Blog #2 Dean

Dean R. Koontz

Dean Koontz was born in Everett Pennsylvania on July 6, 1945. He graduated from Shippensburg University in 1966 and since then has gone onto sell more than 450 million copies worldwide and have 14 books make it to New York Times best sellers including (One Door Away From Heaven, From the Corner of His Eye, Midnight, Cold Fire, The Bad Place, Hideaway, Dragon Tears, Intensity, Sole Survivor, The Husband, Odd Hours, Relentless, What the Night Knows, and 77 Shadow Street).
Dean first found his love for reading and writing from his childhood where reading helped him to escape the poverty and horrors of living in his house. It was what he called the only thing helping him to get through. And this passion fueled his journey all the way to winning the Atlantic Monthly Creative Writing Award his senior year of college. And as we discussed in class, he was not able to start out as just a writer, he had to start as an English teacher at Mechanicsburg Area Senior High School.
What Dean is probably known most for is his style of writing. Many compare it to that of Stephen King, as the build up of the book is the majority of it, and all of the action takes place in the last eighth of the book. This similar style helps him more than harms as people proclaim Stephen King to be one the best writers of all time.
Dean Koontz is an author but something I didn't even realize is that he has written screen plays as well including those of Nevermore, Frankenstein: Prodigal Son and In Odd We Trust.Although his creations may not be re known he has also gone under many pseudonym names, he is still very well known.

Blog #1- Reader Bio

Blog #1- Reader Bio

Have you always read?-

   No, there was a time I despised reading and anything it was worth. When I became the age parents expect their child to first start reading, my parents followed that course, and bought me about 10 level 1 starting books for children. These books covered every subject possible: talking animals, math, jobs, and even weather patterns. While these books were suppose to help get your child into reading, it only did the opposite and made me hate this "terrible thing" called reading. Never was I going to read another bore trap again. That is, until the fourth grade. 

   As you may have guessed it, it was the fourth grade that sparked my interest in reading. It wasn't a "great book" I found and decided to read, it wasn't a sudden spark; none of these things happened, it was the prizes you got for finishing a book and getting a 8/10 or higher on the reading assessment. I didn't care if it meant doing the thing I hated most, I could win candy or army men! I have no idea why, but this soon became everything to me, racking up my points and beating the class as well. 

   As more and more books went by, I realized something; reading isn't that bad. This has to be what sparked my love for reading as it's the first time I started amassing books and reading at a tremendous rate as well. 

What do I like to read?-

   Mysteries, fantasies, historical fiction, and action packed books. Some of these may include The Seven Realms, Artemis Fowl, Percy Jackson, Agatha Christie Novels, Michael Vey, Red Rising, and many more. All of these books contain compelling text and a key element a book needs for me; once I pick it up, I must never want to put it back down. The book that puts you in a daze, throws you into that other world: those are the books I love. 
   While all these things are good, the problem with some of my material is the first chapter is the most boring thing you can go through, the set up of the setting and characters. Some may say its essential to the book and it lays down the premise of the entire book, but they're wrong. It's boring, it rips away form your soul, it's literally worse than a Mechanics test while forgetting all of your formulas! However, all of the books come in clutch and pick up dramatically after that. Thank God.