Content deleted Content added
m fixed lint errors – missing end tag |
|||
(18 intermediate revisions by 14 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{
{{Infobox writer
| name = Dean Koontz
Line 15 ⟶ 16:
* Owen West
* Richard Paige
{{endflatlist}}
| birth_name = Dean Ray Koontz
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1945|7|9}}
| birth_place = [[Everett, Pennsylvania|Everett]], Pennsylvania,<br />United States
| death_date =
| death_place =
|
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* Novelist
Line 26 ⟶ 28:
* screenwriter
* poet
}}
| genre = {{Flatlist}}
* [[Thriller (genre)|Suspense]]
Line 33 ⟶ 35:
* [[Thriller (genre)|thriller]]
* [[Fantasy literature|fantasy]]
{{endflatlist}}
| notableworks= {{Flatlist}}
* ''[[Odd Thomas (novel)|Odd Thomas]]''
* ''[[Demon Seed (novel)|Demon Seed]]''
* ''[[Watchers (novel)|Watchers]]''
* ''[[Hideaway (novel)|Hideaway]]''
* ''[[Intensity (novel)|Intensity]]''
* ''[[Phantoms (novel)|Phantoms]]''
* ''[[The Face of Fear]]''
* ''[[Lightning (novel)|Lightning]]''
{{Endflatlist}}
| spouse = {{marriage|Gerda Ann Cerra|October 15, 1966}}
Line 47 ⟶ 50:
}}
'''Dean Ray Koontz''' (born July 9, 1945) is an American [[author]]. His novels are billed as [[
== Early life ==
Koontz was born on July 9, 1945, in [[Everett, Pennsylvania]], the son of Florence (née Logue) and Raymond Koontz.<ref name="bio">{{Cite web|url=http://
<blockquote>"... realized that most of these programs are not meant to help anyone, merely to control people and make them dependent. I was forced to reconsider everything I'd once believed. I developed a profound distrust of government regardless of the philosophy of the people in power. I remained a liberal on civil-rights issues, became a conservative on defense, and a semi-libertarian on all other matters."<ref name=Advocates /></blockquote>
Line 59 ⟶ 62:
In the 1970s, Koontz began writing suspense and [[horror fiction]], both under his own name and several [[pseudonym]]s, sometimes publishing up to eight books a year. Koontz has stated that he began using pen names after several [[copy editing|editor]]s convinced him that authors who switched back and forth between different [[genre]]s invariably fell victim to "negative crossover" (alienating established fans and simultaneously failing to pick up any new ones). Known pseudonyms used by Koontz during his career include Deanna Dwyer, K. R. Dwyer, Aaron Wolfe, David Axton, Brian Coffey, John Hill, Leigh Nichols, Owen West, Richard Paige, and Anthony North. As Brian Coffey, he wrote the "Mike Tucker" trilogy (''Blood Risk'', ''Surrounded'', ''Wall of Masks'') in acknowledged tribute to the Parker novels of Richard Stark ([[Donald E. Westlake]]). Many of Koontz's pseudonymous novels are now available under his real name. Many others remain suppressed by Koontz, who bought back the rights to ensure they could not be republished; he has, on occasion, said that he might revise some for republication, but only three have appeared — ''Demon Seed'' and ''Invasion'' were both heavily rewritten before they were republished, and ''Prison of Ice'' had certain sections [[Expurgation|bowdlerised]].
After writing full-time for more than 10 years, Koontz
Since then, 12 hardcovers and 14 paperbacks written by Koontz have reached number one on [[The New York Times Best Seller list|''The New York Times'' Best Seller list]].<ref name="deankoontz.com" />
Line 86 ⟶ 89:
Koontz wrote in ''How to Write Best Selling Fiction'', a much revised and updated version of 'Writing Popular Fiction' (1972),<ref>Writer's Digest Books, 1981, pp18</ref> "During my first six years as a full-time novelist ... I wrote a lot of ephemeral stuff; anything that would pay some bills ... I did Gothic romance novels under a pen-name ... Like many writers, I did some pornography too, and a variety of other things, none of which required me to commit my heart or my soul to the task. (This is not to say I didn't bother to do a good job; on the contrary, I never wrote down to any market, and I always tried to give my editors and readers their money's worth.)" The Gothic novels are identifiable, but none of Koontz's acknowledged work fits into the latter category.
Koontz has stated on his website
== Bibliography ==
Line 92 ⟶ 95:
== Screenplays ==
* 1979 – ''[[CHiPs]]'' episode 306: "Counterfeit" (as Brian Coffey)
* 1990
* 1998 – "Phantoms"
* 2005 – "Dean Koontz's Frankenstein"
Line 103 ⟶ 106:
* ''Whispers'' (1990) – Cinepix – starring [[Victoria Tennant]], [[Chris Sarandon]], and Jean LeClere
* ''[[Watchers II]]'' (1990) – Concorde Pictures – starring [[Marc Singer]] and [[Tracy Scoggins]]
* ''[[The Face of Fear (film)|The Face of Fear]]'' (1990) – [[CBS]] – starring [[Pam Dawber]] and [[Lee Horsley]], also includes [[Kevin Conroy]] and [[William Sadler (actor)|William Sadler]]
* ''Servants of Twilight'' (1991) – Trimark – starring [[Bruce Greenwood]]
* ''[[Watchers 3]]'' (1994) – Concorde Pictures – starring [[Wings Hauser]]
Line 124 ⟶ 127:
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://deankoontz.com/ Dean Koontz – The Official Website]
* {{
* {{IBList|type=author|id=408|name=Dean Koontz}}
* [http://efanzines.com/Energumen/Energumen08.pdf Dean Koontz article including information on his erotic books]
|