Letters From the Labyrinth 92

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Sometimes, I forget that I'm slowly going blind in one eye.
I forget most of the time, actually. I think that's because I've grown used to compensating for it. It doesn't bother for me for months, and then something will happen that reminds me. Like yesterday, during the Scares That Care board meeting. I'm sitting there with all the other directors and volunteers, and I keep thinking there's a smudge on my laptop screen, when in fact, it is not. Or this morning, sitting here in my office, and my glasses are foggy. This is perfectly logical. It's 6:00am as I write this, and the humidity is already insane. You can feel it rolling in off the river, and hovering above the grass and trees. Except when I go to wipe the fog off my glasses, it doesn't go away -- because it's not my glasses.
I haven't gotten the operation because A) It's very expensive and I have no health insurance, and B) Because it a slow progression They've been telling me this since I was thirty. They keep saying "within five years". Here I am twenty years later, and they're sill saying "within five years". And granted, it's getting closer, but I reckon i can squeeze a few more years out of it, and C) Given my past lifestyle, I reckon there are many other things -- a heart attack, cancer, or a crazed fan with a gun -- who will kill me before I go blind.
Another factor is the fact that from the moment I wake up until the time I go to bed, I'm managing pain. Carpal tunnel, arthritis, and the weird phantom pain that comes from a lifetime of punching and kicking and being punched and kicked. That pain builds throughout the day (Mary will tell you how much fun I am come 9 or 10 at night), so a lot of times, that pain blocks out any other nuisances, like blurry vision.
Good morning. This is Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter full of joy and good tidings from me, Brian Keene.
How are you?
This is a working weekend for me, and God knows I needed one. My oldest son is off doing things with his girlfriend. My youngest son is off doing things with his mother. Mary is up in New Jersey doing things with her family. And I'm sitting here knocking things out.
Last Wednesday, I finished the season finales to SILVERWOOD: THE DOOR season one. I'm very proud of it. I think it's my favorite of my work since THE COMPLEX.
On Thursday I wrote a new chapter of THE SEVEN: THE LABYRINTH Book One. It's up on Patreon now. We're rocketing toward the conclusion of this first volume, and I think I've mentioned this before but if not -- it feels like a homecoming, this final part. Returning to the collider where THE RISING began... it's like everything coming full circle. And having Frankie (from THE RISING series), Teddy (from the EARTHWORM GODS series), The Exit (from THE COMPLEX and various short stories), Tony (from the CLICKERS series and various short stories), Bloom (from "Babylon Falling" and THE LAST ZOMBIE), LeHorn (from DARK HOLLOW and various short stories), and Lucifer standing there inside the collider -- getting ready to reseal the Void and start battling across the multiverse... well, it's a lot of fun.
On Thursday night, the latest episode of THE HORROR SHOW WITH BRIAN KEENE went live. This one is blowing up, ratings-wise -- for several reasons. Listen for free right here or on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play Music, etc.
On Friday, we had a writer's room conference call for SILVERWOOD: THE DOOR. I got the edits back for the season finale. I'll be making those changes today.
On Saturday, we had the Scares That Care board meeting. That took most of the day. The doorknob to my office broke during that meeting, so afterward, I went to Home Depot to buy a replacement. there, I was informed that they don't make doorknobs like that anymore, and I'd need to buy a new door. I don't have the money for a new door (see last week's newsletter) right now, so I left. On the way home, I got popped for doing 55 in a 40 zone (totally my fault -- I was listening to Quiet Riot and had spaced out), but the cop cut me a break, and the fine is only $150. Which is the price of the new door Home Depot wants to sell me. By the time I got home, it was dark, so I went fishing. Didn't catch anything. Got bitten by bugs.
Today I'm finishing those season finale edits on SILVERWOOD: THE DOOR and working on a short story I owe Matt Hayward. At 3pm I'll take a break to go watch my youngest son and his mother march in the local Memorial Day parade (with our Scout troop). Then I'll come back here and write more.
Tomorrow, it's Matt Hayward's story until completion. Then we head into next week, which is work on collaborations with Bev Vincent, Bryan Smith, and Wrath James White, and programming schedules for August's Scares That Care Charity Convention, and record new episodes of The Horror Show with Brian Keene and Defenders Dialogue. If a check arrives, I'd like to ship out a bunch of stuff that's sitting here -- lifetime subscriber books and such. And also pay my speeding ticket and buy a door.
If a check doesn't arrive, I'll just keep writing until one does.
A reminder that I'll be signing with Mary, Stephen Kozeniewski, and Wesley Southard on June 9 from noon to 3pm at Protean Books & Records 836 Leadenhall St Baltimore, MD 21230.
Each author will have books for sale at the event. you can also bring books from home to be signed (although we encourage you to support the store with a purchase while you are there).
Behind the scenes, we are prepping this year's Maelstrom set. If you're a new reader, Maelstrom is my collectors imprint through Thunderstorm Books. The key word there is collectors. These are signed limited edition hardcovers designed for the collectible market. Each year, it features a book length work by me, a novella by me, and a book length work by an author who I think the collectible market needs to pay more attention to (because the collectible market can be very lucrative for an author).
This year's selections are a novel by Michael T. Huyck Jr., a novella by me called THE TRIANGLE OF BELIEF, and CURSE OF THE BASTARDS by myself and Stephen L. Shrewsbury.
Mikey's novel is done and in production. Shrews is finishing the first drft of CURSE right now. And I've got about half of TRIANGLE written.
Teasers (because I'm not officially allowed to talk about any of them yet):
THE LAST ZOMBIE was a 25-issue comic book series I wrote several years ago, published by Antarctic Press. It looks like there will be new life in it some time next year, via another format (not more comics). Finger crossed.
I'M DREAMING OF A WHITE DOOMSDAY is a feature length horror film written and directed by Mike Lombardo and executive produced by me, currently making the rounds and winning awards on the film festival circuit. Looks like we'll be able to announce a distribution deal soon, and you should be able to get it on DVD and Blu-Ray by this Christmas. Fingers crossed.
A reminder that END OF THE ROAD IS UP FOR ORDER
END OF THE ROAD is a memoir, travelogue, and post-Danse Macabre examination of modern horror fiction, the people who write it, and the world we live—and die—in. Exhilarating, emotional, heartfelt, and at times hilarious, END OF THE ROAD is a must-read for fans of the horror genre. Introduction by Gabino Iglesias.
Published as a Signed Hardcover Limited Edition:
• Limited to just 750 signed and hand-numbered copies
• Personally signed by the author on a unique signature page
• Retail price just $40!
• Printed on 60# acid-free paper
• Bound in full-cloth with colored head and tail bands
• Featuring hot foil stamping on the front boards and spine
• Printed and bound with full-color endpapers
• Smyth sewn to create a more durable binding
• Wrapped in a full-color dust jacket
• Limited ONE TIME printing of this special edition
• No other editions planned at this time!
SPECIAL BONUS ITEM WITH PURCHASE!
Every copy of this book purchased on CemeteryDance.com will include a FREE special bonus Limited Edition chapbook, On the Road with Brian Keene by John Urbancik. Just reserve End of the Road via this page and we’ll automatically send you the chapbook with your order!
That's it for this week. As always:
PATREON - Where I post new short stories, writing advice essays, a serialized ongoing novel, and behind-the-scenes stuff. New short story going up there today or tomorrow!
TWITTER - The only social media outlet I still use regularly.
See you back here next week.