Posted By: Nomad T. Beget - 10/16/2009 - 3:52 PM EST

October 16, 2009 Dear Mr. King, I never thought in a million years that I would be writing you. I am enjoying ON WRITING, a loaner from a friend/horror film fan. {I am at page # 183.} When you wrote about truth telling, a tear formed in my right eye. {Sorry} When you said that I should write about whatever I blank please, you gained an unwitting fan. My horror-film-going-days ended, quite abruptly, when I watched what Ellen Burstyn went through with Reagan. I had not planned to stop the pictures It just happened. I remember, however, the Phantom in black & white and his banishment to the dungeon. The Birds scared me too, among others. However, I am not writing you to talk about scary black & whites, or coloreds for that matter. I am writing as a fellow beginning writer to share how you touched me with your book, and perhaps lament a little about the stellar appeal/loneliness of the craft. I will not drone on about how great I am - or my struggles {of which there are many}, I just wanted to tell you that I experienced a bonding with your ideas in a sense. The process of writing means many things, one could write 1,000 books on the subject. The inner struggle (I said it twice), to crawl outside of my flesh, like a resurrected mummy, surrounded by real aliens - no less. I thought that I had battled those demons; however, the craft of writing is proving that those demons, by the thousands, are just waiting at the door. {How is that?} I discovered the writing bug in adult school, where I learned how to launch my own site. Emails came in that read, This is Brilliant, dont stop, and keep writing, and the like. You need to write this down, Nance, and you should write a book, followed. When I handed my book to a couple of readers, the encouragement stopped. You cannot write that, you have to change all of it, dont write a bio, etc, etc, etc. I know that I am not a bestseller yet, but I plan to be. I know where I suck; I am not clueless about that. I know that my script is rough and disorganized and I need help. I know that. The lack of support is intensifying the isolation of the craft, and you, Mr. King, know that too. My current life circumstances read like something out of the most hellish horror script that I refuse to ignore it any longer. Oh- I must not write about it, or heaven forbid, complain - unless I want to hear, Well at least you are not in the trailer. Thanks. This rich, juicy, too-good-to-be-true fodder must read in a book. How do I record, package and sell these true stories? I never had the audacity to suggest that I am Novel-writing material, but alas, I may have stumbled upon a calling. I am going to finish ON WRITING, and probably reread it, as I tackle those come-hither keys. The opposition is propelling me to places that I am dreaming about {With my demons, or without them.} I wrote a little longer than I had planned, and I hope that you get to see this. An agency has offered me a contract and we are currently waiting for an evaluation on my manuscript. (I have never loved doing something so much in my whole life.) I have written dark poetry and a Creepy Bug Phobias link. My stories lean towards the ghoulish real ghouls, that is, and I want to explore the depths of this genre. Thank you, Mr. King, for ON WRITING. Thank you for making it O.K. to tell the truth. Thank you for telling me that not everyone has to listen A New Fan, Nancy T. Bush

Posted By: Mike - 06/09/2009 - 12:07 PM EST

If I ever had a audiobook greatest hits, the part where SK talks about his ear problems would be on it. I have listened to this story more than once but every time I hear Steve explain his visit to the doctors I still get squeamish, man that's bad! If you haven't read this book b/c you think it's a dry academic take on writing you should definitely try the audio version. It's excellent and entertaining.