Brian Keene's Blog, page 182

A Pause For Station Identification

My name is Brian Keene. I write books, comics, and stories for money. My most recent novels are The Damned Highway (co-written with Nick Mamatas and published by Dark Horse) and Castaways (a Richard Laymon tribute published by Deadite Press). Currently, I am writing two novels (The Lost Level and Binky) and a comic script (The Last Zombie: Neverland #1). I also just finished the last two chapters of Deluge, an on-going serial novel you can read for free here.

If you would like to communicate with me, follow me on Twitter or use the comments function here on this website. I will usually answer any question on Twitter. It is my preferred method of social networking. I am also on Facebook and Google+, but I don't have the capability to respond to questions or comments there. In truth, I really don't like Facebook or Google+. I like Twitter. I may have mentioned that already. You should like Twitter, too. I also really like Blip.FM, which has nothing to do with writing, but allows me to enjoy another passion of mine – music. I also have accounts on 8Tracks and LibraryThing, and frequent the Horror Drive-In message board.

I am currently not granting any interviews, nor am I booking any appearances for 2012. The reason can be found here. There are a few interviews in my inbox that I agreed to do before this, and I will get to them shortly. I am also not currently accepting any writing invitations, blurb or introduction requests, or anything else, until I am caught up on deadlines and have met prior obligations. If you are a producer or filmmaker interested in optioning one of my books or stories, send an email. Please note that Ghoul, The Ties That Bind, Castaways, Dark Hollow, Darkness On The Edge Of Town, and Terminal are off the table. If you are a foreign publisher interested in publishing one of my books or stories in your country, email my foreign rights agent, Betty Anne Crawford.

Younger writers often ask me for advice. Everything I have to tell them can be found in the lyrics to this song:

Kayla and the Devil

Bryan Smith's new novel, Kayla and the Devil, is now available for Kindle and other digital readers. Kayla and the Devil is a departure for Smith, eschewing the over-the-top pulp gore of The Killing Kind and Depraved for more of an urban fantasy slant. Bryan describes it as "Harry Dresden meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer (even though there aren't any vampires in it)."

Click here to download to your Kindle.

Click here for other e-book formats.

2012 Release Schedule

Because people keep asking, here is a list of when everything that's coming up is coming out. It's broken down by title, format, and publisher. This may look like a lot, but keep in mind that most of these are reprints. Believe it or not, I really have slowed down. We'll begin with the remainder of 2011, and then look at 2012:

2011

DARK HOLLOW, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

GHOUL, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

THE WITCHING TREE, limited edition hardcover, TBA soon

FAST ZOMBIES SUCK, chapbook, TBA soon

THE CAGE, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

EARTHWORM GODS, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

THE LAST ZOMBIE: INFERNO #4 – 5, comic books, Antarctic Press

AN OCCURRENCE IN CRAZY BEAR VALLEY, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

EARLY 2012

CLICKERS VS. ZOMBIES, limited edition hardcover, Bloodletting Press/Miskatonic Books

GHOUL, broadcast on Chiller TV

THE LAST ZOMBIE: NEVERLAND #1 -5, comic books, Antarctic Press

THE LAST ZOMBIE: INFERNO, trade paperback, Antarctic Press

EARTHWORM GODS: SELECTED SCENES FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

THE RISING, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

CITY OF THE DEAD, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

THE RISING: SELECTED SCENES FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

SCRATCH, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

MID-2012

ENTOMBED, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

MAELSTROM SET 3 (includes DELUGE), limited edition hardcovers, Thunderstorm Books

THE LOST LEVEL, trade paperback and digital, Apex Book Company

BINKY: A BIZARRO NOVEL (tentative title), trade paperback, TBA

THE GIRL ON THE GLIDER, trade paperback and digital, TBA

LATE-2012

GHOUL, DVD and Blu-Ray

SUBURBAN GOTHIC, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

HOLE IN THE WORLD, limited edition hardcover, TBA

WITH TEETH, limited edition and trade hardcover, Cemetery Dance

BABYLON FALLING, trade paperback and digital, Deadite Press

ALONE, trade paperback and digital, TBA

THE LAST ZOMBIE: TWO TYPES OF DEAD (tentative title) #1 – 5, comic books, Antarctic Press

THE LAST ZOMBIE: NEVERLAND, trade paperback, Antarctic Press,

My First Halloween: Guest Blog by Maurice Broaddus

Since there's no new chapter of Deluge this week (see previous entry for the explanation as to why) I've asked author Maurice Broaddus to entertain you instead with a story about Halloween, and dogs, and why he hates them both. Maurice's latest novel, King's War, comes out next week. Pre-order it here.

