LOS ANGELES, Dec. 13, 2011 — /PRNewswire/ — Blockbuster author Dean Koontz has selected award-winning app publisher Auryn, Inc., to bring his children’s books alive on mobile platforms for millions of his fans around the world.
I, Trixie Who Is Dog, a children’s book by bestselling author Dean Koontz, wonderfully illustrated by Janet Cleland, is being released today as an iPad app. With its trademark leading animation and revolutionary digital storytelling style, Auryn has taken the uplifting and inspiration story of Trixie and created an innovative app that Koontz fans – both children and adults of all ages – will truly enjoy. The app is available first for the iPad starting today at the iTunes at http://bit.ly/vWnpd3. Koontz will be donating his proceeds from the app to Canine Companions, a charity he has long supported.
“Partnering with one of the most popular authors on the planet to bring his treasured children’s books to digital readers for generations to come is an honor for us,” said Umesh Shukla, Founder and CCO of Auryn. “We’re introducing Dean Koontz fans and readers to a new and innovative way to experience his books – through our groundbreaking storybook apps that educate and entertain both children and families.”
In I, Trixie Who Is Dog app, Auryn and Koontz give readers a fun, lighthearted glimpse into the imagination of Trixie, the beloved golden retriever whose quirky narration and irrepressible spirit has delighted readers both young and old.
“I couldn’t be more delighted with Auryn’s adaptations. They’re clever, charming, full of wonder, and totally in synch with the spirit of Trixie!” said New York Times’ best selling author Dean Koontz.
Auryn Inc. is a premiere digital publisher focused on creating award-winning interactive children’s stories for mobile devices. The company collaborates with well-known authors, illustrators and publishers to turn their stories into educational, engaging and entertaining experiences. In addition to Koontz, Auryn has worked with authors and illustrators such as Rosemary Wells and Lizbeth Zwerger and has received multiple awards and accolades for their leading apps.
About Auryn, Inc.
Uniting leading technologists, noted storytellers and exceptional animation production, Auryn produces digital storybooks and other creative apps. Auryn’s patented technology enables the company to produce motion media in any known style including those never before seen in animation such as oil paint, pastel and watercolor. For more on Auryn, visit www.auryn.com and follow on Facebook and Twitter at: www.facebook.com/appsbyauryn and www.twitter.com/AurynApps.
About Dean Koontz
Dean Koontz is a prolific New York Times bestselling author whom the London Times has called “a master, a literary juggler.” His books have been translated into 36 languages and have sold more than 450,000,000 copies. He also served as the “editor” of books by his golden retriever, Trixie–Life Is Good, Christmas Is Good, and Bliss to You–and writes children’s books about her. Dean lives with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever Anna, and the enduring spirit of Trixie in southern California. For more on Dean visit http://www.deankoontz.com, http://www.deankoontz.com/trixie, and follow him on Facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/deankoontzofficial.
About Janet Cleland
Janet Cleland has created acclaimed illustrations for a wide range of clients, including Parents Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Hallmark Cards, AT&T, Purina, Conoco, and J.P. Morgan. She lives in California.
Media Contact:Crystal Patriarche, SparksPR Agencycrystal@BookSparksPR.com480-650-1688
SOURCE Auryn, Inc.
The Blog
Latest Posts
The Girl on the Glider by Brian Keene
January 1, 2012
Just finally got around to reading Brian Keene’s The Girl on the Glider and it turns out that it had earned an entry in the ephemera section of the Collector’s Guide for the following paragraph on pages 78-79:
I’d also become distinctly aware that a number of people who I’d thought were my friends were my friends only because of who I am and not because of who I am. There is a distinction there, and I bet Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or Dick Laymon would have commiserated . But I wasn’t going to ask King and Koontz for advice on shit like that, simply because I know how overwhelming it is when people do it to me. And Dick wasn’t around to ask. I considered trying to contact him via Ouija board or a medium. Ask him for advice on how to deal with all of the users and abusers and hangers-on in my life, and “Hey, Dick, while we’re at it, what can you tell me about the afterlife? Because I’ve got to tell you, my old mentor—I’m fucking scared of dying.”
