Brian Keene's Blog, page 146

DARK HOLLOW Film Update

This double-page advertisement appears in this week’s Variety (just in time for the European Film Market), courtesy of Raven Banner Entertainment, who are distributing Dark Hollow. Click the image to see it in detail. And follow the official Dark Hollow Movie page on Facebook.

Levi Stoltzfus: Past, Present, and Future

A lot of readers have been asking about my recurring character Levi Stoltzfus lately. New readers want to know how many books he appears in. Old readers want to know what’s next for him. So, I thought I’d take a moment to answer those questions.

The correct reading order for Levi’s adventures are Dark Hollow (which serves as a prequel), Ghost Walk, A Gathering of Crows, and Is There A Demon In You (which contains the novella The Witching Tree).

Levi also appears in the short story “House Call” (currently out-of-print), and an alternate reality version of him guest stars in Clickers vs. Zombies.

On deck are two more novellas, and two more novels. Readers of Is There A Demon In You know that Levi has gotten himself into a bad situation, the ramifications of which will be addressed in those final four books, as will his mysterious past, his relationship with his father, the reason he was ostracized from his community, and the identity of the girl in the cornfield. I don’t have titles for any of these yet, except for the final novel, which will be titled Bad Ground.

The End…

This weekend, I intend to finish scripting the final 3 issues of The Last Zombie: The End, and a sizable chunk of new novel The Lost Level (which is so close to being done that I can taste it). Fuel for this endeavor is coffee, Red Bull, and the following mix. If you have Spotify, you can listen along at home and it’s like you’re there in the room with me. 29 tracks, 2 hours.

Subliminal Marketing

Last year, I was absolutely transfixed by Felix Baumgartner’s skydive from the edge of space. Indeed, while filling out a questionnaire for perspective jurors recently, when asked to name my three biggest heroes, I listed my Dad, the Chinese protestor who blocked that column of tanks in Tiananmen Square, and Felix Baumgartner. Red Bull has combined the footage from Felix’s jump, music by The Roots, and the line “The only limit is the one you set yourself” into the commercial below. I’ve seen it a dozen or so times over the last week (usually on Adult Swim). Today, at the grocery store, I bought two 4-packs of Red Bull — something I haven’t purchased since my heart attack almost two years ago. Subliminal? I don’t know. But I know I bought it and discovered that Red Bull still gives me heartburn…

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE – THE ORIGIN OF HORDAK

[image error]Comic Vine has the scoop on the new Masters of the Universe – The Origin of Hordak comic that I’m writing with Keith Giffen. You can read the press release here.

Keith and I, as you might remember, co-wrote an issue of Doom Patrol together a few years ago, before Flash went and turned the DCU into the New52. You can read it digitally here.

From Comic Vine: Having fought both He-Man and Skeletor, now the full story of the alien conqueror will be told. DC Comics has given us the exclusive announcement for MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: THE ORIGIN OF HORDAK. This issue will be written by Keith Giffen and Brian Keene (continued)

THE LAST ZOMBIE: BEFORE THE AFTER #3

On sale in all good comic shops today is The Last Zombie: Before the After #3. If your local store doesn’t carry it, buy it online HERE. You can see a sneak preview here.

As the snow outside deepens and the team members continue to reveal their secrets to one another, Ananti tells Ian what happened to her loved ones and how she survived the zombie apocalypse. Meanwhile, Federman’s investigation of Ian’s illness continues.

FORGET THE CAREER, SERVE THE STORY (A Rebuttal to Brian Keene’s On Writing Full-Time circa 2013): Guest Blog by Nate Southard

Last week, I posted my speech to the Borderlands Boot Camp, entitled On Writing Full-Time (circa 2013). Some folks, like John Skipp and Tim Waggoner, agreed. Some folks, like Dan Simmons and Nate Southard, disagreed. I think all of them raised great points. I stated in the speech that there are many paths, and this was the path I chose, and you might – or might not – want to choose it. It was a cautionary tale. Anyway, the aforementioned Nate Southard was moved to write this rebuttal to the speech, and I think it’s a great essay and raises some exceedingly important things. So here it is. 

Hello, everyone.  Today, I come to you not only with a dose of realism, but with a tasty spoonful of compassion and even optimism.  Those who know me are probably wondering where I found said optimism, but let me assure you…I know me some optimism.  I’m the most optimistic pessimist you’ll ever meet.  I’m bald, but have a great beard.  I know contradictions.

Last week, my good friend Brian Keene posted a long essay about what it takes to be a full-time writer in 2013.  A lot of people read it, and a lot of people said it was amazing.  Quite a few people (as evidenced by a scroll through my Facebook news feed) had minor-to-major anxiety attacks, fits of depression, and gnashed their teeth like their teeth were built for gnashing.

Now, Brian’s essay is powerful.  I’ll admit that it hit me right in the heart a couple of times.   And it can truly be said that the publishing industry is in a state of chaos right now, and that no one knows how things are going to shake out.

As I spent the last week answering questions from panicking writers and watching others spiral into despair, however, I’ve felt the need to write a response to Brian’s piece.  Not because I think he’s wrong on every front, but because I feel it’s important for us as writers to look at every issue from multiple sides.

Here’s the thing…and I say this as somebody who does not make a living off his writing, who was trumpeted by Keene himself as an important member of the next generation of horror writers (a title I’ve never been very comfortable with, honestly), a writer who has seen several releases in the horror small press, but who has yet to land an agent or book deal with a major publisher…

…it’s more important that you write than it is for you to have a writing career.

