Little Margot was poorly on Sunday with some undefined and no doubt temporary sickness. She was like a little ghost clinging to her mother, without her usual verve and curiosity. Consequently, she had the day off nursery school today and spent it with us. She was much perkier but still not quite herself.
At 1.30pm, I called in to see Richard and Jackie Hines. As usual, the conversation flowed like a mountain spring but after two hours I needed to make my apologies and get back to our house to give Shirley some relief from Margot-minding duties.
Like Phoebe before her, Margot likes to sit on my knee and watch "YouTube" videos. To tell you the truth, I am being driven mad by excessive exposure to "The Wheels On The Bus" and Mr Tumble is not far behind. Also like Phoebe, Margot can protest like a fury in Greco-Roman mythology when you try to tear her away from the computer screen. Even when I think I have negotiated one final video, the protest will often continue unabated. I guess this kind of battle is not uncommon.
At five fifteen we took her home and she walked all the way with a stubborn stop at the garage on Huntingtower Road where she seemed mesmerised by the activity within. However, she walked all the way home and refused to take me up on my kind offer of a "carry" part of the way.
A couple of weeks ago I spotted a book in a charity shop that I thought I might like. It's by the famous American horror writer - Stephen King - but not one of his novels. It's titled "On Writing" and it attempts to provide readers with some insights into King's processes, prejudices and rules of thumb.
The book is not mechanical - drily explaining writing techniques. In fact it is rooted in biography as you listen to Stephen King's real voice exposed - not hidden within fiction. It's really him.
Becoming a bestselling writer was a difficult journey for him. There were hard times and many rejections but he stuck with it. With his wife Tabby's crucial support, he managed to complete "Carrie" in the early seventies and passed it to a literary agent called Bill who happened to believe that King really had something.
At that time the Kings lived in a small rented apartment in Maine with their two children and Stephen was still teaching high school. One afternoon the kitchen phone rang.
It was Bill.
"Are you sitting down?"
"Do I need to?"
"You might," he said. "The paperback rights to 'Carrie' went to Signet Books for four hundred thousand dollars!"
"Did you say it went for forty thousand dollars?"
"Four hundred thousand dollars... Under the rules of the road" (meaning the contract I had signed) "Two hundred k of it is yours. Congratulations Steve!"
At long last he had broken through and life would never be the same again.
I am only half way though "On Writing" but I have lapped it up. King's early circumstances were far from encouraging and his later dependence on alcohol and drugs did not help his cause. Reading this book inspired me to order one of his lesser-known novels - "Lisey's Story" (2006). I picked this one because King himself named it when asked which novel he was most proud of writing.
No doubt later this summer I will review it here in "Yorkshire Pudding".
Stephen King's world sales, 400 million ?
ReplyDeleteUnited States population 348, 984, 278 ... growing as I type.
The Shining was a good read but I get it all mixed up with the movie which
I think was too long and a silly mess in places.
Kubrick's last film Eyes Wide Shut was drivel.
Misery. Again the movie overshadowed the novel.
This is the trouble with airport fiction. Even Le Carre suffered from it.
I wonder why you question the 400 million figure. People live in Europe, in Australia, in Japan, in Canada, even in China. Stephen King has enjoyed worldwide appeal. J.K.Rowling has sold over 600 million books.
DeleteI don't question the sales figures, I wonder if Big Names become
Deletecasualties of their own success, while Small Names struggle to survive.
Publishers invested Monopoly money in Big Names while good writers
on the B Lists languish on the shelves.
* The Hounding * by Xenobe Purvis was auctioned to the publisher
willing to pay the highest price. I hope it pays off. Funny & horrifying.
Who will read * Cleaner * by Jess Shannon or * Crazy Genie * by
Ines Cagnati or * A God in Every Stone * by Kamila Shamsie or
* The Book of Records * by Madeleine Thien (brilliantly imagined)
* Come in and Shut the Door * by Chris Petit ?
The latter might sell because it's set in the Third Reich.
Petit wrote a nervy thriller about MI5, * Ghost Country *.
Imagine a spy movie directed by Mike Leigh.
