NEWS -

The Last Rung on the Ladder to be filmed

Posted: June 21, 2000, 13:01

Edge Productions has bought the rights to King's story "The Last Rung on the Ladder", and is developing it into a movie to run on TV stations throughout the US.

The movie is now 90% casted. The adult Larry will be played by Tim J. Pugliese and Lisa Goodness will be the adult Kat.

Frank Welch writes the script and the movie will be directed and produced by Lucas Knight. It'll probably air on PBS later this year.

Thanks to Tim J. Pugliese and Rosandra Montequin

Romero will make a film of Gordon

Posted: June 7, 2000, 23:10

King's official web page confirms that the movie version of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon will be done by George Romero. It's currently in production with Romero's as director. It'll be based on his own screenplay.

"The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" will be filmed by George Romero!

In a recent interview with Wicked magazine, George Romero stated that he has written a screenplay for and plans to start directing a film adaptation of "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" in the summer of 2000.

Now he is awaiting script approval from Stephen King. Canal +, the french studio that funded Romero's latest film "Bruiser" is producing.

Thanks to Kev at Charnel House.

Stud City: a TV-pilot?

Posted: June 7, 2000, 00:55

Production is set for August-November 2000 and it will air in early 2001.

Check out the official web page.

Stud City is the name of a new King TV-pilot that should have been filmed during July-August 1998 but has been delayed. It's based on a short part of the short story "The Body". It's one of the story told by Gordy Lachance in "The Body". It will be released as the pilot episode of the new cable TV series called "Night Moves".

In an mail to Lilja's Library the episodes director and scriptwriter Sean Parlaman said the following:

The release date is February 2001. It will be 48 minutes, for showing in a one hour TV time slot, but it will also make the short films festival circuit, and will be available on video.

Sean

Is it time for The Shining part 2?

Posted: May 25, 2000, 21:06

Upcoming Horror Movies reported the following rumor on May 22:nd

Apparently they got an e-mail from someone claming that there are plans to make a sequel to original "The Shining" with Jack Nicholson.

This is what the e-mail said:

Can't say my name, but I got some major news. Sources close to Jack Nicholson, say he's
close to signing on to 'Redrum.' Yep, that's right the sequal to 'The Shining.' The movie takes place in modern day in the summer at the hotel they were watching in the first film. We never knew if Nicholson was dead in the first one, so that's why they're bringing him back. The reason it is not called 'The Shining 2' is because nobody in this movie has the shining, its all about a crazy man still loose since the 70's waiting for his revenge, the man being Jack Nicholson.

In another mail, also to http://www.upcominghorrormovies.com some one working in a studio claims to have read a script of Redrum. He/she also
says it's a really bad script. Here is that mail:

I work in a studio where casting is the primary mode of operation. Scripts are always lying around.

Anyways, I have seen the script for a film called Redrum. I seriously doubt that Jack Nicholson is attatched to the script I read, though they are are mutating faster then the local insects. The draft I read is really, REALLY bad.

It suggests a sequel to The Shining only. The main character's name is Jack, and that's about it. It reads more like a direct-to-video sequel to The Dentist then the next chapter in The Shining. Nothing original here, more like a hodge podge of scenes boosted from a dozen direct-to-video slasher movies.

I'm not sure how much truth there is to this info but hey, they did a sequel to Carrie 25 (okay, 23 to be exact) years after the original, so why not?

If there is any further news about it I'll report it here.

King recalls fatal accident in the book On Writing

Posted: May 12, 2000, 21:05

King Recalls Fatal Accident
By HILLEL ITALIE, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - Weeks after his near fatal road accident, Stephen King wondered if he would ever write again. He couldn't bend his knee. His hip was smashed. Sitting any longer than 40 minutes was torture.

Convinced he had reached one of those "crossroads moments," the author consulted his wife, Tabitha.

"My wife is the person most likely to say I'm working too hard," King notes in the memoir "On Writing," which will come out this fall. "When I told her on that July morning that I thought I'd better get back to work, I expected a lecture.

