After another expedition of the 221st Southumberland Waffleers to the Waffle House just off the Fairburn/Peachtree City exit of interstate 85, with two Ericas, a Max, and a Rob joining the standard Steve and Rich, Saturday of 221B Con 2025 started at 10 AM. I almost got distracted by Brian Belanger and the Belanger Books table, which has been doing brisk business. (Currently worried he’s going to sell out of a few things before I get back.) But my 10 AM goal was my first assignment as a 221B Con volunteer.
There are many duties of 221B Con volunteers, but as a newbie, I got the role of the person who sits in the back of a panel and closes the door after ten minutes, then signals when the speakers have five minutes left.
One thing I love about this con is the surprises, the panels I wouldn’t think I’d be into but then get surprised. The panel I’ve been assigned to sit in the back of the room on is “The Terror: Your New Favorite Show.” For those unfamiliar with 221B Con at this point, yes, there are several panels that aren’t about Sherlock Holmes. But still very worth attending.
This one begins with some Powerpoint and the first slide reads: “The Franklin Expedition, or how imperial hubris killed 129 people (and one monkey)” -- we get a verbal addition of “and also a dog and some ship’s cats.” This isn’t just TV show talk, this is about all the historical background upon which the show is based, the archeological finds that have come after the lost ships were finally found. The doomed Victorians that filled those ships and the TV show based upon them may not be Sherlockian Canon, but close enough and very cool.
I’ll be honest, I watched the first episode and thought it was a Dracula show, then figured out that it wasn’t and gave up. This panel is convincing me what a dummy I can be. Also, I’m currently reading The Ministry of Time: A Novel by Kaliane Bradley, a novel where a ship commander from the Franklin expedition was brought forward to the modern day with a time machine.
This is really a fun presentation as we get a walk through the characters/historical personages in a clever, clever way.
The next panel is “How to Succeed as a Sherlockian Publisher” featuring Brian Belanger, introduced and hosted by Johanna Carlson-Draper. Since this is the tenth anniversary of Belanger Books and they have nicely jumped in as a sponsor of the con, it's a natural. Brian was pulled into the publishing and Sherlockian world by his brother Derrick, who isn't here, so we're getting a fun perspective on the whole endeavor. This session is more of an interview than a presentation, which is usually a more organic info-dump, and with Brian, this is perfect. Belanger Books has been selling a lot of books here and it sound like they'll definitely be back next year.
"Are there any books you wish you hadn't published?" is a great question, and Brian gentlemanly avoids naming names and still gives a good answer, even though Steve Mason tries to derail his answer from the peanut gallery and bring up Waffle House. (The peanut gallery is Rudy Altergott, Steve Mason, and Rich Krisciunas, sitting directly behind me.) The follow-up, "book you wish you had published" takes us to Mark Frost's works, and I remember how much I liked those. Cover art, the variety of books they've published, pastiche versus fanfic, sticking with your writing . . . some good perspectives.
I get a half hour break before "A Timeline of the Holmes/Watson Partnership No Matter When" after this, so I need to start thinking ahead.
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