Letters From the Labyrinth 236 - Brian Keene
Hi. I'm Brian Keene and this is the 236th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues are archived here.
My youngest son is here this weekend, and I'm still kicked out of my upstairs office due to construction (more on that in last week's newsletter and below), so I'm typing this on the couch, and don't have my good wireless keyboard with me. Instead, I'm using the laptop with the cracked O, I, N, and L keys. There will be typos this week. I will do my best to catch them all, but some will make it past me. You were warned.
This past week was a frustrating one, work-wise. There were a lot of phone calls, and Zoom calls, and Skype calls, and emails to wade through. All of these were business related (mostly various movie projects in different stages of development or hopeful development). I also had a lot of Scares That Care related stuff on my plate. I got very little actual writing done, however, and now the manuscript for INVISIBLE MONSTERS is calling out to me from my laptop like some spurned lover. "Brian, what happened? We were on a roll! Please come back. I know Levi, Simon and Dez still need to fight the giant invisible monster and then unravel how the Nazis secretly took over global industry and finance after World War Two, but it will be fun to write! Come back!"
I did manage to get started on a short story called "Past The End of the Boardwalk, Out Where the Water Meets the Sky" -- a story title that I am ridiculously pleased with. I've owed this story to John McIlveen at Haverhill House Publishing for a bit, and I've finally cleared my plate enough to write it. It's longer than a regular short story, but not quite long enough to be a novella. They used to call that a novelette but that term has fallen out of fashion.
Anyway, the plan this coming week is to finish that and then turn my attention back to INVISIBLE MONSTERS. I'll also need to write a chapter of MONSTERS OF SAIPAN (the novel Weston ochse and I have been serializing on Patreon) before Wednesday. Luckily, THE DRIVE-IN: MULTIPLEX is at a stage where I don't have to do much but wait on a few things, and PROJECT CASTLE is in a similar stage. So it will be a good week to just write.
Another thing I spent a lot of time on last week was overhauling my website. It was in need of it. I weeded out some dead links, added some new links, updated a lot of info, etc. Do me a favor and go check it out. All the tabs at the tp of the page lead to updated content (except for the Bibliography tab, which I'm still in the process of redoing).
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Mary and I were supposed to have a party today for all of Central Pennsylvania's fully vaccinated writers and their families. But we had to postpone it until next month. Partly that was due to the weather, but mostly it was due to the fact that the remodeling f our upstairs bathroom is taking longer than the workers anticipated, which means we would have had only one working bathroom for our guests. Parking would have also been limited as the construction crew has stuff parked in our driveway over the weekend.
But, my youngest son was disappointed that he wouldn't get to see his best bud, who is author Somer Canon's oldest son, so we're just going to have them over today instead. That will be a little easier given the bathroom and parking situation. I adore Somer, and her family. And I like that the boys are close, because she and her husband are raising two remarkable young men. Believe me when I tell you, my boy could do a lot worse for friends here in rural PA.
But I'm also looking forward to the rescheduled party. It's been wayyyyy too long since we were able to fellowship with our friends.
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Paperback and Kindle editions of WITH TEETH are on sale everywhere now, including in the United Kingdom and Australia. Click here to order!
I participated in the Night Worms 'Celebrate Horror' series, and here's a video of me reading the first chapter of WITH TEETH while standing out on my dock in my hillbilly cut-off shorts. There's also a cameo by one of my neighbors on a boat.
I'm grateful to all the readers and critics who have reviewed it so far. Some of my strongest reviews in a long time, which is nice to see.
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The signed, limited edition hardcover of THE SEVEN: THE LABYRINTH Book 1 will go up for pre-order on June 13th (approximately three weeks from now). The cover is by Ben Baldwin. The signature sheet art is by Chris Enterline. Due to the fact that this is a long-awaited and highly anticipated book amongst my readership, we expect it to sell out very fast. To make sure people who want copies can get them, the publisher will set the print run based on the number of pre-orders received within a short time frame. The best way to not miss out is to subscribe to the Thunderstorm Books newsletter, which is free, and can be found at their website.
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What do Spider-Man, the X-Men, The Thing, Daredevil, Captain America, Sharon Carter, Morbius the Living Vampire, Medusa, Reed Richards and Shanna the She-Devil all have in common? They're all in last week's episode of DEFENDERS DIALOGUE. And so are myself, Christopher Golden, and special guest Matt Wildasin! Free wherever you listen to podcasts, or via this link.
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Speaking of Matt Wildasin, he and his wife recently edited their very first anthology -- Dark Words: Stories of Urban Legends and Folk Lore. It features a great line-up of stories by some fantastic up-and-coming horror authors. I was very happy to write the Introduction for the book. You can buy it in paperback and for Kindle.
Wanted to take a moment to draw attention to two GoFundMes for two friends of mine:
Elizabeth has been hit with some serious medical problems. She's finally getting disability, but the check won't arrive before her rent of $500 is due. If you can help her and her cat out with five or ten bucks, I'd appreciate it. Details here.
Former The Horror Show with Brian Keene co-host Dave Thomas is on his fourth round of chemotherapy, and it has totally wrecked him and left him unable to do much at all, including work. If you can help him out with five or ten bucks to put toward the bills, I'd appreciate it. Details here.
This is dropping next week in paperback and for Kindle. Cover by Kealan Patrick Burke and Elderlemon Design. Layout by Robert Swartwood.
Next up will be VOYEUR, which Jesus wrote and published under the pseudonym Angel Garcia. I'm working on getting that formatted for re-release now.
Here are a few screenshots from the 2005 video game prototype for THE RISING. My Patreon supporters have already seen the full walkthrough. the rest of you will be able to see it later next week.
Currently Reading: Shadow of the Vulture by Regina Garza-Mitchell
Currently Listening: Various albums by Boz Scaggs and Steely Dan
Currently Watching: The Possessed and The Clovehitch Killer
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Speaking of Regina Garza-Mitchell, if you're a collector who has been trying to track down those rare copies of A DARKER DAWNING and A DARKER DAWNING II (both of which were chapbooks we self-published back in 2001 and 2002, respectively) featuring Regina, myself, John Urbancik, Ryan Harding, Gak, Geoff Cooper, Mike Oliveri, and Michael T. Huyck Jr. -- there may, and I cannot stress that word "MAY" enough -- but there may be a reprinting in the works. Nothing definite yet, but it's looking like a possibility.
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And that's it for this week. Please do go visit Brian Keene dot com if you get a chance, and explore the tabs, so that I didn't do all of that hard work for nothing. Take care of yourselves, and those you love, and I'll see you back here next week!