NEWS -

King sues his insurance company for $10 million

Posted: February 13, 2001, 19:01
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Author sues insurer in dispute over coverage for injuries from 1999 crash
By Associated Press, 02/13/01

BANGOR, Maine -- Horror writer Stephen King has sued his insurance company for $10 million, claiming it failed to provide full coverage for injuries he sustained when struck by a van in western Maine two years ago.

The lawsuit against Commercial Union York Insurance Co., which has branches in Portland and Bangor, was filed last week in Penobscot County Superior Court.

King and his wife, Tabitha, will seek the umbrella policy's $10 million limit plus interest of 1.5 percent per month, according to their attorney, Warren M. Silver of Bangor, who said the figure falls well short of the Kings' physical and financial damages.

"He has had some very significant problems and continues to have them," Silver said. "He is having trouble, but has been able to deal with the pain, and continues to work because he is such a strong person and focused person."

King, 53, was injured in June 1999 when a van driven by Bryan Smith of Fryeburg struck the author as he was walking along the shoulder of Route 5 near his vacation home in Lovell.

King suffered a broken leg and hip, punctured lung, broken ribs and other injuries. He has undergone five surgeries since the accident, and Silver said another operation will likely be performed this summer.

In a statement issued through its law firm, Commercial Union said King's umbrella policy is designed to cover only his liability to others, and specifically excludes personal injury caused by an underinsured motorist.

Commercial Union paid King $450,000 under his uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, a figure that represents the policys $500,000 limit less the $50,000 liability settlement with Smith.

"Mr. King had a very serious accident and his insurance policies responded as intended," said the statement released by the Portland law firm of Norman, Hanson & DeTroy.

In his lawsuit, Silver said the restriction on the umbrella policy is not allowed under Maine law.

Smith, who told police he had been distracted by his dog before hitting King, later pleaded guilty to driving to endanger and his license was suspended for six months.

Nine months later, Smith, 43, was found dead in his home after an accidental overdose of a prescription painkiller.

Kings lawsuit states that as a result of Smiths negligence, King "sustained very serious, substantial, and permanent physical injuries" and has "endured pain and suffering, mental anguish, emotional distress, loss of capacity of enjoyment of life, and significant lost income."

Despite the lawsuit, the Kings have retained their policy with the company, according to Silver.

From boston.com

The Man in the Black Suit to become a music piece

Posted: February 9, 2001, 13:01
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Stephen King's short story The Man in the Black Suit is being made into a music theater piece by American Opera Projects, premiering in 2001.

The music is by Eve Beglarian; the libretto is co written by Beglarian and Grethe Barrett Holby.

Read more on the composer's homepage.

Stallone and Bacon in a Cadillac?

Posted: February 7, 2001, 20:45
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Here is an article from The Hollywood Reporter about Dolan's Cadillac:

LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- Sylvester Stallone is set to star and Kevin Bacon is in negotiations to join him in Franchise Pictures' thriller Dolan's Cadillac, based on a Stephen King novelette that Paula Wagner will produce through her C/W Prods.

The project is scheduled to start production in May with writer-director Stacy Title ("The Last Supper") directing from her own adaptation.

In "Cadillac," an innocent woman who witnesses a mob hit is murdered to protect a local boss (Stallone), and her husband (Bacon) exacts revenge.

Bacon is also in negotiations to join the cast of the action-thriller "24 Hours" for director Luis Mandoki and the Canton Co./Senator Entertainment AG. "Hours" is targeted for a mid-March start, after which Bacon would segue to "Cadillac."

The project marks Stallone's fourth film for Franchise. He starred in "Get Carter" and the upcoming "Driven" and goes before cameras in mid-April in Toronto in the company's black comedy "Avenging Angelo" with Madeleine Stowe.

Stephen King Checks Into Asylum

Posted: February 7, 2001, 18:59
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Stephen King Checks Into Asylum
Reuters
Feb 6 2001 11:26PM

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - In a landmark effort by the prolific author and screenwriter, Stephen King has adapted Patrick McGrath's novel "Asylum" for Paramount Pictures, the first time he has tackled a work other than his own for the screen.

The picture is set in an English insane asylum, where the superintendent's wife falls in love with one of the patients, a murderer.

Jonathan Demme ("Beloved") has long been attached to direct the picture with actors Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson also on board, pending Demme's availability.

King has adapted a number of his own books, including horror-thrillers "Creepshow," "Children of the Corn" and "Pet Sematary." His work has also been adapted by others for titles such as "The Green Mile," "The Shining," "Carrie," "The Shawshank Redemption," "Stand by Me" and "Apt Pupil."

The original "Asylum" adaptation was written by Chris Baylis with other rewrites penned by Patrick Marber.

Kevin Bacon in Dolan's Cadillac

Posted: February 6, 2001, 20:44
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Rosandra reported that Kevin Bacon are currently negotiation to join the film as a husband who gets King-style revenge for his innocent wife's murder (a mob hit to protect the local mob boss).

Black House

Posted: February 5, 2001, 18:59
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Black House set for a September 15 release.

The Plant Income/Expense Report

Posted: February 3, 2001, 15:49
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Here are The Plant Income/Expense Report from King's site:

The Plant Income/Expense Report Through 12/31/00

Deposits to Philtrum through 12/31/00 $721,448.61

Expenses:
Compositing and design services $14,000.00

Print Ads $139,616.75
Ad Design $1,150.00
Total Ad $140,766.75

Web Hosting and Maintenance 102,849.59

Total Expenses 257,616.34

Net Profit $463,832.27

In The Plant FAQ the King also says that installment 7 may come within a year. Let's hope this means sometime in 2001!

Q: When does the next installment come online?
A: Installment Seven may come online within a year or so.

The Plant has furled its leaves

Posted: February 1, 2001, 15:47
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The Plant has furled its leaves for the time being. All six parts and Zenith Rising have been removed from King's official site.

Dolan's Cadillac to be a movie?

Posted: January 30, 2001, 20:43
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Brian Freeman reported the following interesting info today:

Here is an article that was in the Hartford Courant.

You know all those stories about name talent in Hollywood being booked and double-booked into pre-strike movies - and how there are almost no stars of marquee value left with free space on their schedules? Well, now we can tell you that even boxoffice-challenged Sylvester Stallone is hurrying into a pre-strike project - and a promising one at that.

It's Dolan's Cadillac, a Stephen King story in which Stallone will play a Las Vegas kingpin who thinks he's gotten away with murder, though the spouse of the victim has big revenge plans.

The Cruise-Wagner project (as in Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner) is scheduled to start the last week of April in Mexico. That's last minute for production and post-production, considering the strike could start June 30th.

Re-make of Salem's Lot?

Posted: January 30, 2001, 00:51
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4 Filmmakers has a re-release of Salem's Lot listed on their site. Whether this movie really will be done remains to be seen though...

Here is what they have listed:

Title: Salem's Lot
Status: Development
Logline: Vampires take over a small New England town.
Notes: Based on the novel by Stephen King.

Studios Involved: Warner Brothers
Directors: P.J. Hogan
Studio/Prod. Co. Executives: Kevin McCormick
Writers: Joe Gangemi
Genres: Adaptation, Horror, Remake
Producers: Denise DiNovi
Project Types: In Development
Actors: None
Production Companies: Village Roadshow, DiNovi Pictures
Exec. Producers: None
Co-Producers Assoc.: None
Producers: None

Documentary about King

Posted: January 26, 2001, 18:58
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NBC is doing a new documentary about King for Headliners and Legends.

Dreamcatcher

Posted: January 15, 2001, 14:29
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Hodder & Stoughton is now starting to promote Dreamcatcher and plans to re-release all of King's older books.

Tom Gordon as Tom Gordon?

Posted: January 1, 2001, 23:14
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Tom Gordon might star as himself in this movie. If the financing can be arranged. The movie will be directed by horror-film maestro George Romero. Several attempts to reach Gordon were unsuccessful, but King said he seems excited about the prospect.

"I've worked with George, and he takes good care of people," King said. "Tom won't have to be Wesley Snipes or Cuba Gooding Jr. He's a young enough guy to be adventurous."

The Talisman on ABC

Posted: December 27, 2000, 01:11
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Steven Spielberg brings King's novel The Talisman to ABC as a four-hour miniseries.

Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy will serve as executive producers of the project. Neither ABC, Spielberg's DreamWorks or Kennedy-Marshall Co. would comment on the project, which is in the early development stage.

There's no official word yet on an airdate for the TV adaptation, and sources stressed that ABC has yet to see a script for the mini. My guess is that it'll be out in late 2001 or early 2002. King, who was seriously injured in June when he was hit by a car near his home in Maine, is not believed to be involved with the production. Neither is Peter Straub.

The Plant

Posted: December 20, 2000, 15:44
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King completed the first part of The Plant on December 18:th 2000 when he released part 6 and book one (parts one through six), Zenith Rising. King will (hopefully) begin release book two on the official site sometime this summer.

