As my Patreon subscribers know, I’ve been working on a follow-up to my Bram Stoker Award-nominated memoir, END OF THE ROAD. The new book is called AFTER WORD, and in working on it this past week, it has me thinking about fame and epitaphs.
In issue #100 of Cerebus, Dave Sim writes: "The nature of fame -- the sort of minor fame represented by a comic book with a circulation of thirty-odd thousand -- has been on my mind of late. The sheer absurdity of spending an afternoon explaining to a reporter why I am famous outweighs any possible benefit an article could have for my career. If you have to explain to people who you are, then you are not famous."
Or, if Sim's politics aren't to your liking, let's go to the opposite end of the political spectrum and visit my dear friend Christopher Golden, who once said: "Whenever somebody asks me if I'm famous, I tell them it depends on what room I'm standing in."
Two writers -- of vastly different socio-political outlooks -- saying pretty much the same thing.
On Tuesday of this past week, I took a rare day off and drove up to Asbury Park, New Jersey to visit my pal F. Paul Wilson. It occurs to me that I will need to explain to some of my younger readers just who Paul is, and therein lies the meat of this missive. Paul was one of the first horror novelists I read. (As I've written in OTHER WORDS, my evolutionary chain as a kid was comic books and Hardy Boys, then Stephen King and F. Paul Wilson). First thing I read by him was The Keep -- a seminal, classic horror novel which, sadly, most of you under the age of forty have probably never read. The Keep was the third "grown up book" I ever read (right after King’s Night Shift and Salem’s Lot), and it is an essential part of my writer DNA.
Paul went on to become a giant in the fields of not just horror, but science-fiction, fantasy, thrillers, and other genres, as well. He was a stalwart, perennial New York Times bestseller, and his best-known IP -- Repairman Jack -- will carry on long after he's gone. I guarantee you that right now, many of you who did not recognize the name F. Paul Wilson are now nodding and saying, “Oh, yeah, I’ve heard of Repairman Jack.”
It feels absurd to have to explain all of this to you. How could anyone not know this? But then, I think about this past Thursday in the store, when I overheard a mother explaining to her daughter who Brian Keene was, and that he owned the store they were currently shopping in, and that she (the mother) had started reading him in high school. The girl, high school age herself, was holding a book by Wile E. Young that she'd pulled off the shelf. Wile E. Young, was reading me in high school and my books are an essential part of his writer DNA the way Paul’s are a part of mine.
A few days after visiting Paul, I was talking with another writer friend -- one who shall remain anonymous, because I want to protect his privacy. This friend was as big of a deal as I was, back in the days of Leisure Books, and I guarantee you that young Wile E. Young was reading his stuff, as well. Indeed, this friend and I have shared the same audience for over twenty years now. If you like my stuff you probably like his, and vice versa.
But my friend voiced something he was feeling, and it turns out that I've been feeling the same way he's been feeling. I just hadn’t voiced it yet.
And that feeling is forgotten.
In the way.
Pushed aside for younger, possibly better writers with new spins on tropes that we put new spins on thirty years ago, and which guys like F. Paul Wilson and Stephen King were putting new spins on thirty years before that, and which the writers they grew up reading were putting a spin on thirty years before that.
As Alan Moore has written, time is a flat circle.
When you're gone, those who can attest to what kind of man you were, and remember things like your favorite song or color, and what made you cry, and what made you laugh -- those things will not be remembered by the public. And that’s the difference between fame and family.
As far as your creations go, if you're lucky, the public will remember you for probably one thing. My anonymous friend I mentioned above has a novel I know will outlive him. And people will be reading Repairman Jack books long after Paul is gone. And me? Well, it won't be my historic fight against Dorchester for creator's rights that they remember. It won't be this new fight against A.I. that they’ll remember. It won't be my charitable service for Scares That Care. It'll be THE RISING. My first novel, and still my most popular. I've written over 50 books since then, but THE RISING is the one people remember.
They'll forget who I am, and another decade or two from now, Wile E. Young will write about visiting me, and he'll have to explain to his audience who I am, and then some of them will say, "Oh yeah, I've heard of THE RISING."
That's a weird kind of fame, but I suppose it's better than no fame at all.
