Letters From the Labyrinth 255
There are books all over the floor — knocked haphazardly and seemingly at random from shelves in my office, Mary’s office, and the library. Dirt from both the potted kiwi tree and the potted lime tree is strewn everywhere. Albums are knocked aside, comic book boxes have had their lids dislodged, empty brass bullet casings which needed reloaded are scattered, my eyeglass cleaning cloth is missing, and the stack of papers on my desk — which included a several contracts, two printed out manuscripts for short stories, some Scares That Care AuthorCon material, and a prospectus for a mutual fund complex — all neatly organized when I went to bed, are now some sort of makeshift carpet across the hardwood floors in four rooms.
All because while we slept, the kittens found a plastic water bottle cap to play with. It is now sitting discarded amidst all the carnage and destruction.
My name is Brian Keene and this is the 255th 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 was talking with author Bob Ford yesterday, and we were both remarking with some wonder about how our sons are no longer little boys anymore. His son is home from college for a few days. My youngest son heads into High School next year. And my oldest son is now in his early thirties, the same age as some of my younger peers in this industry. I was thinking about that as I type this on Saturday morning at 6AM, and a thought occurred to me — these three kittens that I’ve adopted are probably the last pets I’ll ever own. The house now holds a total of four cats — Mary’s cat Spike and the three new additions: Stripe, Dallas, and Bubbles. It’s a big house, but not big enough to hold more than that, and not big enough to add a dog to the mix. So, we would have to lose one of them before another could be added. I’m 54 years old. The average lifespan of a healthy, cared for cat is 15 to 20 years. Given the circumstances (most notably my blood pressure, which has begun acting up again after several months of quiet), it is possible that these kittens could outlive me. And that is a weird realization to come to.
Later today, Mary and I are going to visit Dave for a few hours. As you know, he’s in hospice at home after a very long battle with cancer. Tomorrow, Mary and I, and my godson, and director Mike Lombardo, and authors Wesley Southard, John Urbancik, and Stephen Kozeniewski are going to visit the Frank Frazetta Art Museum. Wes and his wife Katie are expecting their first child in just a few months. (Mary and I have been promised babysitting duties). And not to sound like a Disney movie, but that talk with Bob, and this visit to Dave, and the anticipation of Wes and Katie’s impending child — it’s all got me sitting here thinking about the Circle of Life this morning. Not in a maudlin fashion. I made my peace with my mortality a few years ago. No, this in more of a philosophical sense.
All are one and one are all, as Alice Cooper sang in “Clones (We’re All)”.
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A few days ago, Kozeniewski shared two pictures with me that I don’t think I’d ever seen before. They were taken eight years ago, at a signing J.F. Gonzalez and I were doing at The Comic Store in Lancaster, PA. It was the first time Stephen had met either of us, and he was very nervous. He had a copy of his first published novel with him. Now, here we are eight years later, and J.F. has completed his Circle of Life (and possibly started a new one) and Stephen, along with author Wile E. Young, are guiding the Clickers franchise for a ne generation of readers. I like that synchronicity.
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Anyway… that where my head is at this morning. I’m looking forward to seeing Dave and Deena this afternoon. We won’t talk about the bullshit that’s going on, or about his health. We’ll talk about good times. If I can make him laugh, then it’s a good day.
And I’m looking forward to the Frank Frazetta Art Museum tomorrow. His legacy is one that has certainly endured, and none of us are ever really gone as long as we are remembered.
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Looking for something to do for free next Thursday night, but don’t want to leave your home? I’ll be doing a live virtual reading and Q&A on October 28th, courtesy of the Oak Park Public Library in Illinois. It is a free event, and you can watch from anywhere in the world, but you MUST pre-register via this link. (All times are Central time zone).
I’ll probably read two short stories, and then answer questions.
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On the latest episode of DEFENDERS DIALOGUE, Christopher Golden and I discuss one of the most influential and still-timely stories of the Marvel Comics Bronze Age -- 1982's X-MEN: GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS. Available free wherever you listen to podcasts, including this link.
