Best-selling author Dean Koontz to connect with High Desert readers

The High Desert Branch of the California Writers Club invites the public to a Zoom fireside chat with best-selling author Dean Koontz. 

With a track record of many books on the New York Times Best Seller list and at least 16 of his novels made into movies, Koontz, 76, is on the shortlist of America’s most prolific and successful writers.

Koontz has published more than 105 novels, many novellas, and collections of short stories and has sold more than 500 million copies of his work.

Most of his books are suspense thrillers, which often incorporate elements of fantasy, horror, science fiction, mystery and satire.

Koontz connects with the High Desert. 

Negotiations for the Zoom event began last year with a letter mailed to Koontz from HDCWC Programs/Publicity Chairman Bob Isbill, who requested the meeting.

Koontz, who still works 60-hours a week writing, rarely has time for public appearances, however, he liked the idea and advised Isbill that his publisher, Amazon, would be in touch with further arrangements, Isbill said.

Since then, final preparations for the Zoom meeting have been coordinated, with the Zoom event scheduled on July 26.

CWC members statewide will be able to virtually attend the meeting with Koontz and have their questions answered about his ideas on writing.

Dean Koontz

As a senior in college, Koontz won an Atlantic Monthly fiction competition and has been writing ever since. His books are published in 38 languages, and he has sold over 500 million copies to date.

Fourteen of his novels have risen to No. 1 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, making him one of only a dozen writers ever to have achieved the milestone. Sixteen of his books have risen to the No. 1 position in paperback. His books have also been major bestsellers in countries as diverse as Japan and Sweden.

The New York Times has called Koontz’s writing “psychologically complex, masterly and satisfying, while Rolling Stone dubbed him “America’s most popular suspense novelist.”

Koontz lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, and their golden retrievers.

'The Big Dark Sky'

Many readers are looking forward to Koontz’s newest novel, "The Big Dark Sky," scheduled for a July publication.

A book's synopsis explains how Joanna Chase thrived on Rustling Willows Ranch in Montana as a girl until tragedy upended her life. Now 34, and living in Santa Fe with only misty memories of the past, she begins to receive pleas―by phone, through her TV, in her dreams: I am in a dark place, Jojo. Please come and help me.

Heeding the disturbing appeals, Chase is compelled to return to Montana, and to a strange childhood companion she had long forgotten.

Meanwhile, people from all walks of life have converged at the remote ranch. They are haunted, on the run, obsessed, and seeking answers to the same omniscient danger Joanna came to confront.

Also, on the outskirts of Rustling Willows, a madman lurks with a vision to save the future. Mass murder is the only way to see his frightening manifesto come to pass.

Through a bizarre twist of seemingly coincidental circumstances, a band of strangers now find themselves under Montana’s big dark sky. Their lives entwined, they face an encroaching horror. Unless they can defeat this threat, it will spell the end for humanity.

California Writers Club

The CWC is a nonprofit organization founded in 1909. Its mission is to help writers at all levels of the craft to write, publish and promote their work. The High Desert Branch was founded in 1990 and meets monthly.

For information on the free Zoom meeting with Koontz, call 760-221-6367 or visit hdcwc.com.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Author Dean Koontz to connect with High Desert readers via Zoom