Bookreporter.com interviews Dean Koontz (February 27, 1997)

Interviewed by Marlene Taylor and Sean Doorly


On February 27, 1997, THE BOOK REPORT welcomed DEAN KOONTZ, whose appearance was so eagerly anticipated that AOL members began camping out in the Coliseum ten hours before the event. The BOOK REPORT interviewers were Marlene Taylor (Marlene T) and Sean Doorly (BookpgSD). Our online host was BookpgXena.

Marlene T: Mr. Koontz, you are a man of many genres. Which genre is Dean Koontz?

D. Koontz: In my personal life, I'm a comic novel. But then, so are we all, because we're human beings.

Bookpg SD: How do you handle the discipline of your work --- how do you restrain your absurd sense of self?

D. Koontz: I don't always restrain it. There's a book coming out in two weeks called TICKTOCK which deals deeply with the absurd. As a writer, I like to deal with EVERY aspect of our condition, and that means terror and humor in equal mix. Some books have more room for humor than others, but after two without much room for humor --- INTENSITY and SOLE SURVIVOR --- I felt it was time to pull out all the stops.

Marlene T: Where did you get such a vivid imagination and what drives it?

D. Koontz: The imagination comes from a lifetime of pumping bizarre fiction into myself as a reader. And part of it is my skewed view of the world. If you keep your eyes open to the real world around us, there is nothing more bizarre than what happens around us on the street. Ninety percent of my books are just about that.

Marlene T: What is this bizarre fiction that you read? Please tell us!

D. Koontz: I've read everything, you name it: sci fi, horror, noir. If someone wrote it and it had a peculiar twist, I've read it.

Marlene T: Any specific favorite authors?

D. Koontz: My favorite author of all time is John D. McDonald. I've read everything he wrote four or five times. If you were to take a poll of writers, he'd be the most influential writer for many. He broke all the rules --- and got away with it.

BookpgMarL: In the overall field of literature, do you believe the horror genre has gained credibility?

D. Koontz: I'm not sure it should WANT credibility! Most genres have no credibility with "literary" figures. But let's remember that literary fiction, as a strict genre, is all but dead. Meanwhile, most genres flourish.

Question: First, may I say, please continue to share with us the magic of your books. Now for the Question: Once you have the basic concept for a new book, about how long does it take you to complete it?

D. Koontz: Anywhere from five months to a year, but when I'm working on a novel, I work 70-hour weeks. INTENSITY took about 6 months. DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART took 11 months and 3 weeks. I remember the exact period of time because I slept one night out of two during the final week as I was so deeply involved.

Question: Are any of your books based on real-life experiences?

D. Koontz: Every book has some real life in it. I was never pursued by an evil twin clone, but everything else in MR. MURDER was pretty much out of my own life. With the cloning of the sheep, I anticipate being stalked by my evil twin.

Bookpg SD: What do you think of the movies made from your novels?

D. Koontz: I once asked my paperback publisher to do an unusual design with the tie-in edition of HIDEAWAY. I wanted them to put a little starburst on the cover containing the words A MOVIE FOR MORONS. However, INTENSITY (which runs on Fox two nights in May) is a great work and, for once, there is no reason for me to call the producer "swine." I am so happy with what Mandalay did with INTENSITY that I have given them SOLE SURVIVOR without marketing it elsewhere.

Question: I just finished SOLE SURVIVOR and it was great! I especially enjoyed the depth of Joe's character. What kind of research was necessary for the in-depth look at the grief process? It was fascinating, and very real. Excellent work.

D. Koontz: Thank you, thank you, thank you. When I started SOLE SURVIVOR, I was dumb enough to think that writing about Joe would be easy because his terrible loss would instantly make him empathetic for the reader. But as I began to write, I realized that if I didn't handle Joe with extreme care he would be so bleak that no one would want to read about him. For research, I talked to many people who had lost children.... and listened. What I absorbed from them made it easier to write -- though in the process I heard stories that would break your heart.

Marlene T: Are we ever going to see The Book of Counted Sorrows?

D. Koontz: Yes. I've been pushed by my publishers to promise delivery for publication in late 1998. Now librarians all over the country can stop cursing my name!

Question: I know that your life affects your writing, but I'd like to know if writing about the recurring themes of transcendence, hope, and redemption has affected your life?

D. Koontz: A writer is what he writes and becomes what he writes. This is one reason that I have always objected to writing stories that celebrate evil or that show evil as triumphant in the long run. Evil triumphs in the short run... not across the course of time. I am always aware of the potential for self-corruption in not taking seriously what you put on the page.

Question: You wrote a very practical book about writing popular fiction. Is it still in print? If it is, have you revised it?

