History, My Friend Dean Koontz and a PSA

Today in literary history: November 3, 1844: William Makepeace Thackeray completes Barry Lyndon

Yesterday I received an email from my favorite author, Dean Koontz. What? You don't believe me? You don't think a lowly bookseller warrants correspondence from a very successful author? Well, I did get one from him. Not only did I get one yesterday, but he sent me one on Wednesday, too. So there! I don't think he'll mind my sharing it as proof. Here 's what Dean had to say:

"Dear Readers,

Millions of people are being intellectually thrilled every day by Paris Hilton’s blog about the subatomic structure of the universe, and millions more are cruising for date-worthy prospects on SociopathicNarcissists.com, while still more millions are getting rich by selling forged SpongeBob SquarePants autographs on various auction sites. So when I, a mere novelist, announce that I have a new web site, www.DeanKoontz.com, I fear that I cannot compete with the sumptuous banquet of brain food that is the Internet.

Nevertheless: Hey, I’ve got a new and improved web site. On your arrival, Odd Thomas, the spirit-plagued hero of Odd Thomas and Forever Odd, will greet you himself. The new site is loaded with interviews, podcasts, videos, book excerpts, and we might even add our favorite soup recipes.

Ten Questions is a section where I regularly interact with readers in such a pleasant fashion that only rarely do groups of you show up at my house with torches and pitchforks. Starting November 29, and throughout December, there will be a new installment of this feature every Wednesday.

My dog, Trixie, has her own section, where she shares her thoughts about karma, kibble, cats, and more. She also reviews my books, and has some thoughts this month about BROTHER ODD.

The site features news about FOREVER ODD, which is on-sale in paperback this week, about ODD THOMAS, which is already in stores in a new trade paperback edition, and about BROTHER ODD, which will be published in hardcover on November 28.

If you like CSI, check it out on Thursday, November 16, at 9 p.m. EST on CBS, for the first of a series of commercials about BROTHER ODD. Others will run on the show the following two weeks. For a sneak preview on the Web, check out www.OddThomas.tv beginning November 13.

I hope you enjoy the new site, which will be updated regularly. Our goal is to surprise, inform and entertain you—while secretly profiling each of you and sharing our data with extra-terrestrial gourmets who will harvest the internal organs of those of you whom they deem .

See you on DeanKoontz.com!"

Okay, so it wasn't a personal message from the great author to me. So what. I was happy to get his news. You, too, can get emails from Dean Koontz so you can brag to your friends. All you have to do is sign up for his newsletter. (Pssst- don't you just love his take on Paris Hilton?)

Anyway, you can find Dean Koontz's Odd series of books at your local independent bookstore or on the net from a worldwide indie by searching by author and/or title at Bookfinder or ADDALL.

And... right here... right now...you can hear a clip from the audiobook Brother Odd, read by David Aaron Baker.

Dean Koontz also has a series of 8 podcasts: "Join New York Times bestselling author of VELOCITY, ODD THOMAS, and INTENSITY for his very first podcast. In these eight episodes, Dean discusses where the ideas come from, his experiences in Hollywood, and his latest novel, THE HUSBAND."

Here is today's PSA otw known as the Alibris update- from today's Seller Hub:

"SERVICE BULLETINS

November 1, 2006 — 07:12 p.m. PST

Server repaired - Still a backlog

The database server is now fixed and running normally and all services on the Seller Hub have been restored. Our systems continue to experience an unusually high volume of uploads and changes, including deletions, new additions and edits. The current backlog in processing is delaying the completion of the processing of any and all changes to your inventory. We appreciate your patience if you find that things aren't happening as quickly as they normally would. Please make a change one time, and don't try to repeat that change until you've waited at least 36 hours. We'll remove this notice when processing is back up to speed. Note that the situation is now improving, but remains an issue.

Thank you for your continued participation with Alibris."