Can You Handle Being Called Crazy? Can You Handle Being Called Stupid? Can You Handle Being Called Crazy Stupid?! 🤣

Lynx said:

I dunno... Solomon was the wisest person ever and he said everything in life is pure worthless.

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seoulsearch said:

"Intensity" is definitely one of his most popular books, though I have to admit, that one didn't resonate with me as much.

For those who haven't read "Intensity," it's the story of a young woman who, by chance, comes across a serial killer. She has a chance to escape his clutches and walk away without him knowing, but when she overhears that he is holding a young girl prisoner in an unknown location, she fears authorities won't find her in time, and stows away in his motor home to try to rescue the girl herself.

Mr. Koontz's stories always have an element of hope, usually in the form of good people who are willing to take on evil, even if it costs them everything.

Here are two passages from other recent reads that really got to me.

"Saint Odd" -- A young man is trying to stop a ruthless cult from endangering his home town. He has an older female benefactor who is like an aunt to him, and this is how her face is described:

"Her soft skin hadn't wrinkled randomly, hadn't puckered her face in unflattering ways; every line seemed to have been designed to maintain a gentle and genteel countenance and to have been executed by a seamstress to royalty."

As a woman who is getting a bit older herself and who has dabbled in sewing all her life, I loved this description!

And this is probably my most favorite line I've ever read in a non-Biblical book:

"The House at the End of the World" has a chapter titled, "An Artist is a Mathematician Who Knows the Formulas of the Soul."

I get chills every time I read it.

I wish I could find this passage made into a beautiful painting in a home goods store, so I could display it in my home.

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seoulsearch said:

Oh my goodness!!

I had no idea when his birthday was!!! What kind of crazed and obsessive fan am I if I don't even know Mr. Koontz's birthday?!

I'll have to include a joke about that in my thank-you letter (thank you, Magenta!) which is currently up to 6 pages.

One of the things I learned when I wrote prison inmates -- often ones with LWOP (life without parole and no hope of ever getting out) -- is that they really liked hearing about everyday life. So I learned to take everyday events, whether at work, church, or going to the grocery store -- weave in a little humor, and tell them like a story. This is why my letters -- and my posts -- are so long. It's a skill set I'm always testing out and trying to hone.

In my thank-you letter to Mr. Koontz, I mention that I was hoping to find a thank-you card with a dog on it, particularly a golden retriever. The Koontz's are big supporter of an organization that trains and provides service dogs to the differently-abled, and have adopted 3 goldens who had "career changes" (had to leave the program for various reasons.)

They believe their first dog especially was a direct gift from God.

So I wrote about my frustration in finding that EVERY OTHER kind of card seemed to have dogs on them -- birthday cards. Graduation cards. Save-The-Whales cards. But not a single thank-you card with a dog!! Then I wrote, "Ok, so I didn't REALLY see a 'Save-The-Whales card with a DOG on it, but it sure did FEEL that way!"

I'll be sure to include that I must be a pretty lousy obsessive fan since I didn't even realize that Mr. Koontz's birthday had just passed -- and that maybe I SHOULD have picked up one of those birthday cards with a dog on it after all.

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