There were only 537 copies of this title published by Cemetery Dance in 2010 and it’s long sold out, but it looks like Amazon.com has a copy or two available right now.
77 Shadows Street released
December 28, 2011
77 Shadow Street was released yesterday and right now Amazon.com has it for 43% off list just in case you’ve not bought your copy already. In the mean time, here’s a bunch of relevant links that were included in the announcement from the official Dean Koontz mailing list yesterday.
- Learn more about 77 Shadow Street
- Read an excerpt from 77 Shadow Street
- Watch the video trailer for 77 Shadow Street
- Decorate your computers and smart phones with 77 Shadow Street downloadables
- Visit the Pendleton in the 77 Shadow Street Immersive Experience
If you’ve read it let me know what you thought of it in the comments.
The Bad Place on CD on the way, or is already here…
December 23, 2011
According to Amazon.com The Bad Place will be available on both CD and MP3CD come January 3, 2012. But, it also says they’re available for purchase now. But, there’s no cover art shown yet. Go figure.
Odd Thomas café to reopen after fire
December 18, 2011
According to FireEngineering.com:
Richard Benzaquen drove up to Santa Fe from Placitas for a plate of his favorite enchiladas.
But when he opened the door of the Plaza Café on Thursday, he found rubble and ceilings strafed of their original tin, along with the buzzing of a saw slicing through timbers.
It happens every day, said chef Andy Razatos, the café’s co-owner along with his brothers Daniel, Leonard and Ted.
The restaurant has been shuttered ever since Labor Day weekend of 2010, when a kitchen fire and the resulting smoke scorched and charred nearly everything inside the old building at 54 Lincoln Ave. Forty employees lost their jobs. The brothers hope to open the cafe famous for its Greek, American and New Mexican food in April with the old staff.
…
Aside from reconstruction, the café has seen some activity since its closure. Portions of the movie “Odd Thomas,” starring Patton Oswalt, Willem Dafoe and Anton Yelchin, were filmed there. According to the Internet Movie Database website, the film is about “a shortorder cook with clairvoyant abilities (who) encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark, threatening forces.” It’s set in a California desert town and based on a series by Dean Koontz. The director is Stephen Sommers, previously known for action/horror films such as “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” and “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.”
Odd Apocalypse cover art released
December 14, 2011
Amazon’s got cover art up for Odd Apocalypse but only on the large print edition, not the trade hard cover, so you may not have noticed it yet. So, here it is for your perusal.
I, Trixie iPad app
December 14, 2011
Yesterday Dean’s first iPad app was released based on the book I, Trixie Who is Dog. Considering the only iPad I have access is at work I’ve not yet had the chance to actually play with the app yet.
Now through the end of the year the app is only $0.99 though the iTunes store so you may want to pick it up sooner rather than later.
In the mean time, here are the official press release and iTunes descriptions for the app.
Press Release:
Dean Koontz and Auryn Bring Beloved Trixie Books to Life for a Charitable Cause
Koontz’s popular children’s book “I, Trixie Who Is Dog”, about his beloved dog Trixie, is being brought to digital life by award-winning app publisher Auryn, Inc.
By Auryn, Inc.Published: Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 – 5:09 am
The iTunes store description:
I, Trixie, who is dog is a part of the Auracle line from Auryn Inc. and is based on Dean Koontz’ book by the same name.
Not everyone can be a dog. Some must be people. Some must be cats, or birds, or even skunks, although it’s hard to explain why anyone would want to be a skunk. But Trixie is happy, because she does get to be a dog – the best thing there is to be. The food, the belly rubs… if only she could drive, her life would be perfect!
Bestselling author Dean Koontz gives readers a fun, lighthearted glimpse into the imagination of Trixie, his beloved golden retriever, whose quirky narration and irrepressible spirit will delight readers young and old.
Key features include
★Personalisation of picture, voice and text:
★Children can double up as illustrators of this book app by coloring Trixie herself, the background layouts, and other elements in every page using bright vibrant colours.
★Kids can become their own narrator or listen to their parents narrate the book.
★Interactivity allows kids to personalize the sentence, create new action words and sharpen their vocabulary skills
Features on each page
★Image and word association vocabulary builder – when an image is touched the associated word is spoken and the written word displayed.
