Letters From the Labyrinth 246 - Brian Keene
Hey there. I'm Brian Keene and this is the 246th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues are archived here.
This is the outlaw Josey Wales. She showed up at our place about four weeks ago. She's about a year old and totally feral. When she got here, she was skin and bones and what belly she had hung low. I figured it was either worms or starvation. I tried to catch her, but Josey was too smart for the box trap. She'd look at it with disdain and then look at me with equal disdain.
I decided that if I couldn't catch her and take her to the shelter, then I should at least fatten her up before winter. Over the last few weeks, I've been feeding her four times a day. She's still feral but she will allow me to sit next to her while she eats or sunbathes. I'm just not allowed to touch her.
Earlier this week, I found out that it wasn't worms or starvation that had her belly sagging. It was the litter of six kittens that Josey delivered in the flower bed between our house and our neighbor's house. They're adorable little things. Their eyes are still blue and they are super tiny. I'm guessing two weeks old, at most.
Mary and myself checked on the nest a few times but left them alone for the most part, because we didn't want to spook Josey and have her move them. But she moved them anyway, so this morning my neighbor Dianne and I have been out looking through the bushes and under my porch and under Dianne's tiki hut along the river. No sign yet of the kittens.
This is how I spend my days now.
I am Brian Keene, Shepherd of Feral Cats.
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I did get quite a bit of work accomplished this week, but not as much as I would have liked.
* I wrote three chapters of INVISIBLE MONSTERS
* Finished the final draft of a short story with Christopher Golden
* Worked on a LOT of Behind the Scenes stuff for Scares That Care
* Worked on a LOT of Behind the Scenes stuff for the 4th Annual Splatterpunk Awards (which will have been broadcast and the winners announced by the time you are reading this on Sunday morning).
* Got J.F. Gonzalez's long-lost novel VOYEUR ready for production. Our hope is to have it available by Halloween.
I was supposed to leave today for a week-long vacation with Mary's family at a lake house in Vermont, but I bowed out of that last week. My grandmother, who is 96, is beginning to experience some health problems, and it is a certainty that my mother and I are going to be taking turns driving down to West Virginia to assist and oversee her in the months to come. That's going to cut into my work time for sure, so instead of decompressing with mary's family, I'm going to spend this coming week alone and trying hard to get ahead on work.
Plus, as Mary and I realized last night, I couldn't have gone now anyway, because I would have worried about the damn cats all week long.
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If you are one of the eight people who purchased a personalized short story set in the world of THE RISING, I'll be getting in touch this coming week. I intend to start writing those this week, as well.
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Next weekend, I will be signing at Creature Feature Weekend, taking place at Wyndham Gettysburg 95 Presidential Circle, Gettysburg, PA, 17325 on Saturday, August 28 and Sunday, August 29.
PLEASE NOTE: Although the convention runs Friday through Sunday, I will only be appearing Saturday and Sunday due to a family obligation.
I will have books for sale. You can also bring books from home to be signed.
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I mentioned the 4th annual Splatterpunk Awards above. I'm typing this on Saturday and the awards will be streamed this evening, but you're reading this on Sunday, so in case you missed it, here are the winners:
J.F. GONZALEZ LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD -- John Skipp
BEST NOVEL -- THE MAGPIE COFFIN by Wile E. Young (Death’s Head Press)
BEST NOVELLA -- TRUE CRIME by Samantha Kolesnik (Grindhouse Press)
BEST SHORT STORY -- “My Body” by Wesley Southard (from MIDNIGHT IN THE PENTAGRAM, Silver Shamrock Publishing)
BEST COLLECTION -- THE ESSENTIAL SICK STUFF by Ronald Kelly (Silver Shamrock Publishing)
BEST ANTHOLOGY -- WORST LAID PLANS edited by Samantha Kolesnik (Grindhouse Press)
In addition, we announced the formation of the Splatterpunk Awards Hall of Fame – a physical, traveling memorial and showcase honoring those who have left their mark on the fields of Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror. It will consist of each J.F. Gonzalez Lifetime Achievement Award winner, as well as others who have impacted the genre. The initial inductees will be David J. Schow, David G. Barnett, Edward Lee, John Skipp, Richard Laymon, Jack Ketchum, Charlee Jacob, John Pelan, and J.F. Gonzalez. And with luck, you will be able to visit the Hall of Fame and learn more about each of them at next year’s KillerCon.
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Currently Watching: Still working our way through a rewatch of South Park.
Currently Listening: The New York Dolls discography
Currently Reading: Don't Push The Button by John Skipp
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And that's it for this week! Be good to yourselves, and to each other. Those of you in the path of the hurricane -- I hope you stay safe. Those of you in the path of the wildfires -- I hope the same.
See you back here next Sunday.