It is Saturday morning as I write this, and here is the view from my front yard.
Technically, it’s the view from my neighbor’s front yard, since there are a bunch of geese hanging out on my dock, and I didn’t feel like wading through goose crap in my bedroom slippers and bathrobe this morning. Also, the geese are surly this time of year, and I also don’t feel like quarrelling with them in my slippers and bathrobe, either.
Anyway, this is what I see from my office window every morning. Why do I get up at 5am every morning and slog upstairs to go to work? I tell people it’s because of this view. But in thinking about that this morning, I really only enjoy this panorama for maybe thirty seconds a day. Or maybe a minute per day, maximum? And then I’m back to answering a neglected email, or responding to a question on Twitter, or typing the next sentence in whatever I’m working on. And the view is only experienced through a window. I’m not outside, standing on my dock or in my neighbor’s yard.
And some days… I don’t appreciate the view at all. Indeed, I suspect most days I don’t really appreciate it. I acknowledge it, as a thing that is there. But I don’t take a moment to exist with it.
I’ve been sick all week. It wasn’t Covid-19, and thank Cthulhu for that. I picked up the same flu that Mary had earlier. I thought I’d dodge the bullet, since she was here at home and I was at Borderlands Boot Camp (see last week’s newsletter), but the virus was here waiting for me when I returned. I worked on Monday, but was pretty much knocked on my butt Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Friday, I started to recuperate. Today (Saturday) I’m past the infectious stage, and am pretty much recovered, so in a few hours, me, Mary, and my 13-year old are going to drive up to author Somer Canon’s home for the day, so that my son and her son (who are best buds) can have some hang out time that takes place in the real world rather than a Minecraft or Roblox server, and Mary and Somer can do the same.
Sunrises. Friendships. You can experience them through a window or a screen (which are basically the same thing), but both are far better in person.
Tomorrow I’ll be paying Dave a final visit. Dave is at the end now. He fought this cancer much harder — and lived far longer — than anyone in the medical community thought he would, but that fight is almost over. Those extra few months he got to spend with Deena were treasured by them both, but that in-home hospice care was not cheap (over $4,000 per month, on top of all the other bills), so consider this a last call to help them out, if you have the means, by donating to the GoFundMe.
Mary’s sister commented to Mary yesterday, “Boy, Brian really is the guy that people turn to when things need to get done, isn’t he? How does he cope?”
Mostly, I cope with humor. Case in point, a friend asked me last weekend how I was dealing with Dave, and I said, “Oh, I’ve got it down to a science. Remember, we went through this with Pic and Jesus and Dallas and other friends. This is old hat.”
(I thought it was funny. My friend did not…)
What will I do tomorrow during this final visit? I promised Deena that I’d start cataloging Dave’s books and comic books and horror mags so that we can get offers from dealers and collectors (as per his wishes). I’ll show Dave the new edition of David J. Schow’s Silver Scream (finally rescued from the box at my rural post office which hasn’t been open much because society is slowly collapsing). Dave knows about the dedication already, and lit up when I told him at Christmas, but it will delight him to actually see it in print. It delights me, too.
So, what will I do tomorrow for our final visit together?
I will do those two things.
But otherwise, I will simply sit with my friend, and talk. He can’t talk much now, but he can definitely still listen and react, and I can talk enough for twelve people. And if it’s time for another dose of painkillers, then I will simply sit there with him while he drifts off.
Not through a window, but in the real. In the moment.
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Good morning. My name is Brian Keene and this is the 271st issue of Letters From the Labyrinth — a weekly newsletter for fans of my work. Previous issues can be found here.
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I am deeply honored to announce that beginning next year (2023), Mary SanGiovanni and I will be taking over the reins of the Borderlands Press Writers Boot Camp.
For over eighteen years, Borderlands Press Writers Boot Camp has been the premiere workshop for aspiring genre fiction writers. Founded by Tom and Elizabeth Monteleone, F. Paul Wilson, Douglas E. Winter and Ginjer Buchanan, it has become an institution like no other, with unparalleled success stories. Alumni from the last two decades include authors, editors and publishers such as Michael Bailey, Norman Prentiss, John Urbancik, Michael M. Hughes, Mike McBride, Meghan Arcuri, Lisa Mannetti, David Agranoff, Cameron Pierce, Joe Nassise, Brian J. Hatcher, Michael Knost, Yvette Tan, J.G. Faherty, Kevin Lucia, Nicole Wilson, and dozens more.