"Instead, she asked me where I wanted to set up."

Much of "On Writing" is about the craft itself, but near the end King includes a brief section in which for the first time he writes in detail about the June 1999 collision. The author was struck by a van while walking along the shoulder of a road in his home state of Maine.

"He wasn't on the road; he was on the shoulder; my shoulder," King writes of the van's driver, Bryan Smith. "I had perhaps three-quarters of a second to register this.

"There is a break in my memory here. On the other side of it I'm on the ground, looking at the back of the van, which is now pulled off the road and tilted to one side."

The author of such horror stories as "Carrie" and "The Shining" underwent five operations to set the broken bones in his right leg and hip. He also sustained broken ribs, a punctured lung and a skull laceration. In his memoir he likens the daily "pin-care" treatments for his leg to having it "dipped in kerosene and then lit on fire."

For King's first day of writing after the accident, his wife set up a work station, rolled him there in his wheelchair and kissed him on the temple. He hung in for more than an hour and a half, covered in sweat, but with "no inspiration" to go with his pain.

"There was no sense of exhilaration, no buzz - not that day - but there was a sense of accomplishment that was almost as good. I'd gotten going, there was that much," he recalls.

King estimates he takes about a hundred pills daily and he still spends two hours a day, three days a week, in rehabilitation. He sometimes leans upon a cane, but at a recent reading in Manhattan he strode on to the stage unaided.

"(A)s my leg begins to heal and my mind reaccustoms itself to its old routine - I feel that old buzz of happiness, that sense of having found the right words and put them in a line," he writes.

"I still don't have much strength - I can do a little less than half of what I used to be able to do in a day - but I've had enough to get me to the end of this book, and for that I'm grateful."

More about King's first live appearance since his accident

Posted: May 9, 2000, 21:02

NEW YORK -- Minutes before Stephen King's first public appearance since a nearly fatal auto accident in June, the nation's most successful living writer of horror described how his work helped him heal but has been hindered by his lingering pain.

''I don't think I had any of the fun knocked out of me,'' King said Friday. But, he added, ''I didn't know if I could write. And I can.''

King was strolling along a highway in Maine on June 19 when the driver of a Dodge Caravan, distracted by a pet Rottweiler in the minivan, swerved and struck the author. King was thrown 14 feet, suffered fractures of his right hip and leg and a collapsed lung, and had a series of operations.

Friday night, before a reading at the Bowery Ballroom as part of a New Yorker book festival, King said doctors are vague about the prospects of full recovery.

''You say, 'Well, when am I going to be able to play tennis again?' And they say, 'You're doing really well.' Yeah, yeah, yeah.''

While he was recuperating last year, the 52-year-old King wrote a novella called Riding the Bullet, which was published exclusively on the Internet in March. ''It was a factor in my recovery, being able to work. Forces me out.''

King says he is trying to finish a novel tentatively called Dream Catcher, which promises to be in his tradition of grand proportions. ''All I know is that it's very long.''

Pain in his lower body and back continues to hamper his sitting before a keyboard. ''That's a problem when you can't sit for a long period of time,'' he said. ''I've been on crutches. I'm down to one now. And it screws up your back.''

An audience of about 300 cheered Friday as King set aside his single aluminum crutch and stepped center stage.

In introducing King, New Yorker literary editor Bill Buford offered a King-style aside that was eerie. Buford told how the spectacles the author wore this night were the same that, smeared with King's blood, flew onto the front seat of the van that struck him. It was the first evidence to the dog-addled driver that he had hit something other than an animal.

For nearly the next hour, King read aloud ''L.T.'s Theory of Pets,'' a short story that ends with the butchering of a small dog.

King's first live appearance since his accident

Posted: May 7, 2000, 20:59

NEW YORK (AP) Eleven months after a motorist nearly killed him on a road in Maine, novelist Stephen King strode unaided to the stage Friday night at a Manhattan night club where he made his first public appearance since the accident.

