Latest Posts
ashley bell: a novel
April 3, 2015
You heard it here first folks! Dean first novel of 2016 will be “Ashley Bell” and it is currently scheduled to be released on 12 January 2016. Even better, the cover art has already been released! Click the cover image to pre-order it from Amazon.
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz comes the must-read thriller of the year, perfect for readers of dark psychological suspense and modern classics of mystery and adventure. Brilliantly paced, with an exhilarating heroine and a twisting, ingenious storyline, Ashley Bell is a new milestone in literary suspense from the long-acclaimed master.
A Closer Look at Best-Selling Author Dean Koontz's Charitable Giving
March 27, 2015
For those of us at IP who consider ourselves failed Freudian psychoanalysts, it’s always fun to theorize why celebrity funders feel compelled to give. It’s doubly fun when the funders have gotten rich by writing sadistic and terrifying books. Perhaps they’re trying to make up for all the bad-vibe Karma they’ve spewed into the universe.
More often than not, however, the philanthropic urge is simply rooted in the unpredictable developments of every day life. Stephen King, for example, set up the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation to help support artists who are unable to work due to health problems, like the one he suffered when he was hit by a car while out jogging one day.
Then there’s the Dean and Gerda Koontz Foundation, begun in 1994 by the best-selling suspense author Dean Koontz and his wife. The foundation supports charities that deal with people with severe disabilities and critically ill children. One of the main benefactors has been Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), a charitable organization that provides service dogs for people with disabilities.
Read the full article @ Inside Philanthropy.
The Secrets of their Success interview
March 27, 2015
I’ve always resisted the cliché, ‘Today’s guest needs no introduction.’ And there are two reasons for that: for one thing, it’s one of those remarks that needs qualifying, and in so doing I think I’d end up at odds with the aforementioned claim. For another, those who need no – or little – introduction often provide the meatiest substance for an opening paragraph, and my guest today is no exception. Frankly, we’re in the presence of greatness – honestly, it’s true. He’ll shake his head at me for using such lofty rhetoric, I know, because despite his vast achievements he seems to have remained somehow unpretentious – at the very least down-to-earth. And in case you’re wondering at the magnitude of said achievements, permit me a small instruction. Go to Wikipedia and search: ‘Best-selling fiction authors.’ You’ll see a list populated by such revered denizens as William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, Agatha Christie and a host of other authors endlessly cited by literature professors the world over. Well I’ll tell you something: today’s guest currently occupies the number seventeen spot on that roster, and by the figures quoted therein has sold around 400 million books. Take into account that some of the literary heavyweights above him on that list have been in print for several centuries, and that’s quite an achievement. But – every achievement starts somewhere, so to tell us how it all began allow me to hand over to the one and only: Dean Koontz.
“I was writing stories when I was 8 and selling them to relatives and neighbors,” Dean says. “I was writer, agent, and publisher all in one – and, I am quite sure, also a pest. I wrote in high school, and one of my English teachers, Winona Garbrick, encouraged me. In college, I won a top prize in a national college-student writing contest sponsored by the Atlantic Monthly, and I sold that same story to another magazine for $50, which was more money then than it is now and which allowed me to buy about a hundred paperbacks.
“We were quite poor, and therefore through high school I had held part-time jobs of one kind or another, during which I realized that I would never be happy working under a boss. After college, during the two years I taught school, that realization was reinforced on a daily basis. The education bureaucracy frustrated me. My wife, Gerda, said, “I know you want to write. I’ll support you for five years, and if you can’t make it in that time, you’ll never make it.” To this day, I am humbled by her generosity and her faith in me. I accepted her offer – and was immediately labeled a lazy, shiftless bum by many in our families!
“So you might say that in the early years, I was inspired by the need to be my own boss and to work at a task I loved instead of at some job that had no purpose for me except to pay the bills. During a lonely childhood, in a dysfunctional family, books had been my escape and salvation; therefore, to make a life of books was as close to bliss as I expected to get in this world.”
Read the full interview @ The Secrets of Their Success.
“These Immigrants Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Green Cards!”
March 26, 2015
Last week I mentioned the forthcoming reissue of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and hoped that Dean’s introduction wouldn’t be a reprint of “These Immigrants Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Green Cards!” Well, for those of you wondering where you can find that gem, here they are: the 1999’s They’re here…Invasion of the Body Snatchers: A Tribute and 2006’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers: A Tribute.
