[Letters From the Labyrinth] Brian Keene
Hi. I'm Brian Keene, and this is the 146th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth -- a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues are archived here.
I'm eschewing the usual format this week, and opting instead for a hopefully entertaining essay.
I'm doing that for several reasons. Among them are the fact that I am hungover, something that rarely happens. Also because episode 6 of THOR: METAL GODS is due tomorrow and I'm not finished yet, and I have a short story about blasphemy and a novella about my two occult detectives Levi Stoltzfus and Don Bloom due elsewhere by the end of this month -- and I am working on all three of them today.
But mostly because I'm hungover.
Author, poet, photographer, globe-trotting adventurer, and one of my dearest friends -- John Urbancik -- got into town yesterday. He'll be staying with Mary and I for about a month. John needed fed after the road, so I made citrus-seasoned tilapia and asparagus spears, garlic, and oregano sauteed in olive oil.
(Brian Keene's recipe for tilapia -- squirt fresh citrus over the tilapia. Really drench it. Then put it in the oven at 375 degrees until it's done. The way to tell if it is done is to pull it out and ask the other people, "Does this look done?")
After dinner, we went to see Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which I really enjoyed. All of Tarantino's style and flash and quirks are in full effect with this movie, but it is also surprisingly tender, introspective, and earnest. I think it might be my favorite of his work -- certainly my favorite since the early films. But I'm also seeing something interesting occur among my friends and peer group. The age of the viewer seems to indicate whether they will like this one or not. It's a movie about getting old, and fearing that your best days are behind you, and finding the grace and balance to do your final act. People my age, like Bryan Smith or John Urbancik for example, seem to find those things resonating with them after the film. Younger viewers, like our buddy Wesley Southard, do not. Now, this isn't a scientific study. Just an observation. I could be wrong. But I'll be interested to read the thoughts of others as more see it.
Here is a selfie from the movie theater. If it doesn't obliterate your inbox, then this essay will continue after, and stick around for that, because things get fun.
So, after we got home, I broke out the bourbon. As you know doubt know, John recently lost the most important person in his life. I have found that the way I deal with that is to drink. So we drank a bottle of Woodford Reserve and most of a bottle of Knob Creek. And that is why I am hungover this morning.
Turns out that Mary had a much better way to help. It involved talking, and I went to bed very late and fell asleep listening to her talking John through some things, and it reminded me of why I love her and why I fell in love with her in the first place.
(Don't tell her I said that, though. I want her to wake up and see it here when she reads the newsletter).
So, that was yesterday. For the rest of the week, I've pretty much just been working. It was a very productive seven days.
*I got back from vacation last Sunday. I posted some pics from that vacation on my Blog. Click here to see them.
*I sold one of J.F. Gonzalez's finished but unpublished short stories.
*I worked quite a bit on THOR: METAL GODS.
*I recorded and posted a new episode of The Horror Show with Brian Keene. Click here to listen. It might be the most important episode we've done all year. The Cosplay Survivor Support Network is something the convention industry really needs, and props to this young woman for building it.
*I finally crystallized exactly what my first western novel is going to be about, and wrote the first chapter for that (which will make my new Western agent very happy). The opening sentence is: The stars looked different here in Montana.
*I helped Christopher Golden get the word out about the official GoFundMe for our friend, author James A. Moore, who is battling cancer. Click here for that.
*I made some progress on the Levi/Bloom novella.
*I posted some stuff to Patreon.
*I signed and shipped another batch of books to my Lifetime Subscriber Club (RETURN TO THE LOST LEVEL and HOLE IN THE WORLD).
*I worked on signing more books for the Lifetime Subscriber Club (CLICKERS VS. ZOMBIES, THE COMPLEX, and WHITE FIRE).
*And left Facebook, got put in time-out on Twitter, and reactivated my Instagram all in the space of 24 hours.
As a public figure, for many years I have had a private Facebook account under a pseudonymous name. I use that account for family members and close friends — personal photos and the like. I DO NOT use it for the public. For many years, that pseudonym was ‘Byron Kane’. When people started to figure that out, I changed it to ‘Joe Kerr’ which is what it has been for the last few years.
Last Thursday, somebody reported that account to Facebook as a fake name. When I attempted to log in to Facebook, my account was suspended. A less-than-helpful Facebook employee named Jesse informed me I would have to change my name to Brian Keene, or prove that Joe Kerr was my real name. I went through the process of explaining my situation, and pointing out that countless other public figures — authors, musicians, comedians, actors, politicians, law enforcement officers. etc. — engage in the same thing I am doing. Jesse then asked me to rat them out, which I declined.
I opted not to adhere to the new restrictions for several reasons, but the main one is that I don’t need the random wackos in my life (the same ones any public figure has to deal with) having any sort of access — even limited — to my friends and family members who are not public figures. “Oh, well Brian, you can lock this down and you can change this setting”. Yeah. yeah. you can. But people can still find shit. And if you don’t think they can, then you haven’t stood in our shoes. If it was as easy as “Oh, well you can lock this down and you can change this setting” then every public figure would be doing that.
I escalated to Jesse’s supervisor. By evening, I’d had no response. Facebook likes to claim that they are our partner. Well, if so, then they are a poor partner, so I’ve taken my engagement elsewhere. I’ve always been far more active on Twitter and YouTube anyway. Now I will be doubly so.
While there are still public Brian Keene and The Horror Show with Brian Keene Facebook Pages, you should understand that they are no longer run by me. I turned them over to authorized administrators who can act and post on my behalf. So, if you normally got your info from me on Facebook, that will not be the case any longer. I urge you to instead get back into the habit of checking my website daily, or this newsletter you're reading now, or following me on Twitter, YouTube, or Instagram.
So, after I fucked off of Facebook, I reactivated my Instagram (yes, I know they are run by the same company, but I only use Instagram as a public figure). And lot's of people were happy about that. And then I got suspended from twitter for 12 hours because there was a dude who was trolling the Sisters of Slaughter and other public figures from the horror genre, and I offered him this helpful advice.
Twitter locked my account and made me delete the "offensive" Tweets.
So, what have we learned? Well, we've learned where the line is on Twitter. You can post racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, misandry, animal or child cruelty, but you cannot post about wood-chippers.
Now you know.
Anyway, Twitter unlocked my account again, so I'm back there (just not talking about wood-chippers). Find me there or on Instagram or YouTube, but not on Facebook.
Okay, I need to wrap this up and get back to work on this THOR: METAL GODS thing. As I said, it's due tomorrow and then I've got two days to pack and catch up on stuff before I leave for Scares That Care. hopefully i'll see some of you in Williamsburg, VA next weekend. If so, please say hi. We'll talk about wood-chippers and whiskey.
-- Brian Keene, with genuine love and respect for each of you.