Brian Keene's Blog, page 206

Contest Extended

Here's the deal. Not enough copies of this have been pre-ordered to make printing it profitable. I suspect that's because A) it got lost in the shuffle amidst all the new book announcements, and B) people mistakenly assume it is #1 of a series and decide they will wait for the graphic novel. Option A is understandable. Option B is not. To Fight With Monsters is a one-shot, single-issue. There will be no further issues. It costs $6. Cheaper than a paperback book. It is co-written with Mike Oliveri and based on our post-apocalyptic story from the long-out-of-print 4X4. If you pre-order from the publisher before March 22nd, you might win one of many cool prizes signed by Mike or myself. So go take care of that by clicking here.

The Week in Review

I've got the flu, so no Deluge this week. But you did get an announcement regarding Entombed. And The Damned Highway (my novel with Nick Mamatas) went up for pre-order. And Ob is making his big screen debut. And — BREAKING NEWS — the pre-ordering contest for To Fight With Monsters has been extended to the 22nd. Tim Lebbon and Christopher Golden stopped by to talk about Jack London and their new book. And finally, we took a look at Tom Piccirilli's new book and blew up the internet with the possibility of a new multi-author collaboration.

JACK LONDON AND HIS MONSTERS: Guest Blog by Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon

Everyone loves monsters.  Let's face it, you wouldn't be reading this blog if you didn't.

And what better adventurer to tackle them than Jack London?

He died so young, but in that short life he lived more than most could fit in a dozen lifetimes.  His life was traumatic at times, and tragic, troubling and frequently frightening, but also full of adventure and achievement.  And because he left behind such classic tales as The Call of the Wild, The Sea Wolves, and White Fang, the incredible Jack London will never be forgotten.

But what if some of his stories held more than a hint of truth?  And what if some of his experiences were so terrible––filled with such hardships, tragedies, and monsters––that he couldn't bear tell those tales for real?

This is the basis of our new trilogy from Harper Collins, The Secret Journeys of Jack London.  The first book, The Wild, follows a young Jack as he embarks on an adventure to the Yukon in search of gold.  But he finds so much more besides.

The Yukon is the ultimate wild, and we wanted to populate it with creatures and monsters that would live up to that description.  These monsters were both human and supernatural, and sometimes … well, aren't the best monsters those that we don't initially recognise as such?

It's no secret for anyone reading the novel that one of our main monsters is the Wendigo (Mike Mignola's lovely blurb mentions it, after all!).  We couldn't write a novel set in these locations without using the Wendigo, besides which it had been one of our favorite monsters for years (and subject of one of my favourite stories, Algernon Blackwood's The Wendigo.  If you haven't read it, go check it out.  Then watch Ravenous).  It's such a gruesome, horrible legend, because—like all the best monsters—it starts as a human.  Godzilla isn't scary.  The Wendigo is.  Its story is nasty and sad, terrifying and pathetic, and Jack just had to meet it.

(Can't wait to see the Wendigo in the movie!  Fox 2000 have bought rights to the trilogy, and we've already delivered the screenplay for The Wild).

One of our favorite scenes in the book (without giving too much away) is when Jack is alone in the forest, being chased by something … and he comes face to face with himself.  A thinner, more gaunt Jack, still he recognizes himself in those eyes.  The double is the Wendigo, of course––though it doesn't remain Jack-like for very long.  This actually comes from some recognized Wendigo folklore, and it was researching these aspects that was such great fun.

Research is always such a malleable thing.  You use it however it works for you, however it makes the finished product better.  This time around, research was important in so many ways, and much more pleasurable than usual.  We had to reread Jack London novels, read biographies of the complex, intense, brilliant lunatic he was, teach ourselves about the gold rush and the Yukon, and, of course, delve into folklore and monsters.

The Wendigo is not the only monster in The Wild.  Far from it.  Without giving too much away, there are forest spirits, animal totems, and human monsters, as well.  Add to that our discovery that Jack's mother was a real life medium who tormented him as a child by telling him the spirits were going to come and get him…we didn't know about that when we started our research, but what a gift to us as storytellers to find that nugget from his past.

Of course, in real life, Jack dealt with human monsters, but he also dealt with the challenges that nature placed in his path.  He grabbed life by the horns and wrestled with it constantly.  The old cliché about laughing in the face of danger applied to Jack London.  Some of the most harrowing scenes in the novel don't involve monsters—they involve the parts of his journey to the Yukon that we took from his REAL life, when winter and the elements—the ice and snow and rushing rapids and terrain—became enemies to be overcome.

The Secret Journeys of Jack London: The Wild may be marketed for younger readers, but anyone who loves action, monsters, and adventure can go along for the ride.  We didn't write the novel with age in mind.  In fact, we were astonished at some of the things that the editors are allowing us to keep intact, both in The Wild, and in the second book, The Sea Wolves.  There's some gruesome, nasty stuff…and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Down With the Sickness

I have the flu – the kind where my nose is leaking more blood than mucous and I get a Gold Medal for sprinting to the bathroom. You probably won't get a new chapter of Deluge this week. But tomorrow, you will get a guest blog entry from my good friends Tim Lebbon and Christopher Golden. That's Tim over there to the left. We were a lot younger then, and still had hair, and could drink all night and still sign books the next morning. We are older now, and I don't drink much these days, and we will speak no more of the hair or its steady retreat year after year.

