Brian Keene's Blog, page 123
January 20, 2014
Central PA Becomes Lansdale Country
The York Emporium and Brian Keene proudly present: KASEY LANSDALE!
Join us Sunday, March 2nd for this free concert and book-signing by one of the brightest new stars in country music, Kasey Lansdale, as she performs songs from her debut album RESTLESS (produced by Grammy Award-winner John Carter Cash), and signs copies of her new anthology IMPOSSIBLE MONSTERS. Hosted by The York Emporium and Brian Keene, this event is sure to be standing-room only! Don’t miss it.
March 2nd, from 2:00pm to 4:00pm at The York Emporium 343 W Market St, York, PA 17401
January 19, 2014
Owen/Smith/SanGiovanni
Three new books for your Kindle. Click the covers to purchase.
January 16, 2014
FOSSIL LAKE On Sale Now
What if a bunch of the authors who’ve been stalked and harassed over the years by Nickolaus Pacione got together and put out an anthology?
The result would be Fossil Lake, featuring stories by Ramsey Campbell, Ken Goldman, Christine Morgan, John Goodrich, Jerrod Balzer, Scott Colbert, Melany Van Every, Russell Nayle, and many more. Published by the late Janrae Frank and available now for all e-book platforms for just $2.99.
January 14, 2014
A Day in the Life
5am to 7am: Worked on new novel Invisible Monsters
7am to 9am: Played with Turtle (the public nickname for my 5-year old) and then took him to school
9am to 2:45pm: Worked on Invisible Monsters
2:45pm to 3:00pm: Played Words With Friends in car while waiting for Turtle to get out of school
3:00pm to 6:00pm: Made Turtle dinner, played with him, took him back to his mother’s
6:00pm to 8:20pm (now): Worked on new collection All Dark, All The Time
8:30pm to 11:00pm: Back to work on Invisible Monsters
So… no. No, I did not see your email, or your message, or listen to your voice mail, nor am I likely to in the foreseeable future BECAUSE THIS IS ALL THE DAYS! (For variety, tomorrow’s schedule will include a trip to the post office to mail out some long overdue books for folks on the forum).
Neal Barrett Jr. R.I.P.
As was reported late last night by Joe Lansdale and Locus, multi-genre author Neal Barrett Jr. passed away yesterday. A legend in the field, and oft referred to as a “writer’s writer”, Barrett wrote novels, comic books, short stories, and screenplays in the horror, mystery/suspense, fantasy, science-fiction, and western genres. His books included The Hereafter Gang, Dead Dog Blues, Interstate Dreams, A Different Vintage, and series such as Aldair, Wiley Moss, and Finn, the Lizard Master. He also wrote under nearly a dozen pseudonyms, including Victor Appleton II, Steve Atley, and Franklin W. Dixon. His influence and mentoring of writers such as Joe R. Lansdale, Lewis Shiner, and Howard Waldrop should also be noted. There’s a very good remembrance of him here and a comment thread here on Joe’s FB page.
January 13, 2014
Janrae Frank R.I.P.
Daverana Enterprises is reporting that Janrae Frank, who since 1980 has been at the forefront of writing about women and feminism in speculative fiction, as well as recurring themes such as gender ambiguity, passed away yesterday, January 12. Frank had been hospitalized late last year and recently suffered a stroke. The author of nearly twenty books in the dark fantasy, science-fiction, and horror genres, (including the Dark Brothers of the Light series) Frank also occasionally wrote short fiction and journalism, including the seminal Dead in Suburbia, or Whatever Happened to Feminism in SF?
In a statement on the publisher’s website, her daughter said, “She understood, however, that for many writers, it is their negative life experiences which fuel their creativity. She used this to full effect in her own works, and encouraged others for whom this would be the case and had the ability to turn their sorrow into beauty.”
January 11, 2014
INVISIBLE MONSTERS Excerpt
INVISIBLE MONSTERS is a new novel I’m currently finishing up. It is the second-to-last novel in the Levi Stoltzfus series (picking up three weeks after the events of The Last of the Albatwitches), and features Levi, Dez (from Darkness On the Edge of Town), and Simon (from The Cage and Earthworm Gods II: Deluge) in a showdown against the N.W.O., the Globe Corporation, and the entity known as Kat. (All of those books can be purchased here).
To thank you all for your patience while I got caught up on mailing this and reviewing manuscripts and doing final edits on the novel, there is a spoiler-free excerpt from INVISIBLE MONSTERS on my Facebook Page.
January 5, 2014
Digital Devil-Slayer
Several years ago, I wrote a mini-series for Marvel Comics called DEAD OF NIGHT: DEVIL SLAYER. Sadly, much to the dismay of newer readers who discovered my work only recently, it has been long out of print.