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Currently Listening: Ultramagnetic MCs, Kurtis Blow, and the Krush Groove soundtrack.
Currently Reading: Unfadeable by Maurice Broaddus and Irish Gothic by Ronald Kelly.
Currently Watching: Only Murders in The Building and Season 16 of South Park.
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This Past Week’s Work:
Signed a contract for an Italian-language edition of JACK’S MAGIC BEANS.
Finalized a lot of things for Scares That Care AuthorCon. Guest of Honor announcements will come out this week.
Guest-hosted the Ghost Writers Podcast for an interview with Ellen Datlow.
Worked on INVISIBLE MONSTERS and PROJECT CASTLE.
Got the paperback and ebook editions of THE SEVEN: THE LABYRINTH Book 1 into production. It will be available soon — possibly as early as Halloween, but more likely next month.
Began compiling a new non-fiction collection tentatively titled SUCCESS IS THE BEST REVENGE AND OTHER SELF-HELP TIPS.
Began compiling the next COMPLETE SHORT FICTION OF BRIAN KEENE collection.
Wrote and posted new episode of ISLAND OF THE DEAD.
Signed a contract for THE RISING: MORE SELECTED SCENES FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, but the publisher wants to do the official announcement in the trade publications, so the only other thing I can tell you right now is that it will collect the 8 short stories I wrote for the Chemo For Bear fundraiser (four of which are done, one of which is halfway done, and three of which I still need to write — and the printed manuscripts for the finished ones are now among the aforementioned scattered papers on my office floor, and will need to be reprinted before I sign them and mail them to the buyers). And I can tell you that the cover artist is going to blow you away.
And I’m halfway through signing signature sheets for autographed limited editions of CLICKERS NEVER DIE, TERMINAL, and a German-language edition of DISSONANT HARMONIES. Need to finish the first one today, so I can hand them off to Stephen Kozeniewski to sign when I see him for the Frazetta Museum trip tomorrow.
The shipping logistics problems that are engulfing the rest of the world are also playing havoc with both signature sheets and book deliveries. I’ve got copies of END OF THE ROAD, DISSONANT HARMONIES, SUBURBAN GOTHIC, and NEMESAI en route to Lifetime Subscribers, and watching them crawl across the United States via the tracking numbers is an exercise in futility.
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I can’t remember if I mentioned it here before or not, but Mary, my sons, my parents, and my ex-wife all got together and arranged for me to get out of town for a week next month and go somewhere remote and focus on work for a week. I’m not taking my cell phone with me. I haven’t decided where yet — I’m leaning toward either our hunting cabin in West Virginia or Ocean City, MD (which is cheap and deserted now in the off-season). During that week, I will finish PROJECT CASTLE and those final Chemo For Bear stories, an if there is time left over, I’ll finish INVISIBLE MONSTERS, as well.
West Virginia is great because there’s no internet or wi-fi at the cabin, and without my cell phone, nobody will be able to reach me. Plus, I could take a few hours break every day and visit with my 96-year old grandmother. However, enough people know me there, and know my car, that I’ll have visitors popping by at the cabin all week long.
Ocean City is great, because as I said, in the off season, it will be deserted. I could get a hotel with a balcony overlooking the ocean and just write my ass off all week. But a hotel room, even in the off season, is going to cost money, whereas the cabin in WV is free. Plus, Ocean City has internet and wi-fi and it doesn’t have my grandma.
I don’t know, and probably won’t know until I get behind the steering wheel and start driving. But I’ve got time to mull it over.
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Links of Possible Interest To You:
Who Killed Tony Soprano? - For the record, I agree with this theory.
NCKdaGreat says some nice things about me on her Twitch Channel.
This very long Twitter thread by Laird Barron is the creepiest thing you’ll read on the Internet this month (warning — the thread gets broken up with replies, so you’ll have to do some clicking to read the entire thing).
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And that’s it for this week. Be good to those who are good to you, and continue to ignore those who aren’t. And don’t forget about the reading and Q&A this Thursday! I hope to see some of you there, from your homes. And if not, then I’ll see you back here next week.