This Is Horror

TIH 295: Brian Keene on Writing For Market, Public vs. Private Persona, and Last Year’s Burn Accident

  • August 19, 2019

  • 4 mins to read

In this podcast Brian Keene talks about writing for market, public vs. private persona, last year’s burn accident, and much more.

About Brian Keene

Brian Keene writes novels, comic books, short fiction, and occasional journalism for money. He is the author of over forty books, mostly in the horror, crime, and dark fantasy genres. Keene’s 2003 novel, The Rising, is often credited (along with Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic and Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later film) with inspiring pop culture’s current interest in zombies. Keene’s works have been translated into German, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Italian, French, Taiwanese, and many more. In addition to his own original work, Keene has written for media properties such as Doctor Who and Alien. Keene also oversees Maelstrom, his own small press publishing imprint specializing in collectible limited editions, via Thunderstorm Books. Keene also hosts the popular podcasts The Horror Show with Brian Keene and Defenders Dialogue.

Show notes

  • [02:30] Conversation start
  • [04:30] Life lessons growing up
  • [08:50] Bullies
  • [18:05] Darkness at the edges of society growing up and attraction to horror
  • [22:20] Ghost story and the comic book destruction
  • [26:25] Lessons from other jobs
  • [35:35] Public vs private persona
  • [44:30] Writing for the market early on
  • [52:20] Writing a western
  • [01:02:20] Brian’s accident last year and how that’s affected his life one year later

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Water For Drowning by Ray Cluley, narrated by RJ Bayley

Listen to Water For Drowning on Audible in the US here and in the UK here.