Master storyteller Dean Koontz revs up a new series with “The Silent Corner,” introducing rogue FBI agent Jane Hawk, who goes off the grid to uncover the truth about a suicide plague that’s claimed her husband and dozens of other successful, happy people. It’s already being adapted for TV by Paramount Television and Anonymous Content, producers of “Mr. Robot” and “Berlin Station.” Here are the Newport Beach author’s thoughts on technology and other topics.
On His New Heroine …
I’ve always written more female characters than men; I don’t know why. And Jane in “The Silent Corner” has such attitude—I just fell in love with her attitude. She interacts with people in a very human way, and I like that about her.
On Technology Awareness …
I think we’re heading into something we never saw coming. Well, George Orwell saw it coming. If you remember, in “1984,” TV screens are two-way. Now all smart TVs are going to have a camera in them. The rumor is the camera that you can see and cover up isn’t the only camera in them. And you can’t disable this other camera. I’m not anti-technology, but we’re in a new age of technology where the power of it is just exploding exponentially. A lot of it has dark applications, and that’s what “The Silent Corner” and the other books are exploring.
On Internet Avoidance …
I do a lot of research myself, but I also have two assistants who do research. In my office, I can’t go online and that’s intentional. It’s addictive, and I know my personality. So I stay away from that.
On His Writing Schedule …
I knew that to get this (series) established, I wanted to get into that world, and I wanted to have these books coming out every six months for two years. That meant I was going to have to commit more time to it, 70 to 80 hours a week, especially given all the research.
On Screen Adaptations …
I wrote some screenplays, such as “Phantoms”. Sometimes I had to take my name off them because I didn’t like the produced version. … Now, before we make a deal, we say to the people, do you understand certain things can’t change here? Other than that, I understand they bring creativity to it, too.
On Career Development …
Every so many years there has been a shift. It comes from a few things. I can remember when I first started putting humor into the books. I thought if the characters have a sense of humor they’re more real and you care about them more. There was a period when I wrote some flat-out comic suspense novels: “Life Expectancy,” “Relentless,” many of the Odd Thomas books.
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