Letters From the Labyrinth 364

Winter, Cats, and Nazis

Outside my office window, the sky is an unbroken gray-white mass, as if every cloud in the world has congealed into one massive uber-cloud stretching from horizon to horizon. The sun has supposedly risen somewhere out there, but I cannot see it. The formation is pressed close to the ground, seeming to hover just over the top of the Turkey Hill Nature Preserve and the windmill farm on the far shore. The river itself is a choppy, churning gray-black sheet, and there are no fishermen out today. No boats. And traffic on the road is sparse, as well.

They say we’re supposed to get walloped with a winter storm today (Saturday) and into tonight, and the weather certainly seems to indicate they are right. I’ve heard forecasts ranging from two to six inches. All of the weather forecasters agree that it will be Central Pennsylvania’s “first significant snowfall in two years” and I find that interesting. Yes, it is unusual in and of itself that we haven’t had a significant snowfall in over two years. But it’s more interesting that two to six inches is now considered a “wallop”. I mean, we’re not Buffalo or Boston or Fargo or Bemidji, but before global warming, we did indeed get regular snowfall between January and March, and two to six inches wasn’t anything. Maybe schools ran on a one or two hour delay, but otherwise, you went about your day as normal. Now, two to six inches has inspired a run on the grocery stores, and everybody is staying home.

I had a lovely visit with Mindy from Cemetery Dance yesterday — first time since the pandemic (and it reminded me that I need to get down to Cemetery Dance more often, because Mindy is always awesome to visit with and she has the best dogs). The subject of age and the future came up, and my retirement plan, aka Vortex Books and Comics. I have made complete and total peace with my age and the changes occurring and what is yet to come — indeed, what could come at any moment now. It would still be a surprise, but it’s also sort of expected from this point forward (especially when it has already happened to so many of my friends). But the one thing I find amusing about the whole thing is that I’ve reached the age where I remark on the weather and how it’s not like it was when I was a kid. Winter had teeth when I was younger. Winter was no joke. Winter would knock you down in an alley and steal your wallet. When winter came, we had days — not a day or a two hour delay — but days off school, and there was enough snow to sled in. We’d go rocketing down the “prep school hill” — a dangerous, twisty two-lane road also known as PA Route 516 — on our sleds because nobody was out driving, and if we picked up too much speed and couldn’t steer, that was okay, because the snow drifts along the side of the road were big and deep enough to absorb the impact. It was like crashing into very cold packing peanuts and bubble wrap. A walk in the woods tired you out after ten minutes because you were wading through snow as high as your knees — or even higher. Now? Two to six inches is considered a “wallop”.

Anyway, I’m going along with it. I glazed and baked a ham last night that will feed Mary and I throughout the weekend. After I finish this newsletter, I’m going to haul a few loads of stuff over to Vortex, and then settle in for a long weekend at home. The sky over the river tells me the snow is going to arrive earlier than predicted, so hopefully I can get two or three loads hauled before it starts. Then, I’ll sit here and write, occasionally glancing out the window at the snowfall, and thinking about winters past.

Someone else who is looking out the window in my office and thinking of winters past is Josie Wales — the born feral and untamed cat who had three litters of kittens before I finally managed to catch her and slowly tame her.

Josie Wales, contemplating the weather.

Her view is the same as my view, and I just took this picture. You can see the weather I described in the first paragraph. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Josie is currently thinking “Thank Christ I’m not still outside in this crap.”

Sometimes it is still hard for me to believe that this feral creature who attacked any human (other than me) who came near her is now a little love bug who follows me from room to room and is always amicable to tummy rubs and ear skritches. She purrs louder than any cat I have ever known, and when she sleeps, it is with a deep sort of contentment that she could never afford out in the wild. She likes having a regular diet of food and water available, and warmth, and shelter against the elements, and walls to protect her from coyotes, foxes, and other cats. She adores cat toys, particularly a little plastic ball with a bell inside of it. And she gets along great with my son’s dog, Parker, when he comes to visit. A complete transformation from who she was when I met her.

I think about all of the cats that I saved these last few years — 38 in total — and feel very proud. I often wonder how they are doing, at their forever homes. Mary and I adopted four of them (including Josie). Two others I see daily, since my youngest son and his mom adopted them. Three others, adopted by Wesley Southard and Matt Wildasin, I see on occasion. But the others are out there, as well, and I wonder if they too are staring out the window at the approaching winter storm and thinking “glad I’m not out in that.”

My cat rescue work is not done, however. There is a feral cat colony in the next town that I’ve been helping with. And there are still two here outside Casa Keenegiovanni that I have to contend with — Bocephus and Zabu. I’ve written here about Bocephus before. She’s maddening in that she would rather starve herself than walk inside my box traps so that I can take her to the shelter. (It also doesn’t help that there’s an old fella about a quarter mile down the road who puts out food for her, as well, making her even less inclined to go inside the box trap). Zabu is an orange male who must have some Maine Coon in him, because he’s huge. He’s also extremely timid. Closest I’ve ever gotten to him is about six feet. Then he runs. Several times, he has almost gone into the trap, but every time, Bocephus nudges him out of the way and meows a warning to him.

