A Brief Guide to Stephen King Read Online Free

film added to King’s growing reputation, which was heightened further when
The Shining
was published early in 1977.
    Another new King book was published that year, but only a tiny handful of people were aware of its authorship. Annoyed at the perceived wisdom that an author could only release one book in a year, or else the sales of the new one would eat into the untapped potential of the previous release, King decided to offer his ‘trunk’ novels – the ones which he had written and put away – direct to New American Library. King insisted that NAL use a pseudonym on the cover (originally it was going to be Guy Pillsbury) and ‘Getting It On’, now retitled
Rage
, was published as by Richard Bachman in September 1977.
    Although Doubleday wanted a new King novel for early 1978, King knew that
The Stand
wouldn’t be completed in time, so offered them a collection of short stories, culled from the many that he had been selling since 1967.
Night Shift
was a surprise hit for the publisher in February, although they were less surprised at how well
The Stand
sold when it was published seven months later.
    Perhaps if some of the senior executives at the publishing house had treated King better – after all, he was one of their best-selling authors – then the very publicized split that occurred soon after might not have happened. King felt that Leon Uris and Alex Haley were treated much better, whereas it seemed as if Bill Thompson had to remind them who King was every time he visited the office.
    Another factor that weighed against Doubleday was their treatment of the manuscript for
The Stand
. The book that King delivered was 1,200 pages long; their presses could only cope with a book two-thirds that size. King was told that 400 pages needed to go; either he could do the edit, or they would. The author understandably carried out the work himself, keeping the material, and eventually reworking it into the revised edition of the story that came out a decade later.
    The Stand
was the final story King owed Doubleday under his contract, and he was determined to get a better financial deal for the next books. He asked for an advance of $3.5 million; Doubleday refused. With McCauley as his agent, King went to NAL, and made a deal with them. Since they were only paperback publishers, they sold the hardback rights to Viking.
    After all of the difficulties over the negotiations, the Kings decided on another change of scenery. They crossed the Atlantic to England, complete with new arrival Owen, who was born in February 1977, and rented a house in Fleet in Hampshire. Although the move wasn’t the creative jolt King had hoped for, he did meet fellow author Peter Straub, and the two fantasy writers agreed to collaborate on a book when they were both free. The proposed year-long sabbatical in Britain lasted only three months, and the Kings bought a new home in Center Lovell, Maine.
    In September 1978, King started a year teaching at his old university in Maine, renting a house near Route 15.His lectures at his alma mater formed the core of his non-fiction book
Danse Macabre
, which was commissioned by Bill Thompson for his new publishing house, Everest, after he had been fired by Doubleday. The Kings’ home, and its proximity to traffic, led to a family tragedy when Naomi’s cat was killed, and inspired King’s most gruesome novel,
Pet Sematary
, which he wrote and then put away, not intending to publish it.
    Another story about which he hadn’t thought for a long time also resurfaced when the Kings looked in the cellar of their Bridgton home: King had been fascinated by Robert Browning’s poem ‘Childe Harold to the Dark Tower Came’ at university, and it had prompted him to write both a poem, ‘The Dark Man’, and a couple of short stories about a gunslinger named Roland. Little realizing how central to his fiction this fantasy Western would become, he sold the stories to
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science