Wednesday 10 February 2010

Weekly Geeks: Fun Facts About Stephen King


This week’s theme is: fun facts about authors.


1. Choose a writer you like.
2. Using resources such as Wikipedia, the author’s website, whatever you can find, make a list of interesting facts about the author.
3. Post your fun facts list in your blog, maybe with a photo of the writer, a collage of his or her books, whatever you want.
4. Come sign the Mr Linky below with the url to your fun facts post.
5. As you run into (or deliberately seek out) other Weekly Geeks’ lists, add links to your post for authors you like or authors you think your readers are interested in.


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I decided to do my Weekly Geeks fun facts on Stephen King as I'm currently reading The Stand (I've become paranoid whenever someone sneezes or coughs around me now) and I've been reading King's books since I was about 13 so he's one of my all-time favourites.

So here goes . . .


- Stephen Edwin King was born September 21st, 1947, in Portland, Maine. He also grew up and went to college in Maine which is why most of his stories are set there. He sticks to a place he knows the ins and outs of.


- King graduated from the University of Maine in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science in English. He then went on, later in life, to teach Creative Writing there.


- King's first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974 and later made into a film. Originally he threw the uncompleted manuscript out after becoming discouraged with the idea. His wife, Tabitha, rescued it and encouraged him to finish it.


- To date, King has had a total of 48 novels published.


- In the late '70s/early '80s, King published a series of novels under a pseudonym, Richard Bachman, as an experiment to see whether he could replicate his own success again. He did. And Bachman was later exposed as King's pseudonym. This led to a press release announcing the death of Bachman from 'cancer of the pseudonym'. In 2007, King published an old manuscript of Bachman's, Blaze, and announced that all proceeds would go the charity for 'cancer of the pseudonym', in memory of Richard.


- When King overcame his addiction to drink and drugs in 1987, he came across one of his books, Cujo, that he couldn't remember writing. He had to reread it to learn what it was about as he was so heavily under the influence at the time he wrote it, he'd completely forgotten it.


- King's sons, Joe Hill and Owen King, are also published authors.


- On June 19, 1999, King was struck by a minivan on the shoulder of Route 5 in Lovell, Maine. The driver had got distracted by his dog, and King landed in a depression 14 feet from the pavement. He suffered from a collapsed lung, multiple fractures on his right leg, scalp laceration, and a broken hip.


- It was during his time in hospital that King got the idea for Lisey's Story. His wife told him she'd go home and make his office nice and tidy for his return. He panicked and told her to stay out of there, realising that if he had died, he would have left his papers and drafts very unorganised and free for anyone to look at.


- King bought the minivan that hit him and, on the anniversary of the accident, hammered it to pieces with a baseball bat.


- King suffers from a currently incurable condition called macular degeneration which eventually leads to blindness.


- King has stated that his favourite book-to-film adaptations of his work are Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Mist.


- In 2002, King wrote a TV mini series called Rose Red. He even made a cameo appearance as a pizza boy.


- People travel from miles around to visit King's house in Bangor, Maine, whose gates are adorned with bats and spider webs.

 

12 comments:

Nina said...

Fun to know more about Stephen King. And look at that gate, it's so fun!

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

Being from New England, I've been a King fan for years, but have not read many of his books in the last few years. I did but Under the Dome (1,000++pages) and hope to start it soon. Great post Ceri!

Michelle said...

I have never read a King novel. I am such a scaredy cat, but a friend of mine raves about The Stand. I am sorely tempted to pick it up one of these days. Your information was a lot of fun!

Natalie W said...

Very interesting! Love his books and movies.

Anonymous said...

Fun post! I've only read his non-fiction book On Writing. Like Michelle, I'm a scaredy cat!

Erotic Horizon said...

It is always good to know more about Mr King...

I have read a few things by him - he does have a way of dragging you into a story - whether you want to go or not...

E.h>

DanaB said...

Great post! I read SO many King novels as a teen/young adult, I had myself totally freaked out! I shudder at the thought these days, for I'm a pansy lol.
My teenage son is just now starting to explore The Stand, his interest having been piqued recently when he read King's "On Writing" book.
Fun post, thanks :)
~~

Ceri said...

Nina - Yeah, I love those gates. Pure King. Pure awesome!

Diane - Thanks. I've always been a big fan of his since my dad introduced me to Misery when I was 13.

Michelle - Whew! If you're going to start a Stephen King novel, don't go for The Stand. It's over 1400 pages! :P I'd start with The Shining - absolutely terrifying! Or Salem's Lot - as I know you like vampires. ;-)

Natalie - Thanks. Me too. :)

softdrink - That's on my wishlist. I'm dying to read it. :D

Horizon - Definitely. He really does suck you in with the characters and their lives before dragging them through hell, doesn't he?

Dana - Thanks. :) Yeah, when I was a teen, horror was *the* thing to read. My dad recommended me Stephen King and I just fell in love with his gruesome stories haha!

The Bookworm said...

King is the first adult author I read, and he's one of my favorites as well.
I love that most of his stories are set in Castle Rock Maine, its almost comforting when you read a SK book and he's taking you there yet again.

Joe Hill has a new book coming out soon, have you read him yet? The apple doesnt fall far from the tree thankfully.
great post!
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

wiec? said...

i read a kot of Steven King's stuff in middle school and high school. then after a long hiatus i am reading the Dark Towers series. great post!


now i want read Cujo just to see how messed up he must have been. the movie was pretty unforgetable.

schatzi said...

EDWIN?

I love the guy, but DAYUM.

Sarah said...

The Van thing is Funnay