King rendered a spirited reading of a short story he had published entitled, "L.T.'s Theory of Pets." The renowned teller of scary stories -- who in recent years has branched into different subjects to much acclaim -- was one of several writers kicking off the inaugural The New Yorker Festival this weekend.

"It's nice to be here," King said to the crowd of about 300 people gathered at the Bowery Ballroom. "Actually, it's nice to be anywhere."

Many in the audience rose to applaud King and one young woman exclaimed, "It's nice to see you."

On June 19, 1999, King was struck by a van while walking along the shoulder of a state road. The driver pleaded guilty to a charge that meant no jail time, which left King infuriated.

These days, King remains hobbled, sometimes leaning upon a cane in his left hand. The writer, who still lives in Maine, has lost weight but spends two hours a day, three days a week, rehabilitating his body from the injuries, which included broken ribs, broken bones in his right leg, a punctured lung, and a skull laceration.

"I feel pretty good," King said in an interview before his reading. "I'm not strong but I'm feeling better."

In a display that showed he hadn't lost his sense of humor, King told the crowd that The New Yorker had been very good to him over the years. He went on to say he had selected a piece that was not published in the magazine, although it sounded "sort of like a New Yorker story."

And if the audience didn't like it, he told them they should consider the ramification of booing someone who still uses a cane. A broad grin stretched across his face, and the crowd howled with laughter.

The New Yorker created the literary and arts tribute to celebrate the magazine's 75th anniversary. Throughout the weekend, celebrities including Salman Rushdie, Alec Baldwin, Paul Simon and Kofi Annan are participating in the celebration.

But on Friday, much of the excitement was generated by King, who has published more than 50 best sellers, such as "The Shining," "Carrie," "Bag of Bones," and "The Green Mile."

Before the reading, he claimed to be nervous for his self-proclaimed "coming-out party." Still, he said it was easy to accept The New Yorker's request because of the magazine's "prestigious" reputation. And, he said, it would be fun.

"You don't want to do anything that you can't have a good time doing," he said.

Sun Dog to be filmed

Posted: May 4, 2000, 01:05

Smilin Jack Ruby talked about Sun Dog with Mick Garris. Here is his report (from Dark Horizons):

The Talisman: 'Smilin Jack Ruby' talked with Mick Garris about his upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's "The Talisman" that he'll be doing once he returns from a trip to Cuba with his wife. The four-hour mini-series will begin production on a date depending upon the length of the upcoming strikes, and after he plans to turn King's "Riding the Bullet" (which Garris has already adapted into a screenplay) into a theatrical feature. "The Sun Dog" IMAX project is on hold, whilst "Desperation" may become a miniseries as CBS has approached him about it (but he usually works with ABC so will give them 'first dibs' as they say).

The Sun Dog: White Cap Productions and Imax Corporation will produce large-format 3D Adaptation of Stephen King's novella, "The Sun Dog". It will be distributed to the rapidly expanding worldwide network of IMAX 3D® theatres. Production is expected to begin in 2000 and Lawrence D. Cohen, who is writing the screenplay, will executive produce with Michael Gore, who will also be scoring the film.

"This amazing story, with its glimpses of a bizarre and fantastic other world is the perfect vehicle for Imax's giant-screen 3D format. We are very pleased to have "The Sun Dog" on our production slate and are delighted to be working with Larry, Michael and Stephen on this exciting project. We also believe "The Sun Dog" will have special appeal to millions of Stephen King fans and will also introduce many new movie-goers to Imax's 3D world of experiential large-format cinema."
Imax co-CEO Bradley J. Wechsler

Here is a description from IMAX web page

STEPHEN KING'S THE SUN DOG
Based on the master of horror Stephen King's short story from his #1 best seller Four Past Midnight, with an adaptation by Larry Cohen, whose credits include Mr. King's CARRIE and IT. Fifteen-year-old Kevin Delevan wants only one present for his birthday, the Polaroid 2000 Sun camera. From the moment he receives the camera his life becomes effected by this seemingly inanimate object that has a diabolical mind of its own.

