Letters From the Labyrinth 470
Happy Mother’s Day to the mothers among you.
In last week’s newsletter, I wrote about spending some time with my youngest son. This past week, I got to spend some time with my father.
I made a quick trip down to West Virginia — Thursday to Saturday morning — to wish a ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ to my grandmother (now halfway to 101) and my mother (looking at 80 on the horizon). I also helped my father load a 350-pound generator into the back of his truck so he could haul it away to the junkyard, and then install a new air conditioner. My father turned 80 last December and still wants to do things like lift 350 pound generators into the back of a truck all by himself. So, what I have to do, is distract him. For example, just as he was about to pick up the air conditioner, I said, “Is that a bear?” and when he turned to look down in the hollow where I was pointing, I quickly picked it up by myself and stuck it in the window, and then held it there till he could screw in the panels. I don’t like tricking him, but it’s the only way to get him to slow down and not hurt himself.
My back muscles, meanwhile, from just above the base of my neck all the way down to my butt, have decided that they are mad at me and would like a trial separation.
My mother stayed over at my grandmother’s home, while Dad and I stayed at the family cabin. At night, we talked while he watched baseball in the background and I read. He shared some stuff about his time in Vietnam that I had not heard about before now, so it was extra special. And one of my favorite cousins stopped by Friday evening (taking a break from farming) and the three of us discussed the various outlaws in our family tree, and my cousin and I learned a few new things about our moonshiner grandfather that I don’t think either of us knew before.
Folks, the above opening essay was supposed to be much longer and would have ultimately made a point, but after I typed that last sentence, Bubbles alerted me to something happening outside my office window and when I looked out there were two adult geese leading a line of nine babies across the road and one of the babies was clearly struggling, with its neck and head flopping back and forth. The adults and the rest of the babies continued on their way into my neighbor’s yard and the field behind our homes.
I went out and checked and the baby must have just been struck by a car. That’s what Bubbles was letting me know about. It was in bad shape and clearly beyond help, so I did the only thing I could do for it, and now I feel like absolute crap. That is a terrible way to start the morning, and doesn’t really bode well for the rest of the day.
So instead, let me tell you a brief story about a new feral cat colony I found yesterday, populating the woods behind the Burger King and the Red Roof Inn off Exit 16 of Interstate 64 East in Virginia. They have perfected the art of sitting at the edge of the woods as people come out and then looking cute and pitiful so that the people will turn around, walk back into Burger King, and order six chicken biscuits to distribute among them.
Or, at least, that’s what I did. Maybe cats and dogs just know I’m an easy mark.
An easy enough mark that I wrote the exit number down so that when I’m back that way two weeks from now, I can stop in and deliver some more chicken biscuits.
Okay, that hasn’t made me feel any better because now I’m sitting here frustrated that I can’t rescue all of the feral cat colonies in all of Appalachia, so… how about I just get on with the news portion of this newsletter and we’ll get back to an opening essay next week?
Good morning. I’m Brian Keene and this is Letters From the Labyrinth, a long-running weekly newsletter for friends, fans, and family.
Bubbles, perhaps sensing that I am morose, has decided to plant herself in my lap while I type this. So, I guess that’s okay.
This week, for Women In Horror Year, I covered books by Red Lagoe, Mehitobel Wilson, and Jessica McHugh. You can read those (and all the others) via the index for Women In Horror Year.
Mailings continue for the first issue of the OF KEENE INTEREST zine. Several thousand have been mailed. Several thousand more need to be mailed. I suspect all of them will be in the mail by month’s end.
It didn’t occur to me until this week, after author Millie Price mentioned it online, but I guess I should have signed all of these, as they were mailed. I don’t want to start now, halfway through the shipment, because that wouldn’t be fair to the folks who already received their copies. But maybe I’ll do that for the second issue. I don’t know. It would be a LOT of signing.
Awards and Rewards — KEENEVERSATIONS — Episode 43
A combination of Daniel Kraus's Pulitzer Prize win and a conversation with a dejected author lead Brian and Mary to discuss literary awards and nominations, and how they impact a writer's career. Is it really an honor just to be nominated? Did Brian really once try to pawn a Bram Stoker Award statue? Is there a difference between being recognized by your peers versus your readers?The answer to these questions and more, in this episode.
Available on Patreon, Spotify, and Brian Keene dot com. As always, new episodes are paywalled for the first month.
Jim Cobb, Dacia Arnold, and I recorded the HOW TO SURVIVE 2025 two-part limited engagement revival last week. They will air over the next two weeks, in all of the usual places.
REMINDER: Vendor tables for Scares That Care’s AuthorCon VII go on sale this month — May 23 — at 6pm EST. This is the link you’ll use to purchase them. In previous years they have sold out — on average — within three minutes, so plan ahead.
Currently Watching: War Machine, Legion (2010 movie, not the TV show), Survivor season 50, The Boys season 5, From season 4, and Family Guy season 24,
Currently Reading: The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (a reread) and Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle between Marvel and DC by Reed Tucker
Currently Listening: Gillian Welch’s Soul Journey and Geoff Tate’s Operation Mindcrime III, and in the truck (where I spent a lot of time this week) on Sirius/XM: Howard 100, Howard 101, Hotel California (the Eagles channel), and Ozzy’s Boneyard.
That does it for this week. Thanks for reading. Sorry that it ended up being a bummer of an issue. Happy Mother’s Day again to all of you who are mothers. See all of you back here next Sunday.
I look forward to letters…every week. They are as good as your books and your books are off the hook!
Brian, thanks for the update on your father. You are a good son, good father and all around great guy. It was great to see Bubbles as I miss seeing the cats. Thank you for putting that poor gosling out of its misery and for caring about the feral cat colony you discovered. So many people just walk away, at least you always try to help. The world needs more Brian clones! Tell Mary and your ex Happy Mother's Day from me! Take care.