But now Comixology has the entire series available in digital at just $1.99 per issue. It can be read and enjoyed even if you have no familiarity with the character (since it’s the origin of a next generation version).
January 3, 2014
2014: The Keenepire Strikes Back
Welcome to 2014.
As promised, things were quiet here for the past month, while I worked on various things — mostly a new Levi novel called INVISIBLE MONSTERS and two new interconnected novels called THE LOST LEVEL and HOLE IN THE WORLD. I also wrote an essay called “Children Playing With Guns” (about the Second Amendment, gun control, growing up in a rural setting, and school violence) for a Battle Royale slam anthology edited by Nick Mamatas. More on that later.
Right now, I’m deep into rewriting and revising INVISIBLE MONSTERS, so that I can get it turned in on time. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to get better with deadlines again. I used to be known for meeting them. Then I became a father again in my mid-forties, went through a divorce, followed by economic ruin at the hands of the Dorchester Publishing fiasco, then began suffering from chronic pain via carpal tunnel and arthritis and old battle wounds, and then discovered how constant alcohol and pain pills keeps that chronic pain at bay. Somewhere in the midst of all that, my deadlines got way ahead of me. None of these things are excuses. They simply are. Or rather… they were. And meeting or beating deadlines again is something that will be.
I’m also happy to report that ALL Lifetime Subscription books have shipped to Thunderstorm, where they will be sorted, packaged, and shipped to you. I’ve learned some lessons that will help me streamline this process and make it faster in the future (like ordering the books myself with my own money rather than waiting for contrib copies, etc). Expect more frequent shipments in 2014. That’s another resolution.
I’m also happy to report that I’m making solid, demonstrable progress on the few remaining manuscript reviews. Those that remain here in house I’m either a) Talking to various publishers I think you might be a good fit with b) Writing you an Introduction, Afterword, or Cover Blurb, or c) Both. My goal is to have all of them back in your hands, along with publisher suggestions, by the end of the month or early February. That’s a third resolution.
My month-long sabbatical was pretty much spent doing those things. In addition to writing, I had a nice, low-key Christmas with my sons, spent a day with Mary SanGiovanni’s family, and had some writer and filmmaker friends over for a New Year’s Eve party here at the cabin. Other than that, it was head down and nose to the grindstone. Oh, and there was an incident involving ice and gravity which led to a sprained wrist and tailbone, but I wrote through that shit with one hand.
So, what’s ahead for 2014? Well, in the immediate future, I intend to finish the things listed above, in this order: INVISIBLE MONSTERS, manuscript reviews, THE LOST LEVEL, and HOLE IN THE WORLD. After that, I’ll focus on SUBURBAN GOTHIC, a project code-named THE BIBLE that I’m co-writing with J.F. Gonzalez, the second volume in the Complete Short Fiction series, and THE SEVEN (The Labyrinth, Book One). Later this year, Scott Weinberg and I will be producing an EARTHWORM GODS audio project, and Bev Vincent and I will be collaborating on a book together. Those are all resolutions.
I’d previously said “No” to many other projects for 2014, because at the time (as reported by Bleeding Cool and The Outhousers), I was meant to be one of the writers for a weekly comic series from DC Comics launching later this year (I’d also been in talks to take over Animal Man at the end of Jeff Lemire’s run, and possibly do something with Booster Gold). Unfortunately, two months into the weekly project, I decided that I wouldn’t be a good fit. Professionalism dictates I say no more than that, but the split was amicable, and I’ve nothing but respect and good regards for those still involved. However, it does leave me in a unique position. I’d declined to take on other work for this year, anticipating the churn of writing a weekly comic book series. So, now I find myself able to truly look at the list of books I’m already contracted for (mentioned above) and confidently say that I can complete them all this year…
…unless I get hit by a bus or something. But that’s not a resolution.
You’ll probably see more Blogging here, and less interaction on other social media platforms (with the exception of Twitter). I know some other authors, including Neil Gaiman, have announced similar goals for 2014, and they’re ones I wholeheartedly agree with. I’d planned on using Tumblr as a resurrection of Hail Saten, but a few weeks into that, I realized that 95% of Tumblr is populated by absolute pinheads, so fuck that noise. I also hope to be able to gain access to the forum again at some point. My account doesn’t work, and if I set up a new account, it won’t have Admin status, nor can that status be granted by one of the other mods. The host company is supposedly working to correct this issue. In truth, I haven’t checked in with them about it in the last month for reasons listed above.
Anyway, hi. My name is Brian Keene. I write novels, comics, non-fiction, and other things for money. I have been away for some time, but I’m back now.
Let’s do this.
December 26, 2013
THE LAST ZOMBIE 2.99 Digital
For a limited time, you can download the entire series of THE LAST ZOMBIE — that’s all five collected volumes — for just $2.99 each, via Comixology. CLICK HERE and you’ll find the deal under ‘Collected Editions’.
