Letters From the Labyrinth 227 - Brian Keene
Hey there. I'm Brian Keene and this is the 227th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues are archived here.
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Having fully recovered and gotten my blood pressure down to a place where I'm no longer in danger of immediately having a stroke, last week found me back at full power, work-wise. And the week was busy, indeed.
* I wrote a few chapters of MONSTERS OF SAIPAN, and then sent the manuscript back to collaborator Weston Ochse.
* I worked on a new Clickers story for young readers.
* I worked on INVISIBLE MONSTERS, DEAD AIR, and straight western novel THE LAST STAND.
* I wrote a new Wasteworld story and posted it to Patreon.
* I re-read some stuff so that I could figure out how to properly execute something in PROJECT: CASTLE that has had me stuck for a few weeks.
*I finalized the Splatterpunk Award judges for this year (and will be contacting them next week).
* I worked on THE DRIVE-IN: MULTIPLEX anthology and a long back-burnered Scares That Care anthology. The former will be my main focus next week. The latter I put on hold because it is still undecided if Scares That Care will hold a public, in-person physical fundraiser event this year. If we do, then there will be no need for a chairy anthology. If we don't, then there will be a need for a charity anthology as an alternative to fundraising (because while the Brian Keene telethons worked in the past, the pandemic has made it so that EVERY fundraiser and convention has gone virtual, and there's a signal to noise ratio there that I personally feel would impact doing that endeavor again).
* Approved the galleys for the Deadite Press edition of SUBURBAN GOTHIC. We are just waiting for Alan M. Clark to finish painting the cover and then it will head off to the printer and be available for sale in paperback and e-book.
* Discussed the cover to the forthcoming CLICKERS audiobook.
* I negotiated what I hope is the final round of a movie option. I'd hoped to announce it in this week's newsletter, but since I didn't yet receive a response to my very reasonable counter offer (I say "very reasonable" because my requests didn't involve money, and instead involved credits for prequels, sequels, and remakes), I can't announce it here today.
* I finalized the terms for a speaking engagement I'll be doing at a university in early April. Speaking engagements are something I'd been working hard on and increasing right before the pandemic hit. They're an extra revenue stream, and a fun alternative to just showing up and signing books. Sadly, when the world shut down, that revenue stream went away. I feel bad asking for a speakers fee for a Zoom call, but this is the second educational institution that has come to me and offered money for such, and hey -- my loved ones need to eat, so I'm not going to say "No". Regardless, I'm looking forward to the day when everything opens up again so I can speak in person, on a stage, rather than into a webcam from my office.
So yeah, a very busy and productive week.
Also, Mary came home last week, full of two doses of the vaccine, and was surprised to learn that while she was gone, I got her a signed, personalized photo from actor Tim Curry, and I set up a Roku for her office so she can have Forensic Files on in the background while she writes.
I'm very glad to have her home. This house has seemed too quiet in her absence, apart from the cat, and the hermit crabs, and the ducks and geese in the river, and the deer in the backyard, and the skunk and possum who have shacked up together in the foundation beneath our laundry room.
They were all happy to have her home, too.
This is the last call for autographed paperback editions of STORIES FOR THE NEXT PANDEMIC by me and THE SHAPES OF NIGHT by Mary. The hardcovers are already sold out, and the pre-orders for the paperbacks ends on March 31st.
A reminder that you get both books for the price of one. They are being offered exclusively through Thunderstorm Books. And yes, they are all signed by us.
So, click here to snag your copy before it's too late!
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I'm also going to do something I'm not supposed to do, and tip you off that Cemetery Dance will have paperback copies of DISSONANT HARMONIES available starting tomorrow. Here is the link to order it so you can beat the rush. The signed hardcover, which was exclusive to Cemetery Dance collector's club members, is at the printer I believe.
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Maybe I should update you on this year's releases, right? To the best of my knowledge, here is where things stand:
DISSONANT HARMONIES (with Bev Vincent) and STORIES FOR THE NEXT PANDEMIC: Well, duh. We just talked about those.
SUBURBAN GOTHIC (with Bryan Smith): Like I said, we're just waiting on the cover painting and then this sucker will go to print for paperback and e-book. (The hardcover came out a few months ago from Thunderstorm Books).
WITH TEETH: Paperback and e-book should be available from Death's Head Press within the next few months.
CURSE OF THE BASTARDS (with Steven L. Shrewsbury): The final novel in the Rogan trilogy. The hardcover came out in 2019 from Thunderstorm Books. The paperback, e-book, and audiobook will be out from Apex I'm guessing in early-Summer? In addition, Shrews just completed a solo Rogan novel, so expect plenty more from everyone's favorite barbarian.
THE SEVEN: THE LABYRINTH Book 1: You can read the whole thing for five bucks on Patreon right now. The hardcover will be out from Thunderstorm Books this summer. The paperback and e-book editions will be out late this year.
