Letters From the Labyrinth 298
The newsletter is a little late this morning, I know. That’s because I was signing at Protean Books and Records in Baltimore yesterday, along with Mary, Hailey Piper, Robert Swartwood, Wesley Southard, Somer Canon, Mike Lombardo, Stephen Kozeniewski, Sonora Taylor, Chris Enterline, and Matt Wildasin. We had a great time, and the event went well. I always define well as: “We made money, the store made money, and everyone seemed to have fun.” And I think all three of those checkboxes got ticked. Thanks to the Protean for having us, and thanks to each and every one of you who came out.
Afterward, a bunch of us had dinner in Hunt Valley. We were joined by author and editor Lesley Conner and new author Leah Ning, who recently sold a short story to Apex Digest. Mary and I got home around 9pm. Then I had to pick my son up from band competition at around 11pm. So yeah, busy day, and since I usually write these newsletters on Saturday mornings, this one isn’t getting written until now, just before you read it. And that’s why it’s late.
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.
Here are a few more pics from the signing.
There are more photos on my Twitter and Instagram. I won’t post them all here, because too many photos impacts the delivery rate of the newsletter. When you reach a certain mount, Gmail will simply not deliver it to subscribers using their service.
I was struck yesterday, in talking with Mike Lombardo and M.J. Withers, just how long Ive been doing this now. I first met them both when they were in high school, during the signing tour for CITY OF THE DEAD and TERMINAL. Mike wanted to be a film director, and M.J. wanted to be a rapper. Now, they’re both in their early thirties, and Mike is a film director and M.J. is a rapper, and both have been successful in their fields. Over the years I’ve watched them grow from excited, enthusiastic kids with a dream to amazing men who have achieved those dreams and are continuing to strive for more. It fills me with an immense pride and joy. It also makes me feel old, but not in a bad or melancholy way. It makes me feel old in a satisfied way, if that makes any sense.
THE RISING turns 20 years old next year. I’ll turn fifty-five in two weeks. I had a doctor’s visit this week. I’d been dreading it, because it was one of those doctor’s visits where they check you out from head to toe and then tell you all the things that are continuing to go wrong with you. But to my delighted surprise — and to the equally delighted surprise of the doc and the nurses — it turns out I’m in fairly decent shape. Yes, my body is a mass of scars from old injuries, and the many misadventures of younger Brian have left me in constant chronic pain, from my toes all the way up to my neck (most prominently my feet, knees and fists). But my blood pressure, which has been terrible and which has climbed to stroke elevation levels many times over the last few years, is now 116 over 70. I weigh 197 pounds — the first time I’ve been under 200 pounds in at least a decade. My BMI is not where it should be, but it’s getting closer. The daily walking and weight lifting and trying to eat healthier are having demonstrable results. And that also makes me feel old in a satisfied way.
Life is good, is my point. Life is good. No, I never made a million dollars, but like Howlin Wolf sings in ‘Goin Down Slow’:
Now look here, I did not say, I was a millionaire
But I said, I have spent more money than a millionaire
'Cause if I had kept all of the money I had already spent
I would've been a millionaire a long time ago
Bottom line — I’m pretty happy with my life and my career right now. That could change on a dime, of course. That’s how life is. But I’m enjoying the moment. Because that’s also what life is — a series of moments.
* * *
Reader Recession Relief Week 5
This week, the Kindle edition of NEMESAI by myself and John Urbancik is only 99 cents! Remember, each of these sales last one week only, so next Tuesday this book will go back to its regular price and a new one will go on sale.
It starts with the red dreams. Everyone has them every night. But they’re just a precursor, because something deep within the bowels of the earth has awakened—something we defeated and sent back thousands of years ago. First, there are scouts which decimate cities, and the armies of humanity find their weapons impotent.
Enter Atiya Destine, professional adventurer and mercenary. She and her team will venture deep into the middle of China to follow the scouts back to where they came from: a hole in earth once protected by thousands of warriors awaiting the return of humanity’s Nemesai.
Enter Jane, a survivor of the destruction of Shanghai. Enter Stefan, trying to put down the unstoppable Nemesai with his fists.
They’ll enter the tomb of China’s first emperor, untouched for thousands of years, with rivers of mercury and pearls as stars in its sky hiding an underground city. Somewhere in that tomb, Atiya Destine hopes to find a way of driving back the rising army before it’s too late. Enter the Nemesai. They cannot be stopped.
* * *
If you are a reader or a horror lit fan, the third annual Buzz Book Expo takes place online next weekend (September 17 and 18). this is a free two-day livestream in which publishers showcase horror books that are forthcoming between now and December 2023, so it’s a chance for you — the reader — to get some exclusive sneak peeks at cool stuff to come. It is hosted by Mary SanGiovanni, Somer Canon, and Matt Wildasin, and they out a LOT of work into it each year. To view the presentation schedule or watch the livestream, click here.
* * *
Over on Lit Reactor, Jay Wilburn interviewed me, Lesley Conner, Wesley Southard, Stephen Kozeniewski, Cynthia Pelayo, Gabino Iglesias, Wrath James White and Wile E. Young about the legacy of J.F. Gonzalez, and his literary estate, and my own literary estate. Click here to read it.
* * *
I’ve got three more signings this year. I’ll have the dates and more info for you here next week. One of them is with Ronald Malfi and Richard Chizmar at a Barnes & Noble in Annapolis, MD. One is at a brewpub in Mechanicsburg, PA. And the other one is this massive two-day event at a Barnes & Noble in Virginia.
* * *
Currently Reading: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien and A Lesson In Renegade Filmmaking by Jack Bantry and Robert Essig.
Currently Watching: The Outlaws (Amazon Prime)
Currently Listening: Brian Keene Radio
For new readers — Brian Keene Radio is my free radio station. I write to music, and my tastes are eclectic. It’s basically something I can have on in the background while I work, and do so with the knowledge that I’ll never hear a song I don’t like. But it’s there and free if you’d like to listen, too. It also plays interviews and readings and such.
I’m a big Stephen Merchant fan. The Office, of course, but more particularly Hello Ladies, which I think — in its one lone season — was one of the top ten best sitcoms of all time, and I’m still pissed at HBO for canceling it. The Outlaws is his latest, and it’s a beautiful mix of comedy, crime, and drama. Christopher Walken is great in it, of course, but the entire cast are a delight, particularly Rhianne Barreto.
* * *
Work this past week: PROJECT BROADSWORD, which I suspect is not going to make it over the finish line, PROJECT MILEAGE, GWENDY’S BUTON BOX, ISLAND OF THE DEAD, and designing the new paperback and ebook edition of SUNDANCING.
* * *
And that’s it for this week. It’s already 10:03am and this thing is over four hours late. If you’re a Patreon subscriber, don’t forget we have a Livestream tonight at 7:00pm. Otherwise, I’ll see all of you back here next week.
— Brian Keene
I always love your Sunday letters. Thank you. Congratulations on your doctor’s appt. All I can say is screw the BMI, I call it the BSI. It does not take into consideration muscle mass or bone density. You should be proud.
Cindy and I wish we could have attended. Been waaaay to long since we have seen you in person. Hoping you make it back down to Atlanta one day soon.
Jim Argendeli