Horror isn't my genre anymore although I've read King--as well as Koontz and Straub. King is the best writer but "The Shining" scared the pants off me. I woke my husband up in the middle of the night, terrified. He couldn't believe it, "OVER A BOOK?" Hope Margot is back to normal. My grandsons all have very restricted screen time, so I have to deal with some melt downs and be pleasant but firm.
ReplyDeleteI must remember that mantra Margaret - "Pleasant but firm". I think I can do that but Margot may have other ideas!
DeleteI hope that by now Margot is her usual bubbly self. I read several of Stephen King's books many years ago. I grew out of that sort of horror and gave away all but three of my copies to a thrift store. I kept Carrie, Firestarter and The Talisman. I never did read Misery and probably never will.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry Elsie, "Misery" is not about you!
DeleteP.S. Pleasant but Firm is good advice, tell Margot from the beginning that she is allowed a number of videos (you choose how many) and then it gets turned off. At the last video, remind her this is the last one and then turn it off. But have another activity planned to move on to right away. She will soon learn that Grandpa doesn't respond to tantrums.
ReplyDeleteI like your tactic of agreeing a number of videos and then counting them down till it's time to switch off the screen.
DeleteSummer is here, you should not be surprised to see rain.
ReplyDeleteIt is what makes this a green and pleasant land.
DeleteHmmm. I need a 'thinking emoji'. I wonder if it is a good idea to choose a book because it was an author's favourite. It may be really well written, but not the best that readers would vote for.
ReplyDeleteI think it is a good idea to pick the book that King felt best about.
DeleteI choose books by reading the blurb on the back cover, author is often irrelevant.
DeleteI am trying to downsize to sell my big old family house. The one thing I just can't, or won't, get rid of are my books. On Writing is one of them.
ReplyDeleteYou may need counselling to wean you off those books Elle or perhaps amputation of both hands.
DeleteKing has written some great tales and some not so great/ I also love his politics and his use of his voice as a part of the resistance.
ReplyDeleteHe is a real force of nature - just like his big brother Dave. Mind you, Stephen King will be eighty next year.
DeleteI enjoyed "On Writing" a couple of years ago.
ReplyDeleteYou have good taste sir.
DeleteWhen I was still a pretty young librarian, I had to handle stacks and stacks and stacks of Stephen King's books, putting them back on the shelves when they were being returned and unpacking boxes full of them with each new novel out. The only one I ever read was "Carrie". I remember bits of the story and that I felt sorry for Carrie and how she was being treated by the other girls at school, but like others here have said, Horror isn't usually my genre.
ReplyDeleteGood to know Margot is better again. Such "undefined" sicknesses come and go to a certain extent, don't they. As for watching youtube videos with her, if it's so hard to get her away from it, better not start at all. I am sure there are plenty of other things she enjoys doing at your place.
Wise words at the end but I am a crazy fool.
DeleteI have a copy of "On Writing" and have read it more than once. I think it's filled with excellent advice. "Adverbs are not your friend!"
ReplyDeleteAnd his life has been incredibly interesting.
There is no doubting his own abilities as a writer. I have read many, but not all, of his books. Not nearly all. Some are vastly better than others. But my Lord, he is prolific!
As to Margot- yep. Sounds like she's right on schedule for her love of videos that will drive an adult to insanity.
Yes - very prolific. As he says in "On Writing", he has a powerful urge to write, almost matched by his urge to read.
DeleteI've never read Stephen King because I don't like horror. His movies were too scary for me also. Hope Margot is feeling better today!
ReplyDeleteI will save you the trouble of reading "Lisey's Story".
DeleteI've read that book and it was good although I did snort when Stephen wrote about how important editing is. My god man, some of your books are over a thousand pages. He's an excellent writer but I'm not a huge fan of horror. I read one called "Dreamcatcher" and it reminded me an awful lot of how my own brain works. "The Stand" was good to, but wayyyyyy too long.
ReplyDeleteI hope Margot is feeling better. Viruses come and go so quickly with children. Jack has been better this past winter than any of the previous years. I think he's had most of the viruses now:)
Margot and Phoebe both enjoy robust health so it is always rather puzzling when they are under the weather.
DeleteMy mum used to read his work religiously, she was very well read in the horror and thriller genres. Sadly her reading days are over, she can't concentrate or focus and can only really consume TV shows.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of horror, so I've read none of his books. But I do love how he hates the felon.
ReplyDelete