King's novel: 11/22/63

[nocny]

Stephen King said in an interview for Toronto Star:

"I have one (story) that's kind of like Under the Dome, that I tried to write when I was 22 or 23 years old and I'm going to try to go back to that after this tour. I'd like to write that one. Beyond that, I have things that bounce around in my head. Dome bounced around a long time. I don't keep a writer's notebook of ideas because I've felt all my life that if I get a really good idea, it will stick."


So, he was 22-23 in 1969-1970. In 1970 he wrote 'Sword In the Darkness'.
But is it "kind of like 'UTD'"?

[mae]

Could very well be. Or something unknown.

[Brice]

Stephen King said in an interview for Toronto Star:

"I have one (story) that's kind of like Under the Dome, that I tried to write when I was 22 or 23 years old and I'm going to try to go back to that after this tour. I'd like to write that one. Beyond that, I have things that bounce around in my head. Dome bounced around a long time. I don't keep a writer's notebook of ideas because I've felt all my life that if I get a really good idea, it will stick."


So, he was 22-23 in 1969-1970. In 1970 he wrote 'Sword In the Darkness'.
But is it "kind of like 'UTD'"?

If by kind of like UTD he means an unpublished piece of long fiction from his earlier years, then yes. I think so, at least. Or maybe The Aftermath?

[Brice]

Stephen King said in an interview for Toronto Star:

"I have one (story) that's kind of like Under the Dome, that I tried to write when I was 22 or 23 years old and I'm going to try to go back to that after this tour. I'd like to write that one. Beyond that, I have things that bounce around in my head. Dome bounced around a long time. I don't keep a writer's notebook of ideas because I've felt all my life that if I get a really good idea, it will stick."


So, he was 22-23 in 1969-1970. In 1970 he wrote 'Sword In the Darkness'.
But is it "kind of like 'UTD'"?

If by kind of like UTD he means an unpublished piece of long fiction from his earlier years, then yes. I think so, at least.

[mae]

I wish he'd publish The Cannibals.

[Ben Mears]

The timeframe would suggest Sword In The Darkness but he's likely referring to The Cannibals which he began writing in the mid-70s. It would be a fairly easy job for him: tighten up the original manuscript the way he did for Blaze and add an ending. It could likely be published in a year.

[mae]

What he means by "kind of like Under the Dome", I think, is that he tried writing it a long time ago and either didn't finish or didn't think it was good enough to publish.

King has really warmed up to his old stuff in recent years (Blaze, The Cat from Hell, The Cannibals...) Good times to be a King fan.

[mae]

The timeframe would suggest Sword In The Darkness but he's likely referring to The Cannibals which he began writing in the mid-70s. It would be a fairly easy job for him: tighten up the original manuscript the way he did for Blaze and add an ending. It could be ready for publication in a year.

I think so too. The feedback to the two excerpts from The Cannibals has been unanimously excellent. I think he could publish it without much changes as all. Well, he'd need an ending...

[Brice]

Well, he needs to finish it before I finish reading UTD. We are long overdue for a new King book. :lol:

[nocny]

What he means by "kind of like Under the Dome", I think, is that he tried writing it a long time ago and either didn't finish or didn't think it was good enough to publish.



Yes, of course! That makes sense :) Why I didn't think about it? :)

[johnsmith87]

I too would like to see him publish the rest of The Cannibals, but I don't think that's what he's referring to here. For one, the time frame doesn't really match up (22-23 would be 1970ish, Cannibals was 1976).

I think he's either referring to Sword in the Darkness/Good Day Sunshine or most likely something unknown. Also, it wouldn't really make sense for him to publish The Cannibals so soon after Under the Dome (the books are far from being the same, but they're still very much similar.) Regardless of what it ends up being, I'm stoked and look forward to reading whatever it is he's planning on going back to.

All this new info that's surfaced since the tour began is really great!!

[DanishCollector]

Other two unfinished novels from that era was The Corner and Welcome to Clearwater.

[Darkday]

I think both The Corner and Welcome to Clearwater are from 1976, so I don't think King meant either of them.

[mae]

What about The House on Value Street, when was that?

[Darkday]

Around 1974, according to Justin's bibliography.

[Myste]

I would place my bet on Cannibals too... but let's wait and see.

[Ben Mears]

If anyone reading this thread is a member of the Stephen King message board please ask Ms. Mod if SK is referring to The Cannibals ,Sword In The Darkness or something else.

[herbertwest]

the cannibals turned into UtD so it cannot really be it...

[mae]

There's not much similarity between The Cannibals and Under the Dome, other than the main idea of people inexplicably cut off from the outside world.

[nocny]

Do anyone know where I can find (online) titles and synopsis of all known unpublished books?

[mae]

There's some on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unpublished_works_by_Stephen_King

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

If anyone reading this thread is a member of the Stephen King message board please ask Ms. Mod if SK is referring to The Cannibals ,Sword In The Darkness or something else.

The Mod is ill at the moment, and the board is closed.

I can guess that her reply would be, "wait and see".

[mae]

http://thekingcast.ca/site/?p=129

http://www.liljas-library.com/


In the interview Marsha said info would be revealed around the time the next Scribner catalog is released which is in a few months.

[Merlin1958]

Wow!!! That's a great catch Pablo, Thank you!!!! Very interesting!!!!!!!!!!!

[brandnewfan]

Crap I still have to finish Under the Dome lol. Good news though, can't wait!!!

[ur2ndbiggestfan]

Start saving your money for the US ARC, UK ARC, limited/signed US HC, US trade HC, limited/ signed UK hardcover, UK trade HC, UK trade paperback, manuscript proof, lettered edition, surprise numbered slipcased edition, available in Antactica only lettered edition using Dr. Suess's letters after 'Z'.

Did I miss anything?

[Roland of Gilead 33]

sweet thanxs for the news. maybe it's Dr. Sleep? i believe he said he's writing that one 1st?

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

It's not Dr. Sleep. SKMB confirmed this a long time ago.

[jhanic]

Start saving your money for the US ARC, UK ARC, limited/signed US HC, US trade HC, limited/ signed UK hardcover, UK trade HC, UK trade paperback, manuscript proof, lettered edition, surprise numbered slipcased edition, available in Antactica only lettered edition using Dr. Suess's letters after 'Z'.

Did I miss anything?

You forgot the original manuscript. :P

John

[nocny]

It's neither Dr. Sleep nor Wind Through The Key Hole ;)
This is a book about time travel. Well, it's a big book so it's only one of many things ;)

[mae]

Yeah there was a rumor of an epic novel dealing with a time traveler and the JFK assassination.

[nocny]

yes, that's it

[Ben Mears]

Yeah there was a rumor of an epic novel dealing with a time traveler and the JFK assassination.

I hope this is the case. The concept has a broader appeal than most SK books and the potential to be a real blockbuster.

[Ari_Racing]

I know for sure that it's not the new dark tower volume, so that leaves three chances:

Dr Sleep
The Talisman 3
The one about JFK assassination.

[nocny]

there is one chance, the last one.

[DanishCollector]

I don't agree. Mrs. Mod told me not so long ago that the time travel novel is still a work-in-progress, so my bet is that the new novel coming out this year is the older one he has reworked and rewritten (like he did with Blaze). The one from the 70s.

[nocny]

maybe we will have 2 books this year what is a normal thing for King.

