During the reading at Battersea Park King gave the audience a real surprice. He got a question about if he’ll ever wrier under a pen name again and answered by saying that there are one more Bachman book that he found in the basement. He didn’t say anything about a release date but it’s suposedley written back in 1973.
King’s reading at Battersea Park in London is over. King was first interviewed for about 45 minits. Then he read two sections from Lisey’s Story and answered questions that the reader of The Times had sent in through their site.
King then ended the the whole thing by signing books for a lot of happy fans.
In just a few hours I’m leaving for London to cover King’s visit there. I’m going to try (depending on if I can get my hands on a computer with Internet access) to keep you up to date on everything that’s happening there. Believe me, it will be a very interesting few days so check back often.
Here is a teaser of Willa from Playboy. Please be ware that there are semi-nude women if you follow this link. Click on the Get a FREE PREVIEW link to get there.
A poster at TheDarkTower.net said that King was asked about a third book in the Talisman series. I assume it was at one of the readings he has done in the US.
King replied that yes he has spoken with Straub. At the end of Black House Jack is dying in our world and goes to the territories. King sees a story where Jack has to return to our world, must only do so in brief periods as it accelerates his death. In King’s words: “sort of a ‘24’ thing”.
Here are some news about The Dark Tower Comic. Seems the first issue will be out on February 7. On-Sale Date Set for The Dark Tower Comic
The latest news from Marvel is that the first issue of The Dark Tower comics will be on-sale on February 7, 2007.
The Dark Tower Sketchbook, featuring character designs, penciled pages, commentary, and a primer on the world of the Dark Tower, will be available free at your local Marvel retailer on December 13, 2006.
For more information about the sketchbook, please Click Here .
Seems Gerald's Game might be up for the movies...
Craig R Baxley (Kingdom Hospital, Storm of the Century) hopes to direct a film version of Stephen King's 1992 Gerald's Game starring Nicole Kidman, adapted by King himself.
Here is a remainder that it’s only one week left to order your copy of the limited edition of The Green Mile if you want to get your name in it. Read more over at www.subterraneanpress.com.
Noah posted this on SKEMERs from King's reading in NY:
Anyway, the actual reading and interview was great. John Connolly was funny and engaging. King said that he has a rough manuscript of a new novel completed, and spoke about an idea he had for another novel: a man and his wife are driving on the Interstate late at night. They pull into a rest stop, and the wife asks the husband to go inside and buy her a soda. As the husband crosses the parking lot, a man gets out of the only other car parked at the rest stop and approaches the husband with a map. He asks the husband for directions, and as the husband bends to look at the map, the guy shoots him in the head. Another man, meanwhile, had circled the car and now holds the wife at gunpoint. The guy with the map comes over and removes the couples' baby from the back seat. They say to the wife, "You will do exactly what we tell you to do, or in 24 hours we will put your baby in a microwave oven and cook him." King described the wife as "the perfect guided missile."
Mick Garris has been interviewed by Bloody Disgusting and here are some interesting news about Bag of Bones and From A Buick 8
BD: You are quickly becoming The King of the Stephen King miniseries – any more coming up?
MG: We’re looking at “Bag of Bones” as well as “From A Buick 8” – there’s a character in that one named after my wife, who played the dead woman in Room 237 in “The Shining”. It would be a lot of fun if Cynthia were to play a character named after her. And Eli Roth is still going to be adapting “Cell” for the big screen.
I checked with Garris and he wanted me to tell you that they don't have either project set up yet, but that they are pursuing them.
It seems the signing in London on November 8 has been canceled. It’s gone on the list of signings on King’s official site and this explanation was given on the message board:
Yes, that book signing has been removed. I had misunderstood that it was a "done deal" as it was on the list but hadn't actually been finalized. Hodder decided to do a radio program instead on that date.
King will be on TV tomorrow. This is from the official site.
Stephen will be appearing on Good Morning America Wednesday, October 25th between 8:15 AM and 8:45 AM Est.