Before I was able to catch Josie Wales, my father and I took one of our old beehives and converted it into a cat box, which I had on the front porch for her, filled with straw for warmth. Bocephus and Zabu have been taking turns sleeping in that. There’s also a big pine tree in my neighbor’s yard that they can shelter under at night. Sooner or later, I’ll catch them and get them to the shelter and safety. It won’t be before this snow falls, but it will happen. Because that’s how I’ve chosen to spend my retirement. The plan had been to retire in West Virginia, at my place deep in the mountains, but owning a bookstore and spending my free hours wrangling and saving stray cats is just as good.

These days I am so far removed from the drama and the backbiting and the petty squabbles that encompass our industry that I no longer know who is mad at who, or who’s been cancelled and for what, or which publisher isn’t paying, or what this person did. For example, I only found out recently that Substack has an apparent Nazi problem -- something I was blissfully unaware of until several newsletters I subscribe to migrated away from the platform. And I respect folks decisions to do that. I'm going to stick it out because I'm tired of leaving platforms when the Nazis show up. We did that with Facebook and Twitter and Reddit. If we keep doing that, soon every bar will be a Nazi bar. Sooner or later, you've got to plant your feet and fight. So here is where I'll make my stand -- a counter-voice to their voices. If you can dig that, cool. If not, I don’t care.

But yes, I am very checked out on anything happening in our industry. My social media usage this week was almost non existent except for promotion.

It’s a wonderful place to be. I feel like Doctor Manhattan, in his city on Mars.

And that was by design.

And it is beautiful.

And I’m not done yet…

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Christopher Golden’s House of Last Resort Weekend (hosted by me) is a FREE horror convention, taking place January 18 - 21, 2024 at the Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel 250 Market St. Portsmouth, NH 03801. There will be a ton of folks on hand, including Chris and myself (of course), Mary SanGiovanni, Joe Hill, Owen King, Paul Tremblay, Victor LaValle, Cassandra Khaw, Ronald Malfi, V Castro, Chuck Wendig, and many, many more. Again, admission is FREE with weekend hotel room reservation.

Click here to register for this FREE one-time event.

Click here to reserve your hotel room.

Here is the Programming Schedule:

THURSDAY

Programming (Prescott Room)

7:00pm (Prescott) – Opening Ceremonies: Christopher Golden and host Brian Keene welcome you to this one of a kind, once in a lifetime special event. We’ll go over the rules, the purpose of the weekend, the schedule, and much more. Attendance is strongly encouraged, and to show you that we mean this, we’ll give away free door prizes to random individuals.

7:30pm – Christopher Golden and Brian Keene (Reading and Q&A)

8:30pm – Social Time: Hang out with old friends or meet new ones. This is a low-key, zero pressure gathering. Not comfortable in big groups? Feel free to break off to elsewhere in the hotel.

FRIDAY

Signings (Lear Room)

Noon to 12:45am – Christopher Golden, Rio Youers, and Zach Rosenberg
1:00pm to 1:45pm – Errick Nunnally, Cat Scully, and Mark Matthews
2:00pm to 2:45pm – Clay McLeod Chapman and Bracken MacLeod
3:00pm to 3:45pm – Jennifer McMahon and Cassandra Khaw
4:00pm to 4:45pm – Eric LaRocca and James A. Moore
5:00pm to 5:45pm – Victor LaValle and Maurice Broaddus
6:00pm to 6:45pm – Gaby Triana and Dana Cameron
7:00pm to 7:45pm – V Castro and Rebecca Rowland 

Programming (Prescott Room)

11:00am to 11:45am – Carol Gyzander and John Buja (Reading and Q&A)

Noon to 12:45am – Mark Matthews and Zach Rosenberg (Reading and Q&A)

1:00pm to 1:45pm – Clay McLeod Chapman and Errick Nunnally (Reading and Q&A)

2:00pm to 3:00pm – MY WRITING PROCESS: Panelists Cassandra Khaw, Ronald Malfi, Morgan Sylvia, Dana Cameron, Bracken MacLeod, Hildy Silverman, and Liberty Hardy (moderator) discuss their various and differing creative processes and offer tips on yours. 

3:15pm to 4:15pm – FOUR COLOR LOVE: Panelists Clay McLeod Chapman, Maurice Broaddus, Errick Nunnally, James A. Moore, and John Goodrich (moderator) discuss the comic books that influenced them, and the ones they enjoy today.

4:30pm to 5:15pm – Mary SanGiovanni and Cat Scully (Reading and Q&A)

5:30pm to 6:30pm – THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: Writing Horror in a Changing World, a conversation with Joe Hill, V. Castro, Chuck Wendig, Eric LaRocca, Hillary Monahan, Emily Hughes, and Brian Keene (moderator)

6:45pm to 7:30pm – Ronald Malfi and Philip Fracassi (Reading and Q&A)

7:45pm to 8:30pm – Eric LaRocca and Morgan Sylvia (Reading and Q&A)

8:45pm to 9:45pm – THIRTY: The new year, 2024, marks the release of The House of Last Resort – but it’s also the 30th anniversary of Christopher Golden’s first published novel. He and Brian Keene sit down for a career-spanning one-on-one interview and will also take questions from attendees. 