[Ben Mears]

I don't agree. Mrs. Mod told me not so long ago that the time travel novel is still a work-in-progress, so my bet is that the new novel coming out this year is the older one he has reworked and rewritten (like he did with Blaze). The one from the 70s.

If that is the case it is likely The Cannibals but it would be awesome if it was Sword In The Darkness.

[Yeah Sure Whatever]

Time travel? Count me in! I have to admit that my husband has read Under the Dome and Full Dark No Stars for both of us, because I just wasnt interested.

[DanishCollector]

Don't think it's The Cannibals since King has stated that we won't be seeing any of it for the near future, if ever. Could be Sword in the Darkness, or The Corner or Welcome to Clearwater.

[Roland of Gilead 33]

i was actually thinking the same thing, maybe it is one of his older novels that he perhaps went back through & did a rewrite as he did with "Blaze" i dunno why but a book about time travel sounds to me like a book that he started at some point than went back to it. kinda like "Under The Dome" was a project he started in the 70's & he was unable to finish it until he got older.

or maybe it's a book or collections, short stories rather that he did when he was a kid & starting out? i doubt on that one though since we just saw a novel of short stories not to long ago. that's too soon so i doubt it's that one. to my best of knowledge i don't he's started the 'The Talisman 3" yet.

bear in mind this just me guessing. but i doubt it's that. actually i think he said was going to write Dr. Sleep 1st. before the next "DT" novel. so if it's not that, i don't really think it would the next "DT" novel.

[Merlin1958]

For what its worth, his pattern lately has been: Novel, Collection, Novel, Collection So, I would guess we're in a for a Novel next. Either Dr. Sleep (which I'm rooting for as I was always surprised we never heard more from Danny Torrance, IMO one of his best and most powerful character, from one of his most successful books) or, the JFK book.

Just my 3 beans!!!!!

[Ricky]

I'd be willing to bet that it's a novel, one that the general public isn't aware/informed of (i.e. not Dr. Sleep, Talisman 3 , Wind Through the Keyhole, etc.).

[mae]

The JFK book sounds very tantalizing. Time travel is awesome and King hasn't done much of that.

[Merlin1958]

The JFK book sounds very tantalizing. Time travel is awesome and King hasn't done much of that.

I have to agree!!!!!! Though 'Dr. Sleep" would be cool too. Danny needs, nay demands a reprise!!!!! However, I'm cool either way!!!

[Roland of Gilead 33]

what is the JFK book suppose to be about a fiction or a non fiction book?

[Brainslinger]

Hmmm, JFK and time travel. Red Dwarf did that with Series VII: TIkka to Ride. Hee, hee. (Obviously being a comedy they went for laughs, but it actually did provide some thought provoking ideas.) Come to think of it, I believe Quantum Leap did JFK too (I missed most of that episode though).

I am interested in what Stephen King will come up with of course.

[jhanic]

I doubt it will be The Cannibals. Under the Dome was, essentially, the rewrite of that one.

John

[mae]

what is the JFK book suppose to be about a fiction or a non fiction book?

Fiction obviously, since there's time travel :) This was talked about a little while back:


Well, seems like King's also at work on a novel titled 11/22/63. This is one of the ideas he once mentioned in an open letter in Marvel Spotlight for a possible future comic project. According to Ms. Mod it's a novel-in-progress right now.

Yes, King details a bit of it in that open letter, however he has probably changed some in order to make it into a novel. But at the time being, it seems to be a kind of "pulpy" sci-fi thing...

Some informations are leaking :

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000175/board/nest/172036652


That's the title of the newest book by the king of horror. It is going to tell the story of a man who wants to prevent the assasination of JFK and travels in time to achieve this aim. It's going to be similar to Under the Dome in terms of its size - I'm not sure if it's good or not, given that the aforementioned novel didn't get too many enthusiastic recensions. But I'm waiting impatiently for it and you? :)

Sounds cool huh?

[Merlin1958]

Sure does!!!! Though I still want to know how life turned out for Danny Torrance!!!!

[Jean]

his mother turned him into a suicidal neurotic

[Nerak]

oooooooooooooo :excited:

[Merlin1958]

his mother turned him into a suicidal neurotic

LOL Bet he had some "Daddy" issues as well!!!!

LOL

[Ari_Racing]

And what if it's The Plant?

[Brice]

King aside one of my favorite subjects to read about is the Kennedy assassination. I'm not really a conspiracy nut *hides tinfoil hat*, but it's always fascinated me. I'd love to see King's take on it in a novel.

[Merlin1958]

And what if it's The Plant?

I've yet to read "The Plant", but the synopsis sounds like Little Shop of Horrors without Ellen Greene's great/Rick Moranis' lousy singing!!!!! Oh and no Dentist's!!!!

LOL

[Roland of Gilead 33]

actually i love "The Little Shop of Horrors" the original as well as the musical. i have nothing but good memories watching both while growing up.

& to be honest, i doubt it'll be "The Plant"

[nocny]

it's 11/22/63 (JFK book) for 100%.

[mae]

Seems we're past the point of when King's new books are usually announced. Wonder what the holdup is...

Full Dark, No Stars was published on November 9, 2010 - announced on February 16, 2010.
Under the Dome was published on November 10, 2009 - first mentioned in May 2008 and announced on November 13, 2008.
Just After Sunset was published on November 11, 2008 - announced on February 6, 2008.

[nocny]

King's site moderator said that new book announcement will be in few days.

[Roland of Gilead 33]

thanxs for an update

[Bev Vincent]

http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/announcement/

[Bev Vincent]

http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/announcement/

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas,
President Kennedy died, and the world changed.

If you had the chance to change history, would you?
Would the consequences be worth it?

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

In stores, November 8, 2011.

[Erin]

That sounds really awesome! Thanks for posting, Bev. I'm really looking forward to this.

[Tito_Villa]

Im looking forward to this aswell!

[jhanic]

Here's the Hodder page:

http://www.hodder.co.uk/news_events/news.aspx?ArticleID=253

John

[Ben Mears]

Sweet!

[Ari_Racing]

Awesome! Looking forward to read it!

[Patrick]

Just saw the email announcement from Simon & Schuster. Very excited!

Here's their short video promo:

http://112263book.com/?mcd=ea&cp_type=ea&md=epb&cp_date=110301&custd=161623&view_pc_site=1&view_pc_site=1

The linked page also has a link to sign up for email updates.

[Nerak]

I have the feeling I am going to LOVE this one! It sounds soooo good!

[Nerak]

as my daughter would say "Awsomesauce"

[mae]

960 pages!

:excited:

Just pre-ordered!

Cannot wait!

[SkippyD023]

Sounds like a very interesting story. I can't wait for November.

[mae]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDCt7dRndDo

[Robert Fulman]

So JFK died? Next time, try a spoiler alert.

[Richard Bachmann]

Any ideas on who (if anyone) will be doing the S/L and Lettered of this beastie :drool::drool:

[jhanic]

Good to hear from you, Karen! Where have you been?

John

[Bev Vincent]

None announced yet.

[flaggwalkstheline]

that book sounds really really cool

[Merlin1958]

So JFK died? Next time, try a spoiler alert.

You're kidding, right? :scared:

[Brice]

Well, it's only been about fifty years or so. He's probably just a tiny bit behind on the news.

[Brainslinger]

Course the Red Dwarf crew prevented the JFK assassination first (albeit by mistake) and it didn't turn out too well...*

Kidding aside, that does look like a very interesting story!

