Brian Keene's Blog, page 97
January 25, 2016
I Still Want To Believe
As hard as it is to believe, The X-Files was not a ratings blockbuster in its first season. I started watching with the third episode, and as far as I know, I was the only one of my friends doing so. The show took off with seasons 2 and 3, but that first season? It felt like it was just mine.
The night I first saw The X-Files, I was a young twenty-something father, working a blue-collar job and trying to become a writer, had just gotten divorced and — much to my dismay (and theirs) — had temporarily moved back in with my parents. That living arrangement lasted two months, ending when I’d saved up enough money to start over again. But my love an enjoyment and devotion to The X-Files has lasted ever since.
I’ve always sympathized with Fox Mulder’s quest. There are things in my background, things I experienced, things I don’t talk about or share with nearly anyone — public or private. Only a very slim few know about them. Suffice to say, I always wanted Mulder to find the truth, because it was a truth I sought, as well. But Mulder and Scully’s search for the truth goes beyond alien abduction and government conspiracies. At the core, it’s a search for answers — to what happens when we die, is there anything more than this, who’s in charge, does the universe have order, or is it just a chaotic joke? Their quest was one that appealed to our human spirit — and that’s a quest that never gets old.
Mulder’s gotten older. Scully’s gotten older. Skinner’s gotten older. And I’ve gotten older. And yeah, that premiere was a little bumpy in parts last night (episodes 2 and 3 are much stronger). But it was good to see those characters again. Good to know that somebody else is still searching, and still asking. Because the truth is still out there, and I still want to believe.
This is a good time to remind you that I made my own contribution to The X-Files universe, with TRUST NO ONE – available in paperback, digital, and audiobook.
January 24, 2016
Mac Elsey Joins THE NAUGHTY LIST
Actor Mac Elsey, whose films include THE HARVEST, GOING POSTAL, and SHAKESPEARE SATURDAY, and whose stage credits include A CELEBRATION OF SHELLEY, INCA, SPACEMAN, and FLOWERS OF THE FIELD, has joined the cast of THE NAUGHTY LIST as Santa Claus.
For complete details on THE NAUGHTY LIST, and how you can help back it, obtain a DVD, and much more. click here.
January 23, 2016
Things To Do During the End of the World
Laird Barron’s X’S FOR EYES is the first five-star book of 2016. I predict it will be this year’s A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS or SLOWLY WE ROT — a book that readers talk about throughout the rest of the year and an early, almost certain contender to appear on many Best of 2016 lists twelve months from now. A television reviewer once described Adult Swim’s THE VENTURE BROS as “JOHNNY QUEST on acid.” If that’s so, then X’S FOR EYES is THE VENTURE BROS on acid. A loving homage to all things pulp — Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Doc Savage, etc. — with nods to everything from Arthur Machen to James Bond to The Hardy Boys, X’S FOR EYES is glorious, smart, whip-crack fast fun. Even the really disturbing parts (including one particularly gruesome scene where a Ben Grimm-like teen gets possessed by….well, spoilers). Available right now in paperback and Kindle.
[image error] I raved about Nick Mamatas’s THE LAST WEEKEND a year ago, when it was only available as a signed, limited edition hardcover. Now it’s available in paperback and Kindle. Like Bryan Smith’s SLOWLY WE ROT, Nick’s new book is a zombie novel that’s not about zombies. Instead, it uses that tired old trope as a backdrop for something more. In Smith’s case, that was an examination of social anxiety, loneliness, alcoholism, and insanity. In the case of THE LAST WEEKEND, alcoholism and social anxiety are once again present, but so is an examination of labor and employment, conspiracy theories, prepper culture, city government, revolutionaries, and the starving artist. It’s funny, it’s frightening, and it’s got mad, mad heart.
If, like me, you’re currently snowbound, you can download both of those books to your Kindle right now, and have something to do during the apocalypse. I highly recommend both.
***
As for me, it snowed all night, and is still coming down. Forecast says 28 to 30 inches now, possibly more. The snow has blown in off the river all night, drifting against my front door and making going outside an exercise in futility. The backdoor is still clear, should I need an emergency exit, although any retreat would be on foot as the roads are currently impassable. But I don’t really see myself going anywhere. Both of my sons are home safe (my oldest at his apartment and my youngest with his mother), and I’ve got enough food and water to support a small army. My plan for the blizzard is to just keep writing and reading and listening to music. While everyone else was fighting over the last loaf of bread and the last roll of toilet paper yesterday, I was at the record store, buying some new vinyl to listen to while the snow falls:
*The 2nd Annual Berkeley Blues Festival — a live recording from 1966 featuring a favorite of mine, Lightning Hopkins, along with Mance Lipscomb and Clifton Chenier.
