October 18, 2012: TNT to develop drama series based on Dean’s Frankenstein series!
Exciting news! TNT will develop a drama series based on Dean Koontz’s bestselling Frankenstein series! Lionsgate Television and 1019 Entertainment will team up on this project. Feature writer James V. Hart (Dracula, Hook) and his son Jake Hart will write the project, a modern-day reworking of the classic Frankenstein mythology. Learn more here
October 11, 2012: Recognizing Bullying Prevention Month
The themes of good and evil in ODDKINS are reminiscent of schoolyard bullies harassing younger or kinder children. In this video recognizing Bullying Prevention Month, Dean discusses his encounter with a child being bullied.
Blockbuster authors Dean Koontz, Peter Lerangis, Bette Greene, Patty MacLachlan and Logan Levkoff speak out on bullying in this powerful video. From offering perspective to discussing their own experiences with bullies, these authors open up about a subject that is all too prevalent today for young people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCnf0Z3m9SY&feature=youtu.be
September 5, 2012: Oddkins
The First Novel for Young Readers from Dean Koontz is now available in digital format. Oddkins: A Fable for All Ages is on sale now from Open Road Media and Mel Parker Books. The book is beautifully illustrated and visually stunning; Dean Koontz introduces a dazzling world of toys and terror, exploring the fears we all face in the dark.
July 31, 2012: Dean on Odd Apocalypse, in an interview with TheDailyBasics.com
“Odd Apocalypse is probably the darkest story thus far in the series, but Odd keeps his sense of humor, as he always will. This is also in some ways the most over-the-top Odd story, stretching the element of the fantastic about as far as I could without breaking my compact with the reader. The next in the series, Deeply Odd is more down to earth, a road story with a pace like that of Odd Hours.”
: Enjoy this new interview with Dean from Publishers Weekly
Odd Thomas returns in Odd Apocalypse, the fifth book of seven planned in a series with Odd’s name. Dean Koontz recently discussed Odd’s latest adventure and how Odd Thomas has evolved, with Publishers Weekly. Known for his bestselling suspense thrillers, Dean Koontz has incorporated elements of science fiction, horror, and fantasy into his books, along with spiritual grounding. When Koontz writes about the battle between good and evil, he speaks from experience.
July 25, 2012: See Your Odd Apocalypse Cover Come to Life
If you own a copy of the hardcover edition of Odd Apocalypse, you can see it come to life using your mobile phone or computer webcam! Below are the instructions as to how to you can see one of Odd’s visions for yourself.
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For iPhone and iPad users:
Download the free Dean Koontz iPhone/iPad app at iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dean-koontz/id409292571?mt=8. If you already have the Dean Koontz app, check your “Updates” button for your iPhone/iPad to make sure you have the latest version of the Dean Koontz app.
Once you start the app, look for the button that says “AR” on the homepage and click it, bringing you to the augmented reality viewer in Dean’s app.
Position the hardcover book on a flat surface like in the picture below. Point your iPhone or iPad at the front book cover in a way that the entire book cover is seen within the viewer and watch the cover come to life. It may take a few seconds to load.
If you’re using the Dean Koontz app, look for the button that says “AR” on the homepage and click it, bringing you to the augmented reality viewer in Dean’s app.
Position the hardcover book on a flat surface like in the picture below. Point your iPhone or iPad at the front book cover in a way that the entire book cover is seen within the viewer and watch the cover come to life. It may take a few seconds to load.
For webcam users:
Visit the augmented reality viewer page on DeanKoontz.com by clicking here.
Make sure your webcam is plugged in and turned on.
If you see a message requesting access to your camera such as the one below, hit “Allow.”
Hold your hardcover book up in front of your webcam. Be sure to take care not to obscure the book cover with your fingers, and position the book cover in a way that the entire book cover is seen on screen and watch the cover come to life.
Sample image of how to position your book on a table for the iPhone/iPad/Android experience.
Having trouble making the cover come to life? Try repositioning the book or changing the light source. A lack of light or particularly bright light shining directly on the cover may interfere with your mobile device’s ability to recognize the cover.
July 1, 2012: Watch Dean’s interview from CBS This Morning
Dean was on CBS This Morning on Monday, July 30th to chat with Charlie Rose and Gayle King about his career, and his newest Odd Thomas adventure, Odd Apocalypse. In case you missed the interview, you can now watch it in its entirety! Discover how Dean became interested in the supernatural, why Odd Thomas is named “Odd”, what Dean’s writing process is like, why he is looking forward to you seeing the film version of Odd Thomas, and much, much more!