*Red Dwarf Series VII: Tikka to Ride

[Ben Staad]

This sounds like it's going to be fantastic! Had to hold back on the pre-order because someone always buys me a SK book every year for Christmas! I will save my money for whomever is doing a limited of this title. :cool:

[pixiedark76]

I am happy to hear that Stephen King decided to release this novel. I have heard that he had this one on the "back burner" for quite some time. This book will be awesome!

[Robert Fulman]

As a fan of The Dark Tower, of course I know the fate of the gunslinger that was JFK, O Discordia.

[mae]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/03/stephen-king-follows-delillo-stone-into-jfk-myth.html

[mae]

Large image of the (preliminary?) UK edition: http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/images1/mmages/sk.jpg

[Bev Vincent]

According to Lilja, this is just promotional art, not the final cover.

[mae]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/03/stephen-king-follows-delillo-stone-into-jfk-myth.html

I actually have DeLillo's Libra on my shelves. Meant to read it. Now's the best time, probably.

[Merlin1958]

As a fan of The Dark Tower, of course I know the fate of the gunslinger that was JFK, O Discordia.

No offense, but its disheartening if TDT is the only reason you know about it. Not that I was a big fan of JFK, but he was a President of the United States. If so, you never should have cut "History class". lol

[mae]

http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/03/03/stephen-king-next-book/

[Nerak]

Good to hear from you, Karen! Where have you been?

John

Been reading but not posting! My life has been a zoo lately!

Who wants to start a letter writing campaign to get Steve to let DMG do the limited!! Everyone write fast!!!! Will take at least 3 months from start to finish!

[jhanic]

To whom do we write?

John

[ELazansky]

Could we do an Internet petition instead of letter writing? Maybe start something here - http://www.ipetitions.com/start-petition

[Brice]

There's no reason both couldn't be done.

[Bev Vincent]

For those who may be curious, the title will remain 11/22/63, even in countries where the date notion is typically reversed.

[mae]

For those who may be curious, the title will remain 11/22/63, even in countries where the date notion is typically reversed.

Good :) It's the better way anyway. :P

[pathoftheturtle]

Further proof that the American Democrat is not motivated by political correctness.

[Brainslinger]

For those who may be curious, the title will remain 11/22/63, even in countries where the date notion is typically reversed.

Good :) It's the better way anyway. :P

Rubbish! Our way is much more logical. I.e. days are part of months which are part years. dd/mm/yy. ;)

I agree that the name of the book should remain the same everywhere though. Especially as it pertains to an American figure in America. Where they jumble things up....;)

[mae]

Well we say "November Twenty-Second, Nineteen Sixty-Three", so it makes sense to have 11/22/63. We rarely say "The Twenty-Second of November".

Plus when having files on a computer, if the filenames start with a date, they get sorted in correct chronological order.

But anyway...

[Brice]

For those who may be curious, the title will remain 11/22/63, even in countries where the date notion is typically reversed.

Good :) It's the better way anyway. :P

Rubbish! Our way is much more logical. I.e. days are part of months which are part years. dd/mm/yy. ;)

I agree that the name of the book should remain the same everywhere though. Especially as it pertains to an American figure in America. Where they jumble things up....;)
Hey it ain't our fault y'all can't get the language right even with a headstart. :P

[Jean]

Rubbish! Our way is much more logical. I.e. days are part of months which are part years. dd/mm/yy. ;) Absolutely

[biomieg]

Rubbish! Our way is much more logical. I.e. days are part of months which are part years. dd/mm/yy. ;) Absolutely

Seconded/thirded.

[pathoftheturtle]

We rarely say "The Twenty-Second of November".Speak for yourself.

[mae]

Well, I didn't say never. Personally, I just mainly hear it the first way, not the second. Maybe it's a regional thing...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences#Dates

[pathoftheturtle]

I hate when someone says, "next Thursday" on Tuesday... I'm always like, "Do you mean this next Thursday or the next next Thursday?"
I often do write "22 Nov 2011" (with the month abbreviations to prevent confusion.) I'm offbeat like that. I remember talking to a teacher back in 1984 who told me to put "02/10/84" into one of the Radio Shack P.C.s that our school had; I asked then "What will happen in the year 2000?"

[Jean]

couldn't choose a year other than 1984 for this witticism, either...

[pathoftheturtle]

Truth is stranger than fiction.

[pixiedark76]

I hate when someone says, "next Thursday" on Tuesday... I'm always like, "Do you mean this next Thursday or the next next Thursday?"
I often do write "22 Nov 2011" (with the month abbreviations to prevent confusion.) I'm offbeat like that. I remember talking to a teacher back in 1984 who told me to put "02/10/84" into one of the Radio Shack P.C.s that our school had; I asked then "What will happen in the year 2000?"

I get confused like that also. It drives me nuts when people "next Saturday" or "this Saturday." Just give me the freaking date!

[Jean]

the worst is when they say "in two days". Do they include today or not?

[mae]

To get back on topic, I wonder what Jean thinks about the premise of this novel. I know The Dead Zone is one of your favorites of King's if not the favorite, right? And that had political overtones to it, too.

[alinda]

NO OFFENCE and Im sorry to add that under normal conditions , I would be more than happy to oblidge
the killing of a political personality:shoot:...but in the case of JFK...we should have at least
given him long enough to show what a great president he was sure to have been.

[Jean]

To get back on topic, I wonder what Jean thinks about the premise of this novel. I know The Dead Zone is one of your favorites of King's if not the favorite, right? And that had political overtones to it, too. not the favorite, but definitely one I love, and the political part has a lot to do with it. It is a great analysis of populism and demagogy, and I am more and more inclined to feel that it is, in this respect, a perfect parable; one can't prevail over demagogy in any other way than sacrificing oneself.

I love King's insight into anything, actually... I don't know, however, how he is going to write about a president of the US without acknowledging the existence of the world outside America (which is something he's never done yet.)

[jhanic]

Good point. King does seem to ignore the other parts of the world in his works. Until you mentioned it, I hadn't realized that. (I tend to accept what the author has written without looking outside his created world.) It will be interesting to see just how he handles this in the new novel. Of course, he may concentrate almost solely on the protagonist and not the world as a president would view it.

John

[pathoftheturtle]

... he may concentrate almost solely on the protagonist and not the world as a president would view it.Probably.

To be fair, tho, I think I may have seen the word "Europe" in one of SK's short stories one time. lol

[Brice]

....and of course there is the US's special version of stewardship and sharing towards other countries with regards to Captain Trips.

[mae]

http://shelf-life.ew.com/2011/03/11/stephen-king-time-trave/

[pathoftheturtle]

http://shelf-life.ew.com/2011/03/11/stephen-king-time-trave/Nice. I must admit that I'm not much impressed by the idea, myself, so far. Probably wouldn't want to bother reading a book like that. If I didn't know about how well Stephen King writes, even with a silly premise.

[Jean]

well... yes...

[Iwritecode]

Well we say "November Twenty-Second, Nineteen Sixty-Three", so it makes sense to have 11/22/63. We rarely say "The Twenty-Second of November".

Plus when having files on a computer, if the filenames start with a date, they get sorted in correct chronological order.

But anyway...

It depends on the computer.As a programmer I’m constantly shuffling the format of dates around since the programs I work with simply sees them as one long number.

11/22/1999 = 11221999

01/05/2006 = 01052006

When I sort them guess which one shows up first because it’s a smaller number?