As someone who has been on the periphery of the workshop since its inception — be it as a guest speaker or simply warming up the crowd on Friday night — I have consistently been amazed and impressed by the level of teaching on hand, and the talent that comes out of such sessions.
When Tom and Paul asked, both Mary and myself were humbled and honored. In the days since, as the reality — and enormity — has set in, we are excited and eager to start.
We will be keeping the name firmly in place, as a way of honoring the legacy of the workshop’s founders, and intend to keep the majority of the structure and the lesson plan in place, as well. (If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). But we also intend to add some new additions to the program, to better prepare tomorrow’s aspiring writers for the fast-changing marketplace that publishing has become.
We will announce 2023’s dates, instructors and details later this year.
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On the latest episode of DEFENDERS DIALOGUE, Thomas Sniegowski returned to the show to join Christopher Golden and I in a discussion of The Eternals and other 1970s Marvel Comics series by Jack Kirby. Available for free wherever you listen to podcasts, and also via this link.
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Jay Wilburn’s #BrianKeeneRevisited continues this week with his re-read of EARTHWORM GODS.
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As I said, I was really sick this past week, so not much to report on the work front. The only things I managed to write were two chapters of INVISIBLE MONSTERS, a Foreword for OTHER WORLDS: THE COMPLETE SHORT FICTION OF BRIAN KEENE, VOL. 4, and a brand new short story (which will go to editor Regina Garza-Mitchell). All of those are posted to my Patreon, of course.
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Tickets for both SCARES THAT CARE AUTHORCON (taking place in April) and SCARES THAT CARE WEEKEND (taking place in July) are now back on sale, via our new ticket vendor! Click here for complete details on both conventions, and to purchase tickets, etc.
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Currently Listening: Amused To Death by Roger Waters, The Chronic by Dr. Dre, and Metal Health by Quiet Riot.
Currently Watching: Archive 81 and South Park season 25.
Currently Reading: Dreadful Tales by Richard Laymon (a re-read for me).
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Manhunt is a forthcoming post-apocalyptic novel by Gretchen Falker-Martin. Although it is not being marketed as such, it is both Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror (it has the razor-sharp social commentary of the former and the no-holds-barred grotesqueness of the latter).
I blurbed the book thusly: “Every ten years or so, a horror novel comes along that pushes the genre to terrifying new heights. Manhunt is such a novel. An emotional buzzsaw of a book that left me shaken.”
And I stand by that blurb. It’s an amazing read.
It’s also worth noting that this is from Tor/Nightfire. I point that out because there were some folks in the community who expressed worries that Nightfire would only publish certain kinds of horror fiction, or certain sub-genres. Not so. Manhunt could have easily been right at home with Necro, Deadite, Grindhouse, or one of the other indie publishers who specialize in subversive fiction. And that’s good for all of us.
Don’t sleep on this one, folks. It’s already at number one on Amazon and it’s still a week away from release. Preorder in paperback, audiobook for Kindle here.
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For everyone who's asked, yes, I've seen the Crabs movie trailer, and yes, I agree the filmmakers must have loved the CLICKERS books, just as Jesus, Mark and I loved Guy N. Smith's Crabs series. It's all good.
And if anyone would like to make a CLICKERS movie, the rights are available.
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Sunday morning now, and it’s 4:30am and I’ve just woken up from a strange dream. Deena texted a few minutes ago with an update on Dave. I’ll head down to Baltimore at first light.
We had a lovely visit with Somer and her family yesterday. Matt Wildasin and his wife Jamie were there, as well. The boys had a great time being teenagers. We all had a great time talking shop.
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And that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading. Now quit looking at things through that window. Go outside and experience them in the moment.
— Brian Keene
You're being too hard on windows. They not only remove us from, but protect us against Experience as well, and sometimes that's just as important. ;)