Here are the correct answer for Sunday’s question in the Lisey’s Story contest:
Question: Is Lisey’s Story Mark Stutzman’s favorite of all the covers he has done for King’s books. Answer: No (his favorite is Everything’s Eventual)
And the winners are… Melissa Mary Allyn from the US (an audio copy), Jamin Laney from the US (an audio copy) and Krista Tom from the Netherlands (a UK hardback) and Josef Klein from Germany (a US hardback), Congratulations!
Here are the correct answer for Friday and Saturday’s question in the Lisey’s Story contest. Due to some technical difficulties I didn’t get the winners for Friday’s contest out in time so therefore you’ll get both day’s winners now.
Before I give you the winners though I want to remind you that you have to subscribe to my newsletter to have the chance to win. During the drawing of these 7 winners I had to disqualify 3 entries because they wasn’t resisted to the newsletter or had given a different e-mail address. So, make sure you subscribe and give the right mail in the entry.
FRIDAY Question: An excerpt from Lisey’s Story was first published in 2004. Where? Answer: McSweeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories.
And the winners are… Sebastiaan Rutten from the Netherlands (an audio copy), Peter Hunt from the US (an audio copy) and Alex Michielon from the Australia (a UK hardback), Congratulations!
SATURDAY Question: How many days did it take for Lilja’s Library to get 1,000,000 hits? Answer: March15th 1999 – October 14th 2006. That is 2771 days.
And the winners are… Vince Sonnenberg from the US (an audio copy), Per Andersson from Sweden (an audio copy), Kelly Bridges from the US (a UK hardback) and Frank Hill from the UK (a US hardback), Congratulations!
The Times has launched their Stephen King special to celebrate that King will soon be in the UK for the first time in 8 years. On their site they have a lot of interesting stuff and if you head over there you’ll find the two first chapters of Lisey’s Story, a podcast and more.
Here are the correct answer for Thursday’s question in the Lisey’s Story contest:
Question: Who narrates the audio edition of Lisey’s Story? Answer: Mare Winningham.
And the winners are… Robin Wallace from the US (an audio copy), Ewald Schattenberg from the Netherlands (an audio copy) and Hannah Beck from the US (a UK hardback), Congratulations!
Here are the correct answer for Wednesday’s question in the Lisey’s Story contest:
Question: Lisey’s Story is bringing King on a promotion tour to the UK. What book was he there to promote last time he was there? Answer: Bag of Bones (back in 1998)
And the winners are… Clifton Cross from the US (an audio copy), Fred Pellerito from the US (an audio copy) and Jeremy Guerineau from France (a UK hardback), Congratulations!
Moriarty from Ain't It Cool News have some really cool news about the upcoming movie version of The Mist. Yesterday he got the following message from Frank Darabont himself.
Quote from Frank Darabont
"Doing THE MIST is a delight for me on a number of levels. For starters, I've always loved horror as a genre. Not so much the slasher thing, that got tired very quickly in my view, but from my earliest recollection I grew up loving movies that sought to scare the crap out of me, starting with the classic Universal monsters. Well, of course, that love of the genre is what led me to Stephen King's works in the first place, isn't it? So it's time to repay that debt and try to scare the crap out of an audience myself. With Steve's great story, and a little luck, I'm hoping to do just that.
“Another reason is, it's a project Stephen King and I have been talking about doing for almost twenty years now, since I first got to know and become friends with the man. In fact, it almost was my first directing project many years ago, but I went classy and did THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION instead. But THE MIST never went away; it's been lurking out there calling my name for a long, long time...and it's time to answer the call; it's time to get down and dirty and make a nasty little character-driven gut-punch horror movie. It's one of Stephen King's most legendary shorter works, very well known by his fans. Marsha in King’s office tells me it's the number one question asked by his fans when they write to his website (which she runs): when's THE MIST going to be made as a film? Well, I've always wanted to make my low-budget horror movie, so here we go. In a very real sense, I have to thank Danny Boyle, a man I've never met, but whose example in making 28 DAYS LATER really encouraged me. I saw that film, loved it, and thought: Well, why the hell not? Why not go make your scary little movie, shoot it fast, have some fun?