But when I put the year first it gets sorted correctly. 19991122 then 20060105.

[Iwritecode]

I get confused like that also. It drives me nuts when people "next Saturday" or "this Saturday." Just give me the freaking date!

I've always assumed that THIS means the one that is coming up and NEXT means the one after the one that is coming up.

So it’s Monday. THIS Friday would be in 4 days. NEXT Friday would be a week after that.

[mae]

Well we say "November Twenty-Second, Nineteen Sixty-Three", so it makes sense to have 11/22/63. We rarely say "The Twenty-Second of November".

Plus when having files on a computer, if the filenames start with a date, they get sorted in correct chronological order.

But anyway...

It depends on the computer.As a programmer I’m constantly shuffling the format of dates around since the programs I work with simply sees them as one long number.

11/22/1999 = 11221999

01/05/2006 = 01052006

When I sort them guess which one shows up first because it’s a smaller number?

But when I put the year first it gets sorted correctly. 19991122 then 20060105.

Right, I meant having the year first of course, if you have multiple years in your files. Then the month, and then the day. If it's just month/day, then the US version is correct. I believe dates in Japan use the year/month/day format.

[Brainslinger]

I've always assumed that THIS means the one that is coming up and NEXT means the one after the one that is coming up.

So it’s Monday. THIS Friday would be in 4 days. NEXT Friday would be a week after that.

Yeah, I think that's what most people mean when they use this terminology. I tend to confuse myself by taking the word 'next'* literally and second guessing people, although I guess what they really mean. Not sure what that says about me.

Other strange terminology I've seen is when people say "Saturday week." (Replacing Saturday by whatever day intended.) I think they mean the Saturday in two weeks time....

Durrr.

*I.e. logically 'next' should mean the next one coming up, right?

[Merlin1958]

I've always assumed that THIS means the one that is coming up and NEXT means the one after the one that is coming up.

So it’s Monday. THIS Friday would be in 4 days. NEXT Friday would be a week after that.

Yeah, I think that's what most people mean when they use this terminology. I tend to confuse myself by taking the word 'next'* literally and second guessing people, although I guess what they really mean. Not sure what that says about me.

Other strange terminology I've seen is when people say "Saturday week." (Replacing Saturday by whatever day intended.) I think they mean the Saturday in two weeks time....

Durrr.

*I.e. logically 'next' should mean the next one coming up, right?

Really??? Is this the topic??? Not mean-spirited, but c'mon folks!!!! Or maybe I'm off base.

[Brainslinger]

Heh. Sorry. You're right.

I'm very much looking forward to the book. And I'm happy for it to keep it's American date title, being an American book describing American events by an American author.

[jhanic]

Simon & Schuster has announced that 11/22/63 will be 864 pages.

http://www.simonandschuster.com/search?term=11%2F22%2F63

John

[Bev Vincent]

The dust jacket artwork for 11/22/63 has been revealed at this link (http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/dust_jacket/). The design created by veteran digital artist Rex Bonomelli offers a glimpse into the epic tale that hits the shelves on November 8th 2011.

[Bev Vincent]

Small version:

http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/dust_jacket/11-22-63_cover_800.jpg

[Ben Staad]

Very cool looking cover.:rock:

[mae]

BYOOOOOOOTIFUL!

[johnsmith87]

Hmm, I wasn't too big a fan of it at first, but that would be really cool if they played around with the texture of the cover and made it feel like an actual newspaper.

[mae]

But it'll be in plastic anyway :)

I knew they'd go with a newspaper theme. Cannot wait. That's not a real story on the front, is it?

[Bev Vincent]

I don't think so. I found a Max Littell who is one of the founders of the International UFO Museum & Research Center but no journalists by that name.

[jhanic]

I like the cover quite a bit. It reminds me that back then, the only real means of distributing the news was TV, radio and the newspapers.

John

[Ricky]

Does anyone else feel that the cover gives off a "biography" vibe rather than fiction?

[harrison ryan]

Not so much a "biography" vibe as a "nonfiction" one...and quite intentional, I would presume, considering the subject matter.
I'm jazzed at the real estate devoted to the spine, and the wide expanse of unread King to be contained therein.

[mae]

Yup, the non-fiction vibe is definitely intentional. It does, however, state it's a novel. I feel this will be a great one.

[pathoftheturtle]

But the back is totally unreal. Definitely screams fiction to anyone familiar with... uh... modern society. So different! Can you imagine?

[Bev Vincent]

Scribner tweet: Stephen King came in today to "sell" 11/22/63 to our sales force. Awesome.

[Ben Staad]

Scribner tweet: Stephen King came in today to "sell" 11/22/63 to our sales force. Awesome.

Very neat update...Thanks.

[Ricky]

Woah! I didn't even realize that the back had the alternate news headline! Like the cover a little better now. :)

[Brice]

Scribner tweet: Stephen King came in today to "sell" 11/22/63 to our sales force. Awesome.

I hope it went well for him. :unsure:

[johnsmith87]

Just found a typo in the article on the back cover: "...when the shots the rang out."

Maybe they were just too busy editing King's epic manuscript to notice.

[mae]

Short except online:

http://www.112263book.com/excerpt.html

[Merlin1958]

Short except online:

http://www.112263book.com/excerpt.html

VERY COOL!!!!!! Thanks for posting this, Pablo!!!!!!!!!!


:rock:

[mae]

No problem. I really liked this except, even though it's pretty short. It gives a good sense of the novel's mood and style, I thought. Interesting that they chose an excerpt from what appears to be probably the middle of the book. But I guess it delivers what an excerpt should the best. And an overt connection to Christine, to boot.

[ICry4Oy]

Just got the Cemetery Dance email and ordered 11/22/63 with the slipcase.:excited:

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

Looks like King will be having two book signing dates in Texas...

From Mod at SKMB

We probably won't have it finalized until August at the very earliest. There will be at least two places in Texas, but it's unlikely that San Antonio will be one of them. Dallas is an obvious choice but the final commitments haven't been made for the second city so I can't post that information yet.

[Bev Vincent]

That leaves Austin or Houston -- hoping for the latter!

[ICry4Oy]

HOLY CRAP! Thanks!! Cannot wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ICry4Oy]

It hit me yesterday that he should do the signing at either Dealey Plaza maybe even in the Book Depository bldg., or at Lee Harvey's (local bar).

[Merlin1958]

It hit me yesterday that he should do the signing at either Dealey Plaza maybe even in the Book Depository bldg., or at Lee Harvey's (local bar).

Once again my "Old fashioned" beliefs betray me, but, and I am no huge fan of the Kennedy's in general, it would seem a bit "over the top", no? It would in IMHO. I mean, if it were about killing Hitler to prevent the "Holocaust" should he try to have a signing at Auschwitz? People died, have we now lost all empathy for Tragedy? Current or past?

I mean no disrespect or, condemnation and as I said maybe I'm just "Old Fashioned", but maybe we should all be more "Old Fashioned" in this respect? Just a thought.

[Jean]

bears are old-fashioned in exactly the same way

[ICry4Oy]

It hit me yesterday that he should do the signing at either Dealey Plaza maybe even in the Book Depository bldg., or at Lee Harvey's (local bar).

Once again my "Old fashioned" beliefs betray me, but, and I am no huge fan of the Kennedy's in general, it would seem a bit "over the top", no? It would in IMHO. I mean, if it were about killing Hitler to prevent the "Holocaust" should he try to have a signing at Auschwitz? People died, have we now lost all empathy for Tragedy? Current or past?

