Latest Posts
Koontz's Chart Toppers
July 13, 2013
A bit dated (January 2012) but still interesting.
Is Dean Koontz a Visionary Fiction Writer?
July 13, 2013
Then along came the Odd Thomas series. Again, I don’t know how I discovered it, but I do know that Koontz’s “odd” protagonist nabbed and bagged my heart before I even got to paragraph two. The series is written in first person, from the point of view of a short-order cook named Odd Thomas, who pulls you in with his wit and humility and then captivates you like a first crush with his concern for the underdogs of – and out of – this world.
“My name is Odd Thomas, though in this age when fame is the altar at which most people worship, I am not sure why you should care who I am or that I exist.”
Peculiar things happen to Odd Thomas that don’t happen to anyone else. He communicates with the dead, for instance. Not by choice, mind you. Odd Thomas is a reluctant confidant and can’t resist helping the quiet souls who seek him out for justice.
Read the full article @ Visionary Fiction Alliance.
Update 7 September 2013:
On the author’s personal blog A Writer’s Journey, she’s posted a response she received from Dean a few days later.
More Odd Thomas film news, and it's not good (unless you're in Hungary)
July 9, 2013
Several new articles appeared online today regarding the status of the Odd Thomas film. Basically, don’t hold your breath when it comes to a theatrical release in the US:
We now have an update on the ill-fated movie Odd Thomas, and what’s causing it to be stuck in limbo. It turns out it’s due to a monetary dispute between two production companies behind the film; one of them is not paying up! According to The Hollywood Reporter, Two Out Of Ten production company (TOOT) and Fusion Films had filed a lawsuit back in January that continues to postpone the release of Stephen Sommers’ film adaptation of Odd Thomas , a novel written by Dean Koontz. The lawsuit had been filed because OMG (Outsource Media Group) had promised producers $35 million to cover marketing prints and other advertising leading up to the release of the film, and money to pay back production loans. Through many meetings, missed deadlines, and second chances, the producers have not seen the money they were promised.
The above paragraph is from PageToPremier.com and you can find pretty much the same info on FirstShowing.net and some more stills from the film on IndieWire.com.
But, the PageToPriemer article also points out an announcement from the Unofficial Odd Thomas Movie Facebook page that there was a DVD release of the film back on June 17th… in Hungary.
I quickly found a copy with a little online searching and got it for $35. However, and this if very important, it is a Region 2 DVD which means that it will not play on 99.9% of US DVD players. Unless you have a region-free DVD player, if you purchase this disc, you won’t be able to watch it.
Luckily, I do have a region-free DVD player and I’ll post more as soon as my copy arrives.
Happy 68th Birthday Dean Koontz
July 9, 2013
Books make great gifts
July 8, 2013
Did Odd Thomas just open in Thailand?
July 6, 2013
From this article on Thailand The Nation dated June 28, 2013:
Also opening…
“Odd Thomas” – Anton Yelchin (Chekov in the new “Star Trek”) is a young man with clairvoyant abilities. When he isn’t serving up flapjacks at his small town’s greasy spoon diner, he’s dealing with supernatural beings that only he can see. It’s directed by Stephen Sommers (“The Mummy”, “GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra”) and is based on a novel by Dean Koontz.
An (updated) interview from 2008 & comments from other writers
July 6, 2013
Found these online recently; both from 2008. The first is “Fear Nothing: Interview with Dean Koontz” by Michael McCarty which is reprinted (with an updated introduction) from the book Giants of the Genre by Michael McCarty. The second is “Tribute to Dean Koontz: Forty Years as a Published Novelist” also by Michael McCarty which features comments from such authors as Ed Gorman, Bently Little, Douglas Clegg and many more.
Rick McCammon, A True Southern Gentleman
July 6, 2013
An essay by Joe R. Lansdale, published in the program book for the Bram Stoker Awards® Weekend/World Horror Convention 2013.
“Anyway. That was our first meeting, and it led to Rick telling us he had this great idea for an organization for horror writers, which he called H.O.W.L., the Horror and Occult Writers League, a name I still prefer. The only problem was Rick had the idea and not the time. He turned it over to my wife Karen, and she ran with it. Began by making crude mimeographed and stapled newsletters, sending them out to an enthusiastic and growing crowd of interested parties. This resulted in what is now known as The Horror Writers Association. It was Rick’s brain child and Karen was the shield carrier. Later Dean Koontz arrived with an army to assist us, but that’s another story.”
