Letters From the Labyrinth 258
I missed these little fur-balls, and I’ll bet some of you did, as well.
Howdy. I’m Brian Keene and this is the 258th 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.
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I’m back from my workcation at the family cabin in West Virginia. I left a little early so I could get ahead of the snow which is forecast for when I had originally planned to leave. Got a lot accomplished. Major, major, major progress on PROJECT CASTLE and some - but not as much as I would have liked - progress on those few remaining RISING short stories.
Here’s a little snapshot of PROJECT CASTLE, just to whet your whistle.
Basically, I sat in the cabin and wrote. The only exceptions were a dinner one evening with my cousin and his family, two afternoon lunches with my grandmother, and a nightly cigar by the campfire.
When I got back to Pennsylvania, my youngest boy was at his mom’s, and Mary was asleep, but the kittens basically bowled me over on the kitchen floor and tried to smother me with themselves. It was nice to be missed.
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Lifetime Subscriber Update:
While I was away, books for Lifetime Subscribers were making their way across the country, to be fulfilled. This next shipment contains SUBURBAN GOTHIC, END OF THE ROAD and DISSONANT HARMONIES, all signed already.
NEMESAI (which is sitting here in my office waiting to be signed) and THE SEVEN (which is on order) will go out for fulfillment after the holidays. Those copies of NEMESAI will, as a bonus, also be signed by John Urbancik.
Readers often ask if I will ever offer Lifetime Subscriptions again. Sadly, I will not. It was a one time thing for thirty people, offered at a time in my life when both Leisure Books and the small press had just collapsed, and I’d watched my monthly income shrink to zero in just a few weeks. It was capped at 30, and a few of those folks have since passed away, but I haven’t resold their positions because that feels wrong and immoral to me.
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Episode 143 of DEFENDERS DIALOGUE also went live while I was gone (Chris and I pre-recorded it). Spider-Woman, the Shroud, Werewolf By Night, Tigra and a host of super villains team up against three bizarre super threats, as we discuss Spider-Woman issue 50. Listen free wherever you listen to podcasts, and via this link.
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Keeping in mind that I was sequestered all week in a cabin in the mountains…
Currently Watching: The Kyle Rittenhouse trial, and all of the Star Trek movies (all of these were on in the background while I worked).
Currently Reading: I did not read for pleasure, but I had a reference book with me and also hiked out to where there was cell phone service once a day so I could ask Bev Vincent questions, since my home library was six hours away.
Currently Listening: Various Delta Blues songs and Bluegrass songs. Again, on in the background while I worked).
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A special note of thanks to Erin Louis, Maurice Broaddus, Hunter Shea and John Urbancik for giving my Patreon supporters some extra content this week, while I was away.
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Last week was the anniversary of J.F. Gonzalez’s passing. Writers are among the few who can truly live forever in the collective memory, as long as they are read. Here are all of his currently in print books.
And here he is as a kid, reciving his first writing award (photo courtesy of his family).
Click that link above and check out one of his books. You’ll be glad you did.
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And that’s it for this week. I still need to unpack and unwind. Tomorrow it’s back to work for me. No rest and all that. Try to be kind to strangers this week. It’s important we do that, because this country is fraying more and more every day.
See you back here next week!