I mean no disrespect or, condemnation and as I said maybe I'm just "Old Fashioned", but maybe we should all be more "Old Fashioned" in this respect? Just a thought.


I'm pretty old fasioned myself in some ways but I don't see it that way. The "museum" in the Book Depository rakes in money hand over fist already. You have several people hawking conspiracy theory "literature" out in the plaza every.single.day already. The book is about that fateful day. That part of Dallas is a tourist attraction. People from all over the world can't wait to come here and lay down in the street in the spot where Kennedy was shot and have their picture taken while smiling and waving.

......maybe...on second thought..:unsure:...somewhere.else.better........


...but the Hitler-holocaust comparison.......apples/basketballs

[Merlin1958]

The "Hitler" comparison was "spot on" regardless of what you may think. Nevertheless, I will bow out of this thread. You folks are a bit unforgiving or decent (sorry) for my taste. Just my personal opinion.


Have "tourist attractions" for Kennedy's "assasination site and 9/11" all you like. It's morbid and sick to me and indicative to the levels we have sunk too. However, that is just MHO, and surely not popular.

I'm out!!!

[ICry4Oy]

I didn't create the tourist attraction I'm just telling you what is there.

We'll just have to agree to disagree about your comparison of 6+ million people murdered to the death of one man.


Don't be mad Twan.

[Merlin1958]

I didn't create the tourist attraction I'm just telling you what is there.

We'll just have to agree to disagree about your comparison of 6+ million people murdered to the death of one man.


Don't be mad Twan.

It was more about the evil than the body count and just because they are "there" does not make it "OK". There are Assholes selling stuff at ground zero, but that doesn't make them "OK" either.

Regardless, this thread is done for me. Peace out!!!!

[ICry4Oy]

You know....my original comments about where the signing could be were more tongue in cheek than serious but you popped in making it sound as I have zero empathy or respect. I realize you said you meant no disrespect or, condemnation but it felt like you meant both so I popped back. I guess I should have used smileys in the original comments.

So did y'all hear...Stephen King is releasing a book about Kennedy with time travel!!!

Oh...:P

[Bev Vincent]

Remember this old quote?
"I have one (story) that's kind of like Under the Dome, that I tried to write when I was 22 or 23 years old and I'm going to try to go back to that after this tour. I'd like to write that one."

At the time people speculated that it was The Cannibals or Sword in the Darkness. In fact it's 11/22/63 -- in the afterword, King discusses how he had the idea back in the 1970s but the amount of research required was too daunting and it was a little too close to the event -- the wound was still raw.

[mae]

Love it that King's going back to the roots.

[Ari_Racing]

Hodder & Stougthon trailer:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POi-qq1pE7w

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

No one in the UK knows that 11.22.63 is a date. They think it is a Mensa puzzle...whats the next number in the sequence.

[Bev Vincent]

850.

[DoctorDodge]

Wrong, Bev. I can't tell you what the exact number is, but I believe that it's

over

NINE

hundred and seventy-three. Ish.

[Bev Vincent]

There's a perfectly logical reason behind my deduction. I can show my work. Number of pages in US edition of 11.22.63 -- have to use the US version given the number ordering...

[mae]

No one in the UK knows that 11.22.63 is a date. They think it is a Mensa puzzle...whats the next number in the sequence.

:orely:

What else would a sequence of three numbers be but a date?

[DoctorDodge]

Problem is though pablo, there's no 22nd month in the UK calender, so I can't say i'm surprised about the confusion.

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

What else would a sequence of three numbers be but a date?

The combination for your wallet :)

[mae]

I realize (realise, for our UK brethren) that the UK uses a different date format, but I thought this was common knowledge. Since most people in the United States, when pronouncing dates, say November Twenty-Second much more often than they say the Twenty-Second of November, the date format is thus mm/dd, not the other way around. Just as it's jarring for you, I'm sure for most people in the US a date of 22/11 would also be confusing. At first, anyway. I'm sure a good percentage of people in both countries know of this difference.

[DoctorDodge]

Oh, of course it's common knowledge, but I think ever since shows like Lost have made combinations of certain numbers mysterious, there would be a general trend of looking more into something than the really obvious. It's also not helped that the title of the book seems to be 11.22.63, and not 11/22/63. The slashes do help, I think!

[mae]

Yeah I don't know about the use of periods for slashes. Is that common practice in the UK for writing dates?

[DoctorDodge]

Yeah, it's a lot more common for dates to be done with slashes than with full stops. Not saying dates with full stops doesn't happen, but slashes are a lot more popular. At least, where I live!

[Iwritecode]

Yeah, it's a lot more common for dates to be done with slashes than with full stops. Not saying dates with full stops doesn't happen, but slashes are a lot more popular. At least, where I live!

I had never heard the phrase "full stop" instead of the word "period" until earlier this year.

[DoctorDodge]

As far as I know, it's pretty much used in the UK. Don't think I've ever heard a Brit use the word "period" instead of "full stop".

[Iwritecode]

As far as I know, it's pretty much used in the UK. Don't think I've ever heard a Brit use the word "period" instead of "full stop".

I know you guys have different words for things compared to us Americans. That's just one I had never heard before.

Surprisingly, it was from the owner of a Major League baseball team who, as far as I know, isn't British. They were discussing it on the radio trying to figure out what the hell he meant when he said it. :P

[Ben Staad]

As far as I know, it's pretty much used in the UK. Don't think I've ever heard a Brit use the word "period" instead of "full stop".

I've never heard the term "full stop" until today. I have heard of (from movies) someone using the word "stop" for a period when verbalizing a telegram though. I love these forums as I learn something new everyday. :thumbsup:

[Jean]

"full stop" is one of the few Briticisms bears always use. It's elegant and unambiguous, while "period" brings to mind a number of things.

[Stockerlone]

In the German SK Forum we are talking about, how stupid can be the title from 11/22/63 in GERMANY

Now.... this is it...... NOT SOOOO damn stupid

Der Anschlag - The Assault - 20. feb. 2012

http://www.randomhouse.de/content/edition/covervoila/146_26754_116228_xxl.jpg

http://www.randomhouse.de/book/edition.jsp?mid=10&serviceAvailable=false&showpdf=false&edi=375729#tabbox

[iowabob]

I just have to comment on the coin on the cover of the German edition. Kennedy was assassinated in late 1963, and the first of the Kennedy 1/2 dollars weren't issued until the following year. The earliest coins have a date of 1964.

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

Don't forget about the time travel :)

[Merlin1958]

Don't forget about the time travel :)

Yeah, Maybe they are playing with a "Fringe", Alternate Universe kinda thing?????

[frik]

This one I like, Frank.
I might even order it.

sk

[Garrell]

Bah, time shmime, still the coolest cover so far for the new book. Congrats Germany!!!!

[Stockerlone]

Yes, what a surprise.... NOT a damn stupid cover for Der Anschlag in Germany....
OK the little ´coin´ problem....

Now... ´we´ in Germany think about.... German title for: The Wind Through the Keyhole
My Horror visions: In Germany we have for a longer time, one word SK book Titles....
Maybe for ´The Wind Through the Keyhole´ is something stupid possible... like...
The Wind - Der Wind or The Keyhole - Das Schlüsselloch :mad1:

[WeDealInLead]

So changing 11/22/63 to Der Ansclhag makes sense but 22/11/63 doesn't?

