Letters From the Labyrinth 253
The last of the outdoor feral kittens is now inside and in the process of being domesticated. She will then be adopted out to a good home. I say “she” as a gender, but — as it turns out — I’m apparently incompetent when it comes to determining the gender of newborn kittens.
Good morning. My name is Brian Keene and this is the 253rd issue of Letters From the Labyrinth — a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues can be found here on Substack. If you’re reading this via email, and you’d like to leave a comment, just click that link. I’m always happy to hear from you.
I’ve been placing each kitten in a good home. You may remember that the first such adoption was to author and podcaster Matt Wildasin. I had temporarily named the kitten Spidey due to its ability to scale walls, and its black and white coloration (for you non-comic book readers, Spider-Man’s suit is sometimes black and white, rather than red and blue). Matt gave the kitten the permanent name of Loki. This week, a veterinarian informed Matt that Loki was in fact a girl, so Matt and I have both had to correct our pronoun usage when referring to her.
You’ll remember that Mary and I are keeping two of the kittens. (We’ve adopted three of the others out so far and are looking for a home for number four). We are keeping them confined to the second floor (which contains our offices) until our vet can check them out, because we don’t want them to inadvertently give anything to our current cat, Spike. Before this week, when I came upstairs to my office, I’d say, “Where are my boys” and Dallas and Stripe would come running to greet me. This week, I changed that to “Where are my babies” because that’s a nice neutral pronoun.
If you’re misreading this as me making fun of gender and pronoun usage, please don’t, because that’s not the joke here. Keep in mind, my future step-daughter, whom I’ve known since she was four and whom I love as much as my own children, is trans. I just think it’s funny that a 54-year old straight white guy can’t figure out if his litter of feral kittens are boys or girls despite having grown up on a farm and being intimately familiar with the workings of both sets of genitalia.
Meanwhile, outside, Josey and her final kitten (before I managed to wrangle the latter into the house) presented me with a giant dead rat. Came out onto the porch one morning this past week, and there it lay, as long as my shoe (I wear size 10 1/2) and mauled to death.
Here’s Stripe and Dallas in their new favorite spot.
I mentioned my future step-daughter above. She, Mary’s parents, both of Mary’s sisters, and M/mnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmn
You see that? No, I didn’t just have a stroke. the kittens did that while I went to get more coffee. Fuck it. I’m leaving it in.
Anyway, Mary’s daughter, parents, sisters, niece and nephew are coming down to visit later today (the kittens and I are typing this on Saturday morning). I’m going to take the kids to a nearby llama farm. Their mother thought that meant a petting zoo, so Mary had to explain, “No, one of our neighbors has a farm where he breeds llamas.” I also hope to take Mary’s niece fishing, if she wants to.
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HALLOWEEN NIGHTS: TALES OF AUTUMN FRIGHT is a new anthology edited by James A. Moore that features a brand-new short story I co-wrote with my pal Christopher Golden. It also features stories from Mary SanGiovanni, Richard Chizmar, V Castro, Jeff Strand, and many more. Click here download it to Kindle, or to buy it in either hardcover or paperback.
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This is the part of the newsletter where I’d normally tell you what I worked on during the past week, and what I read, watched and listened to. Unfortunately, I didn’t do much of that. I’ve got three different family members currently undergoing individual health crises. It’s serious in every case, and much of my week was spent assisting them, and worrying about them. It’s been a harrowing week, to say the least.
About the only three things I got accomplished that are worth noting are as follows.
We had a Scares that Care board meeting last night, and we should be announcing some of the Guests of Honor for AuthorCon next week.
Chris Golden and I recorded the first of the last 12 episodes of DEFENDERS DIALOGUE on Thursday morning. It will air next Tuesday wherever you listen to podcasts.
On Thursday afternoon, I edited together a video for Dave Thomas. Since Dave is now in in-home hospice, Robert Swartwood and Stephen Kozeniewski solicited videos from his friends who can’t get here to see him in person — Scott Edelman, Maurice Broaddus, Paul Tremblay, Xander Harris, Christopher Golden, Nicholas Kaufmann, Jonathan Janz, Charles R. Rutledge, Ronald Malfi, and Rio Youers. I then edited those together into one full-length video. Dave and Deena watched it together on Friday night and were very moved. Rio sang a song which they would like to play again at Dave’s memorial.
I’ve got to tell you — Dave is approaching his end with as much bravery, calm, and candor as anyone I think I’ve ever known. He’s exhausted and in a lot of pain, and final uncertainty hangs over him and Deena but he’s been approaching it with a grace that I doubt I would be able to possess, when my time comes. I love him, and I don’t want to say how he’s approaching this is inspiring, because there’s nothing inspiring about this situation. But it is…well, I don’t know the word. Which is frustrating for a writer, but like I said, it’s been a hell of a week. Here’s his GoFundMe if you’d like to help him and Deena out. I’d appreciate it.
But yeah, as far as writing, I could barely keep up with Patreon this week, let alone do anything else substantial. Hoping this coming week will be better.
Anyway, that’s it for this week. I’m off to shovel compost and winterize my garden. Be kind to each other. I’ll see you back here next week.