Koontzland - Dean Koontz discussion
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Have you ever written Dean Koontz
Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Wow! Jason, that is quite the letter and you are so funny :-)..."Thanks. How was I funny, other than the last line, if at all?
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Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "The tone just makes me smile. You are so funny! Dean is going to love it :-)"Okay, I'm just curious what tone you perceive and why you think it's funny. :-)
message 55:
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Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado
(last edited Jul 10, 2011 10:02PM)
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I find all of these parts amusing :-) Just things like the exact number of audio books you've listened to is 55 and the total Koontz books is 61, the descriptions of the stereotype of scientists etc. It's a good letter which brings a smile to my face.
Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I find all of these parts amusing :-) Just things like the exact number of audio books you've listened to is 55 and the total Koontz books is 61, the descriptions of the stereotype of scientists etc. It's a good letter which brings a smile to my face."Okay, I hope Dean has the same reaction. I wasn't trying to be amusing until the last sentence, but I can now see how the numbers might be. :-)
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My good 'ol buddy Dean has such a great sense of humor :-) He will surely "hop" with joy :-)
Tasha wrote: "I was just wondering if anyone has ever written to him. Did he write back? If he did, did it take long to receive his reply? It's been on my bucket list since I was like 16. Then several months a..."
Hi Tasha! I sent Mr. Koontz an email from his website with a few specific questions over a year ago. It took over a month to get a response and it was clearly a pre-written response. It was even titled, "Dear Reader,"
The man is just too busy for personal responses and that's OK. He's still my favorite author. He probably gets thousands of notes, letters, and emails every month.
If you have a specific question about writing, I suggest Jefferey Deaver. Not only is he a superb author, his responses are tailored and he's great about getting back to you in a timely manner.
Have a great evening.
~Valerie
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I have thought about it but just never have.
I never wrote to Dean Koontz, but I bought an autographed book at a silent auction for a charity and there is a letter from him to the charity. Also the book is autographed by Dean Koontz and Trixie, this was a few years ago and I assume Trixie was still with us than. It is one of my prized possessions.
I just got my reply from Dean today! It turns out that I sent my letter to him on his birthday without realizing it, which was an interesting coincidence (though he would vehemently deny that there are any coincidences). :-) He must have liked my letter, because he sent a 1.5-page reply that was almost the length of the letter I sent him. He used my name throughout the letter and signed it in blue ink. Of course, the letter was typed on his 100% cotton, watermarked personal stationary. Also, he sent me a signed hardback edition of "a big little life," his book about Trixie, his first Golden Retriever who died 5 years ago. Inside, he wrote: "To Jason--
WOOF.
Dean Koontz
8.29.11"
in the same blue ink he used to sign the letter. He also sent me a signed form letter and the Spring 2011 edition of his Useless News newsletter. I am very pleased. :-)
Aww, and here I thought I was special for getting a free, signed book from him! ;) I sent him a signed copy of my own book in reply, but since he's such a busy guy he'll probably never have the time to read it. :]
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Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "This is Amazing News Jason. I have been sitting on pins and needles so to speak and unable to sleep at night wondering how Dean would respond to your letter. What a relief - I need to go take a nap..."Sarcasm noted. :-| I wasn't expecting anyone to particularly care about Dean's reply to me--I was just sharing.
J. S. wrote: "Well, I for one think it is awesome. :)"Thank you, J. S., and you too, Jen. :-)
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Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "And Thanks to me too! I was serious about it being AMAZING NEWS but you are correct I haven't been losing any sleep over the matter. CONGRATULATIONS JASON, ON YOUR AMAZING PERSONAL WIN!!! (sarcasm)..."I didn't win anything and hope I didn't come across as if I thought I had. Thank you for the well-wish, it is proceeding nicely.
Jason, that is an awesome gift. Enjoy it. What did he say in the letter?
Jackie wrote: "Jason, that is an awesome gift. Enjoy it. What did he say in the letter?"
Thanks, Jackie, I will. He said a lot in the letter. Some of it contained examples of his past scientist characters who he felt met the criteria of "good." I disagree with most of them, as they don't meet my criteria. He said he enjoys reading science books and thinks science is both "an invaluable tool and at times a delightful toy." He gave three ways he thinks scientists can become misguided or "bad." He talked about his work on the coming book, 77 Shadow Street, which he recently finished. He said he is working on Odd Apocalypse now, the 5th Odd Thomas book due out next June. He also talked about how we must never refuse to accept that "we [humans] are exceptional because of our potential yet wicked by our nature," else we will end up like Rousseau.
Wow, Jason, all that seems so personal. He must have felt some kind of connection to you. Very cool, indeed.
Jackie wrote: "Wow, Jason, all that seems so personal. He must have felt some kind of connection to you. Very cool, indeed."Yes, it certainly seemed as if he did. It's nice to know that we share some sort of mutual connection. :-)
I think it's great, for both of you. It must be difficult to get to talk to people on a real level when you're that famous.
Jackie wrote: "I think it's great, for both of you. It must be difficult to get to talk to people on a real level when you're that famous."I figured that too, which is why I wanted my letter to be very down-to-earth and casual, so that he would feel comfortable speaking his mind. I tried very hard to be neither overly critical or overly doting/swooning, as I'm sure he gets more than enough of both from people. I just spoke my mind and he seems to have done the same.
That was nice of you. I'm glad it was such a good experience.
Jason "plasborgma" wrote: "I just got my reply from Dean today! It turns out that I sent my letter to him on his birthday without realizing it, which was an interesting coincidence (though he would vehemently deny that there..."Wow that's pretty cool. :)
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Jason, apologies for my miscommunication the other day :-)
I have been sincerely interested in hearing about a response from Mr. Dean Koontz regarding your letter and I think it's amazing that he will take the time to respond like this to his fans. It's interesting that your letter arrived on his birthday and that his response matched your initial letter so closely in length.
