My introduction to Lane and his work was by fortunate chance

I hate to admit it, but I wasn’t aware of the books of Andrew Lane until my wife and I watched the Amazon Prime streaming video miniseries, “Young Sherlock,” which I later learned was inspired by Lane’s books and developed and partially directed by Guy Ritchie.

We greatly enjoyed the miniseries so we did a search to learn more, especially about whether a second season was in the works. We found out that while it wasn’t definite, it seemed likely since the first season was one of the most popular series aired.I also found out that Andrew Lane has for many years been a popular and successful author, journalist and screen writer.

Lane’s background connects with my interests

Lane was born in Britain in 1963, when I was still in high school. He attended the University of Warwick. He currently lives in Hampshire with his wife and son, and has written a number of popular book series published in the UK, the USA and many other countries around the world in translated editions (something that I as an author also hope to achieve).

Learning about his readership

Most of his books feature teenage main characters and are in the young adult category. His Young Sherlock Holmes series has eight books in it: “Death Cloud,” “Red Leech,” “Black Ice,” “Fire Storm,” Snake Bite,” “Knife Edge,” “Stone Cold,” and “Night Break.” All have different titles and a different publisher in the USA.

I can tell that he’s been inspired by a number of classic books, as well as preferring the young adult genre. His other book series include “Lost Worlds,” about a teenage Professor Challenger set in modern times, “Crusoe – Dawn of Spies” about a teenage Robinson Crusoe and teenage girl named Friday, also set in modern times. His Young Adult books are generally published under the name Andrew Lane, while media spin-offs are by Andy Lane.

His versatility spans a global audience

Interestingly to me, he has also written audio dramas for Big Finish based on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, and spin-off novels too. I’m a Doctor Who fan also, so these sound like fun.

Macmillan Children’s Books in the UK has published two series of young adult novels by him, while Adaptive Books in the USA has published a third young adult series. Piccadilly Children’s Books has published a fourth series, called “Agent Without Licence” (or AWOL) – about Kieron Mellor, a loner and ’emo’ living in Newcastle who accidentally gets pulled into working with an agent of MI-6 and having dangerous adventures in England and abroad.

Ravensburger in Germany is publishing a fifth series titled Secret Protector, which follows the adventures of Lukas Crowe as he travels around America and Europe, trying to stay ‘under the radar’ but accidentally getting involved in high-tech, high-action adventures. This intrigued me since a character named Amyus Crowe character is also in his Young Sherlock Holmes books, and in a lesser way even in the Guy Ritche miniseries. Ravensburger (what a cool name!) is also doing a sixth series titled “Sherlock & You.” Aimed at 8-12 -year-olds, it is about the great-great-great-grandson of Sherlock Holmes and the great-great-great-grand-daughter of his best friend Doctor Watson solving crimes from a secret base beneath the streets of London.

Looking ahead

I personally can’t wait to see what this prolific writer will come up with next! My wife and I are eagerly awaiting the second season of “Young Sherlock,” and are planning to read more of Lane’s original novels.