On November 10, 2009, Stephen will be appearing in New York at The Times Center to promote his new book, Under the Dome, which will be released in stores on that day.  For more information and to order tickets for the event, please visit their site.

I'm delighted to tell you that I won not one but TWO Stoker Awards at this year's ceremony, one for Duma Key (Best Novel) and one for Just After Sunset (Best Collection). My motto is, You can never be too thin, too rich, or win too many Stoker Awards. (If you've never seen one, the awards are most excellently cool.) My thanks to everyone who voted, and my congratulations to all the other nominees. Most of all, though, thanks to everyone who bought those books and enjoyed them. (And if you bought them and didn't enjoy them, I still thank you.)

Steve

The production of the "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County" CD/book package is slated to commence on June 15, when producer T Bone Burnett begins laying down the tracks in Los Angeles for the 18 new songs John has written for his musical theater collaboration with Stephen King. King's dialog will later be assembled in John's Belmont Studio.

The cast for the production is still not finalized but will definitely be star-studded. Projected release of the completed project is next January and will be in more than one configuration, with a "deluxe" version to include a book containing the show's full text and song lyrics, a CD featuring the show's dialog and songs, and a second CD with only the songs.

The July 2009 issue of Esquire magazine (on newsstands in June) will feature a new short story titled "Morality". 

Chad, an aspiring writer who is teaching school until he lands a publishing contract, and his wife, Nora, who is working as a home nurse for a retired minister are, like most people these days, struggling financially.  Nora is approached by her employer with a proposition that could make their dream of a home in Vermont a reality.  But will it be worth the moral consequences?  

Summer is short and entertainment is vital. Therefore, make sure you take advantage of this June's suggestions. Would I steer you wrong? Hell, no! So here they are:

1. Fangoria's anniversary issue, on sale now.
2. Bruce Springsteen's Seeger Sessions.
3. James McMurtry's Just Us Kids. Real alt-country rock and roll.
4. Apple pies from Checkers. They come rolled in cinnamon. Yum!
5. Waffles and eggs at Waffle House. Hash browns loaded with cheese optional.
6. Monster Truck Jam (as long as you root for The Gravedigger to lose.)
7. Ride the Boulder Dash wooden roller coaster in Bristol, CT.
8. Listen to the entire Metallica catalogue. Then get your ears checked. You know you've been meaning to do it.
9. Go to the beach on a motorcycle with your honey.
10. Read Nobody Move, by Denis Johnson.
11. Read Gone Tomorrow, by Lee Child.
12. Read Look Again, by Lisa Scottoline.
13. Read The Way Home, by George Pelecanos.
14. See Drag Me to Hell, directed by the incomparable Sam Raimi.
15. Play AC/DC in your car with the windows rolled down and the volume all the way up.
16. Root for the Red Sox to bury the Yankees.
17. Pray for Big Papi (David Ortiz).
18. Wear your sunglasses at night.
19. Watch for an excerpt from Under the Dome in Entertainment Weekly.

See them here first -- three new illustrations from The Talisman comics.

We've received permission to release the official copy from Simon & Schuster for the plot synopsis for Under the Dome. Here's your first peek at the story line:

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when—or if—it will go away.

Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens—town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing—even murder—to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t just short. It’s running out.

Marvel has released a five page preview of the next arc in the Stand series, American Nightmares. You can use the link below to download the preview of in PDF form.

Read the Five Page Preview
(10MB Download)

Amazon has decided to release Stephen’s new novella, “Ur”, ahead of schedule. Kindle users can now purchase it for immediate download to their Kindle devices.

More information

Marvel has announced that The Stand: Captain Trips Premiere Hardcover will be available exclusively at comic shops and TalesOfWonder.com. The highly anticipated collection includes all five issues of the first arc.

To celebrate, Marvel is offering visitors of StephenKing.com a complimentary digital version of the complete first issue. This download also includes the Captain Trips Sketch Book. - A must have file for The Stand's constant readers.

More Information

Download Issue #1

Published by arrangement with The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. This comic series is produced under license from The Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group and Stephen King.

The Stand Release Log