Next Project: The Giant Rat of the Sumatra

 

"...for which the world is not yet prepared", according to Sherlock Holmes himself.

And yet here I am telling it... or at least ONE writers idea of how it went.

In the last two year, I've attempted to have at least one new Sherlock Holmes comic book or graphic novel completed in time for 221B Con in Atlanta. Last year I happened to get TWO done in time. For those projects I decided to adapt two of the Basil Rathbone radio plays. This year I decided to choose the radio adaptation of The Giant Rat of the Sumatra. 

Originally, I wanted to have it completed in time for A Parallel Case of St. Louis this past July. But I found I wouldn't have had the book finished and printed off in time for the conference. So I shifted gears and worked on my short Doctor Who comic with my friend and writer Lee Shackleford for LI Who. Unlike last year, I DID get it finished and make copies in time for the convention in August.

So, now that I have pretty much recovered from travels, I started work on the pages for the Giant Rat again. And like my previous comic book projects, I am currently serializing them on my Patreon page.

As I mentioned in a prior blog post, I'm using what I earn on my Patreon page to help fund the print costs for said books when I do shows and conventions. I'm not attached to a big (or even small) name publisher or fabulously wealthy. So much like your local PBS Station (mine is WGBH Channel 2 Boston or WGBX Channel 44) the contributions I get from support on Patreon does help out. And I am grateful for that kindness. 

Memberships start at a mere $3. But I also try to give a little extra incentive for the $10 tier where if you become a member at that level, you WILL get a copy of that book when it goes to print.

Click on the link below to check out my Patreon and consider becoming a subscriber!! 

The House of Hasenpatt

Okay, enough of the pledge drive rigamarole. You get the idea.

I'm up to about page six of the project. I'm hoping to have it all done by the end of September and up on Lulu by early October sometime. Although, I've still have a few books available through Amazon's Kindle Direct (formerly Createspace), I've been trying to have more and more of my work available via Lulu.com because I think they have a much better print quality than Amazon does. 

But I have a list of all the books I currently have available either in print or as an ebook on the side bar to the right. So click on the link of the book to check out the book you're interested in. 

I'm also going to showcase a book of mine each month. Both new releases as well as books of mine I just want you to check out. So watch this space.

Collaborator Shout Outs: Paul Loudon and Daniel Miller

 I've done a couple of projects over the past couple years where I felt like I needed to take a back seat in the art department and handed over the wheel to two VERY talented artists. 

The first is Paul Loudon. 

I discovered Paul's work on deviantart (which I haven't used in ages) and I felt like his style was absolutely perfect for the steampunk Alice in Wonderland project I had written. It was Paul who suggested the brilliant title Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland. 

Paul is still doing amazing work and you can see all his new projects on Instagram.

Daniel Miller I've known since college. Incredibly talented artist and we share a love for sarcastic humor. I knew he was the artist I wanted to work on Polly and Handgraves with when I decided to reboot the story I initially published. The one Daniel and I did was vastly superior than the one I released back in 2008.

Here's where you can order the projects we worked on:

Alice and the Invaders From Wonderland

And: 

Polly and Handgraves Investigates: A Sinister Aura Books One and Two

A much needed beach day.

 

Second Beach in Middletown RI is my wife and my go to beach day destination. We had our honeymoon down in Newport back in 2011. It's an area we both love.

I'm old now. I can look however the hell I want.

It's been a couple years since we had a proper beach day. Most of my Summers (including this one) have been spent traveling. So with August nearly in the rear view mirror, it's nice to get at least one day in by the ocean and get a nice lungful of salty sea air.

Also maybe do a little sketching and reading. And perhaps a lobster roll before the day is done

Trying to think of a couple cover ideas for my next Sherlock Holmes graphic novella while I take in the scenery.

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

 The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes is one of my favorite films. But originally there was supposed to a lot more to it. But were probablt cut for time. And to be honest, the intended deleted scenes actually sounded great. Some of them either only exist as silent film while others only exist as audio and production photos.