And the Oscar goes to...

Posted: March 27, 2000, 20:59

And the winner is...

...not The Green Mile. When the winners at the 72nd Academy Awards were announced "The Green Mile" didn't get any Oscar's. And even if this was expected it should at least have gotten at least one of the 4 it was nominated for.

Stephen King live in New York

Posted: March 26, 2000, 20:58

Stephen King will do his first public appearance since his accident on May 5:th in New York!

On May 5:th The New Yorker magazine is celebrating their 75:th anniversary by having a weekend-long festival. The whole thing begins on Friday, May 5.

On Friday evening there will be readings at various locations around New York City. There will be two authors per location and King will team up with Matthew Klam. The two authors will be reading at the Bowery Ballroom on 6 Delancey Street at 7 pm.

There has not been any word yet on what King will read...

Bram Stoker Awards

Posted: March 24, 2000, 20:56

Stephen King got nominated in two categories when the nominations for the Bram Stoker Awards were announced. "Low Men In Yellow Coats" was nominated for best novel (because it's 90,000 words long it's considered as a novel.

"Hearts In Atlantis" was nominated for best fiction collection.

The result will be announced at the beginning of May.

Press release for Riding The Bullet

Posted: February 22, 2000, 20:45

STEPHEN KING AND SIMON & SCHUSTER
TO PUBLISH NEW STORY EXCLUSIVELY ON EBOOK

Riding the Bullet Available Worldwide on March 14^th to eBook and PC Users

New York, March 8, 2000-- Simon & Schuster announced today that a new story by best-selling author Stephen King will appear exclusively as an eBook on March 14^th (12:01 AM EST). Riding the Bullet, a story described by King as "a ghost story in the grand manner," will go directly to readers electronically, who will pay $2.50 for the 16,000-word story. The story will be a co-publication between Scribner and Philtrum Press, King's own press, and electronically published through Simon & Schuster Online. The announcement was made by Jack Romanos, President & Chief Operating Officer of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and Susan Moldow, Vice President and Publisher of Scribner.

"Riding the Bullet is yet another example of how Stephen King and Simon & Schuster continue to embrace new possibilities in every facet of their relationship," said Romanos. "This innovative publication strategy takes the eBook from the realm of novelty and directly into the very mainstream of today's culture. And it reaffirms the publisher-author relationship at a moment when it is fashionable to predict its demise."

"What an exciting opportunity this is for both us and the author," said Moldow. "From the issue of adapting traditional book design to an e-friendly format to creating instant alliances for making the story available to as many of our customers as possible, Riding the Bullet is an exceptionally apt title for this leap into the digital future." The concept of an original eBook was presented to Scribner by Ralph Vicinanza, King's longtime agent for foreign rights. He also initiated King's innovative 6-part book serial of The Green Mile.

"I'm curious to see what sort of response there is and whether or not this is the future," said King, who wrote Riding the Bullet shortly after his near-fatal accident in June 1999. King has since written several works. Riding the Bullet is his first work to go directly to readers via eBook.

The distribution of Riding the Bullet as an eBook bypasses the traditional yearlong publishing cycle. "What's exciting is that we are able to go from Stephen King's computer to the reader in a fraction of the print-book publishing arc," said Kate Tentler, Vice President and Publisher of Simon & Schuster Online. "And, we can offer this wonderful story to readers in whichever electronic format they are comfortable with: on an eBook device, a handheld Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or on a computer."

EBook vendors participating to date include: Glassbook, Inc., netLibrary, Nuvomedia Inc.'s Rocket eBook, Peanutpress.com, SoftBook Press, and SoftLock.com. SoftLock.com provides a complete technology and service solution that will enable any retailer or bookseller with a website, whether simple or sophisticated, to sell Riding the Bullet.

