Ted Dekker

Ted Dekker (born October 24, 1962) is a New York Times best-selling author best known for mystery, thriller, and fantasy novels including Thr3e, Obsessed, and the Books of History Chronicles.

Biography

Dekker was born in the small village of Kanggime to John and Helen Dekker, a Dutch-Canadian and American couple of missionaries who lived among the Dani people of Netherlands New Guinea.^[2][3] The amazing circumstances where he grew up are described in Torches of Joy by his father, John Dekker.^[4] Because his parents’ work often included extended periods of time away from their children, Dekker describes his early life in a culture to which he was a stranger as both fascinating and lonely. It is this unique upbringing that forced him to rely on his own imagination to create a world in which he belonged. It was not easy growing up in Indonesia for Ted Dekker and his family, when interviewed by CNN Ted Dekker states that “I grew up in one of the darkest places in the world you can imagine, in [the] jungle, with cannibals. I know we have certain images in our mind when we talk about cannibals but we’re talking about animism, heavy spiritualism, tremendous amounts of fear,” “Co-workers of my parents were killed and eaten. By cannibals,” and “you were at threat of losing your life at any moment”.^[2]

Ted Dekker was sent off to a multicultural school off the coast of Indonesia in 1969 when he was 6. John Dekker says, “In the first month or so he heard of the killing of these colleagues we had. It was an age when he was very affected by new things and boom,”.^[2] After leaving Indonesia, Dekker graduated from a multi-cultural high school and took up permanent residence in the United States to study Philosophy and Religion at an Evangel University in Springfield, MO. Upon earning his Bachelor’s Degree, he entered the corporate world and proceeded to climb the proverbial ladder. But his personal drive left him restless and, after many successful years, he traded corporate life for wide range of entrepreneurial pursuits that included buying and selling businesses, healthcare services, and marketing.^[3]

In the early nineties while visiting a friend who had just written a book, Dekker decided to pursue a long held desire to be a novelist. Over the course of two years he wrote two full length novels before starting from scratch and rewriting both. Now fully enamored by the process and the stories, he realized that storytelling was in his blood and a new obsession to explore truth through story gripped him anew. When asked about why he got into writing and why was he not satisfied with his business career Ted Dekker replied, [[“Writing wasn’t about making money. I wanted to find fulfillment in writing and telling stories, and that’s what’s driven me” He sold his business, moved his family to the mountains of Western Colorado and began writing full-time on his third novel]].^[5] When asked about his writing background Ted Dekker states, “I studied philosophy, religious studies, and English. My training was writing four full-length novels and hiring an editor to tear them apart. I had enough money to do that, and then rewriting and rewriting and rewriting. And then sending them off, sending them off, sending them off through a agent until finally I had something like four offers from four different publishers in the same month.”^[5]

Early writing career

His first propositions to publishers were all rejected. These rejected offerings consisted of three incarnations of what would later be Black, along with To Kill with Reason. Dekker's first published work, Heaven's Wager, is a supernatural thriller that was written just after his brother's death. In 2003 Ted Dekker had written at total of seven books with three more planned to be written in the coming year.

Dekker proceeded to write 6 more supernatural thrillers, When Heaven Weeps, Thunder of Heaven, Blessed Child (with Bill Bright), A Man Called Blessed (with Bill Bright), and Blink.

In recent years, Dekker has released some of his earliest manuscripts as exclusive promotional material.^[6][7] He now lives in Austin Texas with his wife, Lee Ann and children, where Ted Dekker continues to write.

Later writing career

Thr3e (2003) was Dekker's first mainstream novel, which was later made into a 2006 film of the same name. Both have been noted for their uncanny - albeit unconnected - resemblance to the plot of the clichéd psychological thriller movie script created by the character Donald Kaufmann in the 2002 movie Adaptation.^[8][9]

Dekker went on to co-author books with other authors, including Bill Bright, Frank Peretti, Erin Healy, Carl Medearis, and Tosca Lee.

