Letters From the Labyrinth 169

Hey there. I'm Brian Keene and this is the 169th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues are archived here.
I spent this week working on a lot of things I can't talk about yet, including what will be (if approved) one of the biggest gigs of my career (but again, it's not approved yet. A lot of people need to sign off on it first). I also spent a lot of time sending emails that I can't talk about, because they are related to projects I can't talk about. Good times.
What I can talk about is THE MOTEL AT THE END OF THE WORLD, a longish novella that will appear in DISSONANT HARMONIES, a book I'm doing with Bev Vincent. The plot involves the Mandela Effect, quantum mechanics and quantum theory, the phantom time hypothesis, the theory of Eternal Return, hadron colliders, and more.
I've been revising that all this past week. It is very much overdue and Bev would very much like me to finish it.
The problem with using the Mandela Effect as a basis for a fictional story is that the Mandela Effect seemingly keeps changing things in real life so I need to go back and revise again. But I've made myself swear to myself that I can't do any more of that, and I need to turn this thing in by January 31st.
And yes, I'm an armchair quantum theorist, so I realize the absolute irony of giving a work about quantum mechanics and phantom time a deadline. But Bev and the publishers do not appreciate that sort of nonsense.
And yes, I'm also aware that I started my career with a "what would happen if they turned on a hadron collider" novel called THE RISING. Again, one of the plot points for THE MOTEL AT THE END OF THE WORLD is the theory of Eternal Return. Thus, there will be an infinite number of novels written by me all using the collider.
A note about the title: I've been working on this, under this title, since before my good friend Paul Tremblay announced THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD. That's how long I've been tinkering with this novella, trying to get it right. So, no, I didn't swipe from Paul and no, Paul didn't swipe from me. It's just happenstance.
Or maybe a quantum glitch.
Or quite possibly the Mandela Effect...
Regardless, they are two very, very different stories, and I'm not changing my title because then it will take me another six months to come up with a new one and poor Bev will be apoplectic.
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Speaking of Paul, here's a funny story. So, you may or may not know that Paul Tremblay is also a high school math teacher. That's what my 11-year old son knows him as. You have to remember, almost every person in my life is either an author, an actor, a director, or a musician. So when he meets these people, or hears Mary and I talk about them, my son doesn't see them as those things. Kelli Owen, whom he has known since birth, is an accountant who writes books in her free time. Mike Lombardo (whom he views as a big brother) is -- in his mind -- a pizza artisan who moonlights as a director. I'm a father who writes when I'm not doing Dad things. And Paul is a math teacher who moonlights as a writer.
Anyway, this week, my son said, "Dad, I've decided what I want to be when I grow up. I mean, I'm still going to write and make movies and have a YouTube channel, but for a living, I want to be a teacher like your friend Paul. But I don't want to teach math. I want to teach something fun and worthwhile like history."
The way he views the world continues to delight me. (And he's not wrong about math. Math sucks. Sorry, Paul).
(Okay, math doesn't suck. You can't write a novella about quantum mechanics and quantum theory and the phantom time hypothesis without including a lot of math. But you try to make those equations sound interesting to a bunch of horror fiction readers...)
(Right now, Bev Vincent is reading this and shouting, "In the time it took you to type this newsletter, you could have finished the damn novella!"
But I digress...
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Amazon's SHADES glitch is apparently fixed, and you can now order the mass market paperback from them again. Still cheaper to get it from B&N, however, but I know folks like the one-stop aspect of Amazon.
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I’m happy to announce that I have signed a four-book deal with Italy’s Independent Legions Publishing for Italian-language editions of EARTHWORM GODS II: DELUGE, THE RISING, CITY OF THE DEAD, and THE RISING: DELIVERANCE. They will be doing paperbacks (for sale in stores) and limited edition hardcovers (available directly through them). The limited edition of DELUGE is up for pre-order now, in fact.
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My second episode of THOR: METAL GODS is now available! It's a ballroom blitz with Thor, Howard the Duck, Horangi, Skarra, Zia, the Frost Giants and the Elf with a Gun versus a bar full of angry Brood, Skrulls, Badoon, Symbiotes, and more.
Start listening or reading now, exclusively via Marvel Entertainment and Serial Box!
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I’m the guest on the latest episode of Fictitious Podcast, where I discuss THOR: METAL GODS, writing for comic books and media properties, and much more. Listen to it here.
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Christoph Paul wrote this neat essay about me for LitReactor. I had no idea he was even awake that morning.

