Letters From the Labyrinth 201 - Brian Keene

Hi. I'm Brian Keene and this is the 201st issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. The previous issues are archived here.
I'm typing this on Saturday night. You'll read it on Sunday morning. I'm sunburned and tired and happy and listening to Sirius/XM's Yacht Rock channel 70, which I just discovered this week, and which brings me an incredible amount of joy. It brings Mary, my son and his mother considerably less joy, given that all week long I've been walking around the house singing Rupert Holmes "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" and the Doobie Brothers' "What A Fool Believes" and Paul Davis's "I Go Crazy" and a host of Little River Band, REO Speedwagon, Christopher Cross, America, Hall and Oates, Boz Scaggs, and Kenny Loggins.
I frigging LOVE this channel. I've belted out REO Speedwagon's "Keep On Lovin' You" like forty times this week.
But I digress.
Anyway, the reason I'm sunburned and tired is because author Somer Canon and her family came over today for a socially distant visit. As I've said here before, pretty much the only people we've seen since this pandemic started is the four of us -- me, Mary, my youngest son, and his mother. My oldest boy and my parents have visited from a social distance a few times. Mary has seen her folks and child from a social distance a few times. Wesley Southard has stood out on our porch. Mike Hawthorne brought his teenage kids over for a socially distant visit. And I've seen Geoff Cooper through a screen door and a mask. That's it.
Somer's family have been quarantined, same as us, so we finally figured it was safe to be cautious and get together. And I'm so glad we did. Her oldest boy and my youngest boy are the same age, with the same interests, and this was the first time since the pandemic closed his school back in March that he's been able to interact for any length of time in person with someone his own age. It had been so long since I herd him talk like a kid and act like a kid and laugh like a kid that I teared up several times hearing it today. They swam in the creek and explore the woods and fields, and played out in the yard and over by the river, and at the end of the day, my son thanked Mary, his mother and myself and told us this was the best day of summer vacation.
And then I teared up again.
I should mention, Somer has a new book out, co-written with Wesley Southard. I'll review it here next week. Short version -- I enjoyed the hell out of it. Check it out here.
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This week was all SUBURBAN GOTHIC. That's it. That's all I worked on. It goes to pre-readers this Monday. Thunderstorm books will publish the signed hardcover. That will be out this year. Followed by the Deadite Press paperback and ebook, and then the Crossroads press audiobook.
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Going to start sprinkling some bread crumbs on social media next week. Bread crumbs about a rather big project...
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Last Thursday we aired the final episode of The Horror Show with Brian Keene. You can listen to it here or wherever else you normally listen to podcasts. I won't repeat myself here. Everything I felt and thought, I said on the air.
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The Writing In The Dark: Horror Writing Symposium is a three day online event happening September 11 through the 13th. Guest speakers include Tim Waggoner, Mary SanGiovanni, John Edward Lawson, Jeff Strand and countless more. I’ll be presenting an hour long speech entitled ‘Career Longevity and How to Weather the Storm’ on September 13 from 1PM to 2PM. This speech will not be rebroadcast. Click here to purchase your ticket.

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Yes, you can probably tell by the lack of missing letters that I got a new keyboard last week.
And that's it. Short one this week. I want to get back to SUBURBAN GOTHIC.
As always, a few reminders:
PATREON - Where I post new short stories, writing advice essays, three serialized ongoing novels, and behind-the-scenes stuff EVERY SINGLE DAY.
TWITTER - The only social media outlet I still use regularly.
YOUTUBE - Where I'm posting free stuff each week.
I'll see you back here next week!