{"id":28625,"date":"2016-04-06T22:38:17","date_gmt":"2016-04-06T22:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stephenking.nl\/skfnieuw\/?page_id=28625"},"modified":"2016-04-06T22:38:34","modified_gmt":"2016-04-06T22:38:34","slug":"20089-zelf-interview-king-english","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.stephenking.nl\/skfnieuw\/king-family\/interviews\/20089-zelf-interview-king-english\/","title":{"rendered":"2008\/9: Zelf interview King (English)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every so often Stephen King sits down to interview himself. He did so again in early September of 2008. Here it is.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Steve: The most natural question to kick off an interview like this would be: Is it weird to interview yourself?<\/p>\n

SK: Not at all! Most fiction-writers are schizophrenic by nature. Which makes us crazy, I suppose, but it\u2019s a profitable madness.<\/p>\n

Steve: Second natural question: what do you think of the re-vamped website?<\/p>\n

SK: Love it. If I didn\u2019t, it would be strange, because it was a fairly costly upgrade.<\/p>\n

Steve: Tax-deductible?<\/p>\n

SK [laughs]: Ask me stuff I can answer, Steve. Tax law isn\u2019t on that list. But yeah, probably.<\/p>\n

Steve: Do you go there often?<\/p>\n

SK: All the time. I ghost around the message-board. It\u2019s like being a fly on the wall. Every now and then I get flamed, but sometimes I deserve it.<\/p>\n

Steve: Like when you made that dumb remark about how if kids didn\u2019t learn to read and write, they\u2019d end up in the military?<\/p>\n

SK: Ow! But I\u2019d have to agree that was badly phrased. Most of the troops I\u2019ve met\u2014and I meet a lot, because Bangor\u2019s a National Guard town\u2014read and write well. But of course, kids who don\u2019t read and write well score down on their SATs and have trouble getting into colleges with scholarship money to give out, and that makes the military look good. There\u2019s nothing wrong with the military option\u2014as long as you clearly realize you\u2019re eligible get shot at, that is\u2014but kids deserve more options. Reading and writing provide them. That\u2019s what I wanted to say.<\/p>\n

Steve: So if you could get a do-over on that remark\u2014?<\/p>\n

SK: I\u2019d take it. But writers expressing themselves poorly in speaking situations isn\u2019t new; that\u2019s why we\u2019re writers! And the basic point is a valid one. Nor do I think our troops need our constant, unqualified worship. They\u2019re tough guys and gals. They can take care of themselves, and most have got more important things to worry about than whether or not Steve King dissed them at a PEN event in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n

Steve: And no diss was intended?<\/p>\n

SK: Nope.<\/p>\n

Steve: New book in November?<\/p>\n

SK: Yeah, short stories. Just After Sunset, it\u2019s called. I wanted to call it Unnatural Acts of Human Intercourse, and the publisher had a hissy-fit.<\/p>\n

Steve: I like that title.<\/p>\n

SK [laughs maniacally]: Of course you do, you\u2019re me!<\/p>\n

Steve: Do you have a favorite in the collection?<\/p>\n

SK: There\u2019s one called \u201cA Very Tight Place\u201d that I like because it\u2019s flat-out gross. Also, since it was published in McSweeney\u2019s, it will be new to most readers. There are other stories that were published in smaller mags, as well. One of them is called \u201cAyana.\u201d I loved the way that one turned out.<\/p>\n

Steve: And \u201cN?\u201d That seems to be the one people are talking about.<\/p>\n

SK: Yeah, \u2019cause my publisher teamed with Marvel Comics to create a graphic version of the story. You can still get it on the web. Free in some places, I believe, but I like the iTunes pay-for-play downloads because they\u2019re so crisp and clear. It\u2019s also new to people, because it\u2019s the one story in Just After Sunset that hasn\u2019t been published somewhere.<\/p>\n

Steve: Is it long?<\/p>\n

SK: Pretty. About 21,100 words.<\/p>\n

Steve: That was your attempt to write a Lovecraft-style story, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

SK: Not Lovecraft; it\u2019s a riff on Arthur Machen\u2019s \u201cThe Great God Pan,\u201d which is one of the best horror stories ever written. Maybe the best in the English language. Mine isn\u2019t anywhere near that good, but I loved the chance to put neurotic behavior\u2014obsessive\/compulsive disorder\u2014together with the idea of a monster-filled macroverse. That was a good combination. As for Machen vs. Lovecraft: sure, Lovecraft was ultimately better, because he did more with those concepts, but \u201cThe Great God Pan\u201d is more reader-friendly. And Machen was there first. He wrote \u201cPan\u201d in 1895, when HPL was five years old.<\/p>\n

Steve: Working on a novel?<\/p>\n

SK: Yeah. The first draft\u2019s almost done.<\/p>\n

Steve: What\u2019s it called?<\/p>\n

SK: Under the Dome. I first tried to write it when I was twenty-five or so, but the concept was just too big, and I put it aside.<\/p>\n

Steve: That\u2019s long, too, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

SK: Oh God. [Laughs] It\u2019s twice the length of Duma Key. Over 1500 pages in manuscript. The first draft weighs 19 pounds. I have nightmares of the study burning down with the hard copy and the thumb-drive both inside.<\/p>\n

Steve: When will it be published?<\/p>\n

SK: No idea. I want to get the draft done, then go back to work on Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, which is the musical I\u2019m collaborating on with John Mellencamp.<\/p>\n

