[Letters From the Labyrinth] Official Brian Keene Newsletter 10/30/16
Hello. My name is Brian Keene and this is the lucky thirteenth issue of Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly email newsletter. Don't skim this week. Read the whole thing. There's some pretty important stuff happening.
Was supposed to do a live appearance with Robert Swartwood on Facebook today (in support of his new novel TEMPLE) but I've got the flu, so we had to reschedule. In the meantime, you should click here to check out TEMPLE. It's Watchmen meets Jason Bourne.
The good thing about being sick is that everyone has pretty much been leaving me alone, which means I've been able to get a lot of work done this weekend. For example, RETURN TO THE LOST LEVEL is pretty much finished. There's a chapter dealing with the secret space program that I'm not satisfied with. I need to un-fuck that before I send the second half of the final draft off to pre-readers (they've already worked on the first half). But other than that chapter, the book is done. And yes, there will be another in the series. It's called BENEATH THE LOST LEVEL.
The Afterword for the Dark Regions Press edition of Richard Laymon's FUNLAND is finished. I've been waiting on the estate to confirm a few facts for me regarding the novel's creation, but haven't heard back. I'll give it to the end of the week, and if I still haven't heard anything, I'll just submit it as is.
SCHOOL'S OUT is nearly finished. Finishing it over the next day or two. This is a book for Intermediate Readers up to Adults. It was incredibly difficult to write, for several reasons -- some of them technical and others personal. Last night, I did something I rarely do. I got high and worked on it. That's not usually my preferred creative method. When I smoke a joint, I just get horny and hungry, and neither of those things are conducive to sitting down and writing. I don't know why, but for some reason, it helped this time around.
When the book comes out and you give it to your kids to read, don't tell them I got high while writing it. That would be a bad example. We'll just keep it our little secret, okay?
The week ahead -- PAINFREAK story, Introduction for Scott Edelman, and HOLE IN THE WORLD.
I did a reading at the KGB Bar in New York City last week, along with fellow authors Mary SanGiovanni, Adam Cesare, Christoph Paul, Nick Cato, and Leza Cantoral. This was my fifth time reading at the KGB, and I am always very honored to participate in this historic and legendary long-running series. I debuted a new short story called "An End To All Things". The attendees seemed to dig it. The story will appear in a Cemetery Dance anthology next year.
Here are a few pics. The first one is copyright Leza Cantoral, and is of me reading "An End To All Things". The second picture is also copyright Leza Cantoral and is of me signing books for long-time reader Alan. The third photo is copyright Patrick Kennedy, who caught Mary and I exiting the venue.
Pre-orders for the 2016 Maelstrom set will begin in a few weeks. If you are planning on purchasing a set, put aside your money now. The set will include:
THRONE OF THE BASTARDS by Brian Keene and Steven L. Shrewsbury - Rogan is back in this sequel to Brian Keene and Steven L. Shrewsbury’s award-winning KING OF THE BASTARDS, and this time, he’ll show no mercy. Learning that his family are in danger, Rogan returns to his former kingdom, now under siege from foreign invaders led by his bastard son. Now, the aging barbarian and his trusted companions, Javan and Akibeel, must forge an alliance new friends and old foes, mustering an army to retake the kingdom. Surrounded by savages, soldiers, demons, and dark magic, it will take all their cunning, skill, and courage to survive the war and determine once and for all who shall sit upon the THRONE OF THE BASTARDS.
SCHOOL’S OUT by Brian Keene - Eight-year-old Alan doesn’t like going to school, but when a global pandemic leaves him orphaned, cold, starving, and lonely, he has no choice but to set out on a dangerous quest to return to his third-grade classroom. SCHOOL’S OUT, an all-new post-apocalyptic novella by Brian Keene, was suggested to him by his son, marking their first official collaboration, and is suitable for Intermediate Readers as well as adults.
COME TO DUST by Bracken MacLeod - Ever since her mother abandoned her, five-year-old Sophie has had to depend on her uncle Mitch for everything. But he’s struggling. Restarting a life interrupted by time in prison is hard enough without having to balance work and single parenthood. Mitch is determined to make it work though, striving to keep their family together despite the obstacles in their way, because no matter how difficult things get, they are good for each other. And life for the two of them seems to be looking up. But when Sophie dies tragically, it all comes crashing down. Mitch descends into a crippling grief, coming to understand how little his freedom means without her to share it with. And though released from the sudden responsibility thrust upon him, all he wants is his niece back, safe and alive.
When he gets his wish and scores of children around the world begin to inexplicably rise from the dead—Sophie among them—everything becomes much harder.
Mitch rescues her from the morgue, determined to carve out a normal life for them no matter what, though it soon becomes clear that may not be possible. While the kids who’ve returned behave like living children, they still look very dead. And they can do something else that normal children cannot. Something terrifying. Beliefs differ whether the children’s return is a mercy or a sign of approaching judgment, and a congregation of religious fanatics determined to usher in the apocalypse has their own plan for salvation.
Now Mitch must find a way to save Sophie from an increasingly hostile world that wants to tear them apart and put her back in the ground for good.
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PRE-ORDERS COMING SOON. Readers interested in purchasing a signed, limited-edition set are advised to put aside the money now.
Some of you have probably noticed that all of my audiobooks except for THE COMPLEX vanished for sale from Audible over the last week. Well, that's because I wasn't getting paid for them.
Previously, audiobooks for THE RISING, CITY OF THE DEAD, A GATHERING OF CROWS, CASTAWAYS, DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN, and GHOUL were produced by a company called AudioRealms. More recently, I announced that the rest of my backlist would be turned into audiobooks via a different company--David Niall Wilson's Crossroads Press. The reason for this was because AudioRealms owed me and all their other authors and voice talents a lot of money, and none of us were getting paid (or, if we were getting paid, it was late and not within the obligations of the contract).
This past week, after determining that AudioRealms had indeed violated their contracts with us on multiple occasions, myself and many other authors informed them we were taking our rights back effective immediately. We then filed to have the audiobook editions removed from sale immediately.
What does this mean for you? Well, it means that I'll be allowing Crossroads Press to re-release those adaptations, with all-new voice talents. I am very happy with Crossroads Press. They pay when they say they're going to pay, which is really all you have to do to keep an author happy.
Until then, if you're hankering for a Brian Keene audiobook, please do buy a copy of THE COMPLEX.
A few links of interest:
1. Long-time reader John (aka Scooby Diesel) is raising money for his local children's hospital. I encourage you to support him. This email newsletter has close to 800 subscribers. If each of you gives one dollar, he'll be well over goal. Click here for the details or to contribute.
2. I write a weekly column for Cemetery Dance called END OF THE ROAD. I've been hearing from readers that it is becoming one of their favorite things, and my fellow writers tell me it's some of my strongest work in years. I don't know about any of that, but I do know that it's a treat to write. All of the columns are archived at this link.
3. On Thursday's podcast, Christopher Golden and I both admitted to having used ghost writers at least once in both our careers. If you're curious about who I used, why I used them, and which one of my works started out ghost-written (but ended up being re-written by me) click here and listen for free.
In truth, I expected some blow-back from certain circles regarding our confession, and I've been pleasantly surprised that hasn't happened yet. Maybe we just live in an age when most intelligent readers know that this sort of thing happens sooner or later, with almost every author. Or maybe it's the fact that I ended up having to scrap the ghost-written stuff and re-write it anyway. Whatever the reason, thanks for not losing your shit on me.
If you're still here after thirteen issues, thanks for not unsubscribing. Take care of yourself, and I'll see you again next week, universe willing.