The Virtual Koontz

I got rather excited when I “met” with Dean Koontz at the London Book Fair via Margaret Atwood’s LongPen device. Meeting Koontz via the Internet and getting a book signed by him was a real thrill, coupled with actually talking to him about his work. I wrote about the experience a few days ago at The Rap Sheet.

It turns out that Koontz has a fear of flying. Due to this phobia, and his prolific output, he has really taken Internet communication to a new level. He recently appeared at a reading at SecondLife. Rather, Koontz himself did not appear, but his avatar showed up in his place.

“I wanted to thank all of you who attended,” Koontz said after the event, “in the book shop or at one of the affiliated sites -- and to also thank you for posing some interesting, provocative and some downright funny questions. I hope you continue to enjoy my work, and I look forward to the publication of The Good Guy in late May. Thanks again for helping me enjoy my Second Life.”

There are more details about Koontz’s avatar here and here.

With more than 240 million copies of his work in print, encompassing 73 novels, I wonder if his avatar will start writing at anytime soon ...

You can read more about my adventures at the 2007 London Book Fair here. A London Book Fair slide show is here and video footage is here and here. And GalleyCat’s take on the whole LBF thing can be read here.