilling Adventure Yarns anthologies for Crazy 8 Press, among many other projects.
Ammar Habib is a bestselling author from Lake Jackson, Texas. He is the author of 12 books, 27 picture books, and many short stories. Ammar writes in various genres, including historical fiction, historical nonfiction, children’s fiction, and action/thrillers. His most popular novels include The Heart of Aleppo and The Orphans of Kashmir. He has also been featured in several anthologies, including Predator: Eyes of the Demon.
Carrie Harris is an author with over 45 credits in novels, short stories, games, and comics. Her catalogue includes original works such as Bad Taste in Boys and Elder God Dance Squad, as well as licensed books for franchises including Marvel, Warhammer 40k, Arkham Horror, and World of Darkness. Carrie is a three-time Scribe Award finalist, a former coordinator of WriteOnCon, a writing instructor for ELVTR, and an editorial intern for Future House Publishing. She lives in New York with her husband, teenagers, and a very anxious dog named Slartibartfast.
Steven Phillip Jones has written over sixty novels, graphic novels, radio scripts, and non-fiction books for adults and young adults. His best-known credits include the graphic novel series H. P. Lovecraft Worlds, the horror-adventure comics series Nightlinger, and the review text The Clive Cussler Adventures: A Critical Review. A graduate of the University of Iowa, Steven majored in Journalism and Religion and was accepted into Iowa’s prestigious Writers’ Workshop MFA Program. A proud husband and father, Steven currently resides in northern Utah.
Neil Kleid authored the acclaimed graphic novels Ninety Candles, Brownsville, and The Big Kahn, the latter two of which are the first entries in his sequential/narrative exploration of Judaism. With the Alex Nino, Neil adapted Jack London’s novel The Call of The Wild into comics for Penguin Books; did the opposite for the seminal Marvel Comics’ storyline Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt; co-authored (with Brian Michael Bendis) Powers: The Secret History of Deena Pilgrim for Macmillan Books, an original prose novel based on the award-winning comic; and penned The Phoenix Chase, an original X-Men novel for Aconyte Books / Marvel.
Neil also co-authored the young adult food adventure graphic novel Savor for Dark Horse Comics; Kings and Canvas, a boxing fantasy comic with Jake Allen and Frank Reynoso; and both The Panic, a New York subway thriller with Andrea Mutti, and Nice Jewish Boys, a suburban crime comic with John Broglia and Ellie Wright, were released from Comixology Originals. He lives with his wife, kids, dog, and a kosher grill in New Jersey.
Gini Koch is actually Anita Ensal, who has always been intrigued by the possibilities inherent in myths and legends. She likes to find both the fantastical element in the mundane and the ordinary component within the incredible. She writes in all areas of speculative fiction with stories in many fine anthologies out now and upcoming, including Love and Rockets and Boondocks Fantasy from DAW Books, Guilds & Glaives, Portals, and Derelict from Zombies Need Brains, Gunfight on Europa Station from Baen Books, A Dying Planet from Flame Tree Press, The Book of Exodi from Eposic, The Reinvented Heart from CAEZIK SF & Fantasy, and the novella, A Cup of Joe.
Will McDermott, turned a love of science fiction and games into a writing career. He has published nine novels and more than 20 short stories and helped create numerous worlds, characters, and stories for card, board, and video games. His fiction is often set in gaming universes, including Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40K, Renegade Legion Universe, and Mage Wars. He is known for bringing larger-than-life characters alive, including Warhammer’s Kal Jerico and Mad D’onne, Magic’s Balthor the Stout, and, more recently, Night Stalker’s Carl Kolchak. Will’s most recent Night Stalker novel, Hotel of Horror, was published in May 2023.
David McDonald is a mild-mannered editor by day and a wild-eyed writer by night. In 2013, he won the Ditmar Award for Best New Talent, and in 2014, he won the William J. Atheling Jr. Award for Criticism or Review and was shortlisted for the WSFA Small Press Award. His short fiction has appeared in anthologies from publishers such as Moonstone Books, Crazy 8 Press, and Fablecroft Publishing. In 2015, his first movie novelisation, Backcountry, was released by Harper Collins, and his first Marvel novel, Guardians of the Galaxy: Castaways, was published in August 2016. David is a member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, the Horror Writers Association, and the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers.
David A. McIntee is a British writer who’s written many spin-off novels based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, as well as one each based on Final Destination and Space: 1999. He has also written a non-fiction book on Star Trek: Voyager and one jointly on the Aliens and Predator movie franchises. He has written several audio plays and contributed to various magazines, including Dreamwatch, SFX, Star Trek Communicator, Titan’s Star Trek Magazine, Death Ray, and The Official Star Wars Fact Files. He currently writes for the UK’s Asian-entertainment magazine, Neo.
