Michael Sauers
What’s New & Updated June 3, 2019
June 3, 2019
Frankenstein time! (Yeah, I still have to do the comics…)
- Frankenstein 1a: Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein Book One Prodigal Son
- Frankenstein 1b: Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein Book One Prodigal Son
- Frankenstein 2a: Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein Book Two City of Night
- Frankenstein 2b: Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein Book Two City of Night
- Frankenstein 3: Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein Book Three Dead and Alive
- Frankenstein 4: Frankenstein Lost Souls
- Frankenstein 5: Frankenstein Book Five Dead Town
- Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein: The First 3 Novels
- Dean Koontz – Frankenstein Series: Books 4 & 5
- Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein (Screenplay)
- Frankenstein (TV)
- “First…”
But wait, there’s more…
- The full contents for Dean Koontz’s Amazon Blog
- The Crooked Staircase limited editions
- The Forbidden Door limited editions
- The Night Window limited editions
- The Killer Across the Table to Appendix D
- A Checklist of Tim Powers to The Man Who Knows About Hippodurkees
- Future City mention in The Alien Critic #11
- “Demon Seed From the Author”
- “The Murder of a Pen Name”
The Cooper Color Codes
May 30, 2019
Early on in The Night Window the “Cooper Color Codes” are mentiond. What are they?
The most important means of surviving a lethal confrontation, according to Cooper, is neither the weapon nor the martial skills. The primary tool is the combat mindset, set forth in his book, Principles of Personal Defense.
The color code, as originally introduced by Jeff Cooper, had nothing to do with tactical situations or alertness levels, but rather with one’s state of mind. As taught by Cooper, it relates to the degree of peril you are willing to do something about and which allows you to move from one level of mindset to another to enable you to properly handle a given situation. Cooper did not claim to have invented anything in particular with the color code, but he was apparently the first to use it as an indication of mental state.
The following is from The Carry Book: Minnesota Edition, 2011:
White: Unaware and unprepared. If attacked in Condition White, the only thing that may save you is the inadequacy or ineptitude of your attacker. When confronted by something nasty, your reaction will probably be “Oh my God! This can’t be happening to me.”
Yellow: Relaxed alert. No specific threat situation. Your mindset is that “today could be the day I may have to defend myself”. You are simply aware that the world is a potentially unfriendly place and that you are prepared to defend yourself, if necessary. You use your eyes and ears, and realize that “I may have to shoot today”. You don’t have to be armed in this state, but if you are armed you should be in Condition Yellow. You should always be in Yellow whenever you are in unfamiliar surroundings or among people you don’t know. You can remain in Yellow for long periods, as long as you are able to “Watch your six.” (In aviation 12 o’clock refers to the direction in front of the aircraft’s nose. Six o’clock is the blind spot behind the pilot.) In Yellow, you are “taking in” surrounding information in a relaxed but alert manner, like a continuous 360 degree radar sweep. As Cooper put it, “I might have to shoot.”
Orange: Specific alert. Something is not quite right and has your attention. Your radar has picked up a specific alert. You shift your primary focus to determine if there is a threat (but you do not drop your six). Your mindset shifts to “I may have to shoot that person today”, focusing on the specific target which has caused the escalation in alert status. In Condition Orange, you set a mental trigger: “If that person does “X”, I will need to stop them”. Your pistol usually remains holstered in this state. Staying in Orange can be a bit of a mental strain, but you can stay in it for as long as you need to. If the threat proves to be nothing, you shift back to Condition Yellow.
Red: Condition Red is fight. Your mental trigger (established back in Condition Orange) has been tripped. “If ‘X’ happens I will shoot that person” — ‘X’ has happened, the fight is on.
The USMC uses “Condition Black,” although it was not originally part of Cooper’s color code.[7] According to Massad Ayoob, “Condition Black,” in Cooper’s youth, meant “combat in progress.”
In short, the color code helps one “think” in a fight. As the level of danger increases, one’s willingness to take certain actions increases. If one ever does go to Condition Red, the decision to use lethal force has already been made — the “mental trigger” has been tripped.[citation needed]
The following are some of Cooper’s additional comments on the subject.
Considering the principles of personal defense, we have long since come up with the color code. This has met with surprising success in debriefings throughout the world. The color code, as we preach it, runs white, yellow, orange, and red, and is a means of setting one’s mind into the proper condition when exercising lethal violence, and is not as easy as I had thought at first.
There is a problem in that some students insist upon confusing the appropriate color with the amount of danger evident in the situation. As I have long taught, you are not in any color state because of the specific amount of danger you may be in, but rather in a mental state which enables you to take a difficult psychological step. Now, however, the government has gone into this and is handing out color codes nationwide based upon the apparent nature of a peril. It has always been difficult to teach the Gunsite color code, and now it is more so.
We cannot say that the government’s ideas about colors are wrong, but that they are different from what we have long taught here. The problem is this: your combat mind-set is not dictated by the amount of danger to which you are exposed at the time. Your combat mind-set is properly dictated by the state of mind you think appropriate to the situation. You may be in deadly danger at all times, regardless of what the Defense Department tells you. The color code which influences you does depend upon the willingness you have to jump a psychological barrier against taking irrevocable action. That decision is less hard to make since the jihadis have already made it.
He further simplified things in 2005:
In White you are unprepared and unready to take lethal action. If you are attacked in White you will probably die unless your adversary is totally inept.
In Yellow you bring yourself to the understanding that your life may be in danger and that you may have to do something about it.
In Orange you have determined upon a specific adversary and are prepared to take action which may result in his death, but you are not in a lethal mode.
In Red you are in a lethal mode and will shoot if circumstances warrant.
