Here is the cover of the first issue of the 4th story arc in The Dark Tower series. This arc is called The Fall of Gilead.
A horrified Steven Deschain learns that the deadly seeing sphere called Maerlyn’s Grapefruit has been stolen from his chambers! Far worse, when he enters his wife’s rooms to arrest her for the theft, his son Roland is standing over her body with a gun in his hand. The youngest gunslinger has perhaps committed the most hideous crime of all!
The Signed Page has added an online signing with Robin Furth.
She will be signing the regular collected hardcover editions of The Gunslinger Born, The Long Road Home, and Treachery. As you might remember, Dark Tower comic book colorist Richard Isanove held an online signing for Dark Tower fans at The Signed Page, signing all seven issues of The Gunslinger Born. Robin wanted a similar way to bridge the gap between her and the fans and she thought this would be a fun way to do it.
Robin will only sign 100 copies of each hardcover arc, making this a rare opportunity for Stephen King and Dark Tower collectors.
It was confirmed today that Kindle will have an exclusive on Ur for its users first but will then release it (anywhere from 1-3 months after) as a download to the general public.
Bev Vincent reported that An Amazon official estimates that Ur would run about 100 traditional print pages, calling it a more of a novella than a story.
It is now confirmed that there will be a downloadable version of Ur released. It will be available from the Kindle site. No date has been revealed yet though.
According to Amazon.com the Kindle version will be available on February 24th but you can pre-order it here.
Here is a description of the plot:
Following a nasty break-up, lovelorn college English instructor Wesley Smith can't seem to get his ex-girlfriend's parting shot out of his head: "Why can't you just read off the computer like the rest of us?" Egged on by her question and piqued by a student's suggestion, Wesley places an order for a Kindle. The device that arrives in a box stamped with the smile logo--via one-day delivery that he hadn't requested--unlocks a literary world that even the most avid of book lovers could never imagine. But once the door is open, there are those things that one hopes we'll never read or live through. Get it only on Kindle.
New novella called Ur released later this month:
Stephen announced today that he is releasing a novella, “Ur,” which will only be available on Kindle. Ur is available for pre-order beginning today and will be released later this month. For Kindle customers who pre-order, King’s new novella will download automatically when it becomes available.
New York Comic Con is over and even though news about new King stuff isn’t flooding the net I managed to find this illustration of Morgan Sloat from The Talisman.
The limited edition of Stephen King at the Movies will be beautifully illustrated by Vincent Chong and on Subterranean Press site you can see more examples.
On King's official site you can now download the complete first issue of Captain Trips.
Marvel has announced that The Stand: Captain Trips Premiere Hardcover will be available exclusively at comic shops and TalesOfWonder.com. The highly anticipated collection includes all five issues of the first arc.
To celebrate, Marvel is offering visitors of StephenKing.com a complimentary digital version of the complete first issue. This download also includes the Captain Trips Sketch Book. - A must have file for The Stand's constant readers.
I got this interesting news from blogger Larry Fire just now:
I spoke to Stephen King’s office yesterday about the upcoming novella entitled Mortality. According to Marsha DeFilippo, Mr. King’s assistant, the story will appear this summer in Esquire magazine possibly around July. I’ll post more information when it becomes available.
Here are three upcoming books that might be of interest:
Inside the Dark Tower Series: Art, Evil and Intertextuality in the Stephen King Novels
By Patrick McAleer
Released Feb. 16
Stephen King is no stranger to the realm of literary criticism, but his most fantastic, far-reaching work has aroused little academic scrutiny. This study of King's epic Dark Tower series encompasses the career of one of the world's best-selling authors and frames him as more than a "horror writer." Four categories of analysis--genre, art, evil, and intertextuality--provide a focused look at the center of King's fictional universe. This book reaches beyond popular culture treatments of the series and examines it against King's horror work, audience expectations, and the larger literary landscape.
Stephen King (Who Wrote That?)
By Michael Gray Baughan
Released March 30
Stephen King began writing and submitting stories for publication as a young teenager. It wasn't until 1973 when he was 26 years old, however, that his first novel, "Carrie", was accepted by a publisher. By the 1980s, his books were published at a rate of at least one per year. How did King, once a struggling writer, become one of the best-selling authors of all time? "Stephen King" explores his path from a childhood of poverty to success as a screenwriter, film producer, director, and author of classics of the horror genre like "The Shining" and "Cujo".
