The First Fifty Pages Podcast, No Kittens Harmed: A Conversation with Dean Koontz

On the The First Fifty Pages podcast, international Bestselling master of suspense Dean Koontz joined Kelsey Patterson and Jenn Delperdang from the Sioux City Public Library, to talk about his journey as an author, the writers who cultivated his love of reading, and his new novel, Quicksilver.   

“They tried to call me a horror writer for a long time, and I resisted strenuously because I’m not a guy who writes gore…The way to get around that was, ‘uh yeah, okay – I’ll let you put that suspense brand on me if you want, but then I’m going to do all these other things.’  There were moments when I was told this will destroy your career,” said Koontz.  

“A thing I think about with young people – we’re living in a world where there’s a lot of forces that say there’s really no such thing as evil…I come from a different perspective – there is good and there is evil, and I think young people need to be able to have the tools to recognize the difference.”  

Is there a memoir soon to come? After more than 50 years in the business and over 500 million books sold, we find out that Dean Koontz is still full of surprises!  

The First Fifty Pages is a collaboration between the Sioux City Public Library and Sioux City’s local NPR station, KWIT-KOJI. Hosts Kelsey Patterson and Jenn Delperdang interview authors, discuss what they’re reading, what’s popular in our community, and what’s happening at the Library. Who knows, they might even help you find your next great read! Highlighting the amazing work that libraries do, this podcast is not to be missed.  

Find it on your podcast provider or visit kwit.org/podcast/first-fifty to listen online.  

The First Fifty Pages is produced by Siouxland Public Media.