[Letters From the Labyrinth] Official Brian Keene Newsletter

I'm Brian Keene and this is Letters From the Labyrinth, a newsletter for fans of my work.

Previous issues are archived here.

The holidays are upon us again. Traditionally, the months of November, December, and January are when I seem to get the most work done. The rest of my industry tends to stop working during these months, and as a result, they leave me the hell alone. I get fewer emails, fewer text messages, and fewer phone calls, which means I can focus.

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

I signed off on the galleys of RETURN TO THE LOST LEVEL and CLICKERS FOREVER this week. The former will be released in paperback, e-book, and audiobook early next year from Apex. The latter will be released as a signed hardcover from Thunderstorm Books in January (and sold out during the pre-order phase), and then in paperback and e-book from Deadite Press later next year.

In my office, there are 16 boxes of books for Lifetime Subscribers that I need to sign over the next few weeks. I'm also finishing up an exclusive chapbook for them, as well.

PROJECT: CEREAL will probably get announced in the next few weeks. I completed and turned in the series bible, and am ready to start showrunning. Three writers have been selected for the team. We are negotiating with a fourth.

Progress on the final draft of THE MOTEL AT THE END OF THE WORLD is going well. This novella will be released in a book I'm writing with Bev Vincent called DISSONANT HARMONIES.

THE SEVEN: THE LABYRINTH, BOOK ONE is beginning its final act, over on Patreon. When that novel is finished, the second book in The Labyrinth series will begin.

INVISIBLE MONSTERS, SUBURBAN GOTHIC, DEAD AIR, and THE FALL: THE RISING V are in various stages of progress. INVISIBLE MONSTERS will be the next one to be finished.

Steven L. Shrewsbury is hard at work on the first draft of CURSE OF THE BASTARDS.

Bryan Smith is working on our collaboration, FUCKED.

BENEATH THE LOST LEVEL is in a rough developmental stage (meaning I've jotted down notes but haven't started writing it yet).

An untitled Kaiju novella is also in its developmental stage.

LOVE LETTERS FROM A NIHILIST and DUETS WITH THE DEVIL (The Complete Short Fiction of Brian Keene Volumes 3 and 4) are being compiled. Mary SanGiovanni will write the Introduction to the third.

Monday, November 20
2 PM - 3:15 PM
Frederick Community College
Center for Student Engagement
Conference Center, room E126

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and FREE TO ATTEND

Are you a writer wanting to be published? Join Brian Keene, Mary SanGiovanni, Damien Angelica Walters, Lesley Conner, and JP Sloan to learn tips of the trade! Q&A period will follow the panel discussion. Authors’ books will be available for purchase at the event.

Working my way through Netflix's THE PUNISHER (didn't binge-watch it, because I have my son this weekend, and as a parent, I don't feel it is appropriate viewing material for him).

It's obvious the showrunners drew inspiration from Mike Baron's 80s version, and Garth Ennis's iconic run (the Gnuccis and even the words "Welcome back, Frank" are all over the first episode), and also from the psychopath depicted by writers like Frank Miller and Gerry Conway. But there is also a lot of the noir, psychology and humanizing flourishes that Greg Rucka, Duane Swierczynski, Steven Grant, and Tom Piccirilli (during his all-too brief one shot) brought to the character.

Jon Bernthal does a fantastic job of bringing this broken antihero to life, and it's great to see him play off other regular human beings rather than people in costumes (as in DAREDEVIL season 2).

The early episodes offer a very nuanced examination and depiction of PTSD in a way most films -- even war films -- do not. Episode 2 has a scene of Frank sitting in a diner, eating. Bernthal is constantly in motion, even when sitting completely still. He's not just "twitchy" -- he's vibrating, without moving. Amazing performance to watch. This is contrasted with the plight of a young soldier also suffering from PTSD, but manifested in a completely different way. Really well-done storytelling.

It's also, for the most part, divorced from the rest of the Marvel Netflix continuity, except for appearances by Karen Page and Turk, and (in flashbacks) Major Schoonover.

If you are a comic book fan, this is -- in my opinion -- the best, truest adaptation of the character yet.

If you are not a comic book fan, this show is what people like myself are talking about when we say, "Comic books aren't just superheroes, ya know."

People are starting to ask about my annual Top Ten Books of the Year list.

Yes, I will be doing one for 2017. (I didn't last year, because my eyesight had deteriorated to the point where I was very behind on my reading, but that problem has been temporarily alleviated).

It will air first on my podcast, the first week of January 2018, and will then be reprinted on my website.

That's it for this week. A few reminders:

PATREON - Where I post new short stories, a serialized ongoing novel, and behind-the-scenes stuff.

TWITTER - The only social media outlet I still use regularly.

See you next Sunday!