★Karaoke effect – when a word is spoken during narration then the word is highlighted.
★Touch a word to hear it being spoken.
Three ways to read the book.
★”Read to me” – Listen to the narrated story while the text is displayed Karaoke style. After the narration finishes on a page the child can interact with objects till they are ready to move to the next page.
★”Read myself” – There is no narration but the child can touch a word to hear it being spoken aloud.
★”Auto Play” – same as “Read to Me” except the page advances automatically once the narration is finished. Useful for those long car rides when you want the child to have a complete book experience.
Please rate and review the app. Your feedback means a lot to us!
Stay in the loop: www.auryn.com
Follow us: Twitter.com/aurynapps
Like us: Facebook.com/appsbyauryn
Dean's home art
December 7, 2011
According to PR Newswire:
[Richard] MacDonald’s art has been showcased in numerous one-man exhibitions in the US, Europe and Asia and is featured in private collections including those of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Dean Koontz, Leann Rimes and opera legend Luciano Pavarotti.
So, I did a bit of Google image searching and found some examples of Mr. MacDonald’s work. (One shown right) What do you think of his work?
Online ad for The Moonlit Mind
December 7, 2011
In case you’ve not seen the online ad for The Moonlit Mind floating around, here it is:
Dafoe Talks Dean Koontz' 'Odd Thomas'
November 28, 2011
From Bloody Disgusting:
Willem Dafoe has spoken out about his part in the movie version of Dean Koontz’ best-selling novel Odd Thomas. Anton Yelchin stars in the supernatural thriller as a clairvoyant short-order cook who encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark forces. Fifteen minutes of behind the scenes footage and finished scenes were showed at the Australian International Movie Convention earlier in the year and demonstrated director Stephen Sommers’ quirky horror film approach.
Although Dafoe said he hasn’t seen any of the footage himself, he has high hopes. The two-time Oscar-nominated star talks exclusively to Australian stringer Maria Lewis (@moviemazz). Story inside.
“You know, I haven’t seen any of it but I’m glad you’ve seen it and it looks good,” he said.
“There are many interesting things about that but what I’m really struck by is how good this young actor Anton Yelchin is.
“He’s fantastic, very bright, and he’s a really talented guy.“
The Mask comes to audio
November 28, 2011
Amazon.com is listing an audio edition of The Mask to be released on 6 March 2012 on both standard CD, and MP3CD. No cover art is yet available.
The Moonlit Mind released today
November 28, 2011
Have you picked up your copy of The Moonlit Mind yet? It’s available on most of the major eBook platforms. Oh, and there are different US and UK “covers”.
Have you entered 77 Shadow Street yet?
November 22, 2011
Update 5/13/22: Sadly someone let the domain registration expire and the URL is now owned by some scammy casino.
Yesterday 77ShadowStreet.com was announced and I must say I’m impressed. Here’s the official description:
Visit 77ShadowStreet.com, a 360-degree immersive experience of the Pendleton apartment building, the setting of Dean’s upcoming novel, 77 Shadow Street, where nightmares become real.
If you dare…
A mention of Demon Seed
November 22, 2011
How’s this for obscure. The film version of Demon Seed has gotten a single mention in the new book Rape-Revenge Films: A Critical Study by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. Ok, technically three: once in the text, once in the filmography, and once in the index.
The Moonlit Mind
November 21, 2011
Looks like Dean’s releasing this fourth original eBook on 28 November 2011 titled The Moonlit Mind. (Can you name the other three? Answer below.) According to DeanKoontz.com:
In this chilling original stand-alone novella, available exclusively as an eBook, #1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz offers a taste of what’s to come in his new novel, 77 Shadow Street, with a mesmerizing tale of a homeless boy at large in a city fraught with threats . . . both human and otherwise.