10:00pm – Social Time: Hang out with old friends or meet new ones. This is a low-key, zero pressure gathering. Not comfortable in big groups? Feel free to break off to elsewhere in the hotel.

SATURDAY

 Signings (Lear Room)

10:30am to 11:30am – Joe Hill and Owen King
11:45am to 12:30pm – Brian Keene, Mary SanGiovanni, and Hillary Monahan
12:45pm to 1:30pm – D.J. Palmer, Matt Serafini, and John Goodrich
2:00pm to 2:45pm – Ronald Malfi and Philip Fracassi
3:00pm to 3:45pm – Christopher Golden, John McIlveen, and Tony Tremblay
4:00pm to 4:45pm – Paul Tremblay, Chuck Wendig, and Stephen Kozeniewski 

 Programming (Prescott Room)

10:00am to 10:45am – John Durgin and Millie Price (Reading and Q&A)

11:00am to Noon – Matt Serafini and John Goodrich (Reading and Q&A)

12:15pm to 1:15pm – MY FAVORITE EXORCISM: Philip Fracassi, Christopher Golden, Rebecca Rowland, Ronald Malfi, Emily Hughes, Tanya Pell, and Cat Scully (moderator) discuss their favorite demonic possession books, movies, and comics.

1:30pm to 2:30pm – OTHER PEOPLE’S TOYS: V Castro, Chuck Wendig, Mary SanGiovanni (moderator), Rio Youers, Christopher Golden, and Maurice Broaddus discuss working on corporate IP and other people’s creations in comics, prose, film, and more.

2:45pm to 3:30pm – Paul Tremblay and Stephen Kozeniewski (Reading and Q&A)

3:45pm to 4:45pm – TV, FILM, AND THE ADAPTATION PROCESS: Owen King, Joe Hill, Victor LaValle, Clay McLeod Chapman, Matt Serafini, and Philip Fracassi (moderator) discuss screenwriting and adaptations. 

5:00pm to 5:45pm – John McIlveen and Tony Tremblay (Reading and Q&A)

6:00pm to 7:00pm – WRITING HORROR FOR AUDIO: Cassandra Khaw, Christopher Golden, Diana Pho, Clay McLeod Chapman, Stephen Kozeniewski, and Brian Keene (moderator) discuss the joys and challenges of writing horror for audio broadcasts and adaptations.

7:15pm to 8:15pm – THE HARDEST THING I’VE EVER WRITTEN: Gaby Triana, D.J. Palmer, Jonathan Lees, Cat Grant, Jennifer Gordon, and Emma Gibbon (moderator) discuss the most difficult things they’ve ever written – either mentally, emotionally, or physically – and how they overcame it.  

8:30pm to 9:30pm – THE BOOK CASE: Katherine Gibson, host of the popular ABC News podcast The Book Case, hosts a roundtable chat with Christopher Golden, Jennifer McMahon, Victor Lavalle, and Paul Tremblay. Come be part of the live audience!

10:00pm – Social Time: Hang out with old friends or meet new ones. This is a low-key, zero pressure gathering. Not comfortable in big groups? Feel free to break off to elsewhere in the hotel.

So, there you have it. Looking forward to seeing some of you there!

* * *

Currently Watching: Lost (Hulu), Bone Cold (Hulu), South Park: Not Suitable For Children (ParamountPlus), and Fargo (Hulu)

Currently Reading: Off The Back of A Truck by Nick Braccia and Void Haus by Matthew Mitchell, Sam Richard, Edwin Callahan, Evan Dean Shelton, Justin Lutz, and Michael Tichy.

Currently Listening: The Running Man by Stephen King (audiobook)

* * *

A reminder to all of you who’ve been ordering signed books from the Manhattan On Mars website. The links on the website will be inactive for the next few weeks. That’s because we’re transitioning the website to serve as an online store for Vortex Books and Comics). When it’s live again, you will be able to preorder signed and personalized books not just by Mary and myself, but by every author whom signs at the store.

* * *

Work this week was divided between edits on the Apex edition of ISLAND OF THE DEAD, the first draft of FALLING ANGELS: THE LABYRINTH Book 4, the second draft of MONSTERS OF SAIPAN, tallying and verifying recommendations for the Splatterpunk Awards (I suspect there will be another full week of that), and moving things into the Vortex Books & Comics building. I also went to the Cemetery Dance offices on business, and Comix Connection York on business.

Saturday afternoon now, and the snow is falling. Got some stuff moved to the store. Slid past my driveway upon my return home, so yeah, roads are gonna be bad. I’ll spend the rest of the weekend working on those ISLAND OF THE DEAD edits, the Splatterpunk Awards recommendations, and then pricing comic books for the store.

* * *

And that does it for this week. Stay safe. Stay warm. And I’ll see you back here next Sunday. We’ll save some cats and punch some Nazis together.

— Brian Keene