And there's a slew of audiobooks in production, including CLICKERS, CLICKERS II, THE CAGE, URBAN GOTHIC, THE DAMNED HIGHWAY, EARTHWORM GODS II: DELUGE, THE GIRL ON THE GLIDER, SUNDANCING, DEAD SEA and ENTOMBED. Narrators will include Chet Williamson, Mark Meer and Scott Weinberg.
Currently Reading: Pieces by Steve Wands amd Come With Me by Ronald Malfi.
Both are excellent. Steve is probably better known to folks for his work in comics, but he's a great prose writer. And although I'm not done with Malfi's latest yet, if it stays true, I'm going to say it's one of his absolute best.
Currently Watching: The Empty Man
This is a feature film adaptation of the graphic novel by Cullen Bunn and Vanessa R. Del Rey. It departs from the source material in some places, but is equally great. Seriously, if you haven't yet, read the comic or watch the movie.
Currently Listening:
Relapse by Eminem
Critics savaged this horrorcore (rap music focusing on elements of the horror genre) album when it first came out, but I've long celebrated it, and thus, I feel vindicated now that years have gone by and critics are now saying "You know what? This is superb." A concept album in which Eminem is a serial killer? Dude, it was superb back in the day, too. I think it's his second best of all time, just after The Eminem Show.
Okay, let's do a Top ten list. Here are Brian Keene's Top Ten Favorite Rap Albums Of All Time:
1. The Chronic -- Dr. Dre
2. Home Invasion -- Ice-T
3. Apocalypse 91...The Enemy Strikes Black -- Public Enemy
4. The Eminem Show -- Eminem
5. King of Rock -- Run-DMC
6. Straight Outta Compton -- N.W.A.
7. War & Peace: The Peace Disc -- Ice Cube
8. Paid In Full -- Eric B and Rakim
9. Doggy Style -- Snoop Dogg
10. Original Gangsta -- Ice-T
Obviously heavily weighted with g-funk era and old school hip-hop. And yes, I know there's no Tupac or Geto Boys or House of Pain or 3rd Bass or Ultramagnetic MCs or Too Short or Beastie Boys or Machine Gun Kelly or DMX or Cypress Hill or Wu-Tang or Fat Boys or 50 Cent on my list. If I was doing a Top 20, there would be. But I'm not doing a top 20. I'm doing a top 10.
And lists are subjective, regardless. There's a list on ranker of the Top 100 Horror Writers and David J. Schow, Thomas Tessier, and Michael Cisco aren't on it, which is infuriating and ridiculous, so screw lists, anyway.
I only make Top 10 lists because I enjoy it when strangers yell at me about them on social media.
Last week on DEFENDERS DIALOGUE:
Morbius! Ghost Rider! Man-Thing! Werewolf by Night! What happens when these four Marvel Comics monsters join forces? Find out as Christopher Golden and Brian Keene discuss Marvel Premiere issue 28. Plus The Snyder Cut, Brian's try-out for Survivor, and Tim Lebbon's Run Walk Crawl.
Available wherever you listen to podcasts.
I've been typing all of this up on Saturday morning, about 24 hours before you are reading it. I've cleared the rest of my schedule for today, because I want to hang some more pictures in my office. That is something I'm not good at. Before the pandemic, I'd offered to pay a friend who is good at it to come do it for me, and create a whole aesthetic, but I was later told that it was wrong of me to offer to pay them for that service, and then I was embarrassed, and then the pandemic hit and I couldn't have people in the house anyway, so I've been doing it myself the past year and as a result my office walls pretty much are covered in framed book covers and movie posters and other detritus from my career.
(It genuinely wasn't my intent to offend that person. I just figured it was hard work and I was willing to pay them for it because I appreciate that they were far better at it than me).
But yeah, you know how when you walk in a record store or a comic book store, every inch of wall space is covered in albums or comics?
That's my workspace now. That's what happens when left to my own devices.
It's like if Jeffrey Dahmer and Yoko Ono decorated an office together.
After I'm done that, Mary and I are going to hike a bit of the Mason-Dixon Trail, and then we're going to go fishing off the dock. Fishing is something which I very much enjoy, and something which Mary doesn't enjoy as much, but she enjoys being on the water and spending time together. Last time we went, she hooked what was either a massive catfish or a pike. Sadly, the line snapped before she could land it. I'm hoping she has better luck today.
And at some point tomorrow, around the time you are reading this, I have to strap on a mask and venture out into the world and find an egg dye kit for my youngest son's mother so they can make Easter Eggs next weekend.
I hope that you get to spend some time with people you love today, as well, or do something nice for people you love. And if you don't think you have anyone in your life that qualifies in that regard, then know that I appreciate you. I mean, I don't know what it's worth that a middle-aged cult horror writer cares about you, but I do, so you've got that going for you.
Seriously, though. I appreciate all of you. Hang in there. get the vaccine if you can, because better days are coming, and I would like to see you again.
Okay, that's it for this week. If you have the means, don't forget about STORIES FOR THE NEXT PANDEMIC. This time next week it will be too late.
Take care...
-- Brian Keene