Interviews
Interview re: The City on Patheos.com
July 4, 2014
Dean Koontz’ “The City”: A World Full of Mysterious Promise
We live in an age where we believe that science and technology have made us aware of all that is, but the world is a deeply-layered place, of which we understand only the tiniest part.
By Leo Brunnick, June 30, 2014
Dean Koontz sat down with Leo Brunnick (founder and CEO of Patheos) to talk about his latest novel, The City.
This new release continues Koontz’ tradition of writing stories that are exciting and thrilling and scary, while at the same time full of hope and meaning. The City is a story told through the adult eyes of Jonah Kirk as he relates some things that happened to him and his family when he was a boy. Set in a prototypical American city in the 1960s, The City tells a tale of the evil that is present in the world, but also shows that evil can be offset by the far-greater goodness and love that is also there, even where that good is often quiet and unnoticed, and makes the headlines far less often. Avid readers of Koontz’ work notice the strong spiritual messages and symbolism that permeate his work, and in The City Koontz gives a view of the world, of divinity, and of the power of love that readers will find very moving. Expect to cry a lot when reading this book …In many of your books, and perhaps increasingly so as your work progresses, you show the presence of the Eternal, of Divinity, in nature, animals, relationships, and moments. How do you express that in a story like The City?
The stories I write—aside from the specifics of the story itself—talk about the operation of grace in our lives, which I see around me all the time. And the older I get, the more I see it. I think as you get older, and if you keep yourself alert and aware of what’s going on around you, you gain some wisdom, and it helps you see that.
With The City I wanted to tell a story that was about all the different types of love that exist, about the reality of evil, and about the magic that cities that comes from the operation of grace in our lives.
The City started as a much smaller book—basically as an e-single to help promote my previous book (Innocence) – with the connection being that this was in the same “universal city.” But as I started telling the story, I became enchanted with the voice of the character, this young piano prodigy Jonah Kirk, and about fifty pages into writing I realized this was going to be a novel. As I wrote, I had one of those experiences that writers can’t call forth on demand, and which certainly don’t happen to me very often—what psychologists call being in a “flow state” where it seems like you’re hardly writing the piece, that you’re more of a conduit for it. It made the experience of writing this book exhilarating from beginning to end.
Read the full interview @ Patheos.com.
Dean Koontz: Oh Behave!
April 5, 2014
Just found another show on Pet Life Radio titled “Oh Behave!” which interview Dean back on 3 Novemebr 2008.
Say the name, Dean Koontz and it is understandable if you shudder involuntarily. After all, it is strongly advised to read many of his books with the lights on – unless you like being spooked. But Koontz chats with host Arden Moore about one notable – and delightful exception — his latest release, Bliss to You: Trixie’s Guide to a Happy Life. Discover how a Golden Retriever named Trixie brought out the best in this world-renowned suspense author, why Koontz describes dogs as “beauty without vanity” and more on this special episode of Oh Behave!
Listen, read & download the episode @ PetLifeRadio.com.
April 2013 Interview @ Sliver of Stone Magazine
April 5, 2014
Dean Koontz, who recently finished a novel–INNOCENCE– was interviewed by M.J. Fievre for Sliver of Stone Magazine.
M.J. Fievre: Dean Koontz, I’m a big fan. I love your work for its unabashed brand of storytelling, the Odd Thomas series particularly, pushing well beyond the boundaries of the expected, into intricately designed worlds with bodachs and silent ghosts, and even elements of science fiction. In an interview with Publishers Weekly, you mentioned that you give your characters free will, “just as God gave it to us.” Are there really no limitations you place on your work and the places you’re willing to go?
Dean Koontz: When a story suddenly takes an astonishing turn that I never anticipated, I sometimes pause to consider whether the twist is over the top or in some other way damaging to the narrative. If it isn’t just a gee-whiz-this-would-be-cool idea, if it comes out of giving the characters free will and letting them evolve, it is in my experience always a good direction to follow, even though I may be wary about where it will lead. Recently I finished a novel that had an experimental structure, an unusual first-person voice, a philosophical point of view contrary to that found in most of the pop culture, and some surprises of an epic nature that required careful preparation to sell to the reader. I expected pushback from some editors and publishers here and/or in other countries, but the book has been received with unalloyed enthusiasm everywhere, as one of the best things I’ve ever done. If I’d kept the characters on a tight leash and been timid about letting the story expanded to the farthest corners of its potential, editors might have liked it, but not as much, and it would have been a lesser piece. The biggest rewards, creatively and even financially, require risk, sometimes a lot of risk.
Read the full interview @ SliverOfStoneMagazine.com.
Authors@Google: Dean Koontz
February 25, 2014
Dean Koontz visited Google LA to talk about his new novel “Innocence.” This talk took place on January 23, 2014. (Published on Feb 25, 2014)
Dean on The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast
December 16, 2013
Topics include: Innocence, Wilderness, the Odd Thomas film, a possible Frankenstein TV series, The City, Secret Forest, and Saint Odd.
Dean Koontz on His Strange New Supernatural Thriller Innocence
December 15, 2013
Dean Koontz on poisonous honey:
“If bees were to feed only on oleander and produce honey, the honey would kill you … When I was researching poisons I was fascinated that here was this shrub that in California is grown along the side of the highway in great big hedges, and one flower of it can kill you … Occasionally because people are not aware of its toxicity they chop it up and throw it in a salad to see what it’ll taste like, and it kills them. Or sometimes beekeepers who are amateurs don’t make sure what their bees are feeding on, and will produce poisonous honey. Everything in life is dangerous.”
Read the full interview @ Wired.com.
Best-selling author Dean Koontz talks 'Innocence'
December 15, 2013
via USA Today.
Q&A with Dean Koontz: On His Innocence – and His Future
December 15, 2013
EVERYDAY EBOOK: You are an author who writes so brilliantly and prolifically across genres. Are there common threads among your books? Among your characters?
DEAN KOONTZ: You make me blush. But give me just a moment, and I’ll get over it. Well, I seem to be endlessly combining genres in different ways because as a reader I like all kinds of fiction and want to write in virtually every genre. When I first started doing this more than thirty years ago, publishers weren’t enthusiastic, but now it’s become acceptable, so I’ve never had to learn a trade like plumbing or carpentry. The common thread among the books is my view of the world: that it is a place of layered mysteries, of profound wonders and great beauty, where there is darkness and Evil but also hope that can’t be extinguished. If one thread runs through most of my lead characters, it is that they are not special agents with nearly superhuman skills, not indestructible mesomorphs, but ordinary people – masons, bartenders, gardeners, fry cooks – who suddenly find themselves in extraordinary situations. Sometimes they’re even people with disabilities, such as Chris Snow in Fear Nothing and Leilani Klonk in One Door Away from Heaven. Also, I find myself more interested in characters who are, in one way or another, outsiders or on the edges of society.
Read the full interview @ EverydayEbook.com.