Since 2007, fans of Dekkers writing have held an annual, unofficial convention in Nashville, TN called "The Gathering." Similar events were held in 2010 in Dallas, TX and Chicago, IL. The 2012 event was delayed, then cancelled. The 2013 convention coincided with the release of "Sovereign," the conclusion of the Books of Mortals series.^[10]

Bibliography

Novels

Books of History Chronicles

The Circle Series

• Black: The Birth of Evil (February 2004, August 2009)
• Red: The Heroic Rescue (May 2004, August 2009)
• White: The Great Pursuit (September 2004, August 2009)
• Green: The Beginning and the End (September 2009)
• The Circle (2010)

The Paradise Series

• Showdown (January 2006)
• Saint (October 2006)
• Sinner (September 2008)

The Lost Books Series

• Chosen (December 2007)
• Infidel (December 2007)
• Renegade (May 2008)
• Chaos (May 2008)
• Lunatic (with Kaci Hill, May 2009)
• Elyon (with Kaci Hill, May 2009)

Other books

• House (with Frank Peretti, March 2006)
• Skin (April 2007)
• Immanuel's Veins (September 2010)
• The Blood Book (with Kevin Kaiser and Josh Olds, June 2011, promotional item no longer available)
• Genesis: The Birth of an Idea (June 2011, promotional item no longer available)

The Books of Mortals

• Forbidden (with Tosca Lee, September 2011)
• Mortal (with Tosca Lee, June 2012)
• Sovereign (with Tosca Lee, Spring 2013)

The Outlaw Series

• Eyes Wide Open (February 2013)
• Outlaw (October 2013)
• Water Walker (March 2014)
• Hacker (June 2014)

Thrillers

• Blink (January 2003, as Blink of an Eye November 2007)
• Thr3e (September 2003)
• Obsessed (February 2005)
• Adam (April 2008)
• Kiss (with Erin Healy, January 2009)
• BoneMan's Daughters (April 2009)
• Burn (with Erin Healy, January 2010)
• The Bride Collector (April 2010)
• The Priest's Graveyard (April 2011)
• The Sanctuary (October 2012)

The Caleb Series

• Blessed Child (with Bill Bright, April 2001)
• A Man Called Blessed (with Bill Bright, September 2002)

The Martyr's Song Series

• Heaven's Wager (October 2000)
• When Heaven Weeps (May 2001)
• Thunder of Heaven (February 2002)
• The Martyr's Song (2005)

Other titles

• The Promise (September 2005)
• The Drummer Boy (October 2006)
• To Kill with Reason (April 2010, promotional item no longer available)

Non-fiction

• The Slumber of Christianity: Awakening a Passion for Heaven on Earth (July 2005)
• Tea with Hezbollah (with Carl Medearis, January 2010)

Graphic novels

• Black (2007)
• Red (2007)
• White (2007)
• Chosen (2008)
• Infidel (2008)
• Green (2009)
• Renegade (2009)
• Chaos (2009)
• Lunatic (2009)
• Elyon (2009)

Upcoming

• A.D. 30 (October 2014)

References

• Squeezing the Reader’s Heart by Guthrie, Stan. Christianity Today. Oct 2005, Vol. 49 Issue 10, p. 96
• “Ted Dekker: Black, white and read.” Fowlds, Sean. Publishers Weekly 250.37 Sep 15, 2003
• “Ted Dekker’s Life.” Joshuadigangisbiggestfan.tripod.com/bio.html. Ted Dekker Fansite, 2009
• “Gossip, Scandal & Things Of The Odd Best-selling Author Shaped By Cannibals, Christiantiy.” http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/. Copyright © 2008-2009 Infinity Books Japan All Rights Reserved. This Newsletter Created Exclusively for Infinity Books Japan by Out Sourcing Pro, n. d. Web.

External links

• Official website
• Facebook
• Ted Dekker at the Internet Movie Database
• Ted Dekker Fansite
• [ Http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/.]