[John_Kenton]

You forgot that in Germany there had been a one-word policy once...

so...

WIND

;-)

[DanishCollector]

Dolores Claiborne is just titled Dolores in Germany. I always wondered how come they left out Claiborne.

[John_Kenton]

Possibly nobody in Germany ever knew how to pronounce Claiborne ;-)

[DanishCollector]

Could be:) Also The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is just titled Das Mädchen (The Girl). Dreamcatcher is Duddits. And so on. But, hell, we here in Denmark has some fun titles too.

[Stockerlone]

You forgot that in Germany there had been a one-word policy once...

so...

WIND

;-)

Some ´great´ German ONE word titles.....

Gunslinger - Schwarz - black
Drawing - Drei - 3
Wastelands - tot - dead
Wizard and Glass - Glas - glas
Misery - Sie -she

[Jean]

You forgot that in Germany there had been a one-word policy once...

so...

WIND

;-)

Some ´great´ German ONE word titles.....

Gunslinger - Schwarz - black
Drawing - Drei - 3
Wastelands - tot - dead
Wizard and Glass - Glas - glas
Misery - Sie -she

oh it's fantastic! it isn't ever one word - they managed to reduce it to one syllable!

: cartwheeling bear. Sorry, the photobucket won't load :

[mae]

What did they reduce Carrie to? :unsure:

[DanishCollector]

Car

[John_Kenton]

I think Joachim Körber, who has translated a lot of King's books, once said in an interview something along the lines of how the marketing departments of the publishers wanted to use that one-word-policy so they could market the books more effectively... and speaking from memory here, I remember when me and my friends were teenagers this did have some of the intended effects... so, something of a brand issue. Remember the This-ing and The That-ing after The Shining came out?
Oh, and certainly Körber didn't have much input when it came to the German titles.

[Merlin1958]

Could be:) Also The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is just titled Das Mädchen (The Girl). Dreamcatcher is Duddits. And so on. But, hell, we here in Denmark has some fun titles too.

Huh, one word titles only? You'd think there would be copyright issues or Author issues. Very odd IMHO

:orely:

[iowabob]

I heard that "Cell" in Germany was titled "The Mobile Telephone With a Noise That Turned People In To Violent Zombies..." :lol1:

[Jean]

I heard that "Cell" in Germany was titled "The Mobile Telephone With a Noise That Turned People In To Violent Zombies..." :lol1: but it was only one word in German, bob

[Stockerlone]

Cell = PULS

http://www.randomhouse.de/book/edition.jsp?coverMode=Y&serviceAvailable=true&edi=206281

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

Bob's title is better.

[Stockerlone]

Bob's title is better.


EVERY title from every person is better than the Heyne-one word titlels.:doh::cry::confused1:

[Jean]

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k291/mishemplushem/Facilitation/bear4bis.gif

[blavigne]

does anyone know anything about the book signing in Boston on 11/7? I am going to try to go if I can find out where in time. thank you

[John_Kenton]

Ah, nice one, Bob ;-)
But you know... they were afraid to give away too much of the plot with the title so they opted for the one word. Just to make sure nobody would glean from the title what the book was about and leave it on the shelves...

[Jean]

next thing they will spoiler-tag it...

[Randall Flagg]

New working title: "Spoiler"

[Bev Vincent]

H&S cover (http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/uk_dust_jacket/) in various sizes

http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/uk_dust_jacket/11-22-63_uk_cover_480.jpg

[Lilja]

Simon & Schuster will release an enhanced eBook version of 11/22/63 that will include a 13-minute film, written and narrated by Stephen King, that will take you back--as King's novel does--to Kennedy era America.

Lilja

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

Thanks Lilja. We don't get many sceenplays written by King these days.

[Lilja]

Should be fun.

Lilja

[Ben Staad]

Simon & Schuster will release an enhanced eBook version of 11/22/63 that will include a 13-minute film, written and narrated by Stephen King, that will take you back--as King's novel does--to Kennedy era America.

Lilja

That sounds really cool. Thanks for posting this!

[DanishCollector]

Hopefully this little film will be available somewhere on the Net some day.

[Mr. Rabbit Trick]

Hopefully this little film will be available somewhere on the Net some day.

It will be available for illegal download seconds after its official release.

[Jean]

very good

[nocny]

I'm happy to say that polish edition will premiere on November 8, the same as US :) We will have it under the name DALLAS 63.

[jhanic]

Nocny, please try to post a picture if you can.

John

[nocny]

I will, it's not done yet, as usual, Vincent Chong will make it.

[jhanic]

:thumbsup:

John

[Ari_Racing]

New excerpt:

http://books.simonandschuster.com/11-22-63/Stephen-King/9781451627282/excerpt_with_id/17955?cp_type=ea&custd=331983&mcd=ea&view_pc_site=1

[nocny]

it's the old one. or should I use some link on the site you gave a link to?

[mae]

There's a different excerpt included with Mile 81. But I didn't read it. Not sure I want to read too many disjointed excerpts before the actual book.

[nocny]

I can't see anything new on that site :(

[mae]

http://www.nola.com/books/index.ssf/2011/09/stephen_king_brings_his_new_wo.html

Stephen King fans, prepare yourselves. The author will be in New Orleans on Saturday, November 12 at The Academy of the Sacred Heart's Nims Fine Arts Center.

In order to take part in King's reading, you must obtain a ticket from Octavia Books by purchasing a first edition copy of King's latest work, "11/22/63." The store is strongly encouraging fans to do so as soon as possible as seats will be limited.

You may purchase tickets online. A total of 250 first editions of 11/22/63 will be signed by Stephen King prior to the event and will be blended in randomly with the copies available to all ticket holders.

Staff at Octavia Books suggest you select to pick-up your ticket at the store in order to avoid lines the evening of the event.

[Merlin1958]

http://www.nola.com/books/index.ssf/2011/09/stephen_king_brings_his_new_wo.html

Stephen King fans, prepare yourselves. The author will be in New Orleans on Saturday, November 12 at The Academy of the Sacred Heart's Nims Fine Arts Center.

In order to take part in King's reading, you must obtain a ticket from Octavia Books by purchasing a first edition copy of King's latest work, "11/22/63." The store is strongly encouraging fans to do so as soon as possible as seats will be limited.

You may purchase tickets online. A total of 250 first editions of 11/22/63 will be signed by Stephen King prior to the event and will be blended in randomly with the copies available to all ticket holders.

Staff at Octavia Books suggest you select to pick-up your ticket at the store in order to avoid lines the evening of the event.

You know Pablo, you're like the "Walter Cronkite" of TDT.Org!!!!! You should be the site's "Official Correspondent"!!! I mean that as a compliment BTW!!

:clap::clap::clap:

[mae]

Thanks. It's what I do :)

[mae]

Speaking of which, a short video was just posted at SK.com with King talking about the novel:

http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/stephen_on_11_22_63_video/large.html

[Merlin1958]

Speaking of which, a short video was just posted at SK.com with King talking about the novel:

http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/stephen_on_11_22_63_video/large.html

Nice!! There's our Executive Correspondent working ever so timely and diligently!!!

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Jon]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a58/jonbug/waltercronkite.jpg





"...and that's the way it was."

[Merlin1958]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a58/jonbug/waltercronkite.jpg







"...and that's the way it was."