June 7, 2012: Dean Talks to io9.com about Odd Thomas and Odd Interlude
In this brand new exclusive interview with io9, Dean talks about the Odd Thomas movie, Odd Interlude, a possible Frankenstein TV show and much more!
The movie version of Dean Koontz’s Odd Thomas is done, Koontz tells io9. He’s actually seen the finished film, and he told i09 what he thinks of it, as well as his thoughts on his new e-serial Odd Interlude.
May 22, 2012: New Trixie and Jinx eBook App Now Available
With the release of the award-winning I, Trixie Who Is Dog app late last year, Auryn and Koontz brought the author’s beloved golden retriever Trixie to life on the iPad. Together, they have now released the second Trixie ebook adventure, just in time for children and families to enjoy it on summer vacations. Again, Koontz will be donating his proceeds from the app to Canine Companions, a charity he has long supported that trains service assistance dogs for adults, children and veterans with disabilities.
Giving readers another fun, lighthearted glimpse into the imagination of Trixie with quirky narration and irrepressible spirit, this app will delight readers young and old. It details the story of Trixie who longs for her buddy Jinx the dachshund when he goes on vacation. Lonely Trixie tries to find new friends, but discovers that spiders have no sense of humor and mice just can’t appreciate a good tail-chase; no one can compare to Jinx.
“Auryn’s adaptations of these two books are wonderful. Reading them, playing with them, I am a child again,” says New York Times’ best-selling author Dean Koontz.
Trixie and Jinx is now available on the iTunes app store for $3.99 at http://bit.ly/trjinx
Key features of the storybook app include:
Personalization 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 colors.
- Children 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.
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.
Trixie and Jinx is offered three ways for kids and families to enjoy:
“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 until 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.
May 8, 2012: Dean Speaks About the Odd Thomas Movie
Gerda and I and two friends just saw the completed Odd Thomas film. It is so wonderful that I am whacked flat by happiness. It makes no missteps, races forward with unrelenting momentum, is gripping, and has great heart, and even has an excellent score! It is a totally fresh wind in the genres upon which it touches, and we felt that we were seeing one of those rare productions with the potential to dramatically alter how other filmmakers approach such movies in the future.
Stephen Sommers, the director, said from day one that Anton Yelchin was his only choice to play Odd and that if Anton didn’t want to do it, the film would never be quite what it could have been. I’ll admit to being skeptical. But once you see Anton in this, you know you have seen the best of all possible Odds. He is soooo good! This young man is a remarkable talent, and he brings great heart to the role. He handles the action scenes with tremendous energy and conviction, but he really, really shines when it comes to selling the love story, the emotion, as well as Odd’s humility and sweet nature.
The four of us were also in agreement that Addison Timlin is Stormy Llewellyn. She is no less powerful than Anton, giving a nuanced and utterly charming performance. Every guy in the audience will be in love with her, and I expect every woman will want her as best friend forever. She and Anton have such chemistry that this film is a thriller that is also a beautiful love story; that love story, combined with the action and scares, makes this a date movie for the ages. The audience–men, women, young, old—were laughing when they should have been, jumping when they should have been, and in tears when they should have been.
Steve has taken chances in the way he has crossed genres, in the density of story detail highly unusual in movies of this nature, and in the visual sophistication with which this has been edited. The movie comes at you with all kinds of transitions that you have not seen before, and if you’re interested in directorial technique, it’s worth studying.
Faithful to the book? Yes, in every way that matters. Odd is Odd. Stormy is Stormy. The themes are rigorously adhered to. Is much missing? Yes. Ozzie has one scene, and he has become a sculptor instead of a mystery writer. Odd’s backstory–mom and dad–has been condensed to one scene because test audiences found the backstory too dark. Odd has been given a new power: He sometimes touches someone/something and has startling visions of how some real event went down earlier, as a means of conveying facts without talking-head scenes, but it really, really works.
Based on past experiences, I wasn’t sure anyone could ever adapt a Koontz book as a feature film and capture the flavor and essentials of it. Steve Sommers has done it with great panache. It should hit theaters sometime this winter. There’s probably a law against being as happy as I am right now.