Scott Pearson is a writer and editor working across multiple genres in both traditional and indie publishing. His published works include short stories and novellas in humor, mystery, horror, urban fantasy, science fiction, and various combinations thereof. Scott’s Star Trek fiction appears in anthologies and the eBook exclusive The More Things Change. For several years, he has copyedited the Star Trek novels and edited and written for the Star Trek Adventures role-playing game. His H. G. Wells mash-up, “In the Time of the Martians,” is in the IAMTW anthology Turning the Tied. His most recent publications have been in several volumes of the Castle of Horror anthology series. Two of those stories are set in the Tales of the Weird World War shared world he co-developed with William Leisner. The first book in the series, available in print and eBook, includes two novellas, Scott’s The Big Dark and Bill’s Meet John Doe. They are working on more novellas to come. Scott and his daughter, Ella, cohost the occasional Generations Geek podcast. Scott and his wife, Sandra, live in the wilds of Minnesota.
John Peel was born in Nottingham, England, home of Robin Hood (which may account for his love of adventure stories). He moved to New York in 1981 and remains there today, accompanied by his wife Nan, dog Dickens, and a small flock of lovebirds. His approximately 120 books (he’s too lazy to count them) include novels set in the worlds of Doctor Who, Star Trek, The Outer Limits, and Quantum Leap.
Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell (Chippewa/Red River Métis) is an award-winning tie-in writer/poet. Her work includes novels set in the Marvel Universe and in the world of Dungeons & Dragons Online, as well as numerous short stories, poems, and comic book scripts. She lives in the desert with her family, buried under books.
Ben H. Rome is an award-winning writer, game designer, and communications expert who spent fifteen years editing, writing, and producing BattleTechgame products. He lives in the Washington, D.C., area and is currently the Content Director and editor for the new Renegade Legion Universe.
Aaron Rosenberg is the best-selling, award-winning author of over 50 novels, including the DuckBob SF comedy series, the Relicant Chronicles epic fantasy series, the Areyat Islands fantasy pirate mystery series, the Dread Remora space-opera series, and, with David Niall Wilson, the O.C.L.T. occult thriller series. His tie-in work contains novels for Star Trek, Warhammer, World of WarCraft, Stargate: Atlantis, Shadowrun, Mutants & Masterminds, and Eureka and short stories for The X-Files, World of Darkness, Crusader Kings II, Deadlands, Master of Orion, and Europa Universalis IV. He has written children’s books (including the original series STEM Squad and Pete and Penny’s Pizza Puzzles, the award-winning Bandslam: The Junior Novel and the #1 best-selling 42: The Jackie Robinson Story), educational books on a variety of topics, and over 70 role-playing games (including the original games Asylum, Spookshow, and Chosen, work for White Wolf, Wizards of the Coast, Fantasy Flight, Pinnacle, and many others, the Origins Award-winning Gamemastering Secrets, and the Gold ENnie-winning Lure of the Lich Lord). He is a founding member of Crazy 8 Press. Aaron lives in New York with his family.
Dayton Ward is a New York Times best-selling author or co-author of more than forty novels and novellas, often working with his best friend, Kevin Dilmore. Without him, the Star Trek Explorer magazine fiction, aided by John Doherty, simply wouldn’t happen on my watch as the title’s current editor, for which I’m very grateful.
His short fiction has appeared in more than twenty anthologies, and he’s written for magazines such as NCO Journal, Kansas City Voices, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Star Trek, and Star Trek Communicator, as well as the websites Tor.com, StarTrek.com, and Syfy.com.
Bryan Young works across many different media. His work as a writer and producer has been called “filmmaking gold” by The New York Times. He’s also published comic books with Slave Labor Graphics and Image Comics. He’s been a regular contributor for the Huffington Post, StarWars.com, Star Wars Insider magazine, SYFY, /Film, and was the founder and editor-in-chief of the geek news and review site Big Shiny Robot.
In 2014, he wrote the critically acclaimed history book A Children’s Illustrated History of Presidential Assassination. He co-authored Robotech: The Macross Saga RPG and has written two books in the BattleTech Universe: Honor’s Gauntlet and A Question of Survival. His latest book, The Big Bang Theory Book of Lists, is a #1 bestseller on Amazon. His work has won two Diamond Quill awards, and in 2023, he was named Writer of the Year by the League of Utah Writers. He teaches writing for Writer’s Digest, Script Magazine, and at the University of Utah.
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Books, Crowd Funding Projects, downthetubes News, Other Worlds
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Thanks very much for the signal boost, John, along with your very kind words. 🙂
Thanks very much for the signal boost, and for kind words!