Letters From the Labyrinth - Brian Keene 161

Happy Sunday to you. I'm Brian Keene and this is the 161st issue of Letters For The Labyrinth, a newsletter for fans of my work. But not just fans, mind you. A fair number of writers also read this newsletter every week.
Over the year's, Richard Laymon's long out of print A WRITER'S TALE has truly become the Holy Grail for writers. And not just for horror writers. Even professionals who hated Laymon's work enthusiastically recommended it as far as one of the best books about writing ever written. It is a unique creation -- part autobiography, part how-to instructional, part inspirational.
But now there is, in my opinion, a book about writing that's even better. That book is John Urbancik's INKSTAINED. (Don't confuse the title with John's INKSTAINS series of short story collections. Those are different).
Like Laymon's book, INKSTAINED is a unique creation -- part autobiography, part how-to instructional, part inspirational. It is legitimately one of the best books about writing that I've ever read. It's a self-help book for misfits like us. It's a personal transformation guide for those of us who never have personal transformation guides written for them. It's a love letter to making art, and a cautionary tale about making that art.
"Oh, but Brian," you're saying, "you're friends with Urbancik. You've been friends with him for twenty years. How do we know you're not just being nice?"
Well, because authors like Jonathan Maberry, Ronald Malfi, Jay Wilburn, and Rick Hipson at Rue Morgue Magazine are also praising INKSTAINED.
Sincerely, this isn't a plug for a friend. If you are a writer, or are interested in becoming a writer, or you have a writer in your life, I highly, highly recommend INKSTAINED. It's available in both paperback and for Kindle, via Amazon.
Speaking of John, on Friday night, Mary SanGiovanni and I popped some popcorn and then sat down with my eleven year-old and the three of us watched Klaus on Netflix.
Klaus is the final film of John's long-time partner, animator and animation historian Mary et-Lescher, who passed earlier this year after a brief fight with cancer. I've known Mary-et nearly as long as I have known John. The last time we saw Mary-et, which was last year, she and John went out to dinner with me and my 11-year old and my ex-wife. My son and Mary-et drew a dragon together on the restaurant place-mat. As i told him at the time, I don't know too many kids who get to draw an original creation with a Disney animator. He adored her. We all did. And Klaus was wonderful, and we all cried -- both at a part in the movie that I won't spoil for you, and at the end of the credits when we saw the dedication to her.
Here are a few pics. The first two are from my wedding many years ago. (That's John and author Matthew Warner with Mary-et). I love the smile on her face.



Actor Daniel Gillies (The Vampire Diaries, the Originals) has been announced as the narrator for THOR: METAL GODS by myself, Aaron Stewart-Ahn, Jay Edidin, and Yoon Ha Lee.
I’M DREAMING OF A WHITE DOOMSDAY — a feature length horror film written and directed by Mike Lombardo and Executive Produced by me — is now streaming on both Amazon Prime and X-Box Live. It is also available on Blu-Ray and DVD.
The first printing of the mass-market paperback of Темная Лощина (the Russian edition of DARK HOLLOW) has sold out, along with the first Russian printing of Edward Lee’s THE BACKWOODS. Both books are getting another printing right now. This proves that Russian e-book piracy can be defeated, if you provide Russian readers with a faithful translation and quality production.
And remember, Темная Лощина is available to American readers, as well in hardcover, e-book, and mass market paperback.
There's two new things up on my Patreon -- a brand new short story called "The Cure" and Mary Sangiovanni's Introduction to the forthcoming LOVE LETTERS FROM A NIHILIST: THE COMPLETE SHORT FICTION OF BRIAN KEENE VOL 3.
This Week's Podcasts:
RICHARD CHIZMAR RETURNS - The Horror Show with Brian Keene - Ep 245
Brian, Mary and Matt cover the latest on ChiZine Publications. Then, best-selling author and publisher Richard Chizmar returns to the show to discuss his new novel GWENDY'S MAGIC FEATHER, playing in Stephen King's Castle Rock, Cemetery Dance's production delays, the WIDOW'S POINT graphic novel, and much more. Listen free on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Stitcher and everywhere else podcasts are available.
DEFENDERS DIALOGUE - Ep 82
The Champions and The Avengers have helped Doctor Doom conquer the world, and only Magneto and The Beast can stop them! Christopher Golden and Brian Keene discuss Super-Villain Team-Up 14 and The Champions 16. Listen free on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Stitcher and everywhere else podcasts are available.
That's it for this week. You may have noticed there are far less links in this week's email. The only thing I linked to was John's book. That's because I was told that if you have a lot of links in your newsletter, mail servers mark it as spam. So if there's something here that interested you, just go to Brian Keene dot com and you'll find it there.
See you back here next Sunday!