Favourite Book

Favorite novel: "The Mind Parasites" by Colin Wilson. (Very thought provoking)

Also liked: "Macroscope" by Piers Anthony

If they don't get the chemistry between Bryson and Katz right, the story will be ruined.

Haha. Tell you what. If I wasn't already a fan of TheGMa, mention of Lovecraft and Saki would make me one. Let's put it this way: I appreciate their contributions - just like I do Stoker, Poe, Shelley, Jackson, Ellison, Kafka, Bradbury, James, Golding, Bloch, Orwell, Matheson, and a bunch of others - and I've soaked up my fair share from them (translation: often liberated what could be liberated without it being out-and-out theft, much like King with Lovecraft, Matheson, and Stoker), but when it comes to pure popcorn eating consumption, and if you put a rusty blade to my genitals, I really would have to reach for one of those three books. King, for instance, growing up in the '50s, was strongly influenced by the writers of his generation, or at least the writers being read by his generation; those chaps as well as all those wonderfully lurid horror and sci-fi comics and weekend sci-fi matinees at the theatre. I'm no different in that sense: a product of my generation, but in my case inspired by '70s and '80s horror films. There are times, though, when I need to read the old masters. Sometimes I'll be writing a short set around their period and I'll need to brush up my syntax; other times, it'll just be a need to experience what only they can give me; the beautiful prose of Shelley, the beautiful imagery of Stoker and Lovecraft.

I used to love Koontz. He was my go-to writer after King. These days? Not so much. Back when he was putting out works like Midnight, Lightning, Phantoms, The Funhouse, Whispers, Strangers, so on and so on, he was my popcorn. Then around the time of Mr. Murder (early '90s) he stopped being popcorn and felt more like a meal I had to spend 3 hours preparing, and really, I have no love for the kitchen, only what comes out of it. In the past 10 years or so, I've started more of his books than I've finished. King, likewise, much as he remains my favourite author, has never delivered the magic he did in the '70s and '80s. He stopped taking drugs - or at least slowed down - shortly after The Dark Half (much due to the fact that he couldn't and still can't remember writing a word of it) and since then the magic - though it pains me to say it - just isn't there. Not that I wish he resume drug-taking. Part of it, I think, was the accident, the other part something equally out of his control: time. He's matured as a writer and likely has no desire to produce the popcorn I used to love (It, Carrie, The Shining), and, and I'm sure he'd admit this himself, perhaps the ability to do so has gone rusty beyond repair. We're each born with a novel in us. Some lucky people are born with some great ones. But one day you wake up and you find the old car just hasn't got as much gas as it used to. On that day - I imagine - you realize you're coasting.

- Tom