“That segues to the final reason I'm so looking forward to doing this. In a sense, doing a film like THE MIST is like putting myself into film school and learning a whole new approach to what I do. I had a foretaste of that earlier this year when I had the privilege of directing an episode of THE SHIELD for my friend Shawn Ryan. It was a seven-day shoot, fast-fast-fast, and I have to say there was something wildly liberating about shooting that way...it was an opportunity to put aside my reverence for Kubrickian elegance for a moment (and the painstaking approach it entails) and shoot fast and loose instead, do a real seat-of-the-pants style that embraces the ragged edges as virtues instead of avoiding them as sins. I'd say that if directing something like THE GREEN MILE is the equivalent of conducting a huge symphony orchestra playing Beethoven's Ninth in perfect tune, then directing something like THE SHIELD is the equivalent of jumping up on a small stage and playing with a small jazz combo and not caring if you miss a few notes -- in fact, missing some notes is kind of the point, isn't it? I want to take what I learned doing THE SHIELD and apply it to a feature film, and THE MIST is the perfect venue for that kind of in-your-face, in-the-moment energy. So one might say that if I've been going to film school this year, and if THE SHIELD was my mid-term, then THE MIST will be my class thesis. I can always go back to being the elegant guy later.”
A new Dollar Baby has seen the light. It’s a version of King’s story Popsy by Brian Haynes. It will be shown in the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival on Oct. 18, and the NYC Horror Film Festival on Oct. 20 where it’s been nominated for Best Short, Actor, Screenplay, Cinematography, Special FX, and the Audience Award.
Here are some good news from Cemetery Dance:
Have you ever heard of "My Little Serrated Security Blanket" by Stephen King? It's a very rare essay King wrote over a decade ago, and most fans have never had a chance to read it... until now!
That's right! Stephen King has just granted permission for "My Little Serrated Security Blanket" to appear in our special deluxe edition of Stephen King: The Non-Fiction! Our designer is working hard at this very moment on a re-design of the book so we can include this entertaining and difficult to find article!
Here is your chance to get your name in a King book...
Amazing Stephen King News:
Ten years ago, Stephen King introduced the world to the men who walked The Green Mile, to Eduard Delacroix, Arlen Bitterbuck, William Wharton, and the gentle, tragic, John Coffey. Now King invites you to walk The Mile with them.
To celebrate the 10th anniversary edition of The Green Mile from Subterranean Press, everyone who orders the commemorative multi-volume set (any version) direct from Subterranean will find their names included in a special section included at the end of Volume Six -- "Those Who Walked the Green Mile" -- that lists all those who met their end seated in Ol' Sparky.
This is an unprecedented, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime chance to have your name included in a Stephen King book, just one more reason to treasure this masterpiece, newly illustrated by Mark Geyer.
If you've already ordered this special edition, you're already on the list. But there's always room on The Mile for one more set of feet.
So come take a walk with Stephen King, and place your preorder for the Gift Edition. You'll go down in history...and live to tell the tale.
Here are the latest news about The Mist:
Fango was there to grill [Thomas Jane] for some more specifics about THE MIST. “The script is done,” he tells us. “It has been for a bit now, and it looks like it might be over at Dimension—so there’s your scoop!” Asked if Darabont plans to lens the film in black and white (an approach that it was rumored he would take at one time, to recall the creature features of the ’50s), Jane says, “Nah, this is gonna be all-color and pretty amazing. I can’t wait.”
So, it has finally happened. We have hit the 1,000,000th hit. It’s a little sad that it didn’t happen on Friday the 13th but October 14th isn’t so bad either.
Now that we got the 1,000,000th hit we can also pick the winner of the 1,000,000th hit contest. Here are all the right answers:
Question 1: What was the color of the text and the background on the first layout of Lilja’s Library? Answer 1: Red text black background
Question 2: What is the name and occupation of Lilja’s Library’s mascot? Answer 2: Marv - The Library Policeman
Question 3: What date to you think the 1,000,000th visitor will stop by at Lilja’s Library? Answer 3: October 14th 2006
The winner of a first edition of The Stand is… Luca Gnuva from Italy. Congratulations!