*Metallica’s Master of Puppets — First pressing, still in the shrink wrap.
*Frank Sinatra’s September of My Years
*John Lennon’s Rock ‘N’ Roll
*Alice Cooper’s Flush the Fashion
*12-inch of “Only Buggin’ by Whistle — old school hip-hop that probably only people over 40 will remember.
That’s how I’m spending the apocalypse — good music and good coffee and writing. Later, when the power goes out (as it’s almost certain to do if the winds coming off the river are any indication) I’ll switch to bourbon, or freeze-dried coffee brewed atop a kerosene heater, and writing by hand in a notebook.
Miles to go before I sleep…
January 22, 2016
The Last Thing You See Before The End
If your browser isnt showing you a video above, click here to see it. That’s me, as a very dirty and quite possibly deranged Santa Claus. Thought I’d share it with you now, so that if DEATH BLIZZARD 2016 does me in, this will be your final memory of me.
Speaking of which, they just upped our forecast again. Several feet of snow and high wind gusts. We fully expect to lose power, so I’m gonna cut this short and go gas up the generator and fill the kerosene cans and make sure the dried rations are within reach.
In the meantime, support THE NAUGHTY LIST by making your pledge. And if you’re getting snowed in this weekend, too, why not listen to my podcast — for free — to keep you company.
Or just picture me coming down your chimney…
January 21, 2016
MARCHING ON
Much to the chagrin of those who say I’m all washed up, THE NAUGHTY LIST Kickstarter is fully funded in its first three days. So, that means we were successful and can stop taking pledges now, right?
Wrong. The first thing you need to remember is that not every pledge will go though. Statistics indicate we should expect 5% of backers credit card transactions to fail when processed, due to insufficient funds, etc. (Something I see happen every month on Patreon, as well). Therefore, we need a cushion. We need extra pledges to make up for the ones that will fail.
The second thing you need to realize is that we asked for the minimum amount it would cost to make this movie. Anything above and beyond that amount will allow us to make an even better movie — to do things we didn’t originally think we’d have in the budget, as far as special effects and casting are concerned.
As director Paul Campion wrote: “In just the first 3 days of this campaign we’ve passed our original target of £6,500 (US$9,200). This is fantastic news and we’re humbled by the response and how quickly our backers have got behind this project and we can’t thank you enough.
This is just the beginning of the journey to make this film. Our original target of £6,500 was the minimum we needed to raise to get the film made, and what we would like to do now is to raise more money so we can make the best film possible for you, our audience.
Every extra pound and dollar we can raise will help put more money ‘up on screen’, whether it’s an extra day in the studio in pre-production so we can spend more time building our set or pay for some more props to help dress it, or a little more money to go towards the costume design or on the crane our Director of Photography Jono Smith would like for a stunning overhead shot.
And we can always use more time in post-production, a bit more time spent editing, composing the music, mixing the sound and working on the visual effects shots.
The more money we can raise over our goal, the better film we can make for you the audience.”
So yes, PLEASE keep those pledges coming! Even if you just pledge one dollar, it helps and we appreciate it. There’s also copies of the movie, t-shirts, visits to the set, tickets to the premiere and much more. You can even hang out with me for a weekend (and congratulations to Jonathan Echevarria and his girlfriend, who were our first backer for that option, and will be spending a weekend with me and hanging out in my home and going on a tour with me of some of the Central Pennsylvania locations featured in my books).
***
[image error] FANGORIA released their Best Books of 2015 list, and I was honored and delighted to see that WHERE WE LIVE AND DIE made the list. But I was even more delighted to see so many newer authors — young guns like Kevin Lucia, Adam Cesare, Andy Deane, and Mark Allan Gunnells make the list. Horror fiction is undergoing another transformation and resurgence, and the reason or that is the new blood. It’s nice to see that new blood being recognized.
WHERE WE LIVE AND DIE is available on Kindle and in paperback. Thanks to Fangoria and Shawn Macomber for the honor.
***
Next week’s podcast was supposed to feature Jacob Haddon of LAMPLIGHT MAGAZINE. However, with a blizzard about to descend upon us in the nest 36 hours, it is doubtful that Jacob or Meteornotes will be able to make it here to the studio.
Therefore, I’m recording a back-up solo episode for next week. I’ll be talking about the origins of my books again. Previous episodes where I’ve done this have included THE RISING series, the Levi Stoltzfus series, the EARTHWORM GODS series, CASTAWAYS, URBAN GOTHIC, ENTOMBED, and DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (all those shows are archived here). If there’s a particular book you’d like me to talk about, let me know via the show’s Facebook page.