This pallet of boxes is filled with second printings of the Russian-language mass market paperback of DARK HOLLOW, which are on their way to Russian bookstores this week. (Photo copyright Poltergeist Press).
Thanks to all my Russian readers for purchasing the book and making it such a big success! Next up is THE RISING, which will be out this spring, followed by GHOST WALK and CITY OF THE DEAD.

Director Paul Campion Tweeted out this picture from the first development meeting of the feature length film adaptation of my short novel THE CAGE.
Yep, surprise! With luck, THE CAGE is getting turned into a movie. You might remember several years ago, a different group of filmmakers had hoped to get it into production. It sat stalled after that, but now it's back on again, with a different group of people, and Paul at the helm.
My sole contribution so far, as a producer, has been to campaign for actors Johnathan Schaech, John Anderson, and Damien Maffei to have roles. (Because really, what's this career been all about if I can't get my friends jobs?)
Here's a forthcoming guest schedule for The Horror Show with Brian Keene:
January 23, Episode 249, CEO Joe Ripple of Scares That Care
January 30, Episode 250, authors Joe Hill and Christopher Golden
February 6, Episode 251, director Maggie Levin
February 13, Episode 252, author John Quick
February 20, Episode 253, director and author Samantha Kolesnik
As is always the case during the winter months, these appearances are dependent upon the weather. For example, Samantha was supposed to be our guest this week, but an incoming snowstorm has scuttled that, so now she'll be on for episode 253.
A reminder that all six years of The Horror Show with Brian Keene are available for free on Spotify, Apple, Stitcher, Google Play Music, YouTube, and elsewhere. According to the network, we had over 100,000 listeners from 2019. Why not join them?
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Speaking of Samantha Kolesnik, I cannot rave enough about her debut novel, TRUE CRIME, out now in paperback and ebook from Grindhouse Press.
In all sincerity, I can't remember the last debut novel that blew me away as much as this one (and I have read some stellar debut novels over the years). It's a Splatterpunk/Extreme Horror hybrid, akin to some of the works of Jack Ketchum and J.F. Gonzalez. Indeed, I purposely compared it to THE GIRL NEXT DOOR and SURVIVOR in the cover blurb I gave it, because it has the same flinching, emotional wallop that those two seminal novels have.
If you were a fan of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR or SURVIVOR, then you absolutely need to read this. If those books scared you off the genre for a while, then this one will scare you off forever. It hits hard, and it is merciless.
Click here for the paperback or ebook.
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Okay, that's it for this week. I'm typing this on Saturday. My son is off camping with his friends for the weekend, and Mary is still asleep, and outside, the sky is trying to decide if it wants to dump an inch of snow or five inches of snow (estimates vary). I want to get some more work done while it's quiet.
(And I suppose there will be some among you who are aghast and thinking, "My God, he let his son go camping with friends in the winter while it's snowing?!" Yes, because he is a capable young man and so are all his friends, and if I was lost in the woods, they'd be the first group of people I'd ask to come find me. We raise our children differently here in rural America. They are fine. And also, they are camping indoors, and will only be going outside to sled and throw snowballs. And also, I packed a ton of extra clothes and shoes and survival gear for him. He'll be fine.)
As always, a few reminders:
PATREON - Where I post new short stories, writing advice essays, two serialized ongoing novels, and behind-the-scenes stuff. I'll be posting a bunch of stuff there today and tomorrow, in fact.
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!