I especially like how you disagree with his examples that don't meet your criteria and am curious....
Which characters did he try to use as examples of good scientists? And which did you agree with?
Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Jason "plasborgma" wrote: "He said a lot in the letter. Some of it contained examples of his past scientist characters who he felt met the criteria of "good." I disagree with most of them, as they ..."That's alright, fellow moderator, all is forgiven. :-) Yes, I am also very impressed by his taking the time for such an intimate and thorough reply, considering how much time he devotes to his writing (directly and indirectly) and that, as he said, he receives about 10,000 letters per year. I think my letter was dated on his birthday rather than arriving on it. I think that might have been part of the reason he responded like he did, given how he finds meaning in everything, even such minor coincidences. The "scientists" he gave as examples are the mathematician from Breathless (Lamar Woo, Timothy Flyte from Phantoms, and Rose Tucker from Sole Survivor. I'll give him the last one. I hadn't thought about her. Overall, his letter just made me love him even more, even though I disagree with a good bit of what he said in it. :-)
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Do you disagree that a mathematician qualifies as a scientist or do you disagree that Lamar was an overall good character? Because Lamar seems like a nice person to me, he claims to be a scientist and he seems to be thinking like a scientist when he's talking about evolution and Darwinism (see chapter 62 of Breathless).
Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I've met Lamar, Timothy Flyte and Rose. I love Rose - I plan to keep nominating Sole Survivor until it gets picked.Do you disagree that a mathematician qualifies as a scientist or do you disagree..."
After thinking about it more, Rose actually doesn't meet my criteria either, given that she spent so much time doing those unethical experiments on the children before eventually realizing the error of her ways and reforming. No, mathematicians are not scientists. That cannot be disputed, as a matter of definitions. He is a mathematician who knows some science, like I'm a scientist who knows some advanced mathematics.
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"I'm a mathematician and a scientist...."
-Lamar in Breathless, Chapter 62
Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "Lamar claims to be a scientist. "I'm a mathematician and a scientist...." -Lamar in Breathless, Chapter 62"Yes, but I don't think he is. I think this was written because Koontz sees mathematicians as scientists. I can claim to be a teapot, but that doesn't mean I am one. :-P
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You can be whatever you want to be. You can pretend to be teapot if you want "I'm a little teapot, short and stout..." you know.
So how does Timothy Flyte not meet your criteria? I don't have that book to reference.
Maybe you are going to need a follow-up letter to explain what makes a scientist and what makes a good scientist?
Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "...Maybe you are going to need a follow-up letter to explain what makes a scientist and what makes a good scientist?"I don't want to bother him any more about the issue. I'll send him a letter of gratitude before long though.
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Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "What about Timothy Flyte?"In reality, Flyte would be more of a pseudoscientist, with his bizarre theory, which turns out to be accurate in the story. Even with that aside, Flyte seems more of a neutral character than a "good" character to me. Do you recall anything he did that you would consider to be particularly "good?"
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And what about poor Rose - if she had a change of heart, isn't that good?
Dustin Crazy little brown owl wrote: "I don't really remember what he did except that he wrote a book, but, if he isn't evil or bad isn't that good enough - to be a pseudoscientist painted in neutral colors? And what about poor Rose -..."No, I want a scientist character portrayed as "good" as one of his artist, writer, ex-military, baker, etc. characters, not someone who reforms after doing arguably unethical things. He has another such character as Rose in The Eyes of Darkness, though he doesn't reform to the extent that Rose does.
Sounds silly but I`m to scared to write him.I`ve attempted many letters over the past 10 years but never finished any, posted any.
I think Its because he has played such an important role in my life that my perception of him cannot change, and yet my perception of myself is forever changing, therefore by the time he would receive my letter, it wouldnt be the `me of now` who wrote it haha! and I`ll only be kicking and criticising my effort forever!
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I`ve attempted many letters over the past 10 years but never finished any, posted any.
I think Its because he has played such an important role i..."
You should just do it :-) When I've written, I didn't put too much thought into it - just sent off handwritten notes and he has responded with sincerity.
I know Dustin, maybe I`ll just show up at his door one day haha. When you google street view his mail location have you seen were it lands you? God am terrible for that street view haha x
He's got a post office box. I bet if you Google street-viewed it, you'd just see the post office building. :]
J. S. wrote: "He's got a post office box. I bet if you Google street-viewed it, you'd just see the post office building. :]":-D
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I don't have his street address, but I would recommend writing him first :-)
One of my goodreads friends did get invited to his house last year for the launch of What The Night Knows. It's possible that she knows where Dean lives since she's been to his house, but maybe everyone was blindfolded or kept in the back of a windowless hauling truck until they arrived. I imagine the Koontz property would be gated/protected to keep fans and stalkers from showing up unannounced.
J. S. wrote: "He's got a post office box. I bet if you Google street-viewed it, you'd just see the post office building. :]"
J.S. - You are so funny :-) I've never used that Google Street thing. Has anyone tried a P.O box to see what happens?
I haven't tried it, but it is really fun to use Google Street View to see what places look like. I often go on "vacations" using Street View (because it's free and I'm often bored-lol). The cool thing is that you get a 360-degree view of wherever you're at so it's almost as if you're really standing there. [goes to Newport Beach...]
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In "A Big Little Life" he said that someone did break into his house but they never caught the guy (or gal).If Dean can teleport as you say, then he must save a lot of money on travel costs. :]
.....Well, I suppose I’ll stop bothering you for now. ☺"
Wow! Jason, that is quite the letter and you are so funny :-) I look forward to hearing how Dean responds.