The number one thing I got asked about at the Bram Stoker Awards this past weekend was the new litter of kittens. Here’s a pic of Josie nursing one of them. I refuse to name the kittens, because all of them have to go to good homes, and I don’t want to get more attached than I already am. And it is impossible to not get attached to this level of cuteness.

Good morning. My name is Brian Keene and this is Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for friends, family and fans of my work. Previous issues can be read here. You can also leave comments, which I’ll read and answer as time allows.

We’ve been in Denver since last Thursday, and I’m missing the cats terribly — both the indoor foursome and Josie and her feral outdoor offspring. We’ve got family checking on them everyday, but I’m still worried that I’m not there to protect and safeguard them. Here’s two more pics, taken last Wednesday, before we left.

As I was telling Ellen Datlow, Michele Scalise-Piccirilli, Linda Addison, Cynthia Pelayo, and Rose O’Keefe (all of whom I think would have been very happy to hear cat stories all weekend long) I believe that Josie and I have finally reached a new level of trust. She now sits next to me if I sit down on the front porch steps, and does not shy away or hiss. She lets me watch the babies up close, and only hisses if I try to pick them up. I explained to her again that once she is done nursing this litter, she has to let me take her to the vet and get spayed if she wants to stay. unlike previous conversations, she did not hiss or look at me with disdain.

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And Josie isn’t the only one having babies. Of course, Wesley Southard and his wife Katie, and writer/publishers Christoph Paul and Leza Cantoral all recently welcomed newborn members of their household. And now Joe Hill and Gillian Redfearn have welcomed two new little ones into the world. Joe sent me some pics last week, and they are cuties! So, congrats to them.

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THE DAMNED HIGHWAY by myself and Nick Mamatas is now available in audiobook via both Audible and Apple, narrated by the great Mark Meer! Mark, you might remember, adapted the novel as a one-man stage play called FEAR AND LOATHING AND LOVECRAFT, which toured a few cities right before the pandemic shut everything down. I’m so glad he was able to step into this role again. He’s so perfect as Uncle Lono.

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We opened up the second wave of vendor tables for Scares That Care AuthorCon II, taking place March 31 - April 2, 2023. There are only 13 left. Click here to reserve yours. After those 13 are gone, no more will be available.

A few points of note:

1) Once you have purchased your table, Joe Ripple of Scares That Care will contact you with the code to reserve your room at the hotel.

2) As our table pricing is still very low, there is to be no sharing of tables. Each vendor/author must purchase their own table.

3) A lot of requests at the last charity event were made to be put next to another author, due to co-writing, anthologies and other partnered works. It is requested and recommended that authors who wish this for the next event, purchase their tables as close together in time as possible. Tables will not be held.

4) Life happens. We know this. In all accounts, we are a charity. If you do need to cancel a vendors table for whatever reason, we will make every attempt to find another vendor. Only if we are able to find a vendor to take the table, will you then get a refund. PLEASE NOTE - NO REFUNDS ON CANCELED TABLES WILL BE GIVEN ONE MONTH BEFORE THE EVENT.

5) I am taking care of all scheduling of readings, panels, classes and related events. Logistics questions can come to Joe Ripple, but author related questions should be directed to me.

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Currently Reading: Last of the Ravagers by Bryan Smith

Currently Watching: Better Call Saul, Barry, and The Last Kingdom

Currently Listening: “Goody Two Shoes” by Adam Ant

Last of the Ravagers was my airplane read last Thursday. It’s a fantastic weird western, and definitely one of Bryan’s top ten best books. I highly recommend it. Available on Kindle and in paperback.

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I have lots of random notes and thoughts from the weekend jotted down, but there’s no time to put them into a cohesive narrative right now. One take-away — in END OF THE ROAD, I proposed that Indie Publishing was the new mid-list. I felt very vindicated this weekend that a number of people who are much smarter than me (agents, academics, trade publishers, distributors, etc) agree with that summation. A few folks who are also much smarter than me don’t agree, and think the mid-list is going to return in traditional form. I’m not so sure about that, but its definitely worth a longer essay or conversation once we are all safely back home.

Other than that, I spent most of the weekend just catching up with old friends, and sitting back and watching with delight as new friends/newer authors bloomed and blossomed and shone. I didn’t do a lot of business, because that’s not really why I come to these things anymore. But I did talk with my Deadite Press editor Rose O’Keefe about something I want to do. And I talked to a publisher about a western. And I got a lot of stuff done for Scares That Care, which will take fruit next year. Maurice Broaddus and I presented the Best Screenplay Award at the Bram Stoker Awards. And Mary and I and a few other people filmed a television pilot, which I’m not allowed to talk about.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures, but I did take a few. Here they are (long with a few by other folks).

Mary and I at the Bram Stoker Awards. Behind us is Jennifer McMahon, Lynne Hansen, and John Edward Lawson. Photo by Becky Spratford.

John Urbancik, Mary, and myself before the Bram Stoker Awards.

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I will resume Dave Thomas’s estate auctions next week. In the meantime, if your name is ‘Scott’ and you would like a signed, personalized copy of SURVIVOR by J.F. Gonzalez, reach out to me. David J. Schow and I will hook you up. Offer available only to the first Scott that contacts me, and yes, I will require verification that’s your name.

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And that does it for this week. We’re here in Denver until early tomorrow morning, but we’re doing some “us time” stuff today. All of you leaving here today, travel safe. And all of you reading this at home, stay safe.

— Brian

Letters From the Labyrinth

Letters From the Labyrinth 282