From King's official site:
New Short Story Release
Stephen’s new fiction short story “Willa” will be published in the December issue of Playboy, on newsstands November 10th. - Synopsis: "It's a love story set in the middle of nowhere."
Here is more info about the last of the signings King will do in the UK during his tour there in November. Wednesday 8th November
1-2 PM Signing at Waterstones, Leadenhall Market, London
Here is some good news about Duma Key:
According to King's message board moderator, King has finished the first draft of Duma Key and will revise it after he gets it back from his editors.
Is The Mist finally happening?
In a movie round-up article at MTV, Thomas Jane (Dreamcatcher) says, "Frank Darabont and I are supposed to be doing Stephen King's The Mist."
No schedule or anything, but it's the first indication that someone beyond Darabont is attached to the project.
Seams King will be publishing Willa before the year is over.
"Willa", the short story SK introduced at an appearance earlier this year, will be published in the December issue of Playboy.
Page 176 of the current (November) issue has the following (possible spoilers):
Willa-Master of suspense Stephen King returns with a chilling page-turner. When a derailment leaves train passengers stranded in the middle of nowhere, they soon realize nowhere is somewhere they desperately don't want to be.
Yet another award for King:
Stephen King, the grand master of suspense and an international best-selling author, has been chosen to receive the highest award bestowed on an individual by Mystery Writers of America: the coveted Grand Master Award.
The annual Grand Master Award represents the pinnacle of achievement in the mystery field and was established to recognize not only important contributions to the mystery field over time but also a significant output of consistently high quality.
"As Grand Master, Stephen King is the natural successor to Edgar Allan Poe," says Reed Farrel Coleman, Executive vice president of Mystery Writers of America. "King is that rare jack all trades who masters all he attempts. He is a fearless writer."
"I'm delighted to be getting the Grand Master Award and to be joining the company of some of my greatest idols and teachers--people like John D. MacDonald, Ed McBain, and Donald E. Westlake,” says King. “The award means a great deal to me personally, because it's an award from people who understand two things: the importance of good writing and the importance of telling stories."
King will receive the award at the 61st Annual Edgar® Banquet to be held on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel (Park Avenue at Grand Central Terminal, NY, NY). The "Edgars" as they are commonly known are named after Mystery Writers of America's patron saint Edgar Allan Poe and are awarded to authors of distinguished work in various categories.
Here is more info about the last of the signings King will do in the UK during his tour there in November. Friday 10th November
1.00-2.00 Signing at Tesco superstore at Lakeside Shopping Centre, Thurrock.
There are still tickets left for King’s reading in London on Nov. 7. Here is how you can get them:
Stephen King will soon make his first UK appearance for 10 years. This exclusive event, presented by The Times, Hodder & Stoughton and Waterstone's, will take place at Battersea park Events Arena on November 7th at 7.00pm. Tickets cost £15.00 each. Book yours now on: (insert UK prefix here) 08708 303 488
In the essay by King called The Writing Life (from WashingtonPost.com) King says the following about Duma Key:
For the other half, I will think about the book I'm currently writing (a novel called Duma Key ). My muse may visit. She may not. The trick is to be there waiting if she does. There's a doll named Noveen in Duma Key , and I don't know what that doll's about yet. I need a visit from my muse to tell me because I'm stuck there. But I'm not worried.
The winner of The Long Walk contest has now been drawn but first the right answers:
Question 1: There's a John Denver song that makes an appearance in "The Regulators"
by Richard Bachman. What's the song name? Answer 1: "Leaving on a Jet Plane".
Question 2: What year was the first printing of The Regulators published? Answer 2: 1996.
Question 3: In 1994, while preparing to move to a new house, the author's (Richard
Bachman) widow found what in the cellar? Answer 3: Cardboard carton filled with manuscripts.
And the winner is Peter Ljungkvist from Sweden! Congratulations!