But before you go off and buy both of them, please know that these are the same book, just from different publishers.
Forthcoming introduction to Invasion of the Body Snatchers
March 20, 2015
Looks like there’s a new edition of Invasion of the Body Snatchers coming out featuring an introduction by Dean on 6 October 2015. Here’s hoping it’s new material and not a reprint of his essay “These Immigrants Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Green Cards!”
Dark Dreamers: Facing the Masters of Fear
March 20, 2015
Copy #92 of 250 signed by the authors. Over the years I’ve brought this with me to author signings and had individual authors sign their page.
Intensity & Sole Survivor to air on Sony Movie Channel in April
March 20, 2015
SMC puts the spotlight on six more visual masterpieces this month in the “Sundays in HD” block, every weekend at 7 p.m. ET. Rancher Matt Damon falls for Penelope Cruz in ALL THE PRETTY HORSES, directed by Billy Bob Thornton, and Sean Connery mentors an aspiring writer in Gus Van Sant’s FINDING FORRESTER (April 5); a pair of biopics starring Rachel York as beloved comedienne Lucille Ball in LUCY, and Sean Hayes and Jeremy Northam as dynamic duo MARTIN AND LEWIS (April 12); then, get a double dose of Dean Koontz as two of the horror master’s greatest works come to life in DEAN KOONTZ’S INTENSITY (April 19), starring John C. McGinley, and DEAN KOONTZ’S SOLE SURVIVOR (April 26), starring Billy Zane.
Read the full press release @ PRNewswire.com.
My Top 6 Lovable Literary Liars
March 19, 2015
4. Odd Thomas – In his beautifully written Odd Thomas series, Dean Koontz creates a protagonist unlike any ever seen in literature before — a self-deprecating reluctant hero and short order cook who sees dead people. Odd knows he’s weird, and he knows he really does see ghosts everywhere -and he has also chosen to never reveal any of this to his parents, knowing that his father would exploit his gift for profit. Sometimes, it seems, people have to lie to protect themselves from awful people.
Read the full article @ The Huffington Post.
Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School, 1968
March 17, 2015
Guess who was teaching English there in 1968…
Dean Koontz's CTHULHU
March 17, 2015
Parody alert!
Now my Book of Counted Sorrows set is complete! Or is it?
March 15, 2015
Back in September I posted a photo of my “complete set” of The Book of Counted Sorrows editions. I need to stop saying that any part if my collection is “complete.” (Just as much as people need to stop claiming “I’ve read everything Dean’s ever written/published.”) Because, recently I found, and was able to obtain this:
This is a printed trade paperback advance reader’s copy / uncorrected proof of the Barnes & Noble ebook edition from 2001. Yes folks, this is a printed ARC for an ebook from 2001!
Just to let you know, in my day job I’m heavily into ebooks and ereaders, the issues involved with them, and training people how to use them. Forget back in 2001 when ebooks were just a twinkle in the reader’s eye, even today, a print ARC of an ebook is practically unheard of.
This has got to be one of the most obscure items I have in my collection.
Book Review: Demon Seed by Dean Koontz
March 15, 2015
This isn’t a “professional” review but figured I’d share it if for no other reason than I’ve not previously been aware of the HubPages platform.
This book starts out with a single woman who has a wait staff and a sprawling mansion with manicured grounds. Why is she single? This is revealed early in the book. She has planned on taking some time for herself and these plans are rudely interrupted by an “entity”, that was created by her husband Dr. Harris.
The entity is electrical and lives in the air ways and can attack phone lines, computer programs and the security system of the house. The project was something that was being worked on in the lab by her husband. It’s like a computer became evil and took over this woman’s hi tech mansion and she is being controlled.
Read the full review @ lesliebyars.hubpages.com. She’s also written a review of The Husband.
Mystic Hills details
March 15, 2015
[My guess is that this will be an eBook novella tied to Secret Forest.]