D. Koontz: It's out of print. In a year or two or three, I will revise it. Most of what it said about the marketplace is no longer correct. I stand by what it said about the craft and technique of writing.

BookpgMarL: Which are more fun to write? Psychological/Thriller stories like INTENSITY or Supernatural stories like those in STRANGE HIGHWAYS?

D. Koontz: They are ALL fun to write. In spite of my reputation as a workaholic, I am a slacker by nature... so if the story wasn't fun to write, I wouldn't be productive.

Question: You are my favorite author, with Stephen King next in line. He has said that he reads your books. Do you read his?

D. Koontz: Yes. I have been reading Stephen King since CARRIE and hope to read him for many years to come.

Question: I am curious to know if you realize that what you wrote at the end of SOLE SURVIVOR is almost word for word what you wrote in the foreword of BEAUTIFUL DEATH? By the way, I love that foreword.

D. Koontz: When I got to the end of SOLE SURVIVOR, I realized I had already said this very same thing as well as I could say it, so I plagiarized myself. The dark side of me is threatening me with a lawsuit!

Question: Does your wife like your books, and does she get scared to death reading them too?

D. Koontz: My wife is my first audience. She's a tough lady, so I can't say that I ever scare her (except, of course, when she sees me the way I look before breakfast).

Marlene T: Is there really an Einstein out there?

D. Koontz: All dogs are hugely smarter than they want us to know. They are the ruling species on the planet... or could be if they cared to take charge. Like me, however, they are all slackers by nature. As to whether there is a real Einstein with all the wisdom of the one in the book... I am scratching his ear at this moment.

Question: What was the significance of the elk in INTENSITY?

D. Koontz: I knew I'd be asked that! Chyna is a survivor who always has her little prayer: "Chyna Shepard untouched and alive." She believes that the elk she sees at two important junctions in the story is a sign that she will be okay if she perseveres. Further interpretation I will not give. Each reader needs to bring his or her own mind and heart to the text.

Bookpg SD: Why did you drop the R. from your name?

D. Koontz: Because my middle name was Rumplestiltskin and if anyone found out, I would have lost ALL my power. Safer to drop the name.

Question: What is your best book?

D. Koontz: I would have to say WATCHERS has a slight edge, but I am also satisfied near as well with LIGHTNING, INTENSITY, DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART and SOLE SURVIVOR.

Question: I would like to ask where you get your insight when you write from the dog's point of view, and will you ever write a sequel to WATCHERS? Finally, did Mr. Carpenter ever tell the car salesman where he parked the car in SOLE SURVIVOR?

D. Koontz: I believe that I was a dog in a past life. That's the only thing that would explain why I like to snack on Purina Dog Chow. The only reason I would write a sequel is if I were struck by an idea that I felt to be equal to the original. Too many sequels diminish the original. Recently, at a book signing, someone gave me one line that has put my mind to work and there now is a slim chance that I might do a sequel to WATCHERS in a few years. As for Joe Carpenter and the car..... it was just a junker, basically, but he IS a moral man so I've got to assume that even as he proceeded to save the world, he called the car dealer.

Question: Was Ray Bradbury a major influence in your "carnival" writings?

D. Koontz: Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite writers of all time, but my interest in the carnival arose because we lived across the highway from the county fairgrounds. I was a kid in a very unpleasant home and I dreamed of running away to the carnival. Ever since, I've collected information about carnivals and carneys.

Marlene T: We know Dean Koontz, the writer. What do you do when you aren't writing?

D. Koontz: Sleep. Collect books. Sleep. Most of my life has been spent writing. And I can't think of anything more interesting to do with my time. I once tried to watch a football game on TV; it wasn't half as entertaining as struggling with the next paragraph in a novel. My wife and I like interior design. We like to collect art and furnishings related to that interest and to educate ourselves in related periods --- we're currently into Art Deco.

Question: Where does ICEBOUND fit in with your other books?

D. Koontz: The bigger question is: Where the hell all of my books fit in with one another? I have spent most of my career "discussing" with publishers my tendency to work in a wide variety of styles and genres. Some people may not like the occasional ICEBOUND, but if I didn't write those unusual books I couldn't write the stuff that people like more.

BookpgXena: I'm sorry sorry --- we're out of time. Thank you Mr. Koontz, Marlene, and Sean.

Bookpg SD: This audience loved it all and very much hopes you come again. THANK YOU. You are always welcome here!

D. Koontz: If I'm not abducted by aliens... if I don't get in trouble with the police... if I'm not hauled away and subjected to a forced marriage to Bigfoot... I'll come back.