Here is how The Plant was released:
Part 1 (July 24, 2000) $1
Part 2 (August 21, 2000) $1
Part 3 (September 25, 2000) $1
Part 4 (October 23, 2000) $2
Part 5 (November 20, 2000) $2
Part 6 (December 18, 2000) Free
Zenith Rising (December 18, 2000) $7

King writes about The Plant in The Time

Posted: December 18, 2000, 14:28
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DECEMBER 18, 2000
How I Got That Story
The novelist ponders the lessons he's learned from cyberpublishing

BY STEPHEN KING

In July of this year, I began publishing a serial novel at my website, stephenking.com. The idea was one episode a month, pay as you go...and pay by the honor system. My inspiration was the newspaper vendors in New York City during the first half of the century. Many of those hired for the job were blind, because the distribs felt that even slightly dishonest people wouldn't steal from a blind newsboy. My experiment has far from run its course, but the first phase of it concludes later this month, when Part 6 of The Plant--by far the longest--goes up, this time for free.

In the modest hoopla that has surrounded the publication of The Plant, very few media analysts bothered to talk about the story itself (possibly because they didn't bother to read it). The Plant happens to be about a voracious supernatural vine that begins to grow wild in a paperback publishing house. It offers success, riches and the always desirable Bigger Market Share. All it wants from you in return is a little flesh...a little blood...and maybe a piece of your soul. What made The Plant such a hilarious Internet natural (at least to my admittedly twisted mind) was that publishers and media people seem to see exactly this sort of monster whenever they contemplate the Net in general and e-lit in particular: a troublesome strangler fig that just might have a bit o' the old profit in it. If, that is, it's handled with gloves.

The most dismaying thing I learned in the course of The Plant's run (a run that's not over but only lying dormant until next summer) is that there's a profound crevasse of misunderstanding between the smart guys of the business world and the talented goofballs who make entertainment in this increasingly entertainment-hungry society. Publishers, investors and media watchers see a venture like The Plant and say, "Ah, King is moving into e-commerce!" in the tones of 1940s newscasters relaying the news that Hitler is moving east. King, in the meantime, is thinking something along the lines of, "Hey guys! My uncle's got a barn! Let's put on a show!" It's a goofy thing, in other words. Not a business thing at all. Which, may I add, isn't the same thing as saying there's no money in it. Or cultural clout. Just ask the goofball who thought up Napster.

Am I displeased with how things have turned out? Nope. I've had terrific fun working on The Plant, and so far it's grossed about $600,000. It may end up over a million (the figures will be posted on the website early next year, down to the last crying dime). Those aren't huge numbers in today's book market, but The Plant--pay attention, now, because this is the important part--is not a book. Right now it exists as nothing but electronic bits and bytes dancing gaily in cyberspace. Yes, it's been downloaded by hundreds of thousands of people, either in its various parts or in its entirety, and some readers may have printed hard copies (even decorated them like medieval monks illuminating manuscripts, for all I know), but mostly it's just an electronic mirage floating out there all by itself, like Samuel Coleridge's stately pleasure dome, with no printing costs, publisher's cuts or agents' fees to pull it down. Advertising aside (I did some, not much), costs are low to the point of nonexistence, and the profit potential is unlimited.

Do Parts 1 through 6 constitute an entire novel? In the sense that there's a beginning, a middle and a resolution, yes. Readers will be as satisfied as they would be with, say, the first volume of a trilogy like Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials (not that I am claiming the same literary quality; never think that). Right now I'm returning to print publishing because I love it and because I have a contract to fulfill--two books remaining.

Is there anything about the coverage of Steve's Excellent Adventure that bothers me? Probably the implication that by using the honor system, I was either displaying a naive belief in the honesty of my fellow man or (worse) indulging in a bit of electronic bungee jumping. Neither one. By offering the story in installments and promising to pull the plug if payments fell off, I felt that I had armed myself with a stick to protect my carrot. It worked, too. Part 5 payments fell steeply, but only after I announced the venture was nearing its end. I'm afraid that did bring on a certain amount of looting.

The real test of The Plant's marketplace viability may come in late December and January, when Philtrum Press--my publishing company, which has offered books at odd intervals for almost 20 years--will e-market all six parts (The Plant, Book One: The Rise of Zenith) for $7, about the price of a paperback. And for that, my friend, you'll need your credit card.

My mamma didn't raise no fools.

King made $65,000,000 last year

Posted: December 14, 2000, 14:27
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Here is the list of athletes and celebrities who made $25 million or more last year (King is on 6:th place) according to Forbes (in totals in millions of dollars):

George Lucas: 400.0
Oprah Winfrey: 150.0
David Kelley: 118.0
Tom Hanks: 71.5
Tom Clancy: 66.0
Stephen King: 65.0
Backstreet Boys: 60.0
Steven Spielberg: 60.0
Bruce Willis: 54.5
David Copperfield: 50.0
Julia Roberts: 50.0
Rolling Stones: 50.0
Michael Schumacher: 49.0
Shania Twain: 48.0
Tiger Woods: 47.0

King on Fraiser

Posted: December 9, 2000, 14:25
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In a mail to SKEMERs, King's assistant reported that King will do a voice over on the Frasier show on December 12th. King will be doing a voice over as one of Frasier's call ins (as the caller identified as Brian).

No Desperation after all?

Posted: December 6, 2000, 23:27
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Seams I jumped the gun here. Josh Bingham from Winchester Films told me in a mail that they no longer control the rights to Desperation. I'm sorry for this.

Desperation on again

Posted: December 1, 2000, 23:26
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According to the site 4filmmakers.com Winchester Films will produce the movie version of Desperation. No word on when though...

Payments for part 4 of The Plant down to 46%

Posted: November 29, 2000, 14:25
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Tuesday November 28 09:00 PM EST
Stephen King puts "The Plant" on ice
By Gwendolyn Mariano, CNET News.com

Stephen King is pulling the plug on "The Plant."

The best-selling author said on his Web site that he will temporarily suspend the serial novel after the sixth installment, due Dec. 18, to pursue other work.

King posted the first installment of the novel on the Internet this summer as an experiment, saying he would continue the story if 75 percent of readers voluntarily paid for it. But with the fourth installment, for example, less than half the readers were paying for the story, according to his assistant.

To thank loyal readers, King said the upcoming installment would be free. He promised to resume the story in the future.

"Don't despair," King wrote. "The last time 'The Plant' furled its leaves, the story remained dormant for 19 years. If it could survive that, I'm sure it can survive a year or two while I work on other projects."

The little-noticed decision, posted Nov. 9, temporarily ends a novel experiment in online publishing that tested the honor system as a way to thwart Internet piracy--a problem that reared its head in King's first Internet foray, "Riding the Bullet." Although readers downloaded some 400,000 free copies of the 66-page novella, hackers broke through the book's anti-copying technology the day it was made available and posted unauthorized versions on the Internet.

In an effort to win sales without resorting to fallible encryption technology, King revived the serial format for "The Plant."

Payments dip

For the first few installments, enough readers paid a voluntary download fee. But by the fourth installment, paid readers had dipped to 46 percent of all downloads, according to King's assistant, Marsha DeFilippo. She added, however, that King had decided to put "The Plant" aside before he had the final figures for his fourth installment. Those figures became available last week.

King said that he will turn his attention to other work, including his novels "Dreamcatcher," "The Dark Tower" and "Black House," a sequel to "The Talisman."

Some readers are unhappy with King's announcement.

"Some people have been supportive," DeFilippo said. "(But) more people have been upset."

Although "The Plant" was a significant experiment within the publishing industry, analysts said the test was not earth shattering.

Flawed idea?

"I think that whole motto of sort of nickel-and-diming people of this per chapter basis was a mistake," said Forrester analyst Dan O'Brien. "Every chapter was another test of whether people would pay the threshold that (King) determined. I thought it got in the way of the relationship between the writer and audience--it was too mercantile."

O'Brien said that an alternative model could have been used, such as one similar to a magazine subscription. Readers would pay up front and receive 12 issues or 24 issues through a contract between the publisher and reader.

"I think a writer who had a track record and reputation and a fan base could reasonable try that," O'Brien said. "Give me $15, and I will write a book in chapters--but that's not what Stephen King did."

DeFilippo said that King's intent, however, was to prevent piracy. She said that after people broke the code "Riding the Bullet," King thought "The Plant" would circumvent those problems because it wasn't encrypted.

"One of the reasons he wanted to do this himself was so that those restrictions could be removed," DeFilippo said. "He has no problem with someone sharing as long as they're not charging for it."

King said on his site that if people printed copies and gave them away, he wouldn't be able to stop them.

"I can't stop you from doing anything, which is the beauty of this thing--think of it as Web-moshing," King writes. "But don't sell them. Two reasons: First, it's against the law, and second, it's nasty behavior. Respect my copyright. As a writer, it's all I've got."