It was 1976 and my brother and I were freshly transplanted from London, England—where we were born—to the thriving metropolis that was Franklin, Indiana. The first thing we had vowed to do was lose our accents (as people kept coming up to us saying "speak English", which at the time made little sense to us as ostensibly we all spoke English, until we realized that our accents marked us as somehow different. Then again, this was Franklin, Indiana.).

We were barely in this country for six months when Halloween rolled around. Though this was a new tradition to us, as a five and six year old, there wasn't much of a hard sell for "dress up and get free candy." My parents bought me a tiger outfit.

Now, I loved that outfit. I wore it every day of the week leading up to Halloween (this also was a year before my phase when I was convinced I could be a super-hero but was perplexed why everyone kept figuring out my secret identity despite my costume change). Leaping off furniture, pouncing on my younger brother, randomly curling up on the couch and purring (tigers = cats, therefore, they MUST have purred). My favorite part of my costume being my three foot long tail which trailed behind me when I ran.

Again pointing to its stature as a multicultural Mecca of the Midwest, the "black" side of Franklin consisted of the houses within a 3-4 block stretch, all of whom we were somehow related to. My father, in his efforts to truly give us a sense of what Halloween could be, was inspired to go to the "rich" side of Franklin to trick or treat. This meant all of a five minute car ride. The first house we go to, this lady loves my costume and gives me a handful of candy. That was the magic formula of life: I rang the doorbell, a lady praises my costume, and my orange pumpkin bucket fills with free candy. America was truly the place where dreams came true.

We get to the last house on that block. The formula repeated, with one hitch: as the lady dropped candy into my bucket, the plinking sounds of sugary treats drew the attention of her very large Doberman pincher. To this day I remember it perfectly: four feet high (surely it towered over me), eyes red with the flames of hell, with black fur as if cast from the steepest of nightmarish shadows. In my excitement over the candy, I shook my tail. Before the lady could stop it, the dog slipped past her and with a ferocious growl which rattled the windows of every house on the block, tore after me.

My candy scattered in a hail of Bit O Honey, Bazooka bubble gum, 100 Grand Bars, 5th Avenues, Carmellos, Chunkys, Rolos, and Red Hots as I ran. The dog, hot after my tail, crisscrossed the yard with me as the lady, my dad, and my brother just watched. I turned back and ran toward the only isle of safety a six year old boy knows: his dad.

My dad was a local star in Franklin, having set most of the track, basketball, and football records. He was a beefy 6' 5'' or so … and I scampered up him like I was in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Oddly enough, I don't remember much after that. I know the dog didn't come after me. I don't remember climbing down from my father's head, but I don't think he drove home with me as his hat. I know that my brother never shared his candy with me.

And I know I've never had much of a fondness for Halloween or dogs since.

No Deluge this week II

No Deluge this week either. Dezm doesn't have time to pre-read it because he's deep into proofing the final draft of Clickers vs. Zombies, and I don't have time to write it because I'm deep into the second drafts of The Lost Level and Binky, the first draft of Hole In The World, the script for The Last Zombie: Neverland #1, and my keynote speech for next month's AnthoCon (more on that in a moment).

So yes, if you've fallen behind on Deluge, this is the perfect time to catch up. Or, you could read Castaways, which came back into print last weekend. Or you could read The Damned Highway, which picked up two more reviews this week courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle and Las Vegas City Life. Or read Christian Jensen's Blog about the old man who caused the last decade's zombie craze.

A reminder to those of you in Pennsylvania: J.F. Gonzalez, Kelli Owen, and Bob Ford are signing this Saturday from 3pm to 6pm at Book Ends 2856 Eastern Blvd., York, PA 17402.

I'll be taking some time off from the road next year. My last two appearances of the year are November 11th through the 13th, when I'll be at AnthoCon in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and November 17th to the 20th, when I'll be at BizarroCon in Portland, Oregon. I hope to see you!

CASTAWAYS ON SALE NOW

They came to the deserted island to compete on a popular reality television show. Each one hoped to be the last to leave. Now they're just hoping to stay alive. Contestants aren't being eliminated by the game. They're being taken by the monstrous, half-human creatures that live deep in the jungle. The men will be slaughtered. The women will be kept as captives. Night is falling, the creatures are coming, and rescue is so far away…

Deadite Press is proud to present Brian Keene's tribute to the late, great Richard Laymon!