LOL There ya go, that's the spirit!!!! IDK how the guy does it, but he always sems to be "On top of the news". He's an "Executive Correspondent" if I ever saw one!!!! LOL I actually look for "Pablo" posts to stay "Up to date". LOL Good man!!!! A trusted TDT.Org resource!!!!

Keep doing that Voodoo, that you do, so well!!!

[Ari_Racing]

http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/audiobook_samples/

[Bev Vincent]

Simon & Schuster Audio and StephenKing.com will be releasing seven audiobook samples from 11/22/63 every Monday and Friday through October 24th. These samples will be posted at 9:00am EST each release day and will include much of the first 30 pages of King's epic tale. Link. (http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/audiobook_samples/)

[Ari_Racing]

I got confirmation from the publisher that Scribner will do the S/L of 11-22-63, but no more details at the moment.

[Nerak]

Yeah, bleck, already knew that and was upset....I wanted to do it :(

[Ari_Racing]

It'd have been nice to have a S/L of it by you. :)

Did Grant sent the proposal?

[Randall Flagg]

Simon & Schuster Audio and StephenKing.com (http://news.simonandschuster.com/servlet/cc6?kpuhgQDAWQTVFhpKkuploxHhtQJhuVaVSRVXLX) will be releasing seven audiobook samples from 11/22/63 (http://news.simonandschuster.com/servlet/cc6?kpuhgQDAWQTVFhpKkuploxHhtQJhuVaVSSV8312Xb9VUAR UATVXLX) every Monday and Friday through October 24th. These samples will be posted at 9:00 AM EST each release day and will include much of the first chapter of Stephen King's epic tale.

http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/audiobook_samples/
(http://news.simonandschuster.com/servlet/cc6?kpuhgQDAWQTVFhpKkuploxHhtQJhuVaVRVXLX)

[Randall Flagg]

Another video is available:
http://www.simonandschuster.com/multimedia?video=1218617929001&cp_type=ea&custd=360362&mcd=ea&view_pc_site=1

[Merlin1958]

Another video is available:
http://www.simonandschuster.com/multimedia?video=1218617929001&cp_type=ea&custd=360362&mcd=ea&view_pc_site=1

Wonder what "Fox & Friends" thinks about this!!! LOL LOL LOL


:mad1: :wtf::wtf::wtf:

[Bev Vincent]

Craig Wasson on the 11/22/63 Audiobook Video (http://www.stephenking.com/promo/11-22-63/promo_page/#craig_wasson)

[mae]

Bev, and others that have read the novel already, how political is it, or does politics of the day and/or today play a role in it? As someone very interested in politics, this is very intriguing, especially knowing King's own political views.

[jhanic]

I would have to say it's not really political very much. The novel is much more concerned with the events.

John

[Bev Vincent]

Yes, I'd agree. There may be the occasional political rant from a character who gets wound up, but the novel deconstructs the sociopolitical big picture of the time down into the discreet, often mundane incidents that made up history.

[mae]

http://online.wsj.com/video/stephen-king-shift-to-reality/38CBD015-3C0C-419A-8FBF-CDF05A2B23CC.html

[mae]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204644504576651540980143566.html

Stephen King is afraid of cellphones. Insects. Elevators. The number 13. Unhinged fans.

"I just write about what scares me," Mr. King said during an interview at his home in Bangor, Maine. "When I was a kid, my mother used to say, 'Think of the worst thing that you can, and if you say it out loud then it won't come true.' And that's probably been the basis of my career."

For nearly 40 years, Mr. King has trafficked in horror and fantasy tales that spring from his freakishly fertile imagination. He has published 50 novels and written some 400 short stories, selling more than 350 million copies world-wide. Now, for the first time, he's grounded a novel in historical fact, creating a chilling bogeyman based on one of America's most notorious villains: Lee Harvey Oswald.

His new novel, "11/22/63," set to be published Nov. 8, follows Jake Epping, a high-school English teacher in a small town in contemporary Maine. Jake travels through a mysterious time portal to 1958, aiming to stop Oswald from killing President John F. Kennedy. Set almost entirely in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the narrative tracks Oswald's movements in the months and days leading up to the Dallas shooting, and features historical figures such as James Hosty, the FBI agent who investigated Oswald; Bonnie Ray Williams, Oswald's co-worker at the Texas Book Depository, and George de Mohrenschildt, a Russian geologist and friend of the assassin.

"I've never tried to write anything like this before," said Mr. King, dressed in jeans and a gray T-shirt. "It was really strange at first, like breaking in a new pair of shoes."

His foray into fact signals a new chapter for the 64-year-old novelist, who has sought to establish himself as more than just a horror writer in recent years. Mr. King certainly doesn't lack readers, but he wants new ones.

"This might be a book where we really have a chance to get an audience who's not my ordinary audience," he said. "Instead of people who read horror stories, people who read 'The Help' or 'People of the Book' might like this book, if they can get the message," he added, referring to best-histselling orical novels by Kathryn Stockett and Geraldine Brooks.

Getting the message out to new readers might be tough. Mr. King recalled a woman who approached him in a supermarket in Florida, where he has a winter home.

"She said, 'I know who you are, you're that writer, you write those horror stories, and I said, "Yes, ma'am, I guess," and she said, 'I don't read that kind of thing. I respect what you do but I don't read those. I like uplifting things like that 'Shawshank Redemption,' '' Mr. King recalled. "I said, 'I wrote that one, too,' and she goes, 'No, you didn't,' and she just went on her way."

Mr. King and his publisher, Scribner, face an odd challenge as they unleash an elaborate marketing campaign to promote "11/22/63." How do you rebrand one of the world's most famous and successful living authors? Scribner is targeting history buffs with book-giveaway promotions on bio.com and history sites. To reach news junkies, the publisher bought ad time on 11 p.m. news programs in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. The 30-second ad, which will also run on the CNN airport network and on the A&E and Syfy networks, shows archival footage of Kennedy's Dallas motorcade, with a voice-over that says, "What if instead of justwatching history, you could change it?" Mr. King's book tour will include appearances at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston and at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas, the site Oswald fired from. The Dallas museum is preparing to host 1,000 people.

Mr. King helped plan the marketing strategy. An unusual joint venture with Scribner grants him greater control than most authors over how his books are packaged and sold. He gets a relatively small advance for a best-selling author—in the mid-seven-figure range—and then splits the production and marketing costs and the profits roughly down the middle. He typically publishes one to two books a year.

"He's like a different order of human being," said Scribner publisher Susan Moldow.

Mr. King considered retiring nearly a decade ago, a few years after he was struck by a van in a near-fatal accident. Since then, he has entered a remarkably fertile period. On a recent morning at his Bangor home—a dark-red, Gothic-looking house behind a tall metal gate decorated with bats and dragons and a huge spiderweb—he was working on the 12th draft of "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," a musical he wrote with John Mellencamp that will open in Atlanta next spring. He recently finished the eighth book in his 3,700-plus page "Dark Tower" fantasy series, which Scribner will release next year. He's 500 pages into a sequel to his 1977 classic "The Shining," about a possessed writer in a haunted hotel and his psychic son, Danny. In the sequel, Danny is grown up and working in a nursing home, where he specializes in helping people as they die.

"It takes him less time to write a book than it takes me to edit it, or even read it," said his agent and long-time editor Chuck Verrill, who described Mr. King's discipline as a form of "obsessive compulsive disorder."