Stephen King vs Microsoft

Posted: November 25, 2000, 14:24
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Mibrary Announces Finalists for the Inaugural Alan Kay Award for eBook Innovation Winner to be Announced at Book Tech West Conference
by Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa

NEW YORK, Nov. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Mibrary, the roaming digital library software company, today announced the finalists for the company's first annual award recognizing the largest contributor to the advancement and popularization of electronic books. The winner of the will be announced prior to the keynote address at the BookTech West 2000 conference in San Francisco on December 11. Mibrary's award is named for Dr. Alan Kay, widely considered to be a founding father of the eBook.

The finalists, from which the winner of the Alan Kay Award for eBook Innovation will be chosen, include:

* Stephen King's Philtrum Press: For the tremendous exposure he gave to the electronic book format through the release of his best-seller "Riding The Bullet", as well as publishing his newest novel, "The Plant" exclusively in electronic installments.

* Gemstar (NASDAQ:GMST): For the company's development and licensing of two of the most popular dedicated electronic reading devices, the REB 1100 and the REB 1200.

* Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT): For the company's Microsoft Reader and ClearType technologies, which brought ebooks to over 1 million consumers in the past six months alone.

"It is a great honor to be mentioned in connection with this award," said author Stephen King. "The e-book revolution has been one of the most exciting things to happen to me in the last two or three years, and I am delighted to think that I have had even a small part to play in changing the way the culture reads and expanding the market place for good books."

The winner of this annual award will be selected by popular vote at the Mibrary Web site http://awards.mibrary.com. Final balloting to determine the winner will conclude at midnight on Friday, December 1st.

The winner will receive the Steuben Pillar Crystal created by noted designer David Dowler. In addition, Mibrary will make a $5,000 contribution in the name of the winner to the Association of American Publishers' "Get Caught Reading" program. "The future of publishing -- both electronic and print -- depends on how well we capture the imagination of a new generation of readers, and that's what 'Get Caught Reading' is all about," Pat Schroeder, president and CEO of the American Association of Publishers said at the outset of the voting. "We're delighted that Mibrary has made support of 'Get Caught Reading' an integral part of this new award that recognizes special contributions to the development of eBooks."

"We're excited to see who will eventually be named the winner of Mibrary's first Alan Kay Award for eBook Innovation," said James Alexander, Chief Executive Officer of Mibrary. "Each of the three finalists have contributed immensely to popularizing the ebook and proving that it is a viable route for the publishing industry."

About Mibrary

Mibrary provides roaming digital library software and infrastructure delivering convenience and portability for consumers while giving online retailers an automated, outsourced option for delivering high customer satisfaction at a reasonable cost. The Company's hosted application and deployed infrastructure are built around its patent- pending Mibrary KeyChain(TM) technology. Mibrary KeyChain is a pervasive computing solution that helps consumers manage their entire digital content collections in one place while providing access to this content anytime, anywhere through tethered or wireless devices. Mibrary and Mibrary KeyChain are trademarks of Mibrary.com Inc. Visit http://www.mibrary.com for more information about the company.

King and Mellencamp's musical ready in late 2001?

Posted: November 1, 2000, 19:20
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Monday,October 30,2000
By BILL HOFFMANN

Broadway is about to become the Great Fright Way, thanks to Stephen King, who's penning a new horror musical.

The best-selling author has joined forces with rock singer John Mellencamp to write a macabre rock opera that will feature a haunted house and rapping ghosts.

The show - based on an idea by Mellencamp - is about two brothers with a strong, mutual hatred.

Tempers reach the boiling point when their father takes them for a visit to an old cabin they have not visited since they were young kids.

In an eerie twist, it emerges that their father had two older brothers who not only loathed each other, but killed one another while staying in the same cabin years earlier.

The ghosts that inhabit the cabin sing in a variety of musical styles, from rap to rock to country.

Mellencamp says he plans to cover "any type of music that Americans have invented. Our goal is to end up on Broadway."

King has already written a synopsis of the show and won over financial backers. He has also convinced Mellencamp to look past the horror meister's dubious track record in musical theater.

In 1988, the Broadway show of King's 1974 novel, "Carrie" - about a girl with supernatural powers - closed after just five performances. It lost close to $7.5 million.

King's latest venture comes 16 months after he was nearly killed in Maine when he was run down on the side of a road. The author of "The Dead Zone, "The Green Mile" and "Bag of Bones," King is currently riding high with "The Plant," the world's first successful "e-novel."

Mellencamp - who used to go by the name of John Cougar - has had more than a dozen Top 10 hits, including "Jack and Diane," "I Need a Lover" and "Authority Song."

The duo's Broadway show could be ready for the fall 2001 season.

King signing

Posted: October 26, 2000, 19:17
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Thursday, October 26, 2000
About 140 attend Stephen King book signing in downtown Bangor By Dale McGarrigle, Of the NEWS Staff

BANGOR — A small, ever-changing group milled for two hours Wednesday on the corner of Harlow and Central streets.

Now, clusters of people, while not the norm, are not unheard of in downtown Bangor, especially at lunchtime. But all of these people were holding books, and many grasped cameras as well.

Those pressing their faces to the Harlow Street window of BookMarc’s bookstore soon figured out what was happening.

One of Maine’s favorite sons, best-selling author Stephen King, was holding a rare book signing, this time for his new nonfiction book, “On Writing,” and his fans flocked from around the Northeast and beyond for the event.

The signing marks the fourth time in its 10-year history that BookMarc’s has hosted King. The signing is thought to be the first one that the recuperating author has done since being struck by a van June 19, 1999, a fact that BookMarc’s owner Marc Berlin recognized.

“We made a special effort not to push the envelope,” Berlin explained. “We know what he can do [in terms of books signed], so we went on the conservative side.”

King commented obliquely on his brush with death. One woman said, “It’s wonderful to have you here,” to which he replied, “It’s wonderful to be anywhere in the world.”

Almost all the fans had previously bought “On Writing” at BookMarc’s, at which time they were given a number as a reservation for the signing.

Berlin estimated that more than 90 percent of those getting books signed came from Maine. The rest, he said, likely came after news of the signing hit the Internet a couple of weeks ago.

King’s latest book is both a primer on writing and a miniature autobiography, with a postscript on the accident that left him severely injured.

King sat, a pillow underneath him, behind a card table near the store’s Harlow Street door.

The orderly line stretched across to the Central Street door. Berlin served as gatekeeper, letting in about 20 people at a time. Each person could get two books signed. Off to the side, soaking in the atmosphere, was a trio of Skemers. These Skemers weren’t plotting anything; instead they are members of a Stephen King e-mail group.

Skemer Dani Davis of Orono collects only hardcover, trade first editions of King’s work. She’s missing only “Cycle of the Werewolf,” “Carrie” and “Hearts in Atlantis.” Davis was attending her first King signing.

“What I like most about his work is that it’s so easy to identify with the characters,” she said. “It’s so easy to get caught up in the book.”

Fellow Skemer Cheryl, a.k.a. C.J., who didn’t give a last name, drove 4½ hours from her New Hampshire home for her first signing. She runs the 90-member “King’s Home Away From Home” club on Yahoo.

“You’re right in the story, and feel like you’re part of it,” she said. “I love the New England aspect of it, since I’m from New England myself.”

Michael Altemeier, 14, skipped school and flew in from Dallas for the event, landing in Bangor at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Altemeier, who owns about half of King’s books, is a budding writer himself.

“I think I am the biggest King fan,” he said. “I’d never seen him live, so this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Holly Newstein drove 11 hours from her home in Reading, Pa., to be at the event.

“I’m a big fan of Stephen’s,” she said. “I was up here two years ago for the ‘Bag of Bones’ signing. This is one of his first since the accident, and I’m just delighted he’s still here.”

Chris Mullen drove four hours from Manchester, N.H., to get a signed book for a big King fan, his brother Jeff, whose birthday is today.

Is Mullen himself a fan?

“I watch his movies. He has a great talent,” Mullen said.

At the other end of the line, King signed books, posed for pictures and talked with his fans. About one-third of the people at the signing had some connection to the author, however tangential.

The son of a doctor who treated King’s family told the author his father’s name, and King said, “He ought to read the book. He might have prescribed some of the stuff I wrote about.”

Another hot topic was baseball. Several wanted King to buy his beloved Boston Red Sox, which he refuses to consider.

Who’s his pick in the World Series? “The best thing about the World Series is that one team from New York is going to lose.”

More than a few fans came bearing tribute. Teen-ager Cody Mitchell of the Boston area presented King with a modified action figure, meant to represent Roland, the gunslinger from the “Dark Tower” series. King first placed it in his pocket, then stood it in an empty Styrofoam cup.

He seemed genuinely touched when a young girl named Lexie presented him with her red drawing of King’s West Broadway home, emblazoned with the message “Happy Halloween.” On the side of the table were Boston Red Sox and bat — the flying kind — beanies.

Finally, Altemeier stepped up to the table, shaking, as his mother videotaped the historic meeting. When King inquired how he was, he said, “Absolutely, absolutely perfect.”

King replied, “You can’t be from around here, since you act like I’m incredibly important.”

Others told about their experiences with King’s books. One woman named Chelsea recalled: “My mother read ‘Carrie’ to me when it came out, but she read it in a happy voice.”