I do find, however, at age 56, that I'm far more focused on the legacy I leave behind for my loved ones, than I am the legacy I leave behind for the "public". Because fame is like gossamer -- light and insubstantial and ever-so-fleeting. I'd much rather my epitaph be written by those who knew and loved the real me. I'd much rather be remembered for "He was a good father" or "he was okay as a husband" than "he revitalized zombies, yo!"
Good morning. I’m Brian Keene, and this is Letters From the Labyrinth, a weekly newsletter for fans, friends, and family.
Regarding the lawsuit I linked to above — I can’t say anything else about it, other than to say I am confident in the merits of our case. For further information or queries, please go here. (I say this mostly because I’ve had news producers emailing and messaging all week).
Also, my mother thinks it’s neat that I’m being mentioned in news articles with Sarah Silverman
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Issue 27 of Backwoods Survival Guide will be in stores on or around the 29th of this month. I’m very pleased that my article on Do It Yourself Meteorology is the lead story this time around. This is a print-only newstand magazine. You can subscribe here, and you can also find it just about anywhere magazines are sold, including:
Walmart
Sam's Club
Costco
Publix
Walgreens
Rite Aid
CVS
Tractor Supply
Fleet Farm
Barnes & Noble
Look for this cover when you’re at the store.
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Still working on the final programming schedule for Scares That Care’s AuthorCon III. It will most likely be posted this coming Tuesday.
To purchase tickets for AuthorCon III, see our guests of honor, or more, go here. Of note is Becky LeJune’s Ask An Agent workshop, the return of Grady Hendrix’s Paperbacks From Hell, our Celebrity Murder Mystery dinner, and a return performance by my pal Dakota Lawrence.
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Work this past week focused on the first drafts of AFTER WORD and FALLING ANGELS: THE LABYRINTH, Book 4 and first drafts of several commissioned LOST LEVEL stories.
My youngest son turns 16 next week, so I plan on taking Tuesday off, and take him for his driver’s exam, and if he passes, he can drive me home. I also bought he and I tickets to see Weezer in Philly this September as an early birthday present. (But he knows about it already so it’s safe to mention it here).
Sixteen. Sometimes I look at him and wonder how the hell that happened. Where’s the little guy who used to guest star on THE HORROR SHOW WITH BRIAN KEENE and torture both Dave and frequent guest Christian Jensen? Who is this young man with hopes and dreams and worldviews of his own, and a girlfriend and a full social schedule, and big plans for life?
But mostly I just marvel at what a truly remarkable young man he has become.
His older brother, meanwhile, lost a bet last week and had to shave his eyebrows off.
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Currently Watching: Curb Your Enthusiasm (Max), Survivor season 46 (Paramount+), and rewatching Boardwalk Empire (Max).
Currently Reading: Jane Goes North by Joe R. Lansdale
Currently Listening: Brian Keene Radio
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If — like me — all you want from the news is the facts so you can make an informed decision, and you are sick and tired of the Right and Left echo chambers, then check out The Hustings — a news aggregator site run by a neighbor and customer of Vortex Books & Comics. Think of it as Drudge without the spin or slant. A news site for the few remaining Moderates and Independents among us.
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I don’t do social media at all anymore (other than for promotion). This newsletter and my Patreon my primary outlets for any real communication of substance. I Blog each morning on Patreon — just a few brief paragraphs that serve as a mini-version of this newsletter. You don’t need to be a paid Patreon subscriber to read them. They are accessible to everyone who subscribes to my Patreon, paid or not.
Thanks, as always, for reading. I’ll see you every morning this week on Patreon, and see you back here again next Sunday.
— Brian Keene
So funny that you post about this because as a 46-year-old writer, I am more and more amazed by younger readers who don't know many of the authors I grew up reading. I do my best to introduce them to them
I tout you and your writing all the time! Trust me, you'll be remembered for much more than just The Rising. That book was the first one I read by you and I fell in love with your writing style. Since then I've tried to get my hands on everything you publish!! I've got a very nice collection of signed limiteds by you as well as the paperbacks that I bought back in the day! I just wish the BAMs and B&N would stock your books!!! I've never met you in person but through this newsletter you've let all of us into your life a little bit. From what I see you've turned into an excellent dad and husband and are a fantastic writer.