Paperback on sale now. Kindle and Nook editions forthcoming. CLICK HERE TO ORDER

CLICKERS VS. ZOMBIES

FINISHED!

Finished tonight. The Clickers (Clickers, Clickers II, and Clickers III) versus Ob and the Siqqusim (The Rising, City of the Dead). Hardcover forthcoming later this year from Bloodletting Press.

New From Deadite Press

With my thoughts, after the pretty covers:

1. Just Like Hell by Nate Southard is the book I've been raving about for the last two years to anyone who will listen. I honestly believe that it is this generation's equivalent to Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door. Don't let the gory cover fool you — this is an emotionally-harrowing, mentally challenging tale that will make even the most jaded fan squirm.

2. Survivor by J.F. Gonzalez remains the most gut-wrenching, gruesome horror novel I have ever read. That is not hyperbole. Nor is it nepotism. It doesn't matter that J.F. is one of my closest friends, because despite that, it is a novel that nearly broke me. It's nice to see both it and Bryan Smith's Depraved safe at Deadite and away from Dorchester. It's also comforting to know that Edward Lee, Robert Devereaux, and Wrath James White found safe haven from Dorchester at Deadite, as well. Support that, and buy these books.

No DELUGE this week…

…because I've had the flu, and also because Dezm is pre-reading other things for me and needs to get caught up on those first. Instead, here's some info for newsletter subscribers, an update on Ghoul's release date, a few last-minute signings of note, and more.

This month's issue of Locus had a piece on my heart attack, which (as a long-time Locus reader) was sort of surreal to see. But they also had a very good review of The Damned Highway. A snippet: "It's a profoundly political novel, which is no surprise, given the authors involved; in the final chapter, Thompson explains that he's going to send this unpublished account to the 'vicious Libertarian' Keene and the 'avowed Communist' Mamatas to do with as they see fit. The association of our modern political parties with Lovecraftian cults—which are, after all, full of people futilely worshiping powerful beings who are either indifferent to humanity, or outright hostile toward us—is the novel's central metaphor, and it's a nastily inspired one." Buy one here.

Executive Producer Andrew van den Houten tells me that they are still working on post-production edits for Ghoul, which means the film will debut a few months later than planned — probably early 2012 rather than late-2011. The audio-book and the new print edition of the book will both be out later this month, along with the new print edition of Castaways.

Speaking of movies, Fear.net has a new interview with me (conducted by my old friend Del Howison), in which we talk about all the various movie stuff going on, including Castaways, Ghoul, Dark Hollow, and Darkness On The Edge Of Town. We also discuss how I prefer to operate without an agent, and how business is always business. Click here to read it.

Author R. Thomas Riley is selling a number of my harder to find books on eBay, like this ultra-rare copy of 4X4. His seller name is salarian2001. If you need to fill the holes in your Keene collection, this is your chance.

If you live in New Jersey, my lovely fiancee Mary SanGiovanni and our friend Jonathan Maberry are speaking and signing this Saturday, October 8, at Well Read Books 425 Lafayette Avenue, Hawthorne, NJ 07506. Call 973-949-3440 for further information.

And if you live in Pennsylvania, our good friends J.F. Gonzalez, Kelli Owen, and Bob Ford are signing Saturday October 15th, from 3pm to 6pm at Book Ends 2856 Eastern Blvd., York, PA 17402.

Finally, as you may remember, when I announced that we would no longer be able to publish the newsletter, my plan was to publish a final double-sized issue, followed by a book, both of which would be available for free exclusively to newsletter subscribers. That plan continues, except that we've decided to take the material from that last double-sized issue and include it in the book instead. The book is called Apocrypha. It is being compiled as I write this. It is chock full of material so rare that even I had forgotten about some of it. There are short stories that have never been reprinted outside of their original appearances, short stories that have never been published, hard-to-find pieces of journalism and non-fiction rants, and a bunch of other material. It is a hardcore fan's wet dream. Apocrypha will ship signed and numbered, and is available only to former newsletter subscribers. No further copies of the book will ever be printed, and we will only print enough extra copies to cover lost or damaged mail shipments. This truly is a collector's item. It is expected to ship to subscribers in late-December.

