Letters From the Labyrinth 157

Hi. I'm Brian Keene and this is the 157th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues are archived here.

The infection is mostly kicked now, which is good, as I took my last antibiotic yesterday. It's been a hellish two weeks though, and it definitely slowed down my work pace (which had finally been increasing again).

I ventured out yesterday for the last signing of the year -- at the 2nd & Charles bookstore in Harrisburg. I signed with Robert Swartwood, John Boden, Stephen Kozeniewski, Robert Ford, Kelli Owen, and Wesley Southard.

I think there might have been more of us than there were customers. Some signings are that way. You just never know. I've shown up and had 200 people in line. I've shown up and had two people in line. Neither of those are an exaggeration. There's no rhyme or reason to it. It's simply the nature of the beast. You appreciate whomever shows.

Since we had a lot of copies of MIDNIGHT RITUALS left over, I snagged one for each of my lifetime subscribers. They'll go out in the next shipment as an extra bonus.

While browsing the shelves, i found two paperback copies of AMONG MADMEN -- a post-apocalyptic novel by Jim Starlin (of Marvel Comics fame). It was published in 1990 but never got the acclaim it deserved. It's a zombie novel without zombies, more in line with Simon Clark's BLOOD CRAZY or the film THE CRAZIES. The central idea is a schizophrenia-like disease that spreads as a virus. It's violent and utterly soul crushing, and one of my favorites. I pulled both copies off the shelf and made Stephen Kozeniewski and Wesley Southard buy them. That's what its all about. Share good books with people who will enjoy them.

I also got caught up on a lot of industry gossip, which I no longer hear much of, since I'm not on Facebook. And speaking of Facebook, Ron Davis, who in addition to now running the Brian Keene Fan Group on Facebook now also runs the official Brian Keene Facebook Page was at the signing. He tells me that despite the giant pinned post at the top of the page that says I am no longer on Facebook, people ask me questions there every day. Which kind of tells you everything you need to know about Facebook in 2019.

Both my blood pressure and my mental health improved upon leaving that hell site. i encourage you to do the same.

(Plus, according to comic book legend and zombie writer Scott Edelman, Facebook now refuses to let people link to The Horror Show with Brian Keene, as the podcast "goes against community standards).

Anyway, I'm relieved to have no more events scheduled for this year. And if you look at next year's schedule, you'll see I've scaled way back.

Winter is coming. It has always been my least favorite season, but I find myself looking forward to it, in anticipation of staying home and getting things done.

Here are a few pics from yesterday -- a group shot (taken by Ron Davis) and a candid shot (taken by Robert Swartwood).

Construction of my Bibliography is about 50% complete. Click here to see the progress.

When finished, it will contain a chronological list of everything I have ever written. Every novel, novella, short story, article, Introduction, poem, comic book and recipe. (Okay, maybe not the recipes, but you get the idea).

So, if you're looking at it right now, you'll notice that the 10th book I published in the Novel/Novella category was a book called SHADES, co-written with Geoff Cooper and published in 2007. It was published as a signed limited edition hardcover by Cemetery Dance (which is long out of print), and in ebook (which you can get here), but there has never been a paperback.

Poltergeist Press will release a paperback edition before year's end. Details forthcoming.

SHINING IN THE DARK is now available in paperback and Kindle. This anthology features stories by me, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Chizmar, and many more.

It was previously released in the U.S. as a signed, limited edition hardcover and trade hardcover, and has been burning up the bestseller lists all across the world (with multiple translations).

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE in paperback or on Kindle.

If you were signed up to get email notifications every time I posted something to my website, you'll need to sign up again (now that I've changed hosts, servers, etc. To do so, just go to BrianKeene dot com, scroll down to the very bottom of the page, and you'll find the sign up box on the left.

Camp Necon posted this picture to Twitter this week. I don't know who took it, but this is from around 2007, and what you're seeing is the Roast of James A. Moore. That's Christopher Golden emceeing, Jim sitting down, and me leaping off the stage after roasting him. That was a good night.

ANDREW J. RAUSCH - The Horror Show With Brian Keene - Ep 241

Screenwriter, novelist, and journalist Andrew J. Rausch joins Brian and John Urbancik to discuss MY BEST FRIEND'S BIRTHDAY: THE MAKING OF A QUENTIN TARANTINO film and more. Plus, Brian and Matt tackle California's forthcoming AB5 law and what it means for freelance writers.

Listen for free on YouTube – iTunes – Spotify – Project Entertainment– iHeartRadio – Stitcher

Okay, that's it for this week. As always:

PATREON - Where I post new short stories, writing advice essays, two serialized ongoing novels, and behind-the-scenes stuff.

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

YOUTUBE - Where I'm posting free stuff each and every day.

I'll see you back here next week!