Stephen King is the author of more than thirty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. Among his most recent are Hearts in Atlantis, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, The Green Mile, and the audio-only release, Blood and Smoke. In August, Pocket Books will release the paperback edition of Hearts in Atlantis, followed by the October publication from Scribner of On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Information about Stephen King and his writing can be found at the official King website: http://www.stephenking.com/

In support of Riding the Bullet, Simon & Schuster and Scribner marketing activities, including press releases, review copies, newsletter and consumer bulletins, and business-to-business promotional materials will be produced and transmitted electronically. An excerpt from Riding the Bullet can be read at www.SimonSays.com.

CONSUMERS: Click here to purchase the eBook:
http://www.SimonSays.com/ebooks

RETAILERS: Contact your regular eBook vendor or click here to become an eBook affiliate:
http://www.softlock.com/

Simon & Schuster, the publishing operation of Viacom Inc., is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed and multi-media formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Trade Publishing, Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, Simon & Schuster New Media, Simon & Schuster Online, Simon & Schuster U.K., and Simon & Schuster Australia. For more information about Simon & Schuster, visit our website at http://www.simonsays.com/.

CONTACTS: For Business Press, Adam Rothberg, Vice President, Director of Corporate Communications
212-698-1132; adam.rothberg@simonandschuster.com
For Feature Press, Patricia Eisemann, Vice President, Director of Publicity, Scribner212-632-4945; pat.eisemann@simonandschuster.com

Title: RIDING THE BULLET
Author: Stephen King
ISBN: 0-7432-0467-0
Word Count: 16,000
Pub Date/Time: March 14^th at 12:01 AM, EST 3/8/00

Lifetime Achievement

Posted: February 22, 2000, 20:44

King gets recognized for Lifetime Achievement:

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 2000--Telecare TV, Channel 25, will be holding the Second Annual Monsignor Thomas J. Hartman Awards (the "Tommys") on March 21st. The award, named for Father Tom, was created to honor those individuals from business and the arts who demonstrate an extraordinary level of excellence in communication and service to the community. This year's outstanding honorees are: (Electronic Media): Charles Dolan, Founder & Chairman of Cablevision Systems (Humanitarian): Coretta Scott King, dynamic civil rights and peace crusader. (Print Media): Stephen King, the world's most successful writer. (Lifetime Achievement): The Most Reverend John R. McGann, beloved leader of one of the largest dioceses in the country, who retired this year.

And the nominees are...

Posted: February 15, 2000, 20:40

BEST PICTURE
THE GREEN MILE

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Michael Clarke Duncan

SOUND
THE GREEN MILE (Robert J. Litt, Elliot Tyson, Michael Herbick and Willie D. Burton)

SCREENPLAY - ADAPTATION
THE GREEN MILE (Frank Darabont)

Rose Madder

Posted: February 9, 2000, 15:57

HBO Pictures bought the rights to turn Rose Madder into a movie but they later decided not to do it. Hopefully someone else will do it.

King to turn Gerald's Game into a movie?

Posted: February 8, 2000, 23:09

King has plans to write and direct an adaptation of Gerald's Game. This is what King himself said about it in an interview in NEW YORK POST:

"I'd like to direct again, because I'd like to get it right. I don't know, but maybe that hope for perfection - in whatever - is what really drives me. It's a scary thought, isn't it?"

King's health

Posted: January 19, 2000, 20:36

King's health seems to be getting better every day!!!

Stephen and Tabitha pose for photographers as they arrive at the premiere of The Green Mile at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City on December 8.

Rose Red

Posted: January 18, 2000, 20:34

ABC signs a deal with King on Rose Red.

King goes to Springfield

Posted: January 17, 2000, 19:21

Zap2it reports that the Simpson episode with King will air on November 12. Here is what they say:

Drew Barrymore provides the voice of Sophie in the "Insane Poppy Clown" episode Nov. 12. Bart meets Sophie while waiting in line to see Krusty at a book festival and she reveals that she is Krusty's daughter -- a product of a one-night stand he had during the Gulf War with a special forces commando. Hoping to make up for lost time, Krusty looks to Homer for parenting advice. Stephen King also guest stars as himself and Joe Mantegna reprises his role as Fat Tony.

