Newsletter - July 2007
In Memory of Trixie
October 1995 -- 30 June 2007
Beauty without vanity.
Strength without insolence.
Courage without ferocity.
Our beloved dog, Trixie, in the grip of an aggressive cancer and facing an imminent -- and painful -- bursting of a tumor in her heart, was gently put to sleep by her vet on Saturday 30 June, while she lay on her favorite outdoor couch, on the patio, where she had so often enjoyed watching the rose gardens and the sea while being petted.
For more about Trixie, Click Here
Beat the Quizmaster!
1) T or F: WHISPERS was the last Dean Koontz novel to be written on a typewriter?
2) Chris Sarandon, who played Tony in the 1989 film adaptation of WHISPERS, was married at one time to which Oscar Winning Actress?
3) In what year was WHISPERS first released?
4) After Hilary's gun is confiscated, what weapon does she use to defend herself against Bruno?
5) Why was Bruno able to come after Hilary again after she "killed" him?
6) What was Bruno's mother's name?
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AUTHOR Q & A
Question:
What is your writing process? Do you write inside at a desk? Or outside? Do you handwrite first then edit? Do you present ideas/chapters to trusted beta readers as you go along, or do you write an entire first draft first? — Stephen P., Oceanside Ca
Answer:
Wow, that's a big and complicated question. I am the kind of guy who works in an office. I'm not the kind of guy who can grab a laptop and go anywhere to work. I have to be surrounded by my stuff and feel comfortable and in familiar territory. I arrive here between 7 and 8 a.m. in the morning and I'm here until dinner. I don't eat lunch. Some days I even have breakfast at the desk.
I don't do a written draft. I work only on the computer and I do one page at a time. I work on a page 20, 30, 40 drafts, whatever it takes, before I move on to the next page. That way I feel that I've done as much as I can on that page and have left nothing to correct later. So that when I get a draft done, it has had so much reworking during the course of it that I don't need to go back and revisit things. I do this because I operate with a lot of self doubt and my way of handling the self doubt is to rework a page until I've got it as smooth as I can get it and then to move on. Then the self doubt starts up again on the very next page, but I deal with that page as a separate unit.
To continue AUTHOR Q & A, Click Here
You can submit your own questions to:dean@deankoontz.com
or:
Dean Koontz
PO Box 9529
Newport Beach, California 92658
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WHISPERS:
A Killer Book That Keeps on Thrilling
HE IS BACK
Hilary Thomas knew terror as a child, but never anything like this.
HE IS BACK
He is hunting her with a sick desire more terrifying than hatred could ever be. And he is in her house again.
HE IS BACK
He is on the stairs and he can't be stopped. Hilary killed him once, and he keeps coming back.
HE IS BACK
He is at her bedroom door.
When a young Hollywood writer kills a madman in self-defense, she feels certain her worries are over...until she senses a strange presence that relentlessly pursues her. It keeps coming back again and again.
For reviews and more on WHISPERS, Click Here
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WHISPERS Marks a Milestone in Writer's Life
They found the town silent, apparently abandoned. Then they found the first body strangely swollen and still warm. One hundred fifty were dead, 350 missing. But the terror had only begun in the tiny mountain town of Snowfield, California.
In 1979, when I wrote WHISPERS, I was less well known than the young Harrison Ford before he appeared in American Graffiti -- and a lot less handsome. I was slightly better looking than J. Fred Muggs, a performing chimpanzee on TV at that time, but also less well known than he was. Although I had been a full time writer for several years, though I had a file drawer full of good reviews, I had never enjoyed a best-seller and, in fact, had never known enough financial security to guarantee that I would always be able to earn a living at my chosen art and craft.
For more of Dean Koontz's thoughts on WHISPERS, Click Here.
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WHISPERS Trivia Answers!
1) True, shortly after finishing WHISPERS, Gerda bought Dean an IBM Displaywriter, and he's used computers ever since
2) Susan Sarandon
3) 1980
4) A kitchen knife
5) Even though they were twins, they were raised to believe they were one person named Bruno.
6) Katherine
7) THE FACE
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