One of the more prolific writers of this generation comes in the person of Dean Koontz. Dean Koontz was born on July 9, 1945 in Pennsylvania. His Pseudonyms include Aaron Wolfe, Brian Coffey, David Axton, Deanna Dwyer, John Hill, K.R. Dwyer, Leigh Nichols, Leonard Chris, Owen West, and Richard Paige. He has a lot of pseudonyms because he doesn't want his readers to have some sort of expectation when they pick up a book. Koontz is a novelist, a short story writer, and a screenwriter. Most of his works fall under the horror, suspense, and science fiction genre. He has gotten a lot of his influence from people like Stephen King, John D. MacDonald, Charles Dickens, Walker Percy, James M. Cain, C. S. Lewis, T. S. Eliot, James Kirkwood, William Goldman, Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, and Elmer Kelton. Another solid influence for Dean was his background while he was growing up. Dean did not have a good childhood. He grew up in poverty and he lived under the tyranny of an alcoholic father. He knew the meaning of fear and intimidation early on. Living in such a place is terrifying already. Even with such a background, Dean sent himself to the Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. When he finished school, he worked at the Mechanicsburg High School. This was where he wrote his first novel, Star Quest. It was published in 1968. During the seventies, Koontz published a lot of mainstream horror. During the eighties, he published a breakthrough novel entitled Whispers. As of today, a lot of Koontz's work made it to number one on the New York Times Bestseller List. Ten hard covers and thirteen paperbacks by Koontz made it to number one, and still counting. Koontz lives in California with his wife Gerda. They have a dog named Trixie.