Few writers have labored as long and as hard as Dean R. Koontz has to achieve his reputation as a writer of high quality commercial suspense fiction. Not only has he produced quality works in a variety of genres, but Koontz has also become a leading advocate for quality writing and creativity, producing two guides for would-be writers of fiction. Clearly one of the more significant trend-setters of the twentieth century when it comes to maintaining integrity in the highly commercialized fiction market, Koontz's reputation is well deserved.

Born an only child in Everett, Pennsylvania, in 1945, Dean Ray Koontz married his high school sweetheart, Gerda Cerra, in 1966. That same year he published his first story, "Kittens," in Atlantic Monthly, an auspicious beginning for a young writer. Taking a job as a teacher-counselor in the Appalachian Poverty Program, Koontz published his first stories...