Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle was born in May 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland to Irish Catholic parents of meager means. He was sent to boarding schools at the age of nine, an institutional experience he came to despise as cruel and medieval. He pursued his own education in medicine and botany at the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Botanic Garden while also initiating a modest interest in writing short stories. His first published piece, “The Mystery of Sasassa Valley,” was published in September 1879, the same month as his first academic article, “Gelsemium as a Poison.” It seemed that the direction of his interests were set early in his career…

After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and a Master of Surgery degree, he pursued a medical practice for several years, first as a ship’s surgeon on the SS Mayumba and later through an independent practice in Portsmouth. But business was slow, so he returned to writing fiction while waiting for patients. His first work featuring Sherlock Holmes, “A Study in Scarlet,” was written in three weeks with all rights sold to the publisher for a meager fee. It wasn’t until the character's popularity grew evident that Doyle realized his mistake -- he began writing more short stories featuring the character for a new publisher, Strand Magazine. Eventually, the task of feeding their hunger for more Holmes tales started to wear on him, and he raised his prices in an attempt to discourage the demand, but his rate continued to be met making him one of the best-paid authors of his time.

Outside of writing, he led a colorful life mixing academic interests in politics, law, and the paranormal with interests in sports and architecture. He served as a physician during the Second Boer War and wrote a book defending the crown’s participation, for which he was knighted by King Edward VII in 1902. He was also quite fascinated by mystical spiritualism and psychic phenomena, even writing a two-volume book on The History of Spiritualism in 1926.

After a full and fascinating life, Doyle suffered a heart attack at the age of 71 and passed away on July 7, 1930.

Born in 1864, Maurice Marie Emile Leblanc grew up in Scotland having been sent there for safety during the Franco-German War of 1870. Upon returning to France to complete his studies in Rouen as a teenager, he met noted authors Gustave Flaubert and Guy de Maupassant, inspiring a desire to become a writer. He headed to Paris in 1888 and began his career as a journalist and storyteller with his first novel, “Une femme” published in 1893. He continued to write books and plays through the turn of the century, including the autobiographical “L’Enthousiasme.” In 1905, however, a seemingly simple short story commission would prove to be his legacy. Requested to write a “Sherlock Holmes-like” tale for the magazine Je Sais Tout, he produced the first Arsène Lupin short story which instantly captured the public’s interest. He was immediately commissioned to write more tales featuring the character, and within two years collected the first novel, ARSENE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN THIEF.  A second collection of short stories followed, and his success was firmly established. He received a Legion of Honor award in 1908 while continuing to invent new adventures for his popular anti-hero. He tried to repeat the success with new characters, but none matched the popularity of Lupin. He even tried to kill Lupin in a 1910 story, “813”, but ultimately revived him in a follow-up tale not long after. In 1939, as Nazi Germany threatened to invade, he took refuge in Perpignan, where he died of pneumonia in 1941. So revered as a national treasure, his body was exhumed from Perpignan and reburied in Paris at the Montparnasse cemetery in 1947.

Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh Scotland during the frigid winter of 1850 to a devout lighthouse engineer and his wife. While lighthouse engineering was a family profession, he chose a different path: as a storyteller. He included law in his studies and was admitted to the bar, but he never formally practiced law, choosing instead to follow the muse of writing, be it novella, poetry, or essay. He made numerous connections during his exploratory wanderings of Europe, including a chance meeting of the woman who would become his wife, Fanny Osbourne. She was fleeing her American husband's infidelity with an art study in France when their paths crossed, and even though the relationship started as a friendship, she remained in his thoughts even when she returned to the States, so much so that he eventually crossed the country by train to be with her. The trip nearly killed him, and even though he recovered within a year, the experience gave him plenty of time to conceive of many stories. By the time they eventually married, he was "a mere complication of cough and bones, much fitter for an emblem of mortality than a bridegroom." They moved several times between Scotland and the States before settling down in Southern England. He grew largely bedridden but very prolific, writing the bulk of his most popular work, including Treasure Island, Kidnapped, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and various other pieces.

Still seeking a climate that might restore his health, he spent nearly three years wandering the Eastern and Central Pacific, spending great periods in the Hawaiian Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand, and the Samoan Islands. He and his wife eventually settled in Samoa where he took the native name Tusitala (Samoan for "Teller of Tales"). He wrote more words there than anywhere else, most of them addressing the cultural observations and injustices he witnessed toward the various Polynesian peoples from the other emerging world powers such as Europe and America.

He died at the age of 44 from a stroke.

Vincent Mallie was born in 1973 and spent his youth copying the artwork inside his favorite comics. He continued to refine his art through graphic design schools and workshops before publishing his first comic work, “Hong Kong Triad” with high school friend Joel Parnotte. That series was so well received it was reprinted several times, leading to other projects with major publishers such as Soleil, Glenat, and Vents d’ouest. His most prominent series to date has been Le Grand Mort, an 8-volume series with writers Regis Loisel and Jean-Blaise Djian. In the meantime, however, he has also refined his work to be featured in numerous gallery exhibits throughout Europe, elevating his approachable, animated style to fine art. His most recent work is “Tenebreuse”, a medieval tale written by the late Hubert Boulard (The Ogre Gods Saga). His recent adaptation of Maurice LeBlanc's classic mystery novel ARSENE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN THIEF was enthusiastically received, leading to these companion projects featuring Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Jekyll.