Brian Keene's Blog, page 130

New Interview

I appeared on the Larry Matthews podcast, and talked about my forthcoming novel THE LOST LEVEL, my early influences, my writing process, what I think of my readers, what movie premieres are like, and more. Click here to listen for free.

IN THE DARK

Would you like to die in one of my upcoming novels? Are you a bookstore owner who would like me to sign at your store (on my own dime)? Would you like F. Paul Wilson or Duane Swierczynski to name a character after you? Or Justin Jordan and Tradd Moore to murder you in a comic book? Or have Valerie D’Orazio write you a personalized short story? All this and more can be yours when you back the IN THE DARK on Kickstarter.

IN THE DARK is a hardcover comic anthology, featuring over 250 pages of all-new original material from horror comic and novel writers such as myself, Rachel Deering, F. Paul Wilson, Duane Swierczynski, Justin Jordan, Cullen Bunn, Mike Oliveri, Tim Seeley, Marguerite Bennett, Valerie D’Orazio, Nate Southard, Matthew Dow Smith, James Tynion IV, Paul Tobin, Tom Taylor, Sean E. Williams, Christopher Sebela, Michael Moreci, Steve Seeley, Jody Leheup, and Ed Brisson, plus over twenty illustrators!

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE DETAILS

Return to Barnes & Noble

A long time ago, in a galaxy not so far away, Dorchester Publishing screwed their authors, which led to an uprising among those authors, which in turn led to authors and readers boycotting the company, which ultimately forced the company out of business, thus allowing the authors to stop getting screwed, and take their books to Deadite, Samhain, Amazon, etc. and begin making money again.

Around the same time, Borders went out of business, leaving Barnes & Noble as the primary big box bookstore in the United States. And while Borders actively catered to the horror crowd, B&N… not so much. Compounding this was B&N’s refusal to carry books by Deadite and other publishers who refused to go along with the Returns Policy (an outdated and archaic practice that has, in my opinion, contributed to many of the problems in this industry for a number of years). Thus, readers of horror were forced to go someplace other than B&N to buy the latest paperbacks from myself, Edward Lee, J.F. Gonzalez, Bryan Smith, Wrath James White, and others. And B&N store managers with whom I have longstanding relationships, lamented to me that they were losing money, and had customers asking for my books, and they wished they could order my books for those customers, but couldn’t.

Enter the brave manager of the B&N in Wilkes-Barre, who challenged corporate policy and has now received permission to stock my Deadite Press paperbacks in her store. Loyalty and enthusiasm like that should always be supported, and that’s why I’m hoping many of you will show up at Barnes & Noble 421 Arena Hub Plaza, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702 on Saturday, October 19th, from 2pm until 5pm, where I and many other authors will be signing and participating in a Q&A. The store will have ALL of my Deadite Press paperbacks IN STOCK and available for purchase. The manager fought hard to make this happen, and as a result, while you are welcome to bring books from home to be signed, I’m going to ask that you purchase one from the store, as well.

So, please join myself, Mary SanGiovanni, Kevin Lucia, K.H. Koehler, Ron Breznay, Lorne Dixon, and John Koloski, on October 19th from 2pm until 5pm, and make this signing a success, so that other B&N store managers can join the fight.

Standby (UPDATED)

I know. You were told to expect a big announcement today. We are waiting on a third party vendor. Thanks for your patience.

UPDATE: Doesn’t look like we can announce tonight, folks. We share your frustration (especially considering the number of press releases that are supposed to go out, and now have to be delayed). Unfortunately, it’s not in our power to control. Please check back tomorrow.

Gary Brandner R.I.P.

Richard Laymon, Edo van Belkom, and Gary Brandner

Gary Brandner passed away Sunday after a battle with esophageal cancer. A friend and contemporary of Richard Laymon and a cornerstone of 80′s horror, Gary was best known for his novel, The Howling, which spawned a literary trilogy, a popular film franchise, and helped usher werewolves into modern pop culture. Gary went on to write over 30 novels, several screenplays, and over 100 short stories, including Walkers, The Brain Eaters, Cameron’s Closet, Floater, Doomstalker, and A Rage in Paradise.