A pregnant woman wearing a T-shirt which read “Stephen King fan under construction” asked King to sign her belly. When he politely declined, she asked him to initial her shirt instead, which he did.

He did sign the arm of one man, who explained that he was going to have the signature turned into a tattoo.

When one woman near the end exclaimed how much she enjoyed the book, King replied, “You probably had a chance to read the whole thing online.”

Near the end of the two-hour session, King was visibly tired. Still, he willingly posed with squealing members of a group of female Japanese exchange students.

By the time the session was over and King had left the building, Berlin estimated that 140 to 145 people had gotten books signed.

“The fun of it for us is seeing how much people enjoy it,” he said. “People are so appreciative.”

* * *

10/26/2000 10:04
Stephen King book-signing draws fans from Maine and away By Associated Press

BANGOR, Maine (AP) Stephen King always draws a crowd, but some fans went to great lengths to see him at a rare appearance in his home town.

A 14-year-old from Dallas skipped school and flew to Bangor and a woman drove 11 hours from Pennsylvania to join dozens of local residents for a book-signing event Wednesday in dowtown Bangor.

Michael Altemeier skipped high school and flew from Dallas to meet the author. "I think I am the biggest King fan," he said. "I'd never seen him live, so this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

An aspiring writer himself, Altemeier owns about half of King's books. His mother videotaped the meeting as Altemeier, shaking with excitement, reached the front of the line and talked to King.

"You can't be from around here, since you act like I'm incredibly important," the best-selling author said.

Holly Newstein thought it was worth the drive from Reading, Pa.

"I was up here two years ago for the 'Bag of Bones' signing. This is one of his first since the accident, and I'm just delighted he's still here," she said.

King was seriously injured when he was struck by a van in North Lovell in June 1999. He sustained broken bones in his right leg and hip, broken ribs, a punctured lung and a head injury.

King alluded to the accident when one fan told him it was wonderful that he was at the event.

"It's wonderful to be anywhere in the world," King said.

Some of the fans came bearing tribute to the writer.

Cody Mitchell, a teen from the Boston area, gave King an action figure meant to represent a character from the "Dark Tower" series. A young girl gave him a "Happy Halloween" drawing.

While the author obliged those who asked for photos during the two-hour event, he declined to sign a pregnant women's belly. He was persuaded to initial her T-shirt, which read "Stephen King fan under construction."

He also signed the arm of one man, who said he was going to have the signature turned into a tattoo.

"The fun of it for us is seeing how much people enjoy it," King said. "People are so appreciative."

Mick Garris talks about Desperation and more...

Posted: October 23, 2000, 19:15
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"Stephen King Projects: Director Mick Garris (The Stand & The Shining mini-series) was a part of the Blair Witch Webfest over the last few days and spilled details on the status of various other Stephen King novels becoming films. Garris has written a film adaptation of King's recent web novel entitled Riding the Bullet though it hasn't moved ahead from there yet. The future of the Desperation movie is finally looking a little brighter, scooper 'TylerDFC' had this to say: "I asked him what was being cut and if it was being toned down from the novel due to the US congressional "witch" hunt. He said the reason that it is hard to get off the ground is that they do not want to cut anything out of it and keep it brutal and hard hitting. As a note if you haven't read Desperation it is extremely violent and brutal with entire families being murdered" (Ed. Note: As long as they keep that creepy scene in there with the wife trapped in a pitch black room with spiders, snakes and scorpions crawling all over everything, I'll be happy). King's Sun Dog IMAX project hasn't progressed much, though its definitely set to be in 3-D, while Garris has one non-King project on the way - he's possibly working with "L.A. Confidential" novelist James Elroy on the film "Clandestine". Thanks again to 'TylerDFC'."

King and Mellencamp is developing a Musical

Posted: October 23, 2000, 19:07
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Exclusive: Mellencamp, Stephen King Developing Musical

Two of pop culture's biggest names -- Stephen King and John Mellencamp -- are uniting to write a musical, and naturally, it's a ghost story. "Our goal is someday to end up on Broadway," Mellencamp tells Billboard. "We're not going to take it straight to Broadway." The artist knows he and King are bound to make mistakes along the way, "but that's part of the fun of it. See, that's the great thing about this for Steve and I both; we don't really have to do this."

The untitled work was Mellencamp's idea, but King, one of the top-selling authors of all time, quickly agreed to work with the singer, whom he's long admired. "I'm like everyone else, I think he's great," says King. "He's from the Midwest; he's got a nice, sort of 'common people' thing."

For King, the story was appealing. "I was in Florida, so John came down and told me the plot," he says. "It was kind of a ghostly thing, which is why he thought of me, I guess. I liked the story."

The play, according to Mellencamp, is about "two brothers; they're 19 years old or 20, maybe 18 or 21, who are very competitive and dislike each other immensely. The father takes them to the family vacation place, a cabin that the boys hadn't been to since they were kids."

"What has happened is that the father had two older brothers who hated each other and killed each other in that cabin," says Mellencamp. "There's a confederacy of ghosts who also live in this house. The older [dead] brothers are there, and they speak to the audience, and they sing to the audience. That's all I want to say, except through this family vacation, many things are learned about the family, and many interesting songs are sung."

Mellencamp says he's written four songs already for the project, including tracks called "My Name Is Joe" and "You Don't Know Me." Each song is written with the character's personality and age in mind. "I plan to have every person sing from their generation," he says. "This is what I'm thinking right now, but it may not work out this way. When the 18-year-old sings, he'll be rapping at you. When the people in their 70s are singing, they'll be singing in the style of Broadway or the style of Sinatra or country. I intend to cover any type of music that Americans have invented."

While the road is littered with unsuccessful musicals by pop artists, both Mellencamp and King are adopting a "why not?" attitude. "We talked about [Paul Simon's] 'Capeman.' John and I both agree that maybe it didn't work, but that this might," says King. "That's really part of my attraction about working with him. He has a lot of courage and ability to go in there and say, 'This isn't supposed to work, but we're going to do it anyway.'"


Copied from Lilja's Library: http://liljas-library.com/

Animation of The Eyes of the Dragon

Posted: October 8, 2000, 23:04
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Dark Horizons reported the following:

The Eyes of the Dragon: Stephen King's fantasy epic has had its film/tv rights optioned to WAMC Entertainment whose proposing turning the novel into a $45 million budgeted animated feature. Talking with ScreenDaily, WAMC's French owner Sidonie Herman said "The storyline and characters provide all the ingredients for a classic fantasy, sword-and-sorcerer animated tale, but are also blended with Stephen King's own brand of suspense and dark humour". A screenplay for the project is being worked on right now and is due for completion early next year though one surprising movie is that while character designs will be done in the US, set and background animation will be done in Europe to try and better capture the novel's medieval setting.

...and ScreenDaily reported the following:

WAMC set to animate Stephen King’s Dragon
Francoise Meaux Saint Marc in Cannes
October 04, 2000

Los Angeles-based financing outfit WAMC Entertainment, headed by Frenchman Sidonie Herman, has optioned Stephen King’s novel The Eyes Of The Dragon, which it plans to adapt as a $45m animated feature.

WAMC – founded by Herman in 1995 – specialises in securing international production financing for North American and European film and television properties, mostly in the animation area.

The novel, which King wrote for his daughter in 1987, is set in a kingdom still inhabited by dragons, magicians and chivalrous knights. "The storyline and characters provide all the ingredients for a classic fantasy, sword-and-sorcerer animated tale, but are also blended with Stephen King’s own brand of suspense and dark humour," Herman told ScreenDaily.

The project’s screenplay, due for completion by early 2001, and character design will be originated in the US, while sets and background will be created in Europe, where Herman believes animators are likely to best capture the book’s medieval setting.

WAMC has worked with several leading North American and European production companies including the US’ Film Roman, Hearst Entertainment and Porchlight Entertainment, France’s TF1 International and Ellipsanime and Germany’s Cinevox, Studio Babelsberg and CLT-Ufa. It claims to have raised $57m in production finance in North America and Europe, and has also recently set up an international sales department, headed by Dominique Bovio.

Bryan Smith dead

Posted: September 23, 2000, 13:11
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Saturday September 23 12:19 PM ET
Driver in Stephen King Crash Dies

FRYEBURG, Maine (AP) - The driver responsible for the crash that left Stephen King seriously injured last year has been found dead in his home.

Bryan Edwin Smith, 43, had not been seen or heard from for about three days when police were summoned to his mobile home Friday evening, at the request of Smith's brother.

Authorities found Smith's body in his bed. An autopsy was planned, but there was no sign of violence or foul play, said Capt. James Miclon, who found Smith.

"He was on a variety of medications for his health," Miclon said Saturday. Miclon did not say what ailments Smith had.

King was walking along a road in North Lovell, where he has a summer home, when he was struck by Smith's van. The author sustained broken bones in his right leg and hip, broken ribs, a punctured lung and a skull laceration.

Smith pleaded guilty in January to a misdemeanor driving-to-endanger charge in a plea deal that included a six-month suspended jail sentence and a driver's license suspension.