Read the full essay @ RobertMcCammon.com.
[FrightFest '13] Anton Yelchin Battles Demons In New 'Odd Thomas' Stills
July 6, 2013
Via Bloody Disgusting.
Odd Thomas' reading list
June 23, 2013
“If Odd were to recommend five books, I think he would be most attracted to those in which one of the lead characters overcomes narcissism, materialism, and arrogance and is given the grace of humility. In no particular order, they would be:”
Read the full article on the Barnes & Noble Review.
Phantoms Trade Paperback
June 23, 2013
According to Amazon.com Berkley will be releasing their trade paperback of Phantoms on 7 January 2013 with a list price of $16.00. (That’s the same day as Innocence is being released BTW.)
"A Special Message From Dean Koontz"
June 16, 2013
The book Metamorphosis: The Case for Intelligent Design in a Nutshell Chrysalis, edited by David Klinghoffer and published by The Discovery Institute, contains a two sentence item titled “A Special Message from Dean Koontz” on page 6. The book is a free PDF available on the Discovery Institute’s Web site, in exchange for your contact information. However, a quick Google search will find other copies online should you not wish to give them your information.
Godzilla vs. Megadeth
June 15, 2013
Now here’s a rare item. Not many current fans have ever even heard of this one and the Web page it was originally hosted on back in 1994 is long gone. But recently I’ve found two Megadeth fan sites that have posted the full text. You can read it at tagtag.com/sankalp and The Realms of Deth.
Comedy bit mentioning Dean Koontz
June 15, 2013
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/14935524″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
(Contains adult language.)
Deeply Odd reviews
June 15, 2013
Why I Love Dean Koontz’s ODD THOMAS Series from The Barnes & Noble Book Blog.
A Satisfyingly Odd Book from First Things.
Deeply Odd: An Odd Thomas Novel from BookReporter.
Deeply Odd: An Odd Thomas Novel from Publishers Weekly.
37 new Dean Koontz introductions just published
June 15, 2013
A while back I mentioned that there are three new editions of John D. MacDonald novels coming out with new introductions by Dean. Well, it turns out that they didn’t stop at just three. This past Tuesday 37 classic MacDonald titles were released each featuring “a new Introduction by Dean Koontz”. The catch, it looks like they only came out as eBooks. Head on over to Amazon.com and take a look. (The first three listed here are the aforementioned trade paperbacks coming out later this year, while the last three are false positives based on my search terms.) And at $11.99 each, a full set is going to run you a whopping $443.63!
No, Dean has not written a graphic novel adaptation of The Warriors
June 15, 2013
Sometimes an author’s name gets attached to something accidentally and that information propagates across the Net like a weed. As far as I can tell this is the situation with the graphic novel The Warriors: Jailbreak. According to listings on ABEbooks, Bookish, textbooksrus, and other sites, this book has Dean listed as an author. I wrote to two sellers who were offering copies on Amazon (which does not attach Dean’s name to this title) to see if there was anything that connected Dean to this title. In both cases the sellers responded that they could not find anything in the book itself mentioning Dean. So, unless someone knows something I don’t (which is possible,) this is going in the Collecting Errors appendix.
Voice of Choice: George Guidall.
June 15, 2013
Here is a wonderful profile of George Guidall, audiobook reader extraordinaire. Although the article doesn’t mention Dean specifically, Mr. Guidall did narrate The Door to December audiobook.
Chip Kidd: Designing books is no laughing matter. OK, it is.
June 15, 2013
Chip Kidd designs book covers. He’s the guy who designed the cover for Intensity. If you’ve not seen this video of his TED Talk, please take a few minutes to do so as not only is he a design genius, he’s hilarious too.
Check out this review of "The Hitchkiker" by Dean Koontz
June 15, 2013
Turns out that the Odd Thomas books published in The Netherlands have significantly different titles. In fact according to this review of The Hitchhiker the three latest books are titled The Hitchhiker (Deeply Odd), The Hotel (Odd Interlude), and The Billionaire (Odd Apocalypse.) Here’s to wondering what Dean thinks of this.