You have a lot of very strong female characters. Are they inspired by people in your life?

"Most of them bear an uncanny resemblance to my wife, who was my high school sweetheart...and still is. She is an enormously strong person, which is why, in all these years of marriage, I've never declined to take out the trash."



How many of your books have been turned into movies?

"Too many. If you've seen them, you know what I mean."



Do you ever have nightmares?

"Rarely. In my youth I used to have nightmares about the original Frankenstein film, but that passed early, oh, when I was about 45."



On average, how much time do you spend on research for a book?

"It's impossible to pin a number of hours to it, because I am always researching when I am not actually writing. And some things that I read out of personal interest, like quantum physics, end up in books where I never expected to use the subject."



Do you have any famous role models?

"Richard Simmons."



What kinds of grades did you get in school?

"Well, I could lie, but you might turn out to be one of my old teachers. I was a determinedly C student, unless the subject really interested me, and then I would work for an A. In college, for my first two years, I have no recollection of any courses I took, but many fond memories of Olympic pinochle games."



Where do you draw inspiration from?

"Inspiration, for me, comes out of character. When I see real-life people with fascinating histories or qualities, fictional people begin to grow in my head, and I've got to get them out. By writing a book, I evict them from my brain."



Have you ever had a phobia?

"Well, I have a healthy fear of madmen with machine guns, but that's not quite a phobia, that's just life in contemporary America. Like everyone, I have things that give me pause. For example, I'm not crazy about flying. But I haven't developed a phobia that's wrecked my life. I almost succumbed to pogonophobia. That is a fear of beards. But then I got my head on straight."



Some years ago you wrote Haunted Earth; have you considered another vampire or other undead-type novel?

"Haunted Earth comes from my callow youth. Those are books that I suggest fans collect, but for God's sake never read. Personally, I think the world has all the vampire stories it needs, and before I wrote one, I'd have to come up with a really new twist."



How long did it take you to write False Memory? Where did you get the idea?

"Eleven months, two weeks, three days. I thought that it would take about six months and be 300 pages long. What do I know? Years ago I ran across the term "autophobia" and became fascinated with the idea of someone fearing himself. It sounded like real Koontz material."



Do you ever gross yourself out? That leads to the next question: Is this world as scary as your writing depicts?

"No, I don't easily gross myself out, largely because my reading into criminal behavior has shown me that nothing I write in a book can be half as disturbing as things that some people have done in real life."



How does creating suspenseful and frightening stories impact you psychologically?

"I'm a total mess."



Does your dog ever coax out ideas?

"Trixie, my dog, is a four-year-old golden retriever who was trained as a service dog for the wheelchair-bound. She was actually in service for 6 months, but developed a leg problem. After surgery, she was fine, but relieved of her official duties. In early retirement she came to live with us. She knows more tricks than I do, is far more obedient than I even have any hope of being, and has given me ideas for two new dog novels utterly unlike any dog stories I've had before. In short, she's earning her kibble."



What music or specific CDs do you like to put on to create a romantic mood?

"Metallica! It's widely known that I'm a big Chris Isaak fan, and because I like big band music and a lot of music from that era, I have long been one of those who still finds a good Sinatra album romantic. And then of course, William Shatner's single album."



How do you structure your day for writing?

"If it's my turn to walk the dog, I start writing at 8:00 or 8:30. If it's Gerda's turn to walk the dog, I start writing at 7:00. Either way, I write until dinner. If the dog decides she wants to walk me, I get started later, because she hasn't learned to control my leash yet, and I run wild."



Is Hollywood looking to do any more of your books for the "big screen"?

"Occasionally, they threaten to do so. Given the mess they've generally made of previous films, I'm not sure how I feel about that. Right now, nothing is due soon, and if I'm lucky, nothing will appear prior to the next asteroid striking the earth."



How much of a story do you work out ahead of time, and how much is made up as you go?

"I start with nothing except the simple premise, one or perhaps two lead characters, and a deep interest in discovering what will happen. No outlines. No notes. I just leap off a narrative cliff and hope I don't make an idiot of myself."



What writers influenced your own work?

"Number one was John D. MacDonald, the brilliant suspense writer who passed away a couple of years ago. I as crazy about such books as The Deceivers, The Damned, A Bullet for Cinderella, Cry Hard Cry Fast, On the Run and many more - including most of the Travis McGee series, not merely because they were fast-paced and exciting but because MacDonalds characters were so well drawn. I was also strongly influenced by Robert Heinlein and Charles Dickens. If I were to list all the writers who had some influence on me, we'd need four more pages for their names!"



Will you ever write a sequel to any of your novels?

"The only novel to which I've contemplated writing a sequel is Watchers, but even that might never happen. There are two basic reasons for not doing it. First, new ideas grip me, and I am more excited about those than about returning to older ideas. Second, I wouldn't want to write a half-baked sequel because that would sort of ruin everyone's memory of the first book. If there's going to be a sequel to Watchers, it has to be every bit as strong as the original, or I wouldn't want to do it. So...if one day the right idea hits me and I feel compelled to write the sequel, then I will...but not otherwise."



Do you really resemble Burt Reynolds as much as some of your pictures indicate?

"No. I actually resemble Oprah Winfrey on some days and Bart Simpson on others. I have never seen the resemblence myself but when I was younger, I was told all the time how much I looked like Mr. Reynolds. Some friends - as baffled at this as I was - thought it was funny. Then we went to a big party in Los Angeles and one of the people attending was a producer who had worked on a couple of films with Reynolds. As soon as I walked in, from accross the crowded room, he called "Burt!" and started towards me. He came within ten or twelve feet before he realized his mistake and gave me an
oh-you-are-nobody-I-spit-on-you look."



What is your favorite of your own books?

"For the longest time I said Watchers was my favorite, largely because of the lead character - Einstein. That pooch was a hard act to follow! At the moment, I think Watchers still has an edge but I'm equally happy with Intensity, Dark Rivers of the Heart, Mr. Murder, Lightning and some forthcoming books."



What is your best advice today for an aspiring writer?

"Never stop! Perseverance is as important as talent. Self doubt, while crippling, is actually healthy, and can pretty much be seen as an indication that your writing has merit; because only bad writers have no self doubt."