Stephen King on the Big Screen
By Mark Browning
Released May. 15
The Shining. Carrie. Misery. These are just a few of the film adaptations that have been made from the terrifying and eerie work of novelist and short story writer Stephen King. It is nearly impossible to think of another author who has inspired so many, and such diverse filmmakers—yet there has never before been a work by a film specialist that focused solely on Stephen King. Mark Browning, in Stephen King on the Big Screen, takes a film-by-film approach to exploring why some adaptations of King’s work are more successful than others.
Browning discusses every single film adaptation given a global cinematic release—including films by such well-known directors as Stanley Kubrick, George A. Romero, and David Cronenberg. His is the first book to consider in detail Sleepwalkers, Dreamcatcher, and 1408 as well as the much-neglected portmanteau films and touchstones like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. In a highly readable and engaging style, Browning examines how different film directors have interpreted and translated the original literary texts into a new medium. Throughout, he reveals the elements of style and approach that have helped make King one of the world’s best-selling authors.
Today Del Ray announced who's doing what with The Talisman comic. Here are their press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
DEL REY ANNOUNCES CREATIVE TEAM ON
STEPHEN KING AND PETER STRAUB’S THE TALISMAN
NEW YORK, NY – February 2, 2009 – Del Rey, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today the adaptor and artist on the comic book and graphic novel versions of The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.
The book will be penciled and inked by Tony Shasteen, who has been an illustrator since 1995. His clients have included Coca-Cola, Nascar, Hasbro, DC Comics, Wildstorm, Top Cow, Dark Horse, Virgin, Boom Studios, and Image Comics, among many others. Tony illustrated Image Comic’s The Occult Crimes Taskforce (The O.C.T.), co-created by David Atchison and Rosario Dawson. Film rights to The O.C.T. are in development with Dimension Films.
It will be scripted by Robin Furth, who co-writes Marvel’s bestselling Dark Tower comics taking place in King’s Dark Tower Universe. The Gunslinger Born – the first of the Dark Tower series – was nominated for both an Eisner and a Harvey award. Robin has written “Satana and The Electric Pentacle” for Marvel’s Legion of Monsters and has adapted Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Lords of Avalon series to comic book form. She worked as Stephen King’s research assistant between 2000 and 2004 and continues to do freelance work for the Master of Horror.
Lettering and project management will be handled by Dabel Brothers Publishing. The first issue of the monthly comic is planned for early fall 2009.
Originally published in 1984, The Talisman is the story of a young teen named Jack Sawyer, who can save his dying mother only by retrieving a magical talisman. To find it he must cross back and forth between our world and the frightening and dangerous landscape of its “twinner” counterpart. Both The Talisman and its sequel, Black House, are in print with Ballantine Books. Television rights to The Talisman are under development by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. He is the recipient of the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
Peter Straub is the author of 17 novels which have been translated into more than 20 languages. He has won numerous awards for his work, including the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, for Koko.
ABOUT DEL REY:
Del Rey Books (http://www.delreybooks.com) was founded in 1977 as an imprint of Ballantine Books, a division of the Random House Publishing Group, under the guidance of the renowned Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband, Lester del Rey. Del Rey publishes the best of modern fantasy, science fiction, and alternate history. No stranger to comics, Del Rey launched Del Rey Manga in 2004 in conjunction with Japanese publisher Kodansha, and quickly began to acquire original graphic novel projects as well. Current and upcoming projects include a four-color graphic novel developed with pop singer Avril Lavigne, Make 5 Wishes; the graphic novel In Odd We Trust, by Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan; the first-ever graphic novel set in the world of Terry Brooks' Shannara universe, Dark Wraith of Shannara; original manga starring Marvel characters in X-Men: Misfits and Wolverine: Prodigal Son; and a four-color original graphic novel set in the Outlander universe, scripted by author Diana Gabaldon herself.
Mike Perkins writes on the official Stephen King message board:
That's right....this week sees the release of the fifth issue of Marvel's adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand.
This was my favourite issue to illustrate so far. It's the FLAGG issue, of course.
Need I say more?!
By the way - next weekend ( Feb 6th-8th) I'll be attending the New York Comic Convention where I'll be chatting, sketching and selling pages of artwork - Stand pages among them - including all the pages from Issue 5. If you're in the area please pop by and say hello.