State records showed 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.

* * *

Monday, September 25, 2000
Driver who hit King dies at 43
By Deborah Turcotte Seavey, Of the NEWS Staff

The final chapter in the Stephen King accident saga was written over the weekend.

It had a surprise ending.

On Friday night, the driver who nearly killed the author when he hit him with his 1985 Dodge Caravan a little more than a year ago, was found dead in his bed in his Fryeburg trailer.

Bryan E. Smith was 43.

This was not to have been the final chapter in the King-Smith story. The last few pages were supposed to have been written next month, when Smith was scheduled to find out if the state would renew his driver's license.

Smith's privileges were revoked for a year last October - six months by the secretary of state and six months in a plea agreement with Oxford County prosecutors - as a penalty for striking King.

In the meantime, the drama-in-real-life was on the shelf, waiting for that last installment. At 6:25 p.m. Friday, some of the characters were reassembled, this time with different scripts.

Smith's family hadn't heard from him in three days, and his mother, Dorothy, was concerned. She went to Smith's trailer, but he did not answer the door.

Smith's brother Everett, who is a Fryeburg police officer, called the Oxford County Sheriff's Department and asked if deputies could check on his brother. Deputy Matthew Baker, who was the first on the accident scene last year, and another deputy peered through the windows and saw Smith lying on the bed.

He would not respond to their knocks or shouts, and the doors were locked. Smith's Rottweilers, Bullet and Pistol, were barking.

The deputies sought help from Capt. James Miclon, who last year oversaw the accident investigation.

The doors on Smith's trailer were pried open and an animal control officer removed the dogs.

Miclon approached Smith. He was dead.

"I said, 'Wow,'" Miclon recalled Saturday. "I wasn't expecting anything like that."

Smith appeared to be at peace.

"There he was, on his back in bed, covered up," Miclon said. "He was just laying there, like he went to sleep."

It was a clear summer's evening on June 19, 1999, when the lives of the disabled construction worker and one of the world's most prolific writers became intertwined on a two-lane road in western Maine. Smith, who was trying to control Bullet and had his eyes off the road, swerved and hit King, who was enjoying his usual daily walk alongside state Route 5.

The days that followed were filled with pain and repair for King, who underwent at least five surgeries to fix a broken hip, fractured leg, punctured lung and scalp laceration. Crutches, braces, pins in the leg, pain-relief medication - the unfamiliar for a healthy individual became the familiar for a man who had to learn to walk through the agony of injury.

"It's God's grace that he isn't responsible for my death," King told the Bangor Daily News on Aug. 27, 1999.

The days afterward also were filled with public scrutiny for Smith, who was not injured in the accident. The spotlight of celebrity became familiar for a man whose life in recent years had become engulfed in depression, disability and a pharmacy chest of pain-relief medications.

There was often a note of self-pity in his comments to the press.

"They don't look at my handicap," Smith told the Bangor Daily News on Sept. 22, 1999. "They don't care if I breathe tomorrow or die the next day."

On June 19, 1999, Smith joined the ranks of people like the woman who repeatedly broke into talk show host David Letterman's home.

He became the answer to a likely Trivial Pursuit question, "Can you name that driver who hit author Stephen King?"

That's how Smith's death was announced Saturday in news that circulated nationally - "The driver who seriously injured author Stephen King last year was found dead in his home..."

After Smith's license was revoked, he admitted that he probably would never drive again. This was the end of motorized mobility, something he enjoyed regardless of his extensive record for offenses ranging from driving while intoxicated to reckless driving.

But before the revocation, one thing Smith knew was that he would not be going to jail. His friends in the Fryeburg area told him so, even after a grand jury charged him on Sept. 30 with aggravated assault and driving to endanger, charges that if he was convicted carried more than 10 years in prison.

His fate in the winter months was left to those college-educated people working the justice system, although King and Smith, both with differing points of view, would have dropped the word "justice."

Smith knew the lawyers could tweak the books, find loopholes in the law, to convince a jury to convict him; to lock him up and throw away the key.

In conversations, he constantly would ask, "Why me?" Others in the state had injured people walking on the side of the road or driving in their cars. In a number of cases, the pedestrians or the motorists were killed and no jail time was imposed on the guilty parties.

He was being singled out because he hurt a beloved celebrity, Smith would say. It wasn't fair.

"Just because it's Stephen King," Smith said on Oct. 1. "He can make up his own laws, his own rules. I'm being used as a guinea pig. I know I hit him. I didn't mean to. Somebody can't accept that. Why can't they accept that it was an accident?"

Smith's friends were right. He did not go to jail.

King, on the other hand, wanted justice in the form of jail time. He called Smith's plea agreement - the license suspension and a six-month suspended jail sentence - "irresponsible public business."

"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 in a statement read in Oxford County Superior Court on Jan. 4.

King could not be reached for comment about Smith's death over the weekend.

Smith repeatedly sought sympathy for himself. In his eyes, he, too, was a victim.

In his ramblings of how the system was out to get him, he eventually would come around and say how apologetic he was for hitting King; as if he knew it was obligatory for him to show remorse.

But sometimes, in those rare instances, the sense of duty was erased and a genuine sincerity was demonstrated.

"To be honest with you, I am very deeply sorry," Smith said on Sept. 1, 1999. "Very deeply sorry."

Until this weekend, the spotlight was temporarily turned off the King-Smith story. Miclon said Saturday that he was happy it was over. He believed Smith was, too.

"I think he even felt that same way after a while," Miclon said. "He didn't tell me that, but I think that's what he felt. He didn't like being on those medications."

"Those medications," which included Prozac. Valium and a handful of others, will be the focus of an autopsy scheduled for today at the state medical examiner's office in Augusta. Miclon does not suspect foul play in Smith's death.

A graveside service for Smith will be conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Riverside Cemetery in North Fryeburg.

Miclon said the postmortem exam is standard procedure, "not necessarily because of who he was, but because of his age."

The publicity surrounding Smith's death shouldn't last too long, Miclon predicts, and again Smith will fade out of the public eye.

Except for the trivia buffs.

Margaret Mary Ray repeatedly broke into Letterman's home for 10 years, and was convicted in 1998 and released from jail based on time served. She committed suicide later that year in Colorado.

And Bryan E. Smith, son of Dorothy, father of one son and three daughters, and sibling to two brothers and three sisters, hit author Stephen King on June 19, 1999, on Route 5 in North Lovell, Maine.

* * *

09/25/00- Updated 10:33 AM ET
King regrets death of driver who hit him
By Bob Minzesheimer, USA TODAY

Author Stephen King says he's "stunned and sorry" to hear of the death of the man who was driving the van that struck King last year while he was walking alongside a Maine road, nearly killing him.

Bryan Edwin Smith, 43, was found dead in bed Friday night at his mobile home in Fryeburg, Maine.

Police said there was no sign of trauma or violence. "He was on a variety of medications for his health," said Capt. James Miclon of the Oxford County Sheriff's Office. Smith's brother called police after not hearing from Smith in about three days. A postmortem is planned to attempt to determine the cause of death.

King is still recovering (a leg was broken in nine places, his knee was split, a hip was fractured, among other injuries). He had objected to a plea bargain that let Smith off with a year of probation and suspended driver's license, despite nearly a dozen previous traffic infractions. Smith said he was distracted by his dog when his van veered off the road and hit King.

After police called King on Friday to tell him of Smith's death, the author said, "I would wish better for anyone. Our lives came together in a strange way. I'm grateful I didn't die. I'm sorry he's gone."

King told USA TODAY on Saturday that he never thought it was an issue of "punishing" Smith and questioned if it would do any good to send him to jail. But, he added, "I felt he was a danger to himself and to others. Something more needed to be done that wasn't done."

King also said that he began to think of Smith "almost as a force of nature. What happened to me was almost as if I had been struck by lightning. He wasn't a very good driver. It was my bad luck that I happened to be in his way."

In his new book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, out Oct. 2, King describes what he remembers of the accident, writing in part: "I'm lying in the ditch and there's blood all over my face and my right leg hurts. I look down and see something I don't like: my lap now appears to be on sideways, as if my whole lower body had been wrenched half a turn to the right."

King notes that Smith later told police he was driving from a campground to get "some of those Marzes-bars they have up to the store." When King heard that later, "it occurs to me that I have nearly been killed by a character right out of one of my own novels. It's almost funny."

* * *

Monday September 25 1:42 PM ET
Autopsy Slated for Driver Who Struck Stephen King

PORTLAND, Maine (Reuters) - Horror writer Stephen King said on Monday he was sorry about the untimely death of the driver who struck and severely injured him last year.

Police found Bryan Smith, 43, dead in his home in the hamlet of Fryeburg, Maine. The disabled former construction worker's cause of death was not immediately apparent and a routine autopsy was scheduled. But authorities said they did not suspect foul play.

Smith was driving the 1985 Dodge Caravan in June 1999 that struck and nearly killed King.

