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Silence Kills

December 4, 2017

Just found some online ads & a review for the Italian edition of The Silent Corner. Sharing just for fun.

Source: @Time_Crime

Beautiful Writers Podcast – Dean Koontz: Master of Suspense

December 2, 2017

500 million books sold. 38 languages. 14 #1 New York Times bestsellers. How is that possible? My guest co-host, Robert McKee, and I couldn’t wait to get the inside scoop on a bestselling career that has spanned fifty years and been compared to the Beatles. Welcome to the epic world of Dean Koontz, who is totally delightful and slightly worrisome, in a crawl inside your brain and lays eggs kind of way. (Wait. Don’t repeat that! In reality, what struck me as most odd is that he’s not at all creepy.)Dean’s new thriller, THE WHISPERING ROOM, drops TODAY and will leave you breathless. You might have to sleep with the lights on for a while, but you’ll beg for the next book in this series just the same because our protagonist, Jane Hawk, is that addictive.
She’s my shero. A rogue FBI agent on a mission to save her son, Jane is intuitive and fearless and perfectly on time with the times—putting the fear of God into abusive men everywhere. If only we could bring her to flesh-and-blood life. And then clone her on every street corner.
In this episode, you’ll learn the difference between suspense and mystery; how to “let the character be the character”; how to make the fictional world more real—to the point of being swept away by it; what readers are looking for in the first two paragraphs of a book to make them buy; the three things setting (or nature) must accomplish; why reaction is more important than action; how worrying about paying the rent discourages a lot of artists + and the mindset you must have to break through. Of course, there’s so much more—including a civilized disagreement about the existence of the muse and a little Hollywood bashing.
I feel so blessed the legendary Robert McKee is back on the show. Imagine, these two experts talking shop about Setting and Suspense and Opening Hooks and Dialogue and so much more. Speaking of dialogue, Robert’s latest book, DIALOGUE: The Art of Verbal Action for the Page, Stage, and Screen will floor you with how much there is to know about the act of talking. Who knew?! Fortunately, McKee does. The details are so detailed I thought about quitting writing to find a day job until I remembered I’m too old for that and took wild amounts of notes instead.
The show, as they say, must go on. So take a listen. You’ll see why the writers of Pixar (creators of TOY STORY and FINDING NEMO), consider McKee’s STORY seminar a rite of passage. And how alumni to his courses have earned 200 Oscar nominations (with 60 wins) and 1,000 Emmy noms (with 200 wins).
As for Dean and this thriller genre. If you’re tempted to think it’s not for you because you hightail it out of the room when the 10 o’clock news starts as if a quake just hit, and watch Abraham Hicks videos on replay in a desperate attempt to trust in a benevolent Universe, I feel ya. Same, same.
But with Koontz and McKee as our guides, we just might find a whole lotta heart and sanity in the story. Even after the sun goes down.
I’m so glad you’re here.
Welcome.
Linda

Emporis

November 10, 2017

Dean mentions an interesting company named Emproris in The Whispering Room. He didn’t make it up. Check them out @ https://www.emporis.com/.

There was almost a Funhouse film remake/prequel….

October 25, 2017

DC: When you world-premiered Leatherface at FrightFest, it was the same weekend Tobe Hooper [the director of the 1974 Texas Chain Saw Massacre] passed away. Did he at least get to see your film at some point?
JM: No. We learnt that he passed away the day before the first screening of Leatherface. So it really was a shock for us and especially because we didn’t have the chance to meet him or even talk to him. His name is on the credits, but it is just contractual and because he created the characters with Kim Henkel. Honestly, it was very disappointing for us, because when we accepted this project, we hoped to meet him and to hear his take on the story and all the sequels and how he felt about that and maybe ask some advice from him. So we were really saddened and disappointed, yes. He’s someone that really changed our lives, as an audience and as a director later. We love his career. We even tried to propose a remake of Funhouse. I remember we had this conversation with an executive from Universal, just saying that we would love to do that movie, being a prequel of the movie and being inspired by the novel by Dean Koontz. I remember the executive at that time said ‘Ah fellows, interesting, I’ve never seen this one.’ And we were like ‘Okay you know it’s in your catalogue and you own the rights.’ He said, ‘Ah really!? Cool!’ (laughs) So it didn’t happen, whatever. But yeah, we were very, very saddened about Tobe’s passing.

Read the full article @ Dread Central.

Contest: Where have you seen this bug before?

October 22, 2017

Yesterday’s mail brought me a copy of The St. Louis Bug, a four-page b&w comic by Dean’s friend Vaughn Bodé, published in 1969 w/ a copyright of 1968.

On page four is this guy:

Recognize him? Where have you seen him before?
The first person to comment below (in this blog post, not on Facebook, Twitter, or any other platform) with the correct answer (be as specific as possible) will win a prize of their choosing from a pile of random Koontz items I have laying around.
Let the searching begin!