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose." Steve Jobs

David Boyer is a Bag of Fuck (UPDATED)

Once again, I call upon the combined might of the F.U.K.U (for new readers, that stands for Fans 'Uv Keene United – acronym created by authors Drew Williams and Joe Nassise). In the past, when we've asked for your help, you have always responded. Together, we've done everything from save the life of a little boy who needed surgery, to forcing one of the industry's oldest publishers to do right by their authors. Tonight, we need your help again.

Several years ago, a group of authors including myself, Nick Mamatas, Nicholas Kaufmann, Paul G. Tremblay, and others attempted to warn our peers about a Nitwit named David Boyer (who was then going by the name of Doc Byron of NVF Magazine or some such horseshit). The guy was a fraud, taking advantage of authors under the auspices of publishing them in/interviewing them for his "magazine". When we sounded the alarm, via our various Blogs and on Shocklines, (back when people still considered Shocklines to be a legitimate and worthwhile place for authors and fans to hang out), our warnings were ignored, shouted-down, and deleted.

But this isn't about that. This is about what David Boyer went on to do in the years since.

If you are a speculative fiction author, then you're probably already aware of Boyer. If not, you should spend a few hours reading B-Thoughtful's informative Blog and of course, the always-reliable Rusty Nail. Over the last few years, Boyer has openly and ruthlessly plagiarized over 60 authors, including big names like Dean Koontz, Richard Matheson, and Ben Templesmith. Perhaps more heinously, he has stolen from new authors who are just beginning to dip their toes into writing and publishing. A complete list of all of Boyer's victims can be found here, in the sidebar.

Nothing seems to stop him. Not letters from lawyers or cease and desist notices from attorneys. Boyer complies with the notices, removes the stolen material, and then simply reprints it under another title using a new pseudonym. Perhaps most frustrating of all — by all accounts, Boyer lives below the poverty level, and as a result, a lawsuit against him would be pointless, not to mention extremely costly. Would you pay $10,000 in legal fees to sue somebody who plagiarized your work, only to find that when it came time to reward damages, all that person could pay would be pocket change and an old llama porn videocassette? And thus, there are a lot of frustrated writers who have been victimized by this bag of fuck, and none of them see any end in sight.

Enter Ferrell Rick Moore, one of Boyer's earliest victims. Rick has found a way to finally make Boyer pay, with criminal charges and the very real possibility of prison time. Rick has opened a Consumer Fraud case with the Indiana Attorney General's Office (Boyer lives in Vincennes, Indiana). And that is where you come in, dear readers. Follow these instructions carefully, and please note that you DO NOT have to live in Indiana to participate:

1. Please write a letter or email to:

Tom Irons

Consumer Protection Division

Office of the Indiana Attorney General

302 W. Washington St., 5th Floor

Indianapolis, IN 46204

Email: Tom.Irons @ atg.in.gov

2. In your letter or email, you MUST reference File Number 10-CP-62157

3. Be respectful. No cursing. State that you are a concerned consumer or author and that you wish to bring notice of Consumer Fraud on the part of David Boyer, a resident of Vincennes, Indiana, to their attention. Mr. Boyer is stealing copyrighted material and selling it as his own. Many customers who have ordered said material online have never received it, nor a refund. Ones who do receive it are, in fact, getting fraudulent merchandise.

4. Most importantly, as Rick notes in his plea, make sure you say that you want David Boyer pursued under Consumer Fraud regulations at the state's cost. He's defrauding consumers.

Okay, now I'm turning it over to you. The members of the F.U.K.U. are seventy-thousand strong and come from all walks of life. We've got people at CNN, FOX News, BBC, the CIA, the FBI, and everywhere else in between. We are the Left and the Right and the Middle. We've got steelworkers, truck drivers, homemakers, data entry clerks, teachers, waitresses, nurses, telemarketers, forklift drivers, clergy, doctors, and lawyers. We reach from the top of the Hollywood hills to the boots on the ground in Afghanistan.

Make it so…

UPDATE #1: As this gets picked up by others, I want to make sure proper credit is assigned to Ferrell Rick Moore and B-Thoughtful, (who I linked to above). It is their hard work and efforts that have enabled the genre to fight back. All I am is the guy with the bullhorn who, for some reason, can usually get people's attention. If you Blog or report on this, please give them the credit they deserve.

Update #2: A Facebook page has been started for this campaign. You can "Like" it by clicking here. But don't just do that and think you're showing your support. If you really want to help your fellow authors, then do as Rick suggests and write that letter.