[Letters From the Labyrinth] Official Brian Keene Newsletter 2/26/17
Hi. My name is Brian Keene and this is the 30th issue of Letters From the Labyrinth. If you're a new subscriber, previous issues are archived here.
I'm sorry to report that construction on the new office and recording studio was not completed last week. Partly because I ran out of lumber and have to wait for another royalty check. Partly because I had a family member in the hospital (she's fine now, thanks). And partly because I contracted a case of Killer Death Flu. My son's third grade teacher says that 11 students were out sick from their class in one day last week.
When not sick, I was at the hospital, on bedside duty with other relatives. We worked in shifts. I wore a mask so as not to share my Killer Death Flu with anyone else. My family member slept most of the time, so I read a lot (several of John Urbancik's INKSTAINS books, which are the perfect little short story collections for such times) and wrote a bit. Didn't have my laptop, so I had to settle for my Moleskin notebook instead. Because of this, I didn't work on any in-progress novels, but I managed to sketch out two new short stories. One of them has a working title of "The Growler" and is about a guy trapped in a hospital restroom. If you've seen Mike Lombardo's wonderful short film, THE STALL, this story could answer the question, "What happens next?" The other has no working title, and is about a guy holding vigil by his dying mother's hospital bed, and a murder he sees take place on the roof of the parking garage next door. When those are eventually fleshed out and revised, I'll put them up on Patreon.
I also made some notes about edits and additional material for the END OF THE ROAD print book. If you missed it, the first of the two epilogues went up this week. That's one of the only pics of my youngest son the public will ever see, because his mother and I value his privacy. It is included there as the perfect 'The End'.
In truth, I don't expect to get back to work on the new office and studio until next weekend. This forthcoming week is going to be spent dealing with a lot of phone calls with producers (because there's been a weird and inexplicable uptick in interest from Hollywood these last few weeks for a number of different things). I'll also need to make up for lost time on those in-progress novels. And I'm also dropping by Cemetery Dance's offices to record an interview with Richard Chizmar for Thursday night's podcast.
I'll need more DayQuil.
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The above image courtesy of Twitter user @Wolverinesclaws who Tweets: "Amused by the price of Brian Keene's books on Amazon."
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If you live in or near Baltimore and want to get your books signed, I’ll be attending the Scares That Care Crab Feast Fundraiser on Saturday, March 18 from 8pm to midnight, at Jimmy’s Famous Seafood 6526 Holabird Ave, Baltimore, Maryland 21224. So will Mary SanGiovanni and The Horror Show’s Dave and Phoebe. Understand, we won’t have books for sale at the event. We’re just hanging out and not doing an official “signing”. BUT…if you buy a ticket to the event and bring books from home, we’ll be happy to sign them for you. Again, let me stress, you have to buy a ticket to the event. No sneaking in just to get your books signed.
Tickets are $55 per person and include all you can eat crabs, pit ham and beef, beer, soda, and an array of other foods and goodies. There will be door prizes and other fun raffles. Click here to buy your tickets!
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That image is also from Twitter, courtesy of @SeanIsgett, who Tweets: "I saw a copy of "Ghoul" in the local used bookstore and thought I'd contribute (however small) to the cause."
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CURRENTLY READING: Rue Morgue Magazine's Authorized Phantasm Film Companion by John W. Bowen
CURRENTLY WATCHING: Colony (Season One)
CURRENTLY LISTENING: Supertramp - Even In The Quietest Moments
Was reading Rue Morgue's PHANTASM FILM COMPANION in bed last night. Got a nice surprise on page 115, which included a sidebar on The Sentinel fanzine and the Phantasm: Excursions Into Oblivion anthology, both of which were published by Richard Elkin. The sidebar mentioned, among other things, that these featured some of the first published work by a then-young author named Brian Keene. Nice to see those early fan fiction efforts remembered fondly by others. I've still got a stack of The Sentinel back-issues in my office, along with the anthology.
Colony is a lot of fun. Think V meets Jericho. (And when I say V, I mean the alien invasion show from the Eighties, rather than the Alan Moore documentary V For Vendetta, which is about American life in 2017). It's not transcendent television the way Better Call Saul or The Wire are, but it's satisfying and entertaining and I enjoy it.
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At the start of the newsletter, I mentioned I'd been reading John Urbancik's INKSTAINS series of short story collections while at the hospital this week. He now has a podcast with the same name.
Ever wanted to challenge yourself artistically? Write a story every day, photograph something or illustrate something on a regular basis? John Urbancik has done that, on a grand scale: InkStains was originally a year-long daily writing project, in which he wrote a story a day every day for a year. By hand. Now, as he attempts to do this for a third time, he’ll share with you his secrets of how it’s done. Or maybe you just want to hear some of the stories that have resulted from this. InkStains is now a weekly podcast featuring stories of any and every genre as well as discussions about creativity and personal challenges and what it takes to make a thing – and the kinds of scars and stains that might leave.
Click here to listen for free. Also available on iTunes and all the other usual places you listen to podcasts.
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That's it for this week. As always, be good to one another. Figure out who loves you for who you are, and who loves you for who you are. (An important distinction).
PATREON - Where I post new short stories, a serialized ongoing novel, and behind-the-scenes stuff.
TWITTER - The only social media outlet I still use regularly.