In other words: forget the career, serve the story.

For years, I chased the idea that there was a horror CAREER out there waiting for me to snatch it, and I made some bad decisions in pursuit of that career.  I wrote novels based on what I thought Leisure Books would buy.  I spent weeks agonizing over pitches instead of improving my prose.  I sold novels to collectors’ presses when I didn’t even have the audience to support such a move.  I sold four or five books a year because I thought maybe if I published enough, I’ll be able to stay home and write all day.  I took days off work to make deadlines for contracts that offered no advance.  On the advice of a friend, I turned down an agent’s offer of representation because I didn’t want to give up 15% of a $250 advance.  That agent is now an editor at a major press, and I’m pretty sure he hates me (don’t worry, I also hate me).

I did a lot of things that were, quite frankly, pretty stupid.  And I did them because I thought happiness must be working my ass off on writing to make $30k a year.

Here’s the thing, though…some of the stories I wrote during that time aren’t that great.  I wrote them and let them be released, however, because I thought it was an important to keep my name out there.  Because it all felt like an important step toward having a career, toward quitting my day job and being the mythical professional writer.  Years later, I consider some of those efforts wasted.  Did I believe in all those stories?  Not really.  I’m proud to say I cared about the vast majority of my stories, but I’m ashamed to say there were a few I did for the wrong reasons.

I serviced the career instead of the story.

While I was chasing that dream, another set of writers weren’t shooting for the Leisure Books, barely-scraping-by moon.  They shot higher, and it paid off.  Lee Thomas released The Dust of Wonderland on hardback and to considerable critical acclaim.  Sarah Langan saw her first novel, The Keeper, released through HarperCollins.  Tor Books released Rhodi Hawk’s debut A Crooked Ladder as a beautiful trade paperback.  Holt Publishers did the same with Paul Tremblay’s The Little Sleep.  Gillian Flynn became one of the best horror authors working today when Sharp Objects was released in hardback from Crown Publishing.  These are major releases that launched careers for important writers, and there were no signed collectors editions, looping intestines, or rape demons.  Some of these authors are now full-time writers, and some still have day jobs. All of them, however, have one thing in common…

They served the story and forgot the career.

Currently, I have one novella and a short novel due to be published this year.  I’m proud of both, but I still believe I can do better.  My goal, with every word I write, is for my current work to be better than what came before.  After the two books currently set to be released this year, you might not hear from me for a while (of course, you might not have heard of me before now).  It’s not because I’m not writing as much as I have previously or because I’ve decided I’m too good for the small press.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It’s because I’m writing more, but I’m determined to write better.  I’m serving the story, and I no longer have this goal of being able to quit my day job.  Currently, my goal is to be the best writer I can be, to write the best books I can, and to maybe, someday, write the kind of powerful, thought-provoking horror I read from Langan, Hawk, Tremblay, Thomas, Flynn, and others like Laird Barron, Victor LaValle, and maybe even (someday, maybe, I hope, pretty please) Peter Straub.  I don’t want to do this because I dislike other kinds of horror.  I want to do this because I want to tell not only stories, but the best stories I can.  Stories that move me and maybe move others.  If that earns me a career, wonderful.  If it doesn’t, that’s fine.  I tried.

To those who got scared or depressed or anxious after reading Keene’s essay…I get it.  Honestly, I do.  I beg of you, however, don’t despair.  And don’t worry.  Just write.  And get better.  Every time.  There will always be a market for amazing stories.

Forget the career, serve the story.

(A special thank you to my awesome friend Brian Keene for not only reading this essay and deciding against hurting me, but for offering to host it on his website.  Next round’s on me, buddy.)

***

For a complete list of Nate Southard’s in-print books and e-books, CLICK HERE.

Tim Lebbon is… IRON MAN

Tim says: On August 4th I’m competing in Ironman UK. Ironman is the world’s toughest single-day endurance event consisting of a 2.4 mile open-water swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and then a marathon (26.2 miles) … all within 17 hours. I’m raising money for St David’s Hospice Care, the charity that helped look after my mum when she was terminally ill. They’re a wonderful organisation who rely exclusively on charitable donations. You can sponsor me HERE.

Best Blurb Ever

“The introduction of the fast zombie into the genre did much more than amp up the dramatic action within the context of its various cinematic and literary incarnations; it destabilized the tripartite model of signification by shrinking the liminal space that exists between the living and the undead, thus fundamentally altering the phenomenological event that produces the zombie metaphor. The absence of the clearly demarcated symbolic liminal exacerbates the permanent status of urgency and threat to the stabilizing influences of civilization central to the zombie metaphor’s function as a sign, and begins to dismantle the familiar and comfortable terrain by which the living-self and undead-other remain fundamentally separate regardless of what metaphoric trope is being negotiated.

From The End of the Symbolic Liminal: Brian Keene and the Rise of the Fast Zombie to be presented by Andrew P. Williams (North Carolina Central University), February 23 at the American Literature Symposium in Savannah, Georgia

Frankie Returns…

So, there I was yesterday, finishing up the script for issue #1 of The Last Zombie: The End (which can be pre-ordered right here), when all of the sudden, Frankie from The Rising and City of the Dead decided to guest star.

That is because as we approach the end of everything, everything is beginning to tie together, and go back to the beginning.

My pre-readers will have their work cut out for them this year.