Mr. King says he's been pushing himself lately to deliver on ambitious projects before his productivity and stamina taper off. "Cleaning house—we want to get everything nice and clean and neat for when we exit the building," he said. "These things have been there for a long time, and now's the time to do them if I'm going to do them at all. I'm not getting any younger."

The idea for "11/22/63" first struck him in 1973, when he was on the brink of publishing his first novel, "Carrie," about a bullied teenage girl with psychic powers. At the time, Mr. King felt the historical novel required too much research, and greater literary chops than he possessed. Though Mr. King doesn't keep a writer's notebook—"The good ideas stick," he said—the idea lingered for 35 years.

In "11/22/63," Mr. King creates a time-travel narrative that's packed with minutiae like the 1958 price of a pint of root beer (10 cents) or a haircut (40 cents). Mr. King and his longtime researcher, a New Hampshire-based physician's assistant named Russ Dorr, pored over historical documents and newspaper archives from the period, looking at clothing and appliance ads, sports scores and television listings.

The pair spent a week in Dallas, where they visited Oswald's apartment building on West Neely Street and paid a resident $20 for a peek inside. They tracked down the home of Gen. Edwin Walker, one of Oswald's failed assassination targets. They got a private tour of the Sixth Floor Museum, the site of the former Texas School Book Depository where Oswald worked and fashioned his sniper's nest out of book cartons on Nov. 22, 1963.

Mr. King studied various conspiracy theories. He ultimately dismissed them, drawing the unsettling conclusion that a single person with no political power or charisma managed to alter the course of history by himself.

He invited the historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, an assistant to President Lyndon Johnson and the author of the Abraham Lincoln book "Team of Rivals," to dinner to pick her brain. Ms. Goodwin, who said in an email that she loves alternate history, weighed in on possible worst-case scenarios that could unfold if Mr. King's hero managed to change history. Mr. King used some of her points in the novel.

For all its historical heft, "11/22/63" bears many of Mr. King's trademarks. It's ultra-violent and suspenseful, with supernatural overtones. There are cameos by characters from his 1986 novel "IT," which takes place partly in the late 1950s in Derry, a fictional Maine town where children are killed by a shape-shifting monster. He also drops in some autobiographical nuggets. The time portal deposits Jake in the Worumbo Mills, a textile mill in Lisbon Falls where Mr. King worked in high school.

A Maine native, Mr. King began writing when he was 6. He sold stories to his eighth-grade classmates for a quarter. Throughout his adolescence, he submitted stories to fantasy and horror magazines, collecting a pile of rejection slips. He attended the University of Maine at Orono, where he met his wife, Tabitha, also a novelist. After graduating, he carved out a living washing motel sheets. Tabitha worked at Dunkin' Donuts. In 1973, he was making $6,400 a year as a high-school English teacher when he sold his novel "Carrie" to Doubleday for $2,500. The paperback rights sold for $400,000. Mr. King quickly became a blockbuster horror writer with hits such as "Salem's Lot," "The Shining," "The Stand" and "Pet Sematary."

In the 1990s, Mr. King was collecting advances of around $16 million a book. He now calls those advance sums "grotesque." "They were ridiculous," he says. "It became almost like a d—-measuring contest—my advance is bigger than your advance. For a guy like me or a guy like Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Dean Koontz, Janet Evanovich, why do we need an advance?"

When he left his publisher, Viking, 14 years ago, he traded gargantuan advances for his current deal with Scribner, granting him much smaller advances and roughly half of the profits. Most authors get 10 to 15% of royalties. If a book does phenomenally, he stands to earn multiple millions.

Mr. King has demanded greater leverage in other areas of his career. He has sold movie rights to his books for $1 in exchange for keeping creative control of the projects. In another unusual move, Mr. King leases his titles to publishers, typically for a period of 15 years, rather than selling them. Most authors sell copyrights, which typically last until 70 years after the author's death. Mr. King credits his former agent, Kirby McCauley, for driving that bargain. "He said, 'There's no need to sell the rights for these books when you can rent them,' " said Mr. King. "It gives you the option to move on if you don't like the way that particular publisher is selling things, and that motivates them to try to move the books."

Mr. King has struggled with the scrutiny that comes with blockbuster status. He still smarts over a caricature that depicted him as a huge head devouring piles of money pouring out of a typewriter. "The disturbing part was that it was saying anybody who sells a lot of books must ipso facto be selling dreck," he said.

He's also grown wary of his more ardent fans. He says he spends less time in his Bangor home now because tourists cluster outside the gate and snap photos. When he goes on book tours, fans find out where he's staying and camp out outside. "It's very unsettling," he said. "They always call you by your first name—'Stephen, Stephen, over here. Just sign this one baseball.' Then it turns out they've got about 19,000 other things."

In his more paranoid moments, he thinks of Mark Chapman, the man who shot John Lennon: "If there's ever going to be a Mark Chapman for me, it's going to be one of those people."

Though he's grown increasingly private, in person he's relaxed, profane and unguarded, discussing everything from his love of dogs, especially corgis, to his aversion to cell phones, which he called "slave bracelets." Eating a cinnamon bun in his kitchen, he spoke about how his sons Joe and Owen, both writers, tend to show their manuscripts to their mother rather than him.

Mr. King still writes every day, working for five or six hours. He mulls over stories during long morning walks and when he's lying in bed at night. Lately, he's been amusing himself at night by imagining a Raymond Chandler-style detective story. His sparely decorated office has a small, high picture window that lets in light but offers no view. "No distractions," he says.

When he's not writing, he's reading—literary fiction, crime novels, fantasy, horror and classics. In the cavernous recreation room where he watches sports and movies and reads, books line the walls, ranging from works by Michael Connelly, Tom Clancy and James Ellroy to Salman Rushdie, Don DeLillo, A.M. Homes, T.C. Boyle and Shakespeare.

In recent years, Mr. King, now a grandfather of four, has become less concerned about his reputation. Ever since he won an O. Henry award for a short story he published in the New Yorker in 1994, and the National Book Foundation's award for distinguished contribution to American letters in 2003, literary critics have been kinder to him, he says. But he says he remains keenly aware of his "place" in the literary landscape.

"I've never fooled myself that I'm going to have much popularity beyond my lifetime," he says. "There may be one or two books that people read later on."

[Merlin1958]

Pablo, what an awesome and informative post!!!! Thoroughly enjoyed reading that. Thanks!!!!

[mae]

That's a really good article indeed. Not the usual fluff about King that's normally written. I like that he's breaking new ground somewhat and attracting a new and wider audience.

[jhanic]

i have a subscription to the Wall Street Journal and really also enjoyed the illustrations that accompanied the article. I'm saving that page (actually, it's two pages, front and back.) Too bad it's too large to fit in my scanner.

John

[ELazansky]

Are the pictures used on the website version of the article the same as they are in the print version?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204644504576651540980143566.html?K EYWORDS=stephen+king

[Ben Mears]

I would have to say it's not really political very much. The novel is much more concerned with the events.

John

John,

You had mentioned in an earlier post that you were having difficulty getting into 11/22/63. What is your final verdict?

[jhanic]

I really enjoyed it. I think my problems with getting into the story were more my fault than the story's. It's a very, very good work. I don't rate it among King's best, but it's far from mediocre. The thing that threw me off at the end of the book was the ending--I just did not expect it. (No spoilers, though.)

John

[Merlin1958]

King and problem's with ending's. Hmmmm, now there's a surprise!!! LOL LOL

[jhanic]

It wasn't a problem ending, just one I did not expect at all!

John