Twelve-year-old Crispin has lived on the streets since he was nine—with only his wits and his daring to sustain him, and only his silent dog, Harley, to call his friend. He is always on the move, never lingering in any one place long enough to risk being discovered. Still, there are certain places he returns to. In the midst of the tumultuous city, they are havens of solitude: like the hushed environs of St. Mary Salome Cemetery, a place where Crispin can feel at peace—safe, at least for a while, from the fearsome memories that plague him . . . and seep into his darkest nightmares. But not only his dreams are haunted. The city he roams with Harley has secrets and mysteries, things unexplainable and maybe unimaginable. Crispin has seen ghosts in the dead of night, and sensed dimensions beyond reason in broad daylight. Hints of things disturbing and strange nibble at the edges of his existence, even as dangers wholly natural and earthbound cast their shadows across his path. Alone, drifting, and scavenging to survive is no life for a boy. But the life Crispin has left behind, and is still running scared from, is an unspeakable alternative . . . that may yet catch up with him.
There is more to Crispin’s world, and its darkest corners yet to be encountered, in this eBook’s special bonus: a spine-tingling excerpt from Dean Koontz’s forthcoming novel, 77 Shadow Street.
Here’s an easy Amazon.com link for Kindle owners. If you’re looking for other formats check out The Moonlit Mind on DeanKoontz.com.
Quiz answer: The Book of Counted Sorrows, “Why I Shout At The Computer Screen”, and “Darkness Under the Sun”.
Night Chills & Icebound reissues & 4-for-3 Sale @ Amazon
November 19, 2011
Amazon.com has recently listed $9.99 (assumed premium) paperback editions of Icebound and Night Chills slated for 31 July and 7 August 2012 releases respectively.
Additionally that title along with some other forthcoming titles (listed below) are currently available for a Buy 3, get one free promotion. (There may be others but these are the ones I could find. Amazon doesn’t seem to have a list of all the titles participating in the promotion.)
- Night Chills
- Icebound
- Tick Tock
- Sole Survivor
- False Memory
- Dark Rivers of the Heart
- Life Expectancy
- Forever Odd
Thoughts on 77 Shadow Street
November 11, 2011
This morning I finished 77 Shadow Street and I just thought I’d share some thoughts without supplying any spoilers.
- This is Dean’s first (correct me if I’m wrong) haunted house story.
- Of course, being a Koontz novel, what you think of as a haunted house, and what Dean thinks of as a haunted house may not exactly match.
- This book has one of the largest number of characters of any of his novels I can think of.
- It also has what might be the least amount of character dialogue as any other of his novels. In some places there are stretches of 20 or more pages without any dialogue. To me this made it read much differently from most of Dean’s novels.
- Lastly, all of the action takes place in one of the shortest time periods of his available work. (I think some of the Brian Coffey mysteries occurred in short time frames, but seeing as they’re not generally available…)
The other comment I have is that this ARC seems to have a large number of errors in it. Granted, advance copies are prone to having errors but I found three, and that many from a major publisher (Bantam) is pretty uncommon in my experience. The errors I found were:
- The second-to-last paragraph on page 151 starting “Mickey’s mother has helped him to refine his sixth sense…” is repeated just two paragraphs later at the top of page 152.
- The second full paragraph on page 299 starts “and they retreated quickly form the bathroom threshold.” At a minimum, “and” should be capitalized but it reads as if some text is missing.
- The start of the fifth line of paragraph one on page 345 reads “mom’sl lyrics”. It should be “mom’s lyrics”.
I assume these errors will be fixed in the final publication.
More Odd & others in July 2012
November 11, 2011
It looks like there are going to be at least one new title and two re-releases on 31 July 2012. They are:
- Odd Apocalypse (Hardcover & Large Print)
- Sole Survivor (Premium Paperback)
- Tick Tock (Premium Paperback)
Amazon lists the later two as mass markets but at the $9.99 price point I’m assuming that they’ll actually be the premium paperback size. Also, as usual, it’s way to soon for cover images to be available.
Midnight trade paperback released
November 8, 2011
Sorry I’m a week late with this one but just wanted to record officially that the Berkley trade paperback edition of Midnight was released on November 1st.
77 Shadow Street advance copies released
November 1, 2011
Look what I got in the mail today! Last I looked there were a few more copies available on eBay. (Click image for full-size version.)
House of Odd delayed a bit
October 31, 2011
Amazon.com is now reporting that House Of Odd will be released on March 20th.