The Simpsons Archive reports that the episode of The Simpsons where Stephen King and Drew Barrymore are lending their voices has been pushed forward and will not air until the series 12:th season. This means that it will air on FOX sometime between the premiere (September or October 2000) to mid season 12 (early 2001).

Here is an article about it:

THE SIMPSONS GUEST VOICES

Writer Stephen King, teen pop singer Britney Spears and actresses Drew Barrymore and Betty White are among the upcoming guest voices on The Simpsons.

Don Cheadle provides the voice of preacher Brother Faith in the episode "Faith Off," this Sunday. When Homer get his head stuck in a bucket of glue, the family attends the revival meeting of Brother Faith in a desperate attempt to save Homer. Brother Faith calls upon Bart to assist him and when the bucket comes off, Bart is convinced he too is a faith healer.

Spears appears as herself in "The Mansion Family" episode on Sunday, Jan. 23. When Mr. Burns is honored as Springfield's oldest resident, he retreats to the Mayo Clinic while the Simpsons house-sit at his mansion with disastrous results.

King and Barrymore lend their voices to the upcoming "Insane Clown Poppy" episode, in which Krusty the Clown takes parenting lessons from Homer when he discovers that he has a daughter about Bart's age from a one-night stand.

White plays herself in a forthcoming episode entitled "Missionary: Impossible," in which Homer inadvertently joins the Peace Corps.

Other guest voices upcoming this season include musicians Randy Bachman and Fred Turner of Bachman Turner Overdrive, singer Shawn Colvin and rock stars Kid Rock and his sidekick Joe, all of who will play themselves.

The longest-running sitcom on television, The Simpsons also currently holds the Guinness Book of World Records titles for "longest-running prime-time animated series" and "most celebrities featured in an animation series." Celebrating its 10th anniversary, The Simpsons also will receive a Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday."

King signs a 3-book deal

Posted: January 10, 2000, 19:19

Stephen King will sign a new three-book deal later this week -- proving that there will be more Stephen king books after his accident.

"He's well, he's active, he's working very hard," said his literary agent, Arthur Greene.

King has been walking on a crutch since suffering 25 broken bones in his hip, right leg and pelvis, a collapsed lung and other injuries. "He was pretty well mangled," said King friend Stu Tinker, owner of Betts Bookstore in Bangor. "It's amazing that in this short a period he's able to get up and around and drive by himself."

The new publishing deal is for three books, "one of which is completed and the other two that he's working on," Greene said. The agent would not say what the new books are or if the deal is with King's publisher Scribner, or another house.

King has finished a non-fiction book on writing. Scheduled for a September release, that volume completes his three-book 1997 deal with Scribner that was unusual because it was light on up-front royalties but heavy on profit-sharing.

Bryan Smith gets away

Posted: January 10, 2000, 19:16

Bryan Smith, the man who hit Stephen King on June 19, 1999 pleaded guilty Tuesday, January 4:th, to lesser charges under a plea agreement that will keep him out of jail.

Bryan Smith pleaded guilty to driving to endanger, and a more serious charged of aggravated assault was dropped.

Smith's license had been suspended for six months after the incident, and that will be extended to a year. Smith was also given a suspended six-month jail sentence.

Smith, who has a history of driving offenses, did not address the court. He has said he was distracted by his dog when his van veered off a road and hit King on June 19 in Lovell, where King has a vacation home.

King chided prosecutors for not trying Smith on the more serious charge and called the plea agreement "irresponsible public business.'' He said he did not believe a license suspension would keep Smith off the road because it did not in the past.

"What he took from me, my time, my peace of mind and my ease of body, are simply gone and no court can bring them back,'' King said.

King has said he was angered that Smith was allowed to keep his license for three months after the crash. It was suspended after Smith was indicted. He also said he wanted the more serious charge to be pressed so Smith could be kept off the road longer, "so that if Mr. Smith should hurt someone else, or even kill someone else, as he nearly killed me, we could at least all say we had done our absolute level best to keep this from happening," King said.