Movie studios weren't as precious about keeping deleted scenes as they are now. But I was able to find a script online which did contain the scenes ultimately removed from the final film.

My dream project would be to do a graphic novel of the Private Life of Sherlock Holmes which includes ALL the scenes left on the cutting room floor.

I started towards doing that by adapting one if those scenes into a quick comic book which I brought to 221B Con a couple years ago. 

Cover seen above. 

But I may try to adapt another scenes before 221B Con next year. We shall see...

You Came a Long Way from St. Louis (as the song goes)

 Late July I did what was probably my longest journey. Which I think beat out both Atlanta and Chicago by an hour or so going to my very first Sherlock Holmes conference in St. Louis. 

I had a lot of fun. Met a lot of great fellow Sherlockians. Did a few nice commissions. And I got to see the World's Fair Exhibit at the Historical Museum.

Unlike my last trips, I decided to break my journey into three separate stops. First in Ohio, and then Indiana before finally making it to my destination. The last couple years to Atlanta, I'd drive 13 hours to North Carolina before making it to Atlanta. And its honestly exhausting. Doing this definitely helped. But here are a few highlights from my trip out to the Midwest. 

My room in Indiana. Honestly, it was like the Happines Hotel from the Great Muppet Caper. I was waiting for rats dressed as bellhops to take my bags. They offered a continental breakfast. But after smelling vomit in the lobby I thought I'd pass. A Danish out of a machine at a rest stop was a safer choice.

My very first Steak and Shake. My wife has coworkers from the Midwest that swear by them. Still not sure what makes a steak burger any different taste-wise. It tasted no different than any other fast food hamburger. Which I liked. But it was light-years better than McDonald's. And their claim to fame is shakes and cooking all their French fries in beef tallow. Which was fine but didn't seem any different than anywhere else. But I enjoyed it.

My room in St. Louis was an improvement. Not a vast improvement but no vomit smell is an improvement of some kind.

Of course when I'm out of state, I stop at White Castle. I got my first on my way back from Indiana. 

By far my best room was on my way back when I stayed at a Motel 6 in Ohio. Opted for Popeyes Chicken instead of Bob Evans. One day I'll try a Bob Evans. I mean, I've seen enough of his mashed potatoes and mac n cheese in the grocery store. 

Made a quick pit stop at a rest area in Worcester New York. Took this photo for my Worcester Massachusetts friends.

Redecorating...

 After having the same look for I've lost track how many years I thought it was time to change up the look of the old blog. Also noticing many of the links listed as well as restuarant recommendations are horribly out of date. I'll be fixing that as well. So, watch this space!!

Back to work... so to speak

End of July and August ended up being busy for me. I ended up traveling to three shows where at the beginning of the year I was only supposed to travel to two. But the invitation to A Parallel Case of St. Louis's big Sherlock Haunts! conference was too tempting to pass up. 

The one thing I regret about the St. Louis trip is not being able to see The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes on the big screen. People who know me (but I won't assume you know me from a hole in the wall) know that is one of my favorite Sherlock Holmes movies of all time and Robert Stephens is on my favorite Sherlock list along with Jeremy Brett, Peter Cushing, Nicol Williamson and John Neville.

I have a whole Private Life of Sherlock Holmes blog prepared, so stay tuned for that.

So I had to put a project on hold while I worked on sketches for that conference as well as the short comic I did with friend Lee Shackleford for LI Who. 

The comic in question. 👆

But I've completed my last convention until late September and I've begun work on another Sherlock Holmes adaptation.  

This time it's an adaptation of a radio play of the Giant Rat of the Sumatra which starred Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. 

It's funny how many attempts they've made to tell a story which I feel like Conan Doyle had no interest in telling. 

But I'm going to try anyway. 

I'm hoping to have this ready for next year's 221B Con. And like my previous projects it WILL BE serialized on my Patreon page first. Click on the link below to become a member. 👇 

The House of Hasenpatt