Author Dean Koontz Answers Questions

April 19 -- Number one bestselling author Dean Koontz has thrilled and chilled his devoted fans in one blockbuster novel after another — from Watchers and False Memory to The Face — coming soon in paperback — and his most recent bestseller, Odd Thomas.

Book Specific Questions

Question: Are you planning on doing any more books like ODD THOMAS-first person-narration, etc.? That was one of the best books I have ever read.Brian, Washington, DC

Answer: Thank you, Brian. I have seldom written first-person narration-TWILIGHT EYES, FEAR NOTHING, SEIZE THE NIGHT, ODD THOMAS-because I've always felt that each first-person narrator should sound unique, not like me when I write in third person, and not like one another. Because first person necessarily narrows the scope of a story, I only want to use it when I have a character so fresh (at least to me) that more is gained by his or her voice than is lost by the narrower scope. For some reason, suitable first-person narrators have been coming to me more frequently than in the past. LIFE EXPECTANCY, which will be published in December of 2004, is in the first person. Because I was so enchanted by the character of Odd Thomas and because reader mail related to that book has now exceeded the mail volume for any other book I've published, I plan to return to Odd and see where his life has gone since I left him listening to music with Elvis; I'm sure he has more to tell me.

Question: ODD THOMAS was wonderful. How are you able to create such nuanced characters like Thomas and his girlfriend? Are they modeled off people you know?Chris, Austin, TX

Answer: Thanks, Chris. No, the characters aren't modeled off people I know, though traits I see in several people can sometimes coalesce in a single character. After more years at this keyboard than seem possible-or sane!-I've learned how to let characters speak for themselves. This might sound mystical and a little weird-who? me? weird?-but I realized one day, in '97, that every act of human creation-whether by a writer, bricklayer, carpenter, seamstress-is a reflection of the divine Creation, the one with a capital C. This is particularly obvious in the case of writers, who create whole worlds and populate them with life, if only on the page. When this insight came to me, I didn't need to brood on it for long to realize that the most generous thing I could do for my characters, the thing that would make them the most lively and alive, would be to give them free will, as God gave us: the free will to flourish or to fail, to learn from suffering or to be broken or embittered by it; to discover themselves and who they are through the course of the story rather than to have any traits imposed upon them. Then an amazing thing happened: Step-by-step, as I learned to let go of my characters, learned to stop shaping them with too much conscious intent, they began to shape themselves in greater depth and with far richer nuance than they would have had if I had kept them under tight rein. In books like ODD THOMAS, I learn about the characters at the same pace that the reader does; I am amazed to watch them flower and become real. There are wondrous and eerie aspects to this process. It is not something I could teach in a writing seminar; the understanding is deeper than instinct, something akin to a spiritual experience. When you allow characters to shape themselves, as you watch them mature before your eyes, there is something humbling about their growth, as well, for it seems that you are tapping not some great genius in yourself but some more profound creative force in nature, and that you are merely allowing it to work through you. See, I said this would sound mystical and weird, but there it is. And though most critics and readers have always been kind about my characters, response to those written since '97-beginning with Chris Snow and his friends in FEAR NOTHING-has been even better. Nevertheless, should I ever need them, I do have on permanent reserve a pleasant suite of rooms at Happy Haze Home for those afflicted with genteel lunacy.

Question: What contribution did Brandon Tartikoff make to STRANGE HIGHWAYS?Sallymop, Shropshire, UK

Answer: Everyone who knew Brandon loved the guy. Have lunch with him just once, and you were charmed. He was a genuine, warm, kind, and enthusiastic man. Most people who run networks or have equivalent positions in the entertainment industry are insufferable in one way or another; they either trade their humanity for the thrill of power or are sadly deficient human beings to begin with. Brandon Tartikoff had none of the arrogance, none of the egomania, none of the venom so often found in others who have achieved his position. When he fell ill, after he left NBC, as he fought for his life, he remained full of enthusiasm and energy, and sought ways to channel them productively. My agent, Robert Gottlieb, a friend and admirer of Brandon's, thought that with all of Brandon's entertainment contacts, he would be well-advised to start a book line of his own, within an existing publishing company, with the intention of trying to promote film and television projects based on them. STRANGE HIGHWAYS was the first-perhaps the last, I'm not sure-in that imprint because cancer will too often have its way. Brandon didn't have as much time left as everyone who knew him hoped he would. His contribution to STRANGE HIGHWAYS would have come if he'd been able to operate with his characteristic energy and if he had lived.

Question: PHANTOMS is my favorite book of all time. Where did you get the idea for such a scary book?Kendra, Odessa, MO

Answer: Since adolescence, I'd been fascinated with stories of real-life mass disappearances (those mentioned throughout PHANTOMS) and had from time to time tried to imagine explanations for them, not as the plot for a novel but just to satisfy my own curiosity. One day, driving from somewhere to somewhere, when there was nothing on the radio to entertain me and no extraterrestrials seemed interested in abducting me, I started mulling over these disappearances-and into my head popped the concept of the Ancient Enemy. As soon as I realized this could also explain the extinction of the dinosaurs, I knew I had a cool story line for a novel.

Question: Hi, Dean! One of my all-time favorites is STRANGERS. Any plans for this to be made into a movie? Scott, San Francisco, CA

Answer: Hi, Scott! I've got a standing offer from a fine producer, with whom I've worked before, to turn STRANGERS into a high-profile TV movie. With the exception of INTENSITY (a miniseries), THE FACE OF FEAR (a two-hour TV movie), and some parts of SOLE SURVIVOR, I've not been too pleased with longform TV and don't want to do more of it at this time. Currently, with my Frankenstein project at USA, I'm hoping that the series format will work better. I am no doubt a fool in full denial.

Question: What was your inspiration for TWILIGHT EYES? Of all your books, that one stays in my mind the most for some reason. Janice, Tallahassee, FL

Answer: I've written previously about my unpleasant childhood-the drunk and violent father, the poverty, the ravenous alien parasite that lived in our basement... I often dreamed of running away from home. We lived across the highway from the county fairgrounds, and when the carnival came for a week each summer, that was the high point of the year. I longed to run away with the carnival...and this yearning led to an interest in the culture of carnivals, about which I came to be something of an expert. With so much background knowledge gained over so many years, I one day realized I had a terrific setting for a novel. What came to me was TWILIGHT EYES.

Question: You often refer to "The Book of Counted Sorrows." I can't find this book in any local bookstores. Is it out of print? Do you know where I can obtain a copy? Thank you.Mildred, Pensacola, FL