Silent Corner promo video

May 10, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kpKdFP5f48

Audible Germany trailer for Frankenstein: City of Night

March 20, 2017

Between The Lines with Barry Kibrick: Dean Koontz, A Big Little Life

March 13, 2017

Host Barry Kibrick talks with Best Selling Author Dean Koontz, about his book, A BIg Little Life, the true story of his life with his best friend, his dog.
Originally broadcast on 19 May 2011.

Julie Christie

March 12, 2017

Just picked up this 2002 UK biography of Julie Christie by Anthony Hayward. Of course, I got it because of a few paged related to the film version of Demon Seed.

Odd Thomas art

March 6, 2017

Just stumbled on this piece by JAF-Artwork on DivantArt. Click the image for the full version.

Myopia Special #1

February 8, 2017

Relevant Links:

Rudy Vasquez

January 9, 2017

Sponsored by Trade Craft, this month’s coloring corner was illustrated by Rudy Vasquez. Voted Best Artist by What’s Up readers in 2010, Rudy has worked on Ink Works Official Family Guy trading cards, Ape Entertainment’s U.T.F., Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein graphic novel adaptation published by the Dabel Bros, and Carnival Comics.

Read the full article @ What’s Up.

A Christmas Book to Remember

December 19, 2016

“Click through the interactive book shelf to see what books authors, from Laura Bush to James Patterson to [Dean Koontz], fondly remember as the best book they ever got for Christmas. What is the best book you have ever received as a holiday gift?”
Can you guess Dean’s book in just one try?

Peter O'Toole: The Definitive Biography

November 23, 2016

There’s not as much as I was led to believe about Phantoms in this book but there is a quote from Dean.

'Peter O'Toole' captures what was unique about the enduring star

November 15, 2016

Yet it was arguably O’Toole’s persona – more than his chops as an actor per se – which left the biggest impression on audiences. Whether cast in roles swashbuckling (as the globe-trotting hero in 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia”) or studious (as the courtly teacher to Chinese Emperor Pu Yi in 1987’s “The Last Emperor”), O’Toole frequently came across as variants of the same man: svelte, dashing, somewhat impetuous.
The point is nicely expressed in a passage in Peter O’Toole: The Definitive Biography, an accurately – if self-aggrandizingly – titled book by Robert Sellers. Discussing the rationale behind casting the actor in “The Last Emperor,” producer Jeremy Thomas itemizes the salient aspects of O’Toole’s façade: “He was the symbol of Western style, in a top hat and tails, and very statuesque with a great clarity of speech.”
…
Of course, many of the films O’Toole made in the late 1980s and 1990s were beneath his station. Happily, however, Sellers recognizes that O’Toole brought authority to even the silliest projects. “His name and presence could still add gravitas to any production,” Sellers writes, and a fine case study is made of the two-bit science-fiction film “Phantoms” (1998): O’Toole is described as being genuinely respectful of the screenplay by Dean Koontz and acing a long monologue shot during a snowfall. And although “Supergirl” (1984) is blithely dismissed in a single line, the actor’s function in that film is roughly equivalent to that of Marlon Brando in “Superman” (1978) – he is there to supply a certain stateliness to a pop-culture product, and he does so with panache.

Read the full article @ The Christian Science Monitor.

Woodstock Framing Gallery features exhibit of iconic rock photos from original negatives

November 14, 2016

Joe Stefko, who’ll speak about the collection of rock photos drawn from original negatives that he’s exhibiting (and selling from) at Woodstock Framing Gallery, 4 p.m. Saturday, November 5, stood in front of a pristine print of what the rest of us know as Michael Cooper’s cover for the Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties’ Request. Around him are other Cooper prints from The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album shoot, Bob Whitaker’s back cover image from Revolver, iconic shots of T Rex and Iggy Pop, early Beatles photos, John Lennon lithographs, and the pubescent redhead with an airplane that came out on a few hastily-withdrawn covers of Blind Faith’s only album, signed by the girl herself…
It was around the same time that the drummer began designing limited edition books; he currently works with three exclusive authors: Harlan Ellison, Dean Koontz and Tim Powers. He’d already gotten into collecting books while touring with The Turtles.

Read the full article @ HudsonValleyOne.com

Dean's birthday note to someone who hates his books

October 4, 2016

My friend doesn’t like Dean Koontz. I asked for an autographed headshot that read “F*CK YOU!” so I could give it as a birthday gift. He sent me this instead. Good guy Dean Koontz.

Source: imjur.

“An Exhibit of a Disney Legend” was currently on view in the museum of Forest Lawn in Glendale. Many of Earle’s 65 works had never been on public display, and among his many artistic styles are three “Sleeping Beauty” background pieces on loan from Disney.
His work is found in the personal collections of filmmakers Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson. Writer Dean Koontz also has his work. It is a style that is both medieval and midcentury. It is flat, but full of detail, creating depth.
His work was inspiration for a new generation of artists.
The Forest Lawn museum is free and open year-round and is a chance to see Earle’s unique style.

Read the full article & watch a video @ ABC7.com.