The author of "Misery," "Carrie" and "The Shining" underwent several operations to repair a broken hip and fractured leg. He spent months on crutches and underwent physical therapy to learn how to walk again.

"I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Bryan Smith," King said in a statement. "The death of a 43-year-old man can only be termed untimely."

Smith was found dead in his bed Friday night. Autopsies, however, are routinely performed in Maine when the cause of death is unknown.

Smith was convicted of aggravated assault and driving to endanger in the King incident, charges that carry more than 10 years in prison. But after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors, only his driving privileges were revoked for a year.

He was expecting to find out next month whether the state would renew his driver's license.

A graveside service is scheduled for Tuesday.

* * *

Monday September 25 2:34 PM ET
Man's Death Brings Novelist Sorrow

FRYEBURG, Maine (AP) - An autopsy did not explain the death of the man whose van struck and severely injured horror writer Stephen King, officials said Monday.

Bryan Smith, 43, was found dead Friday at his home in Fryeburg, with no sign of injury.

The autopsy Monday also found no evidence of trauma but no conclusion was reached on the cause of death pending the outcome of toxicology tests, according to a statement from the state medical examiner's office. Those tests could take several months.

Earlier Monday, King expressed sorrow over the death of the man he once said took his "peace of mind and my ease of body."

"I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Bryan Smith," King said in a statement issued by his assistant, Julie Eugley. "The death of a 43-year-old man can only be termed untimely."

There was no sign of violence or trauma when Smith's body was found, Capt. James Miclon of the Oxford County Sheriff's Office said. "He was on a variety of medications for his health," Miclon said.

Smith struck and seriously injured King while driving a van in North Lovell in June 1999. King, who was walking along the road, suffered broken bones in his right leg and hip, broken ribs, a punctured lung and a head injury.

Smith pleaded guilty in January to a misdemeanor driving-to-endanger charge. Prosecutors dropped a charge of aggravated assault. Smith received a six-month suspended jail sentence.

Smith said he was distracted by his dog. He publicly apologized to King while insisting the crash was an accident and no one was at fault.

At the time of the sentencing, King, 53, chided prosecutors for making a deal that did not include any jail time and did not permanently revoke Smith's license.

"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 in January.

The Eyes Of The Dragon being done in France

Posted: September 20, 2000, 23:03
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In the AOL chat that took place on September 19:th King said that the movie version of The Eyes Of The Dragon is being made by talented filmmakers in France.

AOL chat for The Plant

Posted: September 19, 2000, 13:09
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King did an AOL chat for The Plant on September 19:th.

Here is the transcript from the chat:

OnlineHost: Legendary author STEPHEN KING will be here to chat LIVE at 8:00 PM ET. Welcome to the STEPHEN KING CONFERENCE, beginning at 8 eastern time. We'd love to start early, but the voices won't allow it until everyone's here. Some of you are new, and will want to put your questions into the queue. Remember, you don't have to wait to submit your questions! To send your question to the guest, click on the "Ask the Guest a Question" button, then use the "Send Question" option. Tonight's conference is the first of TWO special Stephen King conferences. In this conference, his new e-book THE PLANT is our center of attention. Remember, you can download it right off his website www.stephenking.com! And on October 10th, we'll be here again with Steve to talk about his new non-fiction book ON WRITING. We know you're all getting impatient, but remember--horror is heightened by tension!
OnlineHost: SKing Live has entered the room.
OnlineHost: we'll be starting in just a few moments. In the meantime, here's something to talk about---what was your FIRST Stephen King book? Talk amongst yourselves!
OnlineHost: Copyright 2000 America Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The auditorium consists of the audience (where you are) and the stage, where the MC/host and guests appear. AOL Live chat hosts will be in the rows to make sure that everyone has a great time.
AOLiveMC15: Welcome back to AOL Live, Stephen King!
SKing Live: It's nice to be here.
AOLiveMC15: We're extremely excited to have you with us tonight.
SKing Live: I'm excited, too. :-)
AOLiveMC15: Our first audience question deals with "The Plant"...
Question: Is "the plant" going to come out as a regular book in the stores or is it just through the internet?
SKing Live: If "The Plant gets finished, it'll eventually come out as a book, yes. The question is whether or not it'll get finished! It sort of depends on how honest the readers are. I had said I'd continue if the pay-through of a buck an episode hung around 75%. Right now it's down to 69.5%. That could be a problem.
SKing Live: I'm ready.
Question: Can we actually download Part I of The Plant AFTER Part III goes up?
SKing Live: You can continue to download Part 1 until the end of September. We were going to drop it off the website next week, but have decided to leave it up. A lot of people just seem to be getting comfortable with the technical end of it, and I'm determined to give this a fair shot.
SKing Live: Next question?
Question: Do you think of a story before you start to write or do you just start writing?
SKing Live: Usually I have an idea, and then just chase it!
SKing Live: Next?
Question: Will there be a next installment of the Dark Tower Series?
SKing Live: Yes--I'm hoping to start work on the next Dark Tower book in January or February. The tentative title is "The Crawling Shadow." It'll probably change, as that's sort of corny.
Question: What do you like best and worst about the 'new' mediums for your
work? (ebooks, web buying, etc.)
SKing Live: The whole business of "The Plant" has been an interesting introduction to the e-book world. I really hope it works. And you know, I think most people ARE being honest. It's just that a lot of people have downloaded the parts 2 or even 3 times to get it right. It's very weird. But I guess weird is my business.
Question: What unique challenges does writing in a serialized format (eg The
Plant, The Green Mile) present you? Constant Reader, Mark Fulton
SKing Live: Hey, Mark--mostly, working the serial format is scary. You're out there every month, and it's like working without a net. Certainly without an editor or copyeditor! And with The Plant, I'm really struggling to stay current. Parts 1, 2, and 3 were written a long time ago, but the new stuff is pretty cool. One hint about things to come: there's a guy writing a novel concerning a TV show where contestants are stranded on a desert island.
Question: How can I get your first online book? I missed it when it was
available, & now regret it!
SKing Live: You can still get RIDING THE BULLET from...um... I think it's www.simonsays.com. And the Plant you get from my website, www.stephenking.com. But remember, you have to pay the buck or Pennywise will get you.
AOLiveMC15: This question is from David, a longtime fan: How long will "Dreamcatcher" be and what will it be about?
SKing Live: "Dreamcatcher" is a novel that's going to be published next March. It's 907 pages long in manuscript, so it's pretty hefty. I just finished it today. It's got a little bit of that STAND vibe.
Question: Who are some authors who YOU like to read?
SKing Live: Oh, man. I read everyone. There's a new book by Randall Boyll called KATASTROPHE that's just f-----g wonderful. But I'll read just about anyone. I'm working my way through Patrick O'Brians Aubrey/Maturin novels this fall. They're
great.
Question: Mr. King. You are so prolific, you amaze me. Has there ever been a point where you felt like putting your pen down for awhile and doing something else?
Sking Live: Sometimes I put down my pen and pick up my guitar. Now THAT'S scary. :--)
Question: What was your inspiration for "It"? I just loved that movie!
SKing Live: When I got the idea for IT, I was walking home from a car breakdown. I had to cross a little bridge, and I got thinking about that old story, "3 Billy Goat's Gruff." The one where there's a monster under the bridge? That was
really the seed. That, and thinking of all the ways we change between our childhood and our adulthood.
Question: How can I get an autographed book? Is it even possible?
SKing Live: Not really. So many people ask now...they're piled up to the sky at the office. Sometimes I sign books for charities and stuff, but mostly it's a choice: I can write em, or I can sign 'em. Mostly I write 'em. Of course you could go to a book dealer. God knows I've signed enough in my time!
Question: Mr. King - I was left in complete suspense when I finished the first story in Hearts In Atlantis, "Low Men In Yellow Coats". Will you continue that story in the future?
SKing Live: That particular story is now filming as a movie--"Hearts in Atlantis," starring Anthony "fava beans" Hopkins as Bobby's friend, Ted. Of course the story itself is a small piece of the Dark Tower cycle, and if those books get done, we will encounter Ted Brautigan again. He's a breaker, after all, little as he wants to be.
AOLiveMC15: Mr. King, so many of your fans have asked about how you've been
doing since the accident:
Question: Did your accident change the way you relate to life and your work?
SKing Live: My accident changed everything. Not all those changes are bad. But it's a little easier to see the small shit in life for what it is after you've almost gotten the gate.
Question: What was the hardest book in terms of emotions for you to write?
SKing Live: Pet Sematary.
Question: Will you be making any public or television appearances to coincide with the release of "On Writing" next month?
SKing Live: I think I'm supposed to do Good Morning America.
Question: I highly enjoyed the remake of The Shining, especially how it stuck to the story line as it was originally written. Do you ever regret allowing your stories to be made into movies and, if so, which ones?
SKing Live: Well, I think several of the movies have been real stinkers, but I never regretted giving anyone the chance. Sometimes the smaller ones, like "Cujo," surprise you. I like a lot of the Castle Rock films, like STAND BY MEN,
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, and THE GREEN MILE, because they see past the horror
to the human beings. I'm a lot more interested in the people than the monsters.
Question: Do you ever use story ideas suggested by fans?
SKing Live: Never have. Too easy to get sued for plagiarism! Besides, I've got more ideas of my own than I'll probably ever get to.
Question: How do you decide in what manner you're going to release a book,
i.e. "The Plant?"
SKing Live: "The Plant" was almost a goof. I had it, and no one had ever seen it, and I thought that was a shame. Also, it was a way of forcing myself back to work on it. We're go for Part 3, at least, but then I'm really going to have
to get serious about this thing. If people don't pay, I'll have to pull the plug. But right now, it's so hard to separate the shoplifters from people that are just having trouble making the technology work.
Question: If literature offers a space in which to explore and challenge the
human psyche, what influence or expressive outlet do you see horror as a genre serves readers; is horror a positive venue to, say, overcome one's fears or can it generate violence?
SKing Live: I think violent art can generate violence in violent people. For the rest of us, it's a way of exploring the dark sides of our natures (there are many, I think). We have so few outlets of this sort! I think that some violent, scary entertainments are vital. I hate the current uproar over violent films and video games, because they make such a convenient whipping boy. If you're yelling about games like WWF Smackdown, you don't have to discuss the society the gives birth to those interests.
Question: Do you find as much satisfaction writing for the online crowd as you
do for the mainstream book fans?
SKing Live: This is hard!
Question: Mr. King.. besides writing books, do you write poetry? And do you have any advice about how I can learn how to become a better poetry writer?
SKing Live: I have written a lot of poetry, but I show very little of it. Most of it just doesn't work. I even taught it for a semester, about a million years ago! I think some of the basic things apply: honesty and vivid language being only two of them.
Question: Will you be doing a sequel to "Eyes of the Dragon?"
SKing Live: "Eyes" is also a part of the Dark Tower stories. I don't think there'll ever be a sequel per se, but a talented bunch of animated filmmakers from France are making a feature out of that one.
AOLiveMC15: We have time for one final question for Stephen King tonight:
Question: What can you tell us about "On Writing" and what went into writing
it?
SKing Live: I wanted to write a book about how to write, because so many people have asked me. It's a short book, but it was very hard to write. It's amazing how much stuff you take for granted after you've been doing this for awhile! In any case, I think it's funny. The story of my accident--maybe NOT so funny--is in there, too.
AOLiveMC15: Well Mr. King, we very much look forward to your returning to AOL Live on October 10th to talk about that book.
AOLiveMC15: Thanks so much for joining us tonight -- it's been great!
SKing Live: Thanks very much. And when it comes to The Plant, I hope everyone out there will help us make it a success.
AOLiveMC15 Thanks again, Mr. King. :)
SKing Live: Goodnight!
AOLiveMC15: And thanks to our audience for all their great questions.
AOLiveMC15: Good night!
OnlineHost: SKing Live has left the room.
Thanks to Bev Vincent for sending the transcript!