We also will speak no more of this, which was taken shortly after the previous photo, other than to say that Bud Light is the Devil's swill.

And now I'm off to chug some more NyQuil…

Pre-order THE DAMNED HIGHWAY

The Damned Highway: Fear and Loathing in Arkham, my new novel co-written with Nick Mamatas, is up for pre-order. Click here for a full synopsis and click here to pre-order.

Also, this is the last day to pre-order To Fight With Monsters, my new comic with Mike Oliveri, and win a free book.

Update on ENTOMBED

Entombed is a short zombie novel that takes place in the world of Dead Sea. It was supposed to be my next book for Leisure, except that I'm no longer with Leisure. In the 6-month period between the time I parted ways with them and signed with Deadite Press, I sold Entombed to a small press publisher who specializes in absolutely beautiful signed, limited-edition hardcovers. It is a small press publisher who I have wanted to work with for a very long time. You will find out who that publisher is in a few weeks. And that is why I'm posting this today.

I have two distinct audiences: readers who prefer cheap, affordable paperbacks and e-books, and readers who prefer pricier, well-manufactured, collectible editions. For over a decade now, I think I've done a pretty good job of balancing the needs of both. When the first Maelstrom set was released last year, I gave my audience an advance warning. I told them it was going to go up for pre-order in a month, and that if they wanted one, they should set aside money. This seemed to work really well for both audiences. Collectors appreciated the heads-up, and readers who normally prefer the cheaper editions but wanted to get in on Maelstrom had time to save up for it.

So… Entombed is coming soon. As you can see from the pic above, I am signing signature sheets for it as I type this. It will probably go up for pre-order within a month or two. Because it is a short novel (70,000 words rather than my usual 80,000 words) it includes a bonus novella called White Fire. The publisher will be announced when it goes up for pre-order. It will be a signed, limited edition hardcover. There will be 500 copies. They will undoubtedly go very quickly. At this time, there are no other plans for a cheaper edition. If you want to read the book, I strongly recommend that you set aside money for it now. I don't know the final price, but I'm guessing that $50 is a safe bet.

Last Two Days — UPDATED

There are only two days left to pre-order my new comic To Fight With Monsters directly from the publisher and be entered to win one of over a dozen prizes signed by myself or Mike Oliveri (who co-wrote this post – apocalyptic tale). This will be the only edition of the comic. Due to distribution problems, we're asking that you order directly from the publisher. Otherwise, you might not get a copy. Click here to pre-order.

UPDATE: Contest has been extended to the 22nd.

Last Two Days

There are only two days left to pre-order my new comic To Fight With Monsters directly from the publisher and be entered to win one of over a dozen prizes signed by myself or Mike Oliveri (who co-wrote this post – apocalyptic tale). This will be the only edition of the comic. Due to distribution problems, we're asking that you order directly from the publisher. Otherwise, you might not get a copy. Click here to pre-order.

The Devil's Rock

Nice write up in Fangoria about The Devil's Rock, directed by Paul Campion (who is also slated to direct Dark Hollow) and written by my friend Paul Finch. It's worth noting to fans of The Rising and City of the Dead that Ob gets name-checked in The Devil's Rock.

Sunday is Funday

Yesterday, in-between taking Turtle to the playground and building mutant Mr. Potato Heads (see here), I finished reading an advance copy of Tom Piccirilli's Every Shallow Cut. I was moved enough to give it this blurb: "With an already-impressive body of work behind him, Piccirilli delivers his greatest book yet in Every Shallow Cut. Piccirilli's prose is stripped-down and almost acoustic for this effort. Every word counts… and cuts. If this were music, Every Shallow Cut would sit right alongside Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, Johnny Cash's American Recordings, and Neil Young's Harvest Moon. Highly recommended." And I meant it. Click here to pre-order.

We also blew up the internet again yesterday. Last year, I spoke individually with Wrath James White and Bryan Smith about doing collaborations together. Unfortunately, the Year From Hell put me so far behind in my obligations and commitments that we still haven't gotten around to it. Then the idea of a collaborative novel came up, and we decided it would be even more fun if we added Edward Lee and J.F. Gonzalez to the mix. I decided to test the demand for such a book on Twitter and Facebook. 24 hours and over 500+ responses later, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" Four of the five are on board (I still need to talk to one of the authors about it, but I'm certain he'll say yes), so look for that sometime next year. I want to call it Splatpocalypse, but I'm sure the others will veto me.

I'm going to be on the road a lot over the next three months. Filming for Ghoul starts in April and I'll be on the set for most of the shoot. I'll also be at Wondercon, World Horror Con, and Mo*Con. Am tired already, and it hasn't even begun yet…