A Biography Of Dean Koontz --------------------------------------------------------------------------- When he was a senior in college, Dean Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and has been writing ever since. His books are published in 37 languages; worldwide sales total more than 150 million copies, and that figure currently increases at the rate of more than 18 million copies a year. Five of his novels have risen to number one on the New York Time's hardcover best-seller list, and he has had eleven books at the number one position in paperback. He has written the screenplay for the film adaptation of his novel, Midnight, and he wrote and executive produced The Face of Fear for Warner Brothers-CBS Television. Phantoms is scheduled for production at Miramax, based on the author's own screenplay. Putnam published his Mr. Murder in October of '93, and film rights have been sold to Savoy Pictures. In November, 1994, he published Dark Rivers Of The Heart, his first novel under the Knopf imprint: in October 1995 Knopf will issue Intensity. Dark Rivers will be a CBS Television miniseries. The New York Times has called his writing "psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying." The New Orleans Times-Picayune said Koontz is, "at times lyrical without ever being naive or romantic. [He creates] a grotesque world, much like that of Flannery O'Conner or Walker Percy...scary, worthwhile reading." Of Cold Fire, a worldwide #1 bestseller, the United Press International said, "An extraordinary piece of fiction. It will be a classic." Dean Koontz was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Shippensburg State College (now Shippensburg University), and his first job after graduation was in the Appalachian Poverty Program, where he was expected to counsel and tutor underprivileged children on a one-to-one basis. His first day at work, he discovered that the previous occupier of his position had been beaten up by the very kids he'd been trying to help and had landed in the hospital for several weeks. The following year was filled with challenge but also tension, and Koontz was more highly motivated than ever to build a career as a writer. He wrote nights and weekends, which he continued to do after leaving the poverty program and going to work as an English teacher in a suburban school district outside of Harrisburg, After he had been a year and a half in that position, his wife, Gerda, made him an offer he couldn't refuse: "I'll support you for five years," she said, "and if you can't make it as a writer in that time, you'll never make it." By the end of those five years, Gerda had quit her job to run the business end of her husband's writing career. Dean and Gerda Koontz live in southern California, which they have called home since 1976. Cruise down Strange Highways, Dean Koontz's collection of shorter fiction. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Warner Books, Inc. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 1994 h. All rights reserved. If you have any comments or suggestions, please post them on our Bulletin Board or e-mail them to twep-webmaster@pathfinder.com.