[Letters From the Labyrinth] Official Brian Keene Newsletter
We meet again. I'm Brian Keene and this is the 243rd issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues are archived here.
Mornings this past week were spent writing (more on that later in the newsletter). Afternoons were spent canning. I'd intended to freeze most of the garden this year, simply because freezing is faster and easier. But I filled our freezer up just with green beans and peas alone, so I had to switch over to canning the rest. So, each afternoon around 3pm, I stopped writing, came downstairs, and started canning tomatoes and cucumbers. The latter all got turned into pickles of various types -- chips, spears, whole, etc. And I used different flavorings in the brine -- dill, garlic, black peppercorn, basil, sun dried tomatoes, etc. I also made some refrigerator pickles, which are different from canned pickles. For those, I experimented with garlic and pesto as the seasoning for the brine. They came out great!
Right now, new subscribers are like, "What the heck? I want to know about his books, not his gardening updates!" Well, gardening is one of my hobbies. So is collecting comic books, target shooting, and fishing. Although the fishing hasn't been great this past week. I only made it out to the dock one night, and then John Urbancik showed up and we decided to drink whiskey and play cards instead.
* * *
Camp Necon (Northeastern Writers Conference) is one of America's longest-running horror writer conventions. This year, like many other such events, it was held virtually. I did a reading on Friday night, along with Linda Addison, Errick Nunnally, Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel, and Jeff Strand. I read "Beyond The Fence" (from STORIES FOR THE NEXT PANDEMIC) and people seemed to really enjoy it.
I love doing public readings, and I've missed them. For a few months, I was hosting them every Monday night on the Clubhouse app, but we stopped after a while because at the time, Clubhouse was still invite only, and that limited the potential audience. But now that its user base has expanded, I think I'll start doing them there again. We'll kick it off tomorrow night at 9pm EST. Maybe I'll read "Beyond The Fence" or maybe I'll read something else. not sure yet. Anyway, if you have Clubhouse and you are free tomorrow night, I hope you'll join me.
Getting back to Camp Necon for a moment, one final thought. Camp Necon will always be special to Mary and I. It's where we first figured out that we had feelings for each other that went beyond our long-time friendship. That was 11 years ago today, and this picture is from that weekend.
Eleven years later, still the best collaboration with another author that I've ever been a part of. I'm lucky and blessed o have her in my life. <3
Let's talk about ISLAND OF THE DEAD -- a brand-new prose series by me, available exclusively on Kindle Vella — Amazon’s new serialized fiction service. Available in the U.S. via the Kindle iOS app or via your web browser on Amazon.com, Kindle Vella stories are published one short episode at a time, each ranging from 600 to 5,000 words—and the first three episodes of every story are free.
ISLAND OF THE DEAD is a horror/sword and sorcery novel in which an enslaved barbarian plots his escape from a war galley transporting soldiers and a mysterious biological weapon. But when a storm at sea leaves them shipwrecked on a mysterious island, friend and foe alike must band together against a ravenous, steadily growing horde of the undead.
The first three episodes are available right now for free. Click here to read them.
Be sure to click the Follow button while you’re there, so you can be notified when new episodes are published.
* * *
For a limited time, you can purchase Blu-Ray editions of I’M DREAMING OF A WHITE DOOMSDAY direct from the distributor for just $12.99! That’s a great deal, given that Amazon and other retailers are selling them for $21.99! Click here to get yours.
* * *
Long -time reader Krista could use a helping hand from my other readers. The pandemic, health-problems, and an unexpected divorce have left her in a jam. Details here. (You must be registered for Facebook to see).
* * *
DEFENDERS DIALOGUE: In two of the silliest issues of the Bronze Age, Spider-Man and The Cat face off against radical feminism while Ghost Rider and The Thing celebrate a very weird Christmas. Christopher Golden and I discuss the eighth issues of Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-In-One. Available wherever you listen to podcasts, and also right here.
* * *
SUBURBAN GOTHIC by myself and Bryan Smith is a sequel to my novel URBAN GOTHIC and also to Bryan's novel THE FREAKSHOW. It was released in hardcover back in January of this year, and now the paperback and Kindle editions are slated for release at the end of this month, via Deadite Press.
Here's a look at the cover of the paperback and Kindle edition.
Now, those of you who have read URBAN GOTHIC are asking, "That's Scug and Noigel! But how can Noigel be alive? He was killed at the end of URBAN GOTHIC?!"
That's not Noigel. That's his son. He's carrying on in his father's misshapen, plodding footsteps.
Also, this time around? They're the good guys. Because there's something even worse than the mutants...
Here's the official back-cover copy:
Two titans of modern horror -- Brian Keene and Bryan Smith -- team up for a terrifying sequel to both Keene's URBAN GOTHIC and Smith's THE FREAKSHOW.
The Westgate Galleria Mall was once a sprawling, shining temple to American consumerism and suburban growth. Now, it is a crumbling reminder of how both have fallen -- an architectural ghost, haunting the outskirts of society. That makes it the perfect filming location for a YouTube channel devoted to the exploration of abandoned places. But the mall isn't as empty as it seems, and the residents have sinister, obscene plans for them. Now, with daylight still hours away, both the hunters and the hunted will fight to stay alive...and desperately try to make it home.
SUBURBAN GOTHIC by Brian Keene and Bryan Smith -- Home is where the severed heart is...
This Past Week's Work Update:
1. Wrote several chapters of INVISIBLE MONSTERS.
2. Wrote several installments of ISLAND OF THE DEAD.
3. Talked with Weston Ochse about some upcoming plot ideas for MONSTERS OF SAIPAN. I'll be writing a new chapter for that this week.
4. Received sketches for PROJECT CASTLE but didn't get a chance to look over them. Doing that this week.
5. Worked on a LOT of behind the scenes for Scares That Care Charity Weekend VII which is now less than 2 weeks away. If you are vaccinated and up for venturing out of the house again, join us in Williamsburg, VA at the end of the month!
6. Have two books I need to blurb. Read them both. Just didn't get a free moment this week to blurb them. Hoping to do that tomorrow.
7. Worked on the next two volumes for the Thunderstorm Books J.F. Gonzalez's DARK WORLDS imprint.
And that's it for this week!
If you're on Clubhouse, I hope to see you tomorrow night at 9pm EST. If not, I hope to see you back here next week!
-- Brian