Everyone who knows me knows that I am Dean Koontz’s #1 fan. Jennifer Herman, my dear co-worker across the cubicle would fight me on this, but don’t listen to her. She’s really only his #2 fan. I’ve been devouring his suspense novels for about fifteen years – long before I even thought about working in publishing.

This week I was so sad to find out that Dean’s beloved dog Trixie had been recently put to sleep because she was suffering from an incurable cancer. I actually cried when I read Dean on Trixie on his website.

She was a talented girl, and her monthly columns with her sweet truncated dog-speak cracked me up. You can’t help but smile when she opens with, “Cookies to you!” and closes with “Bliss to you!” Is that only funny to me because I have a very spoiled dog at home who loves cookies and is the pure essence of happiness?

Trixie was definitely a huge influence in her dad’s life, and in his writing as well. I’m looking forward to his next book, The Darkest Evening of the Year, because it features a dog rescuer and a very special golden retriever that she saves (all the while dodging murderous adversaries of course!). I’m expecting an advance reading copy to land on my desk any day now. I’ll be sure to let you know how it is! From the description, it seems that Trixie is at the heart of this book, as I’m sure she will continue to be for a long time to come in future adventures.