Release Date: 1 December 2015
He lives in solitude beneath the city, an exile from society, which will destroy him if he is ever seen. She dwells in seclusion, a fugitive from enemies who will do her harm if she is ever found. But the bond between them runs deeper than the tragedies that have scarred their lives. Something more than chanceand nothing less than destinyhas brought them together in a world whose hour of reckoning is fast approaching. In Innocence, #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz blends mystery, suspense, and acute insight into the human soul in a masterfully told tale that will resonate with readers forever. ACCLAIM FOR DEAN KOONTZ A rarity among bestselling writers, Koontz continues to pursue new ways of telling stories, never content with repeating himself.Chicago Sun-Times Tumbling, hallucinogenic prose. Serious writers . . . might do well to examine his technique.The New York Times Book Review [Koontz] has always had near-Dickensian powers of description, and an ability to yank us from one page to the next that few novelists can match.Los Angeles Times Koontz is a superb plotter and wordsmith. He chronicles the hopes and fears of our time in broad strokes and fine detail, using popular fiction to explore the human condition.USA Today Characters and the search for meaning, exquisitely crafted, are the soul of [Koontzs] work. . . . One of the master storytellers of this or any age.The Tampa Tribune A literary juggler.The Times (London)
Source: edelweiss
Secret Forest details
March 15, 2015
Release Date: 1 December 2015
Ivy Elgin was first introduced in Dean Koontz’s New York Times bestselling novel VELOCITY, but there’s a haunting quality about her that fans have not soon forgotten. She is beautiful and mysterious, and has an almost ethereal connection to the natural world that makes her even more of an enigma. Yet there’s also an air of innocence surrounding her that sets her as the object of many a man’s affections. Narrated by one such admirer, this spellbinding and deeply intricate novel launches a new trilogy that is sure to satisfy readers who have long been waiting to learn more about this inscrutable character. Infused with beauty, complexity, and many twists and turns, this new series showcases Koontz’s “near-Dickensian” skill (Los Angeles Times) that has earned him the distinction of “master of the psychological drama” (USA Today). Dean Koontz, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Anna, and the enduring spirit of their golden, Trixie.
Source: edelewiss
Interview on the Total Celebrity podcast
March 15, 2015
Source: Am/FM 24/7
Reading Group Guide for The City
March 14, 2015
Did you catch the link to the reading group guide to The City in Dean’s most recent e-mail newsletter?
Des Teufels Saat
March 13, 2015
It’s been a very good week find-wise. I’ll be posting about all of it over the next few days. To kick it off, here’s photos of the German Press Kit for the film version of Demon Seed.
Artfully Odd
March 11, 2015
How a book designer captured the essence of Dean Koontz’s bestselling Odd Thomas series
Design notes by Virginia NoreyVirginia Norey, associate design director for the Random House group, has worked on the entire Odd Thomas series, in which each book features unique original art on the title page and elsewhere. As the series comes to a close with Saint Odd, she reflects on the choices behind each image. She says, “The art within the Odd Thomas series sets the reader on a journey; it illustrates nuances of mood in each book, and depicts the movement of his story.”
Read the full article @ RandomHouseBooks.com.
What is Horror Fiction?
March 9, 2015
An interesting 2009 article from the Horror Writer’s Association:
That’s a difficult question. In recent years the very term has become misleading. If you tell people you write horror fiction, the image that immediately pops into their minds is one of Freddy Krueger or maybe Michael Myers, while you were hoping for Shelley’s Frankenstein or Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The popularity of the modern horror film, with its endless scenes of blood and gore, has eclipsed the reality of horror fiction. When you add to that a comprehension of how horror evolved as both a marketing category and a publishing niche during the late eighties — horror’s boom time — it’s easy to understand why answering the question of what today’s horror fiction actually is has become so difficult.
But let’s give it a try, shall we?
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary gives the primary definition of horror as “a painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay.” It stands to reason then that “horror fiction” is fiction that elicits those emotions in the reader.
…
It’s a funny fact of today’s market that those writers whose works define the quintessential essence of horror are not considered horror writers. Millions of people read Stephen King, but the average King reader doesn’t read other horror writers. Dean Koontz’s books are filled with the strange and fantastic, yet he vehemently argues against being labeled a horror writer, despite being the first president of this very organization. John Saul thinks of himself as a writer of thrillers; Clive Barker a master of the fantastic. HWA founder Robert McCammon stopped publishing altogether to avoid being trapped in a box not of his own choosing when the publishing world demanded more horror instead of the historical novel he had so desperately wanted to produce.
Read the full article @ Horror.org.
Italian Frankenstein
March 6, 2015