State records show Smith was convicted of driving to endanger and failing to stop upon the signal of a police officer in 1998.

He was also convicted of failing to produce evidence of insurance in 1991, driving while intoxicated in 1989 and four speeding violations since 1988.

The Green Mile Golden Globe nominations

Posted: December 22, 1999, 19:14

The Green Mile only got one Golden Globe nomination and that was Michael Clarke Duncan for his role as John Coffey. Let's hope for a better result in the Oscar's!

Unknown poems by King

Posted: December 22, 1999, 19:13

The Charnel House reports that there has been some, previousl unknown, poems by King showing up recently. They where published in the first issue of Contraband! One of the poems is called Woman with Child and the other is untitled.

Very interesting!!!

The untitled one is in five verses of 7,4,8,5,4 lines respectively and begins:

"She Has Gone To Sleep While..."

The other one, entitled Woman with Child, is 17 lines in length.

The Green Mile

Posted: December 19, 1999, 19:12

The Green Mile opens at #2 at the box-office.

King and Writing

Posted: November 2, 1999, 18:54

Stephen King comments on fears that he's unable to write:

"I am aware that a lot of people have been concerned about press reports that I am either not writing or not able to write. Most of these reports are the result of material taken out of context in the Dateline interview Tabby and I did. What I said--and I believe the actual interview makes this clear--is that I found it extremely difficult to find my way back into writing after the accident. That battle was fought in July however, and I feel that I won a conditional victory.

Since the accident I have finished my book on writing, I have written a novelette called "Riding the Bullet," and have begun work on an original miniseries for TV. This is called Rose Red and is an expansion of a screenplay I wrote some years ago. I have also begun talking with Peter Straub about finally writing a sequel to The Talisman -we jokingly called this project T2, although I doubt if there will be a part for Arnold Schwartzenegger. My endurance is much less than it was, and my output has been cut in half, but I am working.

I hope that this sets some fears to rest, and believe me when I say that I am very touched by the expressed concern. I am touched, in fact, that anyone cares at all, one way or the other. Now get out there and do something nice for someone else."

Stephen King, 2 November 1999

From the official page

King's Accident

Posted: June 19, 1999, 18:53

On Saturday June 19:th, 1999 Stephen King was hit by a van while walking on the side of the road in his hometown of Bangor, Maine...

Here is what happened:

King was walking south on the shoulder of Route 5 in North Lovell, where he owns a home, at about 4:30 p.m. when a motorist approaching from behind lost control of his Dodge Caravan because of a dog that was running loose inside.

Oxford County Sheriff's deputy Matt Baker also said that according to witnesses, the driver, Bryan Smith, 41, of Fryeburg, did not appear to be speeding and charges will not be filed against Smith. "There's nothing to charge him with,'' Baker said. "He wasn't being reckless, he was just distracted. If he had been drinking or something like that, it would have been something else.''

Baker didn't know of any state law requiring pets to be secured inside moving vehicles. However, he noted that King was technically violating the law by walking in the same direction as traffic.

King was lying in a depression about 14 feet off the road and appeared to have been thrown by the collision. The van's windshield was broken and the right front corner of the car was crunched in from the impact of striking him, he said.

Baker continued:

He was hurting, but he was able to communicate. He was talking to me. He gave me phone numbers of where to call his family. He was in a lot of pain.

Baker also said he could tell King's leg was broken and he was bleeding from a laceration on his head.

King was transported to Northern Cumberland Hospital and then flown by helicopter to Central Maine Hospital. His physical condition includes a collapsed right lung, multiple fractures of the right leg, scalp laceration, and a broken hip. King have had multiple surgery and it'll be somewhere between 9 month and a year before he is fully recovered.

King was discharged from Central Maine Medical Center on June 9, after spending nearly three weeks in the hospital.

You can find info about King's accident on King's official web page and at Central Maine Medical Center's web page.
Thanks to Marc-David Jacobs for sending me updates!