January 20, 2016
Some Observations on Crowdfunding and Social Media
As of this morning, the Kickstarter for THE NAUGHTY LIST — a short film based on my story “The Siqqusim Who Stole Christmas” — is 66% funded. Click here to contribute. We announced it yesterday morning, and promoted it throughout the day via social media. Here are my observations on what worked and what didn’t work. None of this is scientific, of course, but after twenty years in this business, I think my record for divining successful self-promotion is pretty solid.
Twitter worked wonderfully. I have over 11,000 followers on Twitter. Every time I Tweeted a link to the Kickstarter page yesterday, I saw an immediate and demonstrable bump in pledges.
Facebook worked terribly. I have over 9,000 followers on my public Facebook page. Every time I posted a link to the Kickstarter page on Facebook yesterday, approximately 39 people out of those 9,000 followers saw each post. That’s because Facebook’s algorithms detected the link embedded in the post, and buried it — because they wanted to charge me advertising. The one post where I DIDN’T include the link, and instead told people to get the info at, quote “Brian Keene dot com”, was seen by a much larger percentage of users. This further solidifies what many of my peers have been saying in private — and what Warren Ellis has been saying out loud. Facebook is fine for staying in touch with childhood friends, but as a marketing and promotional tool — it sucks. Unless you want to spend money.
The forum worked pretty well. Not nearly as well as Twitter, but if we parse the numbers — the forum has 540 users, 80 of which were online at some point yesterday. Of those 80, approximately 60 visited the thread for THE NAUGHTY LIST. Those are MUCH BETTER numbers than Facebook’s.
I didn’t bother promoting on Instagram or Tumblr. In the case of the former, most Instagram users are not going to click through. That’s not how they use the service. And in the case of Tumblr — the vast majority of the users are either too young to participate in a Kickstarter, or would find something problematic and socially wrong with the project itself.
So, there you have it. Make of my raw data what you will. And if you haven’t yet checked out our Kickstarter, click here and give us a chance.
January 19, 2016
THE NAUGHTY LIST Kickstarter Is Live!
The Kickstarter for THE NAUGHTY LIST — a black comedy – crime – horror short film based on my story “The Siqqusim Who Stole Christmas” and directed by Paul Campion (THE DEVIL’S ROCK) — is now live. Click here to participate.
Rewards include DVDs, t-shirts, a signed first edition of THE RISING, tickets to the movie premiere, and even hanging out with me for a weekend.
Long-time readers should note that this marks fan-favorite character Tony Genova’s movie debut.
We’re asking for a little over $9,000 to make this short film. We have 25 days to raise it. With your help, we will.
January 18, 2016
Sundance State of Mind
A few years ago this week, I spent a few days at the Sundance Film Festival with friends Mary SanGiovanni, Mike Oliveri, Michael T. Huyck, Mark “Dezm” Sylva, and Tod and Suzin Clark, for the premiere of the film adaptation of my novel GHOUL.
Thinking back on that weekend always makes me smile. This morning, I thought I’d share some of the smiles with you, after the cut
January 17, 2016
FENDER LIZARDS and HOLE IN THE WORLD
THE NAUGHTY LIST Kickstarter launches later this week. Get ready!
***
As a teenager, I enjoyed the YA novels of Paul Zindel (THE PIGMAN, CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BABOON, PARDON ME – YOU’RE STEPPING ON MY EYEBALL). Indeed, I eventually quit reading YA books, long before the normal slide from YA fiction to adult novels, simply because I could find no other YA writer with Zindel’s ability to capture real teens.
Joe R. Lansdale’s new YA novel, FENDER LIZARDS, captures a lot of that Zindel spirit and characterization. It’s a novel 14-year old Brian would have loved and 48-year old Brian very much enjoyed. FENDER LIZARDS is about Dot — a teenage protagonist who lives in a Texas trailer park with her mother, brother, flatulent grandmother, and bank-robbing uncle — and her efforts to form a girl’s roller derby team, reunite with her estranged father, date a boy from the other side of the tracks, and avoid going to jail. It’s a Lansdale novel, and Lansdale is a genre of one. Highly recommended for readers of all ages. Available on Kindle and in hardcover.
***
Earlier today, I typed “The End” on the first draft of a long-overdue novel called HOLE IN THE WORLD. It’s a prequel to THE LOST LEVEL (available here) but takes place long before that novel and features a different cast of characters. I say long-overdue because it’s just that. It’s taken me nearly six years to finish this first draft. Some of that was due to health and other uncontrollable factors. Some of it was because halfway through, I realized I’d have to finish THE LOST LEVEL before I could finish this one, as events from one would impact the other. it’s also worth noting that this is a second first draft. An earlier version of the novel was a terrible, incomprehensible mess, and got tossed.