The Eyes of the Dragon animated

Posted: September 15, 2000, 23:02
_
It looks like the book The Eyes Of The Dragon will finally be turned it to a movie. This is what it said on King's official page on September 15:th:

The Eyes of the Dragon
Animated Film Adaptation

More info will appear as it is revealed.

Stephen King has second thoughts...

Posted: September 11, 2000, 13:06
_
In a letter to the Editor of New York Time Sunday Magazine King apologized about stuff he had said in an interview with The New York Times.

Here is what he said:

WHAT IS STEPHEN KING TRYING TO PROVE?

The chief hazard of the interview process is that there is never a chance for a second draft, where one may revise or delete badly expressed and sometimes downright idiotic comments. In the course of my talk with Stephen J. Dubner (Aug. 13), I spoke slightingly of my daughter's hard-won religious beliefs and, in an effort to express my admiration for my younger son's fiction, managed to make it sound ephemeral instead. His stories, witty and sharply observed, are fine examples of craft and character. The reason I didn't say that in the interview, so far as I can tell, was that my mouth was too full of my own foot. I apologize to my kids, who deserved better from their old man.

Stephen King
Bangor, Me.

Copied from Lilja's Library: http://liljas-library.com/

Travis hunting King's ghosts in ABC's mini

Posted: August 23, 2000, 13:04
_
Wednesday August 23 01:54 AM EDT

Travis hunting King's ghosts in ABC's mini
By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (The Hollywood Reporter) --- Nancy Travis (TNT's "Running Mates") leads the cast of "Stephen King's Rose Red," an original six-hour miniseries for ABC from the horror master, which is expected to air during the February 2002 sweep.

Travis is joined by two-time Tony Award winner Judith Ivey ("The Devil's Advocate," "Hurlyburly"), Kimberly Brown ("Tumbleweeds"), Julian Sands ("Leaving Las Vegas," "A Room With a View") and Matt Keeslar ("The Last Days of Disco," CBS' "Durango") in the miniseries, which King wrote after a June 1999 accident in which he was hit by a van while walking near his Lewiston, Maine, home (HR 5/8).

The three-part miniseries tells the story of Rose Red, a dormant haunted mansion built in 1907 by a Seattle oil magnate. An obsessed psychology professor, Joyce Reardon (Travis), commissions a team of psychics and a gifted 15-year-old autistic girl (Brown) to wake the ghosts. Their attempts unleash myriad spirits and bring to light the horrifying secrets of the generations that have lived and died there.

The ensemble cast also includes Kevin Tighe ("Murder One"), Emily Deschanel ("It Could Happen to You"), Yvonne Scio ("Milonga"), Matt Ross ("The Last Days of Disco") and Tsidii LeLoca (Broadway's "The Lion King").

"We're delighted to have Stephen King back at ABC," the network's executive vp movies and miniseries Susan Lyne said. "The script is superb -- vintage King. I can't wait to see these characters brought to life."

Lyne declined comment on the project's price tag but said that elaborate special effects will probably push the budget beyond the $30 million spent on King's "Storm of the Century," his previous original miniseries for ABC.

The producing team of "Storm" is in place for "Rose Red." King and Mark Carliner (TNT's "George Wallace," ABC's "Stephen King's The Shining") have reteamed as executive producers joined by producer Thomas Brodek. "Storm" director Craig Baxley rolled the camera Tuesday,Aug. 22 when "Rose Red" began production in and around Seattle.

The miniseries is produced by Greengrass Prods. in association with Victor Television Prods. and Mark Carliner Prods.

Last year, Travis starred in CBS' short-lived comedy series "Work With Me." She also starred in another CBS sitcom, "Almost Perfect." Her feature credits include "Three Men and a Baby," "Internal Affairs" and "So I Married an Axe Murderer." She is repped by Endeavor.

King joins The Rock Bottom Remainders

Posted: August 22, 2000, 21:30
_
August 22 Now Kathi Goldmark confirms that King plans to join The Rock Bottom Remainders when they play at the 930 Club in Washington, DC on November 16.

Great news. I will have a review of the concert here shortly after the 16:th.

Here are dates and venues where you can see Rock Bottom Remainders this Fall (it's not clear if King will be appearing in all places though):
November 14: Gothic Theater, Denver
November 16: The Roxy, Boston
November 17: The 930 Club, Washington DC

Thanks to Bob Ireland for the info!

August 24 In a mail to Lilja's Library Kathi Goldmark confirms that King plans to join them on the whole tour. Great News!

Roger McGuinn, founder of the Byrds, also comfirms that he will join the band this fall for three concerts.

Again, thanks to Bob Ireland for the info!

August 25 Here is some news from an article that is available online:

"And if that weren't enough, The Hollywood Reporter says the group is planning to write a new book about their rock n' roll misadventures."

August 31 In an interview done by Kevin Quigley from Charnel House Kathi Goldmark tells him that King is planning to join them for all 3 performances.

"As far as I know, Steve plans to make all three dates. We've all got our fingers crossed; it's just not the same without him, and his bandmates probably miss him even more than his fans in the audience do, when he can't make a show."

She also denies any knowledge about a new book. When Kev asked her what's up whit this new book she replied;

"Where did you hear that? As far as I know, there are no plans for a second collaborative book."

I guess it was the reporters that got it wrong...again.

Read the whole interview here.

September 15 Here are the dates and times for the upcoming concerts with The Rock Bottom Remainders

Tuesday, November 14, 2000 @ 7 p.m.
The Gothic Theater located @ 3263 South Broadway, Englewood, CO

Thursday, November 16, 2000 @ 7 p.m.
The Roxy located @ 279 Tremont St., Boston, MA

Friday, November 17, 2000 @ 8 p.m.
The Platinum Club is located @ 915 F St. NW, Washington, DC

The info is from Rosandra King page!

September 28 More info about prices and what they include can be found at Rosandras page.

Songs by The Rock Bottom Remainders can now be downloaded from mp3.com

Posted: August 18, 2000, 21:27
_
Friday August 18, 6:30 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: MP3.com, Inc.

