2 Weeks In 1

It was a crazy few weeks here along the Susquehanna River in Central PA, and I found my time divided between being a Dad, Husband, Son, Writer, Editor, Producer, Charity Board Member, and Bookstore Owner like never before. I feel like I packed two weeks worth of hours into the past week.

Saturday the 8th, Mary and I were in West Virginia, celebrating my grandmother’s 100th birthday (which is why you didn’t get a newsletter that weekend). We drove down that Friday and drove back home on Sunday. It was a lovely time spent with family. On Saturday night the two of us, my sister and her husband, and one of my favorite cousins went out to a bar in Lewisburg, and my sis took this picture of Mary and I, which I think came out pretty good, and will also give you a look at what I’m doing with my beard these days.

While in West Virginia, Mary and I also priced a barn and a greenhouse, in advance of our retirement. The barn is because I love her, and what better way to show your wife you love her than to buy her a barn that she can use as a crafting workshop and also use to play Dungeons & Dragons in when her girlfriends come to visit. And the greenhouse is because Mary insists that if we retire in West Virginia, I am going to need hobbies other than making moonshine, so I’ve decided to grow things.

Last Monday through Friday were spent bowed in deep discussions and text messages and Zoom meetings with Kasey and Jonathan of Pandi Press, and my pal and coeditor Chris Golden, and our editor at Simon & Schuster, Ed.

Pandi is deep into production on THE BEST OF BRIAN KEENE and FOUR PAST MEATNIGHT (which you can order as a pair here). And we are getting down to the wire for preorders. If you have the means, get your copies reserved.

And Chris and I are deep into editing not one, not two, but three anthologies, none of which we are ready to tell you about yet.

I spent mornings this past week at our new warehouse, setting up shelving and beginning to haul inventory, in advance of our switch to Online-Only come January. And then was at the store from 10am to 5pm every day.

We had a Scares That Care board meeting last Thursday night, getting things ready for our Women’s Writing Symposium and AuthorCon (tickets for both events available here).

And then Friday night was second unit shooting on DEAD FORMAT (which you can learn more about here). It was a stripped down evening, with only two actors, six crew members, one director, and one producer (me). Here is the legendary Chet Williamson on set and in character.

Production will now pause until January (when we’ll finish filming), with the exception of some gore pickup shots.

Also visited with authors Wesley Southard, Todd Keisling, and Mike Slater this past week, and talked shop.

And on Saturday night, my ex-wife and I attended our son’s final marching band banquet, which was emotional for us, if not for him.

So, yeah. Whew. I got tired just recounting all of that. The problem with being this busy is that it leaves no time for actual writing, particularly with the store and the store’s transition on top of the usual stuff. I won’t lie. I am very much looking forward to transitioning Vortex into an online only store. That will free up a lot of time for me. I am behind on deadlines, and feel like crap about it. FALLING ANGELS: THE LABYRINTH Book 4 should have been on sale in time for the holidays, and instead I’m still writing it. The book is about 3/4 of the way done. But it will still have to go through revisions and prereader edits and then a final polish. So next Spring, is more likely, I guess.