A Writer's Tale

July A VERY IMPORTANT EVENT!!!! Dean Koontz recommended me to his agent, Bob Tanner of International Scripts in London. Not only did Dean promote me to Bob, but he knew how strapped we were, and he actually mailed the manuscript of Tread Softly to England. Thanks again, Dean. And thanks again to Bob Tanner for taking me on as a client and turning my career around.

Aug. 4 I wrote a letter to Jay Garon, expressing my wish to no longer be represented by his UK subagent, Abner Stein. Aside from the problems of payments being withheld (which might not have been Abner Stein’s fault), I was being soaked for 30% agent fees between the two of them.

Aug. 17 I wrote a letter to Jay Garon, firing him. I fired him mostly because of the way he’d kept my payments for such long periods of time. But also because he seemed to consider me a loose cannon for raising a stink about it. (If I’d really been a loose cannon, I would’ve filed criminal charges against him for embezzlement. One of his other clients, John Grisham, did sue Garon’s estate for similar practices.) Dec. 3 At Computer land, I bought my first computer, a Compaq Deskpro. It had no hard drive, and ran off a pair of 5” floppy disks.

1986

Jan. 25 I started a new novel with the working title, Parasite. Later, I changed the title to Snatcher, and it was eventually published as Flesh.

Jan. 31 Over at the Law Offices of Hughes and Crandall, where I continued my full-time employment, I received a raise to $10 per hour.

March 3 I wrote a letter to the agent, Sterling Lord, hoping he might take me on as a client. He wouldn’t.

April 23 Ann and I, along with Robert Bloch and his wife, were guests for a dinner given by Tor (in Long Beach) to launch its new horror series. I got to meet Thomas Doherty, a very cool guy. I also got to listen to quips by Robert Bloch who was nothing if not a quipster.

May 20 I finished the first draft of Flesh.

May 25 In hopes of starting a new career as a suspense writer (with a pseudonym) I started working on a new novel, Intruder.

June 24 Ed Gorman called, wanting to interview me for his magazine, Mystery Scene. It was the start of an on-going telephonic friendship with Ed that continues to this day.

June 27 I went to a Tor party at writer Bill Relling’s place. The shock of the evening was being approached by a wildly enthusiastic fan who seemed ecstatic about meeting me. He introduced himself as Ray Garton. I soon became a big fan of his, and remain his friend and fan to this day.

July Ray Puechner took me on as a client of his literary agency.

Aug. 22 On a driving trip through up-state New York and Vermont, Ann and Kelly and I visited Howe Caverns (near Cooperstown, NY). While on the cave tour, I was struck by the idea for Midnight’s Lair.

Sept. 5 I started writing a short novel for young adults called, Night Skater.

Sept. 22 I finished the first draft of Night Skater. Oct. 6 My novel, Alarms, was rejected by Berkley.

Oct. 13 I saw my first copy of Tor’s Night Show in a Culver City Crown bookstore.

Oct. 28 I started working on my new novel, Cavern, which would become Midnight’s Lair.

Nov. 17 The great Bob Tanner made my first hardbound sale, Tread Softly, to W.H.

Allen. Because New English Library was still bringing out some paperbacks, we decided to use the pseudonym, Richard Kelly, for Tread Softly.

Nov. 25 I finished Intruder, a suspense novel which has so far not been published.

Dec. 22 Ray Peuchner called to inform me that he had sold The Cellar, Beast House and Beware! to Paperjacks. It was lousy money, a total of $5,000 for the bunch but better than nothing.

1987

Jan. 13 I mailed my suspense novel Intruder to my agents, Bob Tanner in UK and Ray Peuchner in the US.

Feb. 9 My novel, Intruder, was rejected by Warner Books.

Feb. 12-16 Ann, Kelly and I went on a trip to Bullhead City, where we stayed with our friends Frank, Kathy and Leah De Laratta. During the visit, we explored the nearby desert, visited ruins and ghost towns. The area would soon provide the inspiration for the background setting, some plot elements, and a character or two for my novel, The Stake.

Feb. 20-22 I worked on my essay, “In the Midst of Life,” about Dean Koontz for Bill Munster’s book, Sudden Fear.

Feb. 26 Tor offered me $7,500 for Flesh.

March 5 Over problems with the Tor contract, I ended my brief time as a client of Ray Peuchner.

March 9 I received and rejected the Flesh contract from Tor. The terms on paper were different and worse than I’d been told on the phone. (Lesson: believe nobody. Always read your contracts.)

March 14 I finished writing Cavern, which would later be published as Midnight’s Lair.