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Author Spotlight
Spring 2010 --- Thomas Bruce Wheeler
Thomas Bruce Wheeler first became interested with Sherlock Holmes as a teenager. As a member and former president of the Memphis Sherlock Holmes club and with more than thirty visits to London’s historical attractions, Wheeler has become an expert on all things dealing with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's London. Wheeler’s book, The New Finding Sherlock’s London: Travel Guide to Over 300 Sherlock Holmes Sites in London, has garnered significant media attention, especially following the December release of the movie, Sherlock Holmes.
iU: Why did you decide to write about Sherlock Holmes? Have you always been a fan?
TW: I discovered Sherlock Holmes over sixty years ago, in the Basil Rathbone movies. As a teenager I read all sixty Sherlock Holmes adventures and became fascinated with the character. In the early 1980s my wife and I started visiting London, and over the years have made over thirty visits. Identifying the London sites mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes adventures, and the new TV shows with Jeremy Brett, renewed my interest. I am a member, and former president, of the Memphis Sherlock Holmes Club (The Giant Rats of Sumatra), and a member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London.
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My objective in writing the new book was to provide the best – and most useful – travel guide for Sherlock Holmes fans visiting London, and to provide a comprehensive Sherlock Holmes reference book for fans everywhere.
iU: What makes exploring Sherlock Holmes’ London the ideal vacation destination?
TW: London is one of the most popular cities for international travelers. It has everything for tourists: pageantry, shopping, fine dining, theater and history. One aspect of historical London is Sherlock Holmes. There is a Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street, and the Sherlock Holmes Pub on Northumberland Street, plus two Sherlock Holmes walking tours. My book identifies more than 300 sites, and explains their significance in the Sherlock Holmes adventures, as well as cross-references them by modern underground stations.
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iU: You have received considerable press coverage regarding your book. How has the recent movie and the media influenced your book’s success?
TW: I have received thousands of dollars worth of free publicity because of the new Sherlock Holmes movie. In the past nine months, large articles on Sherlock’s London, me and the book have been published in over twenty-five major newspapers and journals worldwide. In the United States they include: The Boston Herald, The Buffalo News, The Charlotte Observer, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Miami Herald, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Pittsburg Post Gazette, to name a few.
iU: Do you have any advice for other authors who seek news coverage?
TW: I received some critical reviews before the newspaper buzz started on the new movie. I think I was fortunate to have a book on a subject for which there is general interest, in a year when a new high-budget movie was released.
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iU: How have Sherlockian societies and other fans of the detective responded to your book?
TW: I was fortunate to have some well-known Sherlockians praise my book, such as Roger Johnson, the editor of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London’s newsletter, and Peter E. Blau, editor of the Spermaceti Press in Bethesda, Md. I was also fortunate to have the book placed in the permanent collection of the Marylebone Branch of the Westminster Library in London. They have the world’s most famous, and comprehensive, collection of all things Sherlockian.
iU: Why did you decide to self publish?
TW: I am retired and was not a professional writer. Without a reputation, or a literary agent, I selected self publishing as an easy way to get my foot in the door.
