Sorry, I couldn’t resist — did you know who I was talking about?

Yes, Stephen King has announced that he is finally going to publish an epic novel he has been working on for over 25 years. According to the Guardian’s article “Stephen King completes epic novel after 25 years” by Alison Flood, King’s novel Under the Dome is 1120 pages and features over 100 characters. Nevermind that his novels It and The Stand (the extended “director’s cut” anyway) were both over 1100 pages, and King’s shorter books usually come in around the 600 page mark. I understand that this is somehow news because it’s a book he’s been working on for a long time. But really, to brag, or at least pretend that it’s noteworthy, that a writer like Stephen King has written a long book is just hilarious. This man has written over 50 books in his career, which averages to what — almost two per year? He’s a prolific son of a bitch. I really don’t think it’s news that Stephen King has a long book coming out. Honestly, the article kind of reads like a paid-for press release.

I’m not particularly a fan of King but I don’t really thumb my nose at him either; his book On Writing, an autobiography and writer’s guide, is actually quite good. He offers a lot of great advice for writers and admits that even he breaks a lot of his own suggested rules. He’s had his problems, drug addiction, being hit by a car, but he’s survived to live another day, tell the tale, and bathe in a tub filled with paper likenesses of Ben Franklin.

Something I discovered (I so much love to learn) in my little mini research for writing this post, is that King had a book come out two years ago called Blaze. The main character in this book is named Clayton Blaisdell, suspiciously close to Oakley Hall’s character Clay Blaisedell in his novel Warlock written over 50 years ago. Hmm. I guess these things happen. I mean, even now I’m working on a novel whose protagonist is named Jayson Gatzbee. His best friend’s name name, you ask? Why, he’s Ty Slothropp.

I’m just funnin’ around. I’ve got nothing bad to say about Stephen King.

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Tags: alison flood, benjamin franklin, blaze, it, oakley hall, on writing, stephen king, the guardian, the stand, under the dome, warlock