Dean Koontz on gardening

I just read this on his website' Q&A section at http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/koontz/meet_qa/may_2006.html and thought you all might enjoy it, too.

Q #1: I just read the advance proof of THE HUSBAND. Wow! INTENSITY moved fast, VELOCITY was fast, but this is a rocket. Fantastic! I adore Mitch. And Holly is a fabulous role-model. All the beautiful references to nature. Do you really know so much about flowers and trees? Will you re-do my yard? —Carmen, Connecticut

A: Thanks for the effusive review, Carmen. Your check is in the mail. I’ve been interested in landscape design for at least thirty years. When we landscaped our current home, we had to import 240 trees, large and small, because the land was bare. Gerda and I visited nurseries and selected each specimen, which probably sounds insufferably boring to some folks, but we had a great time. I’m particularly familiar with Pacific Coast and Southwest plants. Last year I received a letter from a guy—let’s call him Grump—who said he was sick of encountering bougainvillea in so many of my novels. Bougainvillea is a vine with showy, colorful flowers, cascades of dazzling flowers. We don’t have any bougainvillea at our place because it grows faster than weeds and is very difficult to keep under control, but I enjoy it on other people’s properties. Grump said the word bougainvillea and the thought of it repelled him every time he encountered it. “By God,” he said, “if you don’t stop using it in your novels, I’ll stop reading them.” After advising him to seek psychiatric care, I looked over the manuscript of THE HUSBAND, discovered I hadn’t yet used the word bougainvillea, and at once added it to Chapter 23.

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*Chuckling*

I've noticed the plant references in his books. It's cool to read about how he and his wife enjoyed picking out plants together.

This message was edited Jun 21, 2006 1:56 AM

LOL Love it! Makes me want to write a paragraph about bougainvillea :-)

lol .. that's funny.

X

Anne Rice also used to use a lot of Bougainvilla references to her novels...in fact, taht is why I bought my frist one! LOL! Now that she has returned to her Catholic roots and stopped writing abut vampires and witches, I doubt if I will read any mroe of her books.

Too bad...she used to throw huge Halloween parties in her old mansion in New Orleans (with the bougainvillea dripping off the back porch!). I used to know a lady whose son was a friend of Anne's. He took his mom to one of the Hallowen parties....she said she was mad at herself for not bringing her camera. Most of the people there were authors or Hollywood types (writers, producers, directors, actors) and they all came up with some WILD costumes!

I figure a talented writer can spin a good tale nomatter what vantage point she's coming from. Don't give up on her just yet. ;)