Daily Journal 11/17/25
One thing I want to start doing more of here is a daily journal type thing — sort of a permutation of what I used to do on Patreon, recapping the workday and writing process. And today’s writing workday was indeed a process, and an exhausting one at that. I spent the morning working on FALLING ANGELS: THE LABYRINTH Book 4 — specifically a scene involving Tony that, while hopefully thrilling and entertaining for readers, required me to dredge up some pretty painful and personal shit. Readers won’t know any of that, of course. Particularly not for the scene in question. But I do. And that’s part of the job, I suppose.
But that part of the job doesn’t get easier with age, kids.
The rest of the day was spent on emails, a phone conference with some librarians, and some brainstorming for the dustjacket for the signed limited edition version of THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: NEW TALES OF STEPHEN KING’S THE STAND.
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It turns out that what I wrote about at the start of starting this Blog is pretty much on the money. We’re making each other dumber. If you read one news article today, make it this one. An excerpt follows below.
“The math showed declines in three important testing categories, including matrix reasoning (abstract visual puzzles), letter and number series (pattern recognition), and verbal reasoning (language-based problem-solving). The first two, in which losses were deepest, measure what psychologists call fluid intelligence, or the power to adapt to new situations and think on the fly. The drops showed up across age, gender, and education level but were most dramatic among 18-to-22-year-olds and those with the least amount of schooling.”
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I was shocked to hear of Nikki Graybeal’s passing today. Condolences to her mother, son, and friends. I wrote a bit about it over on Patreon, and how Jesus and I based a character in CLICKERS VS ZOMBIES on Nikki and her friend Michele (who also recently passed).
Here’s a pic of the two of them I took at an event many years ago.
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Out today is White Noise Press - The Chapbooks, an anthology of original short stories first published by White Noise Press as limited edition, signed and numbered chapbooks. This edition is fully illustrated, with new Story Notes by the authors, written especially for this edition. Contributors include Brian Keene, Richard Chizmar, Mary SanGiovanni, Gary Braunbeck, Elizabeth Massie, Jeff Strand, Alison Littlewood, James A. Moore, Kealan Patrick Burke, Gary McMahon, and eleven others!
Available in paperback here. Reprints my story “Halves”.
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Authors Ray Van Horn and Tanya Pell were both in town this past weekend, and stopped by the store to say hello. Ray gave me a copy of his latest book, and Tanya enlisted me to prank Bracken MacLeod long distance.
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And that’s it for today. Have a great evening and thanks for reading.