Under the Dome on YouTube? Here is the full USA Weekend article:
Stephen King has gone multimedia. "N.," one of the tales in the best-selling author's latest short story collection, "Just After Sunset," was turned into an original Web video series in conjunction with Marvel Comics. The collaboration has inspired King, 61; he's thinking about doing a YouTube video for his novel "Under the Dome," out later this year. Such projects are definitely fun, King says. "But with all these multimedia things, the story is the story still, the book is the book, and that's the source material. As J.R.R. Tolkien might say, 'That's the one ring.' It rules the other one."
Here is the full cover for the limited edition of The Stand: Captain Trips in hardback. And if you order it over at Overlook Connection Dave will you 10% off. Just give him the coupon code LiljaStand when you order.
Marvel has just announce it’s release of the hardcover of The Stand: Captain Trips. The difference this time is that it will be sold exclusively to direct market retailers.
Here is Marvle’s press release:
Marvel is proud to announce the highly-anticipated The Stand: Captain Trips Premiere Hardcover, collecting the first critically-acclaimed graphic fiction adaptation of Stephen King’s seminal novel, will be released EXCLUSIVELY to direct market retailers on March 10th at a special Stand Advance Release Opening at 9pm local time. This hardcover collects the entire The Stand: Captain Trips limited series by the superstar creative team of writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four, Angel: Revelations),Eisner-nominated artist Mike Perkins (Captain America, House of M: Avengers) and Eisner-winning colorist Laura Martin (Astonishing X-Men) with two stunning covers—one by the red-hot Lee Bermejo and a limited edition gatefold cover by Perkins. King fans should know that both editions are available ONLY in comic shops across the country, and through online comics and collected editions sellers.
In the tradition of Civil War and Secret Invasion, The Stand: Captain Trips Premiere HC will debut amid a flurry of mainstream and hobby market press, with Marvel providing retailers an array of complimentary promotional tools.
“Marvel is excited to present this unique opportunity to our partners in the direct market who’ve helped make The Stand such a success,” explained David Gabriel, Marvel Senior Vice President of Sales. “We appreciate their overwhelming support for The Stand: Captain Trips and want to thank them with the option of either the regular cover or the limited edition gatefold cover.”
How is this for cool news? In the last issue of Captain Trips (issue #4) one of the store signs says Lilja's Library. Click on the page to see it in a bigger version.
It looks like The Shawshank Redemption will become a stage play...
A new stage version of Stephen King's 'The Shawshank Redemption' will have its world premiere in Dublin in May.
Adapted by Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns from King's novella 'Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption', the production will be directed by Peter Sheridan.
'The Shawshank Redemption' will open at the Gaiety Theatre on Tuesday, 19 May with previews from Thursday, 14 May.
Full cast details will be announced in early 2009.
King has written an very short obituary on Michael Crichton for EW's Best of 2008 issue (12/26/08-1/2/09). It appears on page 71.
As a pop novelist, he was divine. A Crichton book was a headlong experience driven by a man who was both a natural storyteller and fiendishly clever when it came to verisimilitude; he made you believe that cloning dinosaurs wasn't just over the horizon but possible tomorrow. Maybe today.
Crichton, 66, died after a battle with throat cancer in L.A.
There will be an advanced release variant edition of the first issue of American Nightmare that will only be sold at the midnight release of the issue. More info to come.
It looks like there will be a readin of Blaze in the UK:
BBC Radio 7 (uk) is doing a six part series of Stephen King's Blaze. "George is dead - but he's got a con job for Blaze, who can still hear him. William Hope reads Stephen King's 'lost' thriller."
This series starts on Monday the 29th of December 2008 at 9:30am (GMT). Other times are listed at the site below.
If you would like to listen to this series, here is the link to the BBC iplayer worldwide)
Or you could watch Via Digital Television (in the UK):
All the BBC's national radio services are available via digital satellite television. Satellite services are available from Sky or Freesat. The Sky EPG No for BBC Radio 7 is 0131 and for Freesat it is 708.
All BBC national digital radio services are available on Freeview digital television through an aerial. Freeview EPG No. for BBC Radio 7 is 708.
And in some areas via digital cable television. Virgin TV EPG No. for BBC Radio 7 is 910.