46, or, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know…

One quarter of the next Lifetime Subscriber shipment.

…in which I catch you up on forthcoming books, works in progress, newest releases, lifetime subscription shipments, manuscript reviews, and anything else I can think of — because starting next Tuesday it will be a while before we get a chance to do that again.

Why? Well, next Tuesday, I’m taking the biggest gamble of my career. And soon after that, the 2014 Maelstrom set will go on sale. And then there will be a Top Secret project called IN THE DARK. And there will also be two signings — one at The Comic Store in Lancaster, PA and another at the Barnes & Noble in Wilkes-Barre, PA. “But Brian,” you’re saying, “B&N doesn’t carry your books anymore.” All will be revealed, folks. All will be revealed…

The mysterious IN THE DARK. Details October 1st!

Suffice to say, October is going to be one hell of a busy month. With that in mind, let’s catch you up on everything else now.

LIFETIME SUBSCRIBERS: As you can see by the pic above, the next shipment is almost en route. It is massive, totaling 27 large boxes. There are 3 more boxes of books to be signed. I expect that to be completed later this week, after which they’ll all be sent to Thunderstorm Books for processing and shipment to you.

MANUSCRIPT REVIEWS: A few more were sent out last week. A few more will be sent out this week. These are my #1 focus right now. Thanks for your patience. Truth is, I seriously underestimated how long these would take, but I refuse to shortcut simply to turn them in quicker.

NEW RELEASES:

1. THE RISING: UNCUT – Paperback and Kindle (Nook forthcoming)

2. CITY OF THE DEAD: UNCUT – Paperback (Kindle and Nook forthcoming)

3. THE LAST ZOMBIE (Vol. 4): BEFORE THE AFTER – Graphic Novel

4. BLOOD ON THE PAGE: THE COMPLETE SHORT FICTION OF BRIAN KEENE VOL. 1 – Paperback, Kindle, Nook, and Kobo

5. THE LAST ZOMBIE: THE END #3 – Comic Book

6. THE LAST ZOMBIE: THE END #4 – Comic Book

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The Last of the Albatwitches

FORTHCOMING RELEASES:

THE RISING: SELECTED SCENES FROM THE END OF THE WORLD – Paperback, Kindle, and Nook

THE RISING – Hardcover, part of 2013 Maelstrom Set

THE LAST OF THE ALBATWITCHES – Hardcover, part of 2013 Maelstrom Set

SIXTY-FIVE STIRRUP IRON ROAD – Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, and Nook

THE LAST ZOMBIE: THE END #5 – Comic Book

THE LAST ZOMBIE: THE END – Graphic Novel

CLICKERS III – Paperback re-release

IN THE DARK – Stay tuned. Details October 1st.

WORKS IN PROGRESS:

THE LOST LEVEL



Almost finished. This is a completely revised version (after I scrapped two earlier versions). There will probably be one more overhaul after the pre-readers get done with it.

HOLE IN THE WORLD



Getting there, slowly but surely.

SUBURBAN GOTHIC



This Urban Gothic sequel is percolating on the back burner.

INVISIBLE MONSTERS



New Levi novel.

Coming up behind these are WITH TEETH, an untitled collaboration with Bev Vincent, a collaboration with J.F. Gonzalez code-named THE BIBLE, and the next two volumes in The Complete Short Fiction of Brian Keene series, respectively titled OTHER WORLDS and A LITTLE HELL FROM MY FRIENDS. Further out behind them is a collaboration with Mary SanGiovanni tentatively titled 37.2350° N, 115.8111° W, the dusting off of a collaboration with Steven Shrewsbury entitled KING OF THE BASTARDS, and the first book in The Labyrinth series, titled THE SEVEN.