It’s still not finished-finished. The first draft needs to sit for a week or two. Then I’ll tackle the second draft. When that’s finished, I’ll send it off to pre-readers. When I get their feedback, I’ll do a quick third draft. Then it will go off to the publisher, Camelot Books (who have been gracious and patient and understanding despite the inexcusable delay).
Six years. That’s the longest I’ve ever spent on a book. The quickest was THE GIRL ON THE GLIDER (available here), which was written in seven days, and URBAN GOTHIC (available here) and the forthcoming PRESSURE (coming in June) both of which were written in a month.
There’s a lesson here, for newer writers, but I’ll be damned if I can articulate it. Some things get written quickly, like the type of cancer that cuts a healthy human being down to bone in the space of a month. Others are slow-growing tumors, swelling and pulsating for years.
Yes, I just equated writing with cancer. Writers are a weird lot.
January 15, 2016
What Neil Gaiman, Brian Keene, And You NEED to Do To Be A Writer
Today, social media worked itself into an outrage…
Wait, let me start over, because social media works itself into an outrage every goddamned day.
Today, social media worked itself into an outrage and decided it was Neil Gaiman’s turn. On Twitter, Neil offered an endorsement of the Clarion Writing Program, with which he has a long history (something that is no different than say, me Tweeting an endorsement of Scares That Care). He Tweeted: “clarion.ucsd.edu is where you apply to go to Clarion. If you want to be a writer, you want to go to Clarion, NEED to go to Clarion.” Immediately after this, approximately 220,000 Tumblr warriors and would-be writers poured their outrage onto social media, accusing Neil of everything from classism to being a paid shill. As is SOP for the internet outrage machine, they did this based on that lone Tweet, disregarding and ignoring the volumes of Blog entries and essays Neil has written about becoming a writer, and advice to such.
The only thing Neil was guilty of was engaging in hyperbole and not considering that, as large as his audience is, there are probably more than a few wingnuts in it who will take issue with anything he says. As Nick Mamatas said earlier this evening, “Aspiring writers are always hysterics but any writer handing out advice should know that and avoid expansive claims.” Could Neil have worded that Tweet more carefully? Sure, maybe. But he’s Neil Gaiman and everybody loves him and he probably genuinely didn’t ever consider there would be a blow back like this — because why would there be? Hitting Neil Gaiman is like shooting into a barrel full of puppies.
Now, me on the other hand? I commit more accidental micro-aggressions before breakfast than most people do all fucking day. So let me explain to you what you NEED to do if you want to be a writer.
You need to write every day.
You need to find an hour in your day and you need to sit down and you need to write. Writing does not constitute playing Xbox or looking at funny GIFS on the internet or talking about writing with other writers. Writing involves sitting your ass down in a chair and committing words from your head to either paper or screen.
Going to Clarion or any other sort of writing workshop or MFA certainly won’t hurt. They will probably help. But not everyone can do that. I never went to Clarion or any other sort of workshop. I never went to college. I barely graduated high school. Despite that, I’ve done okay for myself, with over 40 books in print in fourteen different countries, and a dozen literary awards, and even a few movies. I bring people joy. I entertain them. And I’m able to feed my children doing so.
I achieved that by sitting in a fucking chair and writing every day.
It doesn’t matter what genre you’re writing, or whether your sentences are short or long, or how many followers you have on Twitter, or how many Likes you have on Facebook, or how many times your Tumblr Blog about Spider-Gwen’s new costume was shared. It doesn’t matter which writing organizations you belong to, or which writer’s groups you’re a member of online. It doesn’t matter where you went to school, or what workshop you attended, or whether you got published via New York or a small press, or indeed, whether you got published at all. None of those things make you a writer. Getting published doesn’t make you a writer.
What makes you a writer is sitting in a chair every day and writing.
“Oh, Brian. I can’t. I have kids, a job, parents, school, Fallout 4 to play, the new season of Jessica Jones to binge watch…” Bullshit. So do I. So do all of us. You’re no different than anybody else. If you want to be a writer, you make the time to write. You get up an hour early, go to bed an hour later, skip your lunch break, dictate it via a voice recorder during your commute, etc.
You find a way. That’s what you NEED to do. That’s all you NEED to do. But you’d be surprised how many would be “writers” can’t commit to that. Instead, they’ll write about not having time to write.