Steve: How close is the musical to done?<\/p>\n

SK: A lot of it\u2019s there. The first act (there are two) needs more work, but John\u2019s music is absolutely terrific.<\/p>\n

Steve: How many songs?<\/p>\n

SK: He\u2019s done maybe fourteen. I don\u2019t know if they\u2019ll all be in the show or not, but I hope so. I\u2019ve come to believe John\u2019s a pop music genius, but the main thing is he works really hard. And he expects others around him to do the same thing. He\u2019s got a nice family and a great sense of humor.<\/p>\n

Steve: Want to talk about politics?<\/p>\n

SK: Nah, people don\u2019t want to hear that from me. I will say that, as the scary guy, the thought of the two-year governor of Alaska becoming President if McCain got the job and then died doesn\u2019t thrill me. Part of it\u2019s that right-wing bunker mentality, but mostly\u2026well, let\u2019s face it: McCain\u2019s pretty old. At the outer limits of the insurance actuarial tables.<\/p>\n

Steve: So you do want to talk about politics?<\/p>\n

SK: Really, I don\u2019t. I\u2019ve got an Obama sticker on my car, and I guess that says what needs saying. Call me a tiresome liberal if you want, but I just think it would be nice to have a smart guy running things for a change. We tried dumb and it hasn\u2019t worked out too well.<\/p>\n

Steve: Any more movies in the future?<\/p>\n

SK: Dolan\u2019s Cadillac, with Christian Slater. It\u2019s wrapped production, and what I\u2019ve seen looks great. My old Kingdom Hospital compadre Rick Dooling wrote it, and\u2014in the words of Bryan Adams\u2014the dialogue cuts like a knife but feels so right.<\/p>\n

Steve: TV?<\/p>\n

SK: Faithful, the Red Sox book I did with Stewart O\u2019Nan, is supposed to be an HBO mini-series. The script is just goddam hilarious, so I hope they make it. And for the people who liked that book [Faithful], try Stewart\u2019s novel, Last Night at the Lobster. It\u2019s short, and it\u2019s wonderful. Unforgettable, really. It\u2019s a book to read while you listen to Workingman\u2019s Dead.<\/p>\n

Steve: Red Sox gonna make postseason this year?<\/p>\n

SK: Sure.<\/p>\n

Steve: World Series?<\/p>\n

SK: I think they\u2019ll be there, yeah.<\/p>\n

Steve: Tampa Bay?<\/p>\n

SK: Postseason by the skin of their teeth. The Rays are going to have a tough September\u2026and I say that as a fan, because Tabby and I live in the Tampa area during the winter and early spring. [Laughs] We didn\u2019t want to go to Florida, but when you get old, it\u2019s the law. By the way, did you notice that the Rays went from worst to first when they got that Devil out of their name? Coincidence? I THINK NOT!!<\/p>\n

Steve: Are you going to write another novel after Dome? Those retirement rumors are going around again.<\/p>\n

SK: Novelists retire after every book. Until they get the next idea.<\/p>\n

Steve: Have you got the next idea yet?<\/p>\n

SK: No, but I\u2019m not worrying about it.<\/p>\n

Steve: What is worrying you?<\/p>\n

SK: Well\u2026you know, that question always reminds me of a Nat Hentoff novel. Best title of the 20th century, really: I\u2019m Really Dragged, But Nothing Gets Me Down. It\u2019s kind of a drag turning 61, but you know what they say: 61 is the new 59. And not too much gets me down. When it does, I put on the rock and roll.<\/p>\n

Steve: What are you reading?<\/p>\n

SK: A British mystery\/suspense novelist named Robert Goddard. The entire oeuvre, which is\u2014happily\u2014quite large. 17 or 18 books, I think. The guy is insanely good, and the books are the kind you stay up too late to finish. I know that \u201cI stayed up late\u201d idea gets bandied around a lot, but with Goddard it\u2019s really true. Clean writing, sympathetic characters, big surprises\u2014what else do you want for your fifteen bucks? I\u2019m also reading George Pelecanos\u2014The Turnaround. Probably his best, most focused book. It\u2019s that shock-of-recognition thing: you really feel you\u2019re there.<\/p>\n

Steve: Movies?<\/p>\n

SK: Saw a great one called Tell No One. It\u2019s French, with subtitles, but based on an American suspense novel by Harlan Coben. Had the best foot-chase I\u2019ve seen in maybe twenty years. The ending strained my credulity a little, but after a lifetime spent writing make-believe, my credulity is very elastic.<\/p>\n

Steve: Double-jointed credulity?<\/p>\n

SK [laughs]: I\u2019d say triple jointed!<\/p>\n

Steve: Music?<\/p>\n

SK: I loved James McMurtry\u2019s new album, Just Us Kids, and there\u2019s a new Al Green soul album that\u2019s insanely good: Lay It Down. I liked the single \u201cI Kissed a Girl,\u201d by Katy Perry\u2014silly, but that image The taste of her cherry Chapstik is exactly right, the perfect detail. I also liked the Madonna single, and\u2014is it Metro Station? A boyband, I think, but very rhythmic. \u201cShake It\u201d especially. Best record of the summer was Viva la Vida, by Coldplay.<\/p>\n

Steve: Anything else you want to say?<\/p>\n

SK: Yeah. Let\u2019s go get a hamburger.<\/p>\n

Steve: I\u2019m all over that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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