All-Star Band of Literary Giants Rocks Out on MP3.com; The Rock Bottom Remainders Features Stephen King, Amy Tan and Dave Barry

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- MP3.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: MPPP - news) today announced that members of all-star literary band The Rock Bottom Remainders have made music available for streaming and downloading on the site. Consisting of well-known authors including horror master Stephen King, renowned humorist Dave Barry, mystery writer Ridley Pearson and award-winning novelist Amy Tan.

"We're excited to have such a prestigious group of literary figures represented on our site," said Michael Robertson, chairman and chief executive officer of MP3.com (www.mp3.com). "The Rock Bottom Remainders perform fun music with great spirit and energy, all for charitable causes. We're glad that the band has decided to join the diverse community of digital artists on MP3.com."

The literary jam band, which was first assembled to perform a single live concert for charity, now regularly plays benefit shows around the country. Founded by Don't Quit Your Day Job Records president Kathi Kamen Goldmark, also a member of the band, the Remainders perform original tunes penned by the prestigious scribes as well as cover versions of various rock and pop classics. Among the tracks currently featured on MP3.com are "Tupperware Blues," an original song written and performed by Barry, with renowned musician Warren Zevon on bass; and a cover version of the classic pop tune "These Boots Are Made for Walking" featuring Tan on vocals.

"As a band we pretty much suck, but we suck for a good cause," said Goldmark. "I think the spirit of fun comes across in these tracks, and I hope listeners will get as much enjoyment out of hearing them as we get out of making them."

In addition to producing a book about their adventures on the road, members of the Remainders have served as vocalists on a number of songs featured on "Stranger Than Fiction," a double CD from Don't Quit Your Day Job Records that benefits the Pen Writers Foundation.

The Rock Bottom Remainders join more than 87,000 digital artists who post music on MP3.com.

To receive MP3.com press releases via email, register at pr.mp3.com.

About MP3.com

MP3.com, Inc. has created what it believes is a unique and robust technology infrastructure for the storage, management, promotion and delivery of digital music. As the Internet's premier Music Service Provider (MSP), the company is dedicated to providing consumers with anytime, anywhere access to their music using any web-enabled device. The company's web site hosts what MP3.com believes is the largest collection of digital music available on the Internet, with more than 562,000 songs and audio files posted from over 87,000 digital artists and record labels. Dedicated to growing the digital music space, the company's products and services include on-demand Subscription Music Channels, an innovative Retail Music Program, a Syndicated Radio Division and others. Additionally, through the company's MSP initiative, MP3.com is partnering with a variety of forward-looking technology companies to expand its digital music strategy. MP3.com's common stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the ticker symbol MPPP. The company is based in San Diego, California. For more information on MP3.com, visit www.mp3.com.

Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such statements include references activities expected to occur in connection with MP3.com's relationship with The Rock Bottom Remainders. These statements involve a high degree of risk and uncertainty, are only predictions, and actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences include risks related to: MP3.com's current litigation proceedings, including without limitation the inability to reach settlement with all parties to such litigation; MP3.com's new and uncertain business model; acceptance of MP3.com's products and services; MP3.com's limited operating history, and MP3.com's rapid growth, as well as other risks detailed from time-to-time in MP3.com's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999 and it's most recent report on Form 10-Q.

For more information, please contact, Greg Wilfahrt, Director of Public Relations of MP3.com, 858-623-7280, pr@mp3.com.

Article about King from The New York Times

Posted: August 12, 2000, 21:24
_
In the article in
The New York Times King says that he has finished Dreamcatcher and that it's 900 pages long. He also says that in On Writing he invites his readers-writers to submit their work to him. The best offerings he might publish in the paperback edition of the book.

To read the article you must be registered at their site but it's free.

King in Pittsburgh to research for new book

Posted: August 10, 2000, 21:23
_
BUTLER, Pa. (AP) - Maybe there's nothing eerie about western Pennsylvania, but folks keep seeing Stephen King in a seafood restaurant around here.

Some residents of Butler and Lawrence counties spotted the horror author Sunday and Monday at a state police barracks and at a Red Lobster restaurant. Apparently, King visited the area, about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh, to research rural life for a new book.

Trooper Rob Lagoon said King toured the state police offices while keeping tightlipped about the story. The author did say it should be out in 2003 and would be set in an area like western Pennsylvania.

Tina Slupe, the general manager of the restaurant where King ate, said employees recognized King and asked for his autograph.

"He told them he would give the autograph and he wouldn't bite, but if 20 people approached him seeking an autograph, he would bite," Slupe said.

King, a resident of Maine, is the best selling author of "Misery," "Carrie," "The Shining", "Pet Sematary" and "The Green Mile" among others.

King will promote On Writing on GMA Oct. 2nd

Posted: August 9, 2000, 21:17
_
Here is a mail from Simon & Schuster from August 8

Dear Stephen King Fan:



Get ready for another segment of wisdom from the King -- attached is the next installment in our series of ON WRITING e-postcards. Don't forget to share it with other students of the craft, loyal King fans, and new readers alike!

And be sure to visit http://www.SimonSays.com/king where you can download ON WRITING bookmarks and enter a contest to win a free Advance Reader's Copy of the book. ON WRITING can be yours first!

But that's not all_we've also learned that King will be making an upcoming appearance on ABC's Good Morning America. Set your VCR for October 2nd, you won't want to miss this! Be sure to keep an eye on the newsstands too -- The New York Times Sunday Magazine will include a profile of ON WRITING in their August 13th issue, and Elle magazine will feature the book in September.

And what's the verdict on ON WRITING? Here's what the experts are saying:

"[On Writing] exerts a potent fascination and embodies important lessons and truths." - Publishers Weekly

"Generous, lucid, and passionate, King offers lessons and encouragementto the beginning writer, along with a warts-and-all account of a less-than-carefree life." - Kirkus Reviews

"Good advice and a good, ordinary life, relayed in spunky, vivid prose, are the prime ingredients of what must be considered not at all the usual writer's guide." - Booklist

* * *

Want to learn more? Stop by our King den at http://www.SimonSays.com/king

Keeping you up on all things King, we are...

SimonSays.com

Pictures of Larry and Lisa

Posted: August 3, 2000, 12:11
_
Here are pictures of the actors that will be in the movie.

Tim Pugliese as Larry and Lisa Goodness as Kat.

Thanks to Rosandra Montequin

King will release a new short story next month

Posted: July 23, 2000, 21:10
_
The Old Dude's Ticker has now been released. I haven't read it yes so at this point I have no further info, stay tuned...

In the mean time, here is the cover for the "Necon 2000 Commemorative Volume"

The new story King will have in the "Necon 2000 Commemorative Volume" will be 7 pages long and called The Old Dude's Ticker. It's reported that it will be a collaboration between King and Edgar Allan Poe!?!? How this is possible isn't clear at this time.

The story will be illustrated by Richard Sardinha and have an introduction by King.

Here are the data:

Editor: Bob Booth
Publisher: The Necon Committee
Publication Date: July, 2000
Place of Publication: Bristol, RI

Story Byline: Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe
Story Title: The Old Dude's Ticker
Accompanying Illustration (page 24): Richard Sardinha
Text covers pages 25-31
Note: There is an introduction to the story by the author (King, not Poe).

Here's what the official site says:

And finally, we give you below the final contributors to ye Necon 2000 Commemorative Volume. NOTE:
As Ye Webmistress understands it, there is only one way to get this little gem: Attend Necon. It's part
of the Necon registration bag and extras will NOT be printed. It will not be for sale anywhere. It will
not be reprinted. And lest life has made you forget: Necon is limited to 200 attendees. Once it fills up,
that's IT, so the timeless words of wisdom apply here: You Snooze, You Lose! A few words straight from
the mouth of Our Esteemed Necon Chairman: "333 copies of the book will be printed. All are identical.
There will be no special copies (i.e. signed, numbered, human skin, etc.). The book will NEVER be
reprinted, once the printed copies are received from the printer the PageMaker file will be deleted..."
Thanks to Bev Vincent and Justin Brooks for the info.

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.

Special feature

King calendar

September:
The Life of Chuck (movie)
September 13, 2024:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (French ed.)
September 21, 2024:
Stephen King: Stories From Five Decades of Storytelling (US edition)
Fall:
The Extra Hour (short in CD #79)
2024:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (Greek ed.)
October:
Salem’s Lot (movie)
2024:
Stephen King: Stories From Five Decades of Storytelling (Italian edition)
2024:
Stephen King: Stories From Five Decades of Storytelling (Greek edition)
2024:
Stephen King: Stories From Five Decades of Storytelling (German edition)
2024:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (German ed.)
2025:
Stephen King: Not Just Horror (Spanish ed.)
February 21, 2025:
The Monkey (movie)
2025:
Welcome To Derry (TV series)
2025:
The Long Walk (movie)
2025:
The Institute (TV series)
November 21, 2025:
The Running Man

Latest interviews

Angelina Kekish
February 16, 2021
Aaron Haye
February 15, 2021
Eli Roth
October 5, 2020

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Lost (or Found) in Translation
October 17, 2024
Salem's Lot
October 1, 2024
You Like It Darker
May 21, 2024

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