Wikipedia contributors. (2019, March 8). Jeff Cooper. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:15, May 30, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jeff_Cooper&oldid=886739823
IFI Showing of Demon Seed
May 29, 2019
Any fans in Ireland? The Irish Film Institute will be showing Demon Seed (oddly, with German subtitles) on 16 June 2019 as part of their Dark Skies film series. Check out all the details at the IFI Web site.
What’s New & Updated May 27, 2019
May 27, 2019
A bunch of odds & ends again this week with an answer to the question about the source of that art print I posted earlier this week. I’ve got a day off tomorrow so here’s hoping I can get a some of the Frankenstein entries knocked out.
- The Book of Books
- Confrontation by Kevin Davies
- Guide pages for the Frankenstein novels. Edition entries forthcoming.
- Hideaway Blu-ray, trailer, and promotional video
- “Kittens” (revised) in Exit Wounds
- The Silent Corner Target signed edition w/ red sticker
New art print in my collection
May 24, 2019
Any recognize this? It an illustration for a piece by Dean. Do you recognize it? If so, or just have a guess, leave it in the comments. I’ll post the details in Monday’s site update. (Also, please excuse the reflection. I’ll try to get a better photo over the weekend.)
What’s New & Updated May 20, 2019
May 20, 2019
Just when I think I know about almost everything, something from more than 20 years ago appears in my inbox. This never gets boring.
- “The Black Pumpkin”, October Dreams Artist Edition
- Dark Rivers of the Heart (Excerpt)
- I am in receipt of your letter to my publisher…
- The Night Window Trade HC, Audio CD, and MP3-CD
- A Note From Dean (The Night Window)
- A Note From Dean (Strangers TV)
Have you seen Elvis?
May 19, 2019
What’s New & Updated May 13, 2019
May 13, 2019
Hey, I forgot to mention last week that this site’s one year old! Thanks for everyone’s support. And in case you were living under a rock, The Night Window comes out tomorrow so look for an update page for that title in next week’s update.
- “Big Announcement from Dean”
- Citations for the law journal articles mentioned in the “In regard to Rodney Leighton’s comments about Dark Rivers of the Heart” letter.
- Fear That Man review in BeABohema #7
- Various videos added to the page for The Funhouse film including trailers and an interview with director Tobe Hooper.
- Useless News, Spring 2019
- All of the Useless News issues should be in their proper release-order now.
The Jane Hawk Interview
May 13, 2019
Dean reprinted an interview under the title “Jane Hawk Interview” in the Spring 2019 issue of Useless News. The intro mentions that it was originally printed in a magazine titled “Krimi.” Turns out, as far as I can tell, the source is the online publication “Krimi Couch” [Crime Couch] and the interview in the original Greman can be foudn @ https://www.krimi-couch.de/magazin/interview/04-2019-dean-koontz/.
Tobe Hooper on “The Funhouse”
May 11, 2019
Hideaway on Blu-Ray
May 9, 2019
Hideaway has finally received a Blu-ray release from Cinema Cult. Sadly, for me at least, it’s Region 2, so it’s not going to play in the US without some jiggering of your hardware/software. (Amazon.co.uk) Of course, I’ll probably buy a copy anyway and it’ll be going into the site this week.
Cinematic Randomness has a review of the release.
Looks like I’m still on the mailing list.
May 6, 2019
What’s New & Updated May 6, 2019
May 6, 2019
The Odd Thomas books are done! There are a few related essays to still add but I’m assuming no one’s desperately waiting for those.
- Alternate Demon Seed film poster
- Floater by Gary Brandner to Ephemera
- Forbidden Door review in Suspense Magazine, Nov/Dec 2018
- Odd Thomas 4.5a: Odd Interlude
- Odd Thomas 4.5b: Odd Interlude: A Special Odd Thomas Adventure
- Quote from Watchers review in Books, September 1987
- Watchers II foreign edition images
Duke University obtains the Locus Collection
May 5, 2019
Anyone in Durham, NC want to take a little trip on my behalf?
The David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University has acquired the archives of the Locus Science Fiction Foundation, publisher of Locus, the preeminent trade magazine for the science fiction and fantasy publishing field.
The massive collection—which arrived in almost a thousand boxes—includes first editions of numerous landmarks of science fiction and fantasy, along with correspondence from some of the genre’s best-known practitioners, including Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula K. Le Guin, Harlan Ellison, Octavia E. Butler, James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon), Dean Koontz, Robert A. Heinlein, and hundreds more.
Locus started out in 1968 as a one-sheet science fiction and fantasy fanzine. Since then, it has evolved into the most trusted news magazine in science fiction and fantasy publishing, with in-depth reviews, author interviews, forthcoming book announcements, convention coverage, and comprehensive listings of all science fiction books published in English. It also administers the prestigious annual Locus Awards, first presented in 1971, which recognize excellence in science fiction and fantasy.
Check out more details @ the Duke University Libraries blog
Also covered by Cory Doctorow over at Boing Boing.
Amazing alternate Demon Seed film poster
May 5, 2019
Champion
May 4, 2019
Dean Laymon & Richard Koontz
May 2, 2019
It seems that Gary Brandner’s novel Floater contains two seemingly familiar characters; Dean Laymon and Richard Koontz.
Thanks to Paul Evans for finding this one!
What’s New & Updated April 29, 2019
April 29, 2019
More Odd Thomas titles this week. They’re almost done. Can anyone tell which one I’ve not done yet?
- Dean Koontz – Odd Apocalypse and Deeply Odd (2-in-1 Collection)
- Dean Koontz – Odd Thomas Series: Books 5 & 6: Odd Apocalypse, Deeply Odd
- Odd Thomas: You Are Destined to be Together Forever
The Night Window sneak peek
April 29, 2019
New reprint of “Kittens” arriving on May 21, 2019
April 25, 2019
Order your copy from Amazon.