Now that my youngest son is in school during the day, I find I have time to work again. I’ve also been writing one page every evening of something that is half memoir and half How To Write book. It has about 112 different tentative titles.

46 (Photo copyright Mike Lombardo)

I turned 46 this morning. I’m okay with it. Later today I’ll have dinner and play Magic: The Gathering with my oldest son and his friend. Yesterday, I had birthday breakfast with my ex-wife and youngest son. Then a bunch of us writers were supposed to meet up in Baltimore for sushi, but severe thunderstorms and the flu cancelled those plans. Instead, Mike Lombardo, Mary SanGiovanni, and I went to Centralia (if you don’t know what that is, Google it). Mike and I scouted some locations for an upcoming film, still three or four years out from being made. Because at 46, even though I’ve learned to stay in the present and enjoy it, I’m still always looking into the future, because I’ve got things to do before I leave.

TUESDAY 9/24/13

Books For Troops. Raising money for little Abdullah. The Dorchester Boycott. Ghoul trending on Twitter the night of its premiere. Time and time again, whether it’s an act of charity for those less fortunate, or something less altruistic (like a book launch), the members of the F.U.K.U. have answered the rallying cry and proven that when united, you make a difference and have an undeniable impact. Next Tuesday, September 24th, Damian Maffei and myself will be calling on you once again, as the two of us take the biggest gambles of our careers. Our success — or failure — will be entirely in your hands…

It’s all Konrath, Swartwood, and Nicholson’s fault…

TeleRead has just posted this new interview with me, in which I expand upon my speech from last weekend, predict the future of bookstores, and talk about how JA Konrath, Scott Nicholson, and Robert Swartwood conquered the world. Also, LitReactor has a new list of 30 phobia-centric books, in which one of mine makes an appearance.

H.P. Lovecraft on Nickolaus Pacione: Exclusive Interview

H.P. Lovecraft’s grave (L to R) Rio Youers, Mary SanGiovanni, Dave “Meteornotes” Thomas, and Bev Vincent. Copyright 2013 by Brian Keene

If you’re new to the Internet, Nickolaus Pacione is a deranged man from Morris, Illinois who quite literally shouts at the world from a computer in his basement. He presents himself as a professional writer and publisher. He isn’t. That hasn’t stopped him from conning and swindling a number of young, unsuspecting novice authors. Likewise, several institutional sessions, loss of Internet service, and visits from law enforcement have not stopped him from continuing to stalk, harass, and threaten a number of professional authors and editors. His threats, while never progressing beyond his basement, have included everything from lighting his perceived rivals on fire to kidnapping their children.

Which is why I run these occasional public service announcements.

Pacione also considers himself to be this generation’s H.P. Lovecraft. He often claims that if Lovecraft were alive, H.P. would be a fan of his work. So, earlier this summer when authors Bev Vincent, Rio Youers, Dave Thomas, Mary SanGiovanni, and myself visited H.P. Lovecraft’s grave, I decided to interview Mr. Lovecraft on the matter. I’m happy to report that Mr. Lovecraft was kind enough to share his thoughts via spirit writing.

Q: Mr. Lovecraft, thanks for agreeing to this interview. Nickolaus Pacione has repeatedly claimed to be your modern heir. I’m curious, sir, if you are familiar with his work, and if so, what you think of it?

A:

Please Stand By…

Have to say @briankeene on Nyquil always makes me giggle. I get texts like “Your stunned silence betrays you, my Machiavellian love banana.”

— Mary SanGiovanni (@marysangiovanni) September 17, 2013

And that’s pretty much what it’s like. Captain Trips has infected all here at Cabin Keene, which has put a delay on writing, answering emails, reading manuscripts, and shipping Lifetimer packages. Regular broadcasts will resume shortly. They have to, because there’s a something BIG happening next Tuesday (9/24) that you won’t want to miss…