“The review of The Colorado Kid in today’s issue of USA Today mentions that there was no Starbucks in Denver in 1980. Don’t assume that’s a mistake on my part. The constant readers of the Dark Tower series may realize that that is not necessarily a continuity error, but a clue.”

Posters to the Message Board recently collaborated on a story as a “gift” to Stephen for his birthday. We had promised to post the completed story and thanks to poster FlakeNoir, who suggested the idea and also did the illustrations, here it is! Thanks to everyone who participated! Click here to download the Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) document.

The most recent word from Mick Garris is that ABC plans to air Desperation in May '06 during sweeps week.

Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. will be publishing a book containing THE LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA and the revised edition of THE GUNSLINGER (which was published by Viking).

The book will be illustrated by Michael Whelan and will contain new art as well as the art originally published in the first edition of THE GUNSLINGER.

Price, schedule and other details have not been set and when further information is available it will be posted here and on Grant's website www.grantbooks.com and published in their newsletter.

Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. is not taking orders, reservations or putting people on a waiting list. Please do not call or email then for further details as they will just refer you to their web site. We suggest you remain subscribed to their email newsletter which you can do on their site.

Stephen joined World Series Champion Boston Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo on Bronson's album "Covering The Bases". The album, which includes various cover songs, was released on July 12. The album features many of the top musicians in music, including Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp), Leland Sklar (Phil Collins) and Mike Inez (Alice In Chains). The album also features Red Sox players Johnny Damon, Kevin Youkilis and Lenny DiNardo, along with Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein.
 
Stephen contributed additional lyrics and spoken word on the fourth track "Everlong". Check out Bronson's album at www.bronsonarroyo.com

Amazon.com is celebrating its 10th Anniversary with a series of events including a Hall of Fame which features an excerpt from a novel in progress (the working title is currently Cell).  We do not have a publication date for this new novel at this time, but you can read the excerpt titled “The Pulse” here.

Many fans had asked about how to read back issues of Stephen’s column, The Pop of King, which he writes for Entertainment Weekly. In the past it was necessary to be a subscriber in order to access back issues, but now you can access the most recent columns by going to: http://www.ew.com/stephenking We’d like to thank EW for making this possible! (Other past columns are available, but it is necessary to be a subscriber.)

For all of you fans who’ve been asking about Stephen King merchandise, you can get your t-shirt, hat, and more now through his radio station WKIT. The new merchandise features the artwork of Maine artist Glenn Chadbourne (a regular contributor to Cemetery Dance magazine and artist for The Stephen King Trivia Book, with much more to come!). Be the first on your block to have your own “Doug Graves”! Step over Crypt Keeper, Doug is now in town!

Check out the new merchandise

Bill Haber and his Ostar Enterprises are developing this limited series based on the book of short stories by Stephen King.  The deal calls for Ostar to develop scripts for eight one-hour episodes.  Mick Garris (The Stand, Sleepwalkers) and Mike Robe (News at Eleven, Guts and Glory: The Rise and Fall of Oliver North), Peter Filardi (TNT’s Salem’s Lot, Flatliners), Larry Cohen (Phone Booth, Cellular), April Smith (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter) and Richard Christian Matheson (Mobius, Dean Koontz’s Sole Survivor) have signed to pen scripts for the series.  NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES is based on Stephen King’s 1993 anthology of 20 short stories, whose subjects include murderous revenge, dead rock stars, zombies, an evil toy and a wicked stepfather, to name a few. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

New Book by Stephen King To Kick Off Hard Case Crime’s Second Year 2005-2006

Lineup Also Includes Lawrence Block, Donald Hamilton, Ed McBain and Donald E. Westlake

 New York (February 28, 2005) – Winterfall LLC, creator of the celebrated Hard Case Crime line of pulp-style paperback crime novels, today announced that a new book by Stephen King will be the lead title of the line’s second year. The Colorado Kid tells the story of two veteran newspapermen and their investigation into the mysterious death of a man on an island off the coast of Maine. The book was written specifically for Hard Case Crime and has never previously been published. One of the most beloved storytellers of all time, Stephen King is the world’s best-selling novelist, with more than 300,000,000 books in print.

Launched in September 2004 by novelists and pulp mavens Charles Ardai and Max Phillips (and recently nominated for two Edgar Allan Poe Awards by the Mystery Writers of America), Hard Case Crime revives the storytelling and visual style of the great pulp paperbacks of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. The line features an exciting mix of lost pulp masterpieces from some of the most acclaimed crime writers of all time and gripping new novels from the next generation of great hardboiled authors, all with new painted covers in the grand pulp style. Authors range from current best-sellers such as Lawrence Block, Max Allan Collins, Ed McBain, and Donald E. Westlake to Golden Age stars like Erle Stanley Gardner (creator of “Perry Mason”), Donald Hamilton (creator of “Matt Helm”), Wade Miller (author of Touch of Evil), and David Dodge (author of To Catch a Thief).

Cover artists include the legendary Robert McGinnis, creator of the posters for the original Sean Connery James Bond movies, as well as other award-winning painters chosen for their ability to work in the vivid and dramatic style that made pulp paperbacks so memorable. After seeing samples of Hard Case Crime’s books, Mickey Spillane – creator of Mike Hammer and one of the best-selling paperback writers of all time – wrote, “Those covers brought me right back to the good old days.”

The Colorado Kid will be published in October 2005 in the classic pocket-sized mass-market paperback format in which hundreds of millions of books were sold during the heyday of pulp fiction. The book will be published through Winterfall’s ongoing collaboration with Dorchester Publishing, the oldest independent mass-market publisher in the United States. The book will also be available in audiobook and e-book editions from Simon & Schuster, publisher of Stephen King’s work since 1998.

“Steve is an extraordinary writer, and as much a fan of classic paperback crime fiction as we are,” said Charles Ardai, Hard Case Crime’s editor. “We originally contacted him to see if he’d be willing to write a blurb for our line, and he decided that what he really wanted to do was write a book for us instead. We’re thrilled that he wanted to be part of Hard Case Crime and we’re very excited to get to introduce the world to the baffling mystery of The Colorado Kid.”

“This is an exciting line of books,” Stephen King commented, “and I'm delighted to be a part of it. Hard Case Crime presents good, clean, bare-knuckled storytelling, and even though The Colorado

Kid is probably more bleu than outright noir, I think it has some of those old-fashioned kick-ass story-telling virtues. It ought to; this is where I started out, and I'm pleased to be back.”

Since its debut in 2004, Hard Case Crime has been the subject of enthusiastic coverage by a wide range of publications including The New York Times, USA Today, Vanity Fair, Playboy, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Houston Chronicle, New York magazine, the New York Post and Daily News, Salon, Publishers Weekly and USA Weekend, as well as numerous other magazines, newspapers, and online media outlets. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote, “Hard Case Crime is doing a wonderful job publishing both classic and contemporary ‘pulp’ novels in a crisp new format with beautiful, period-style covers. These modern ‘penny dreadfuls’ are worth every dime.” Playboy praised Hard Case Crime’s “lost masterpieces,” writing “They put to shame the work of modern mystery writers whose plots rely on cell phones and terrorists.” And the Philadelphia City Paper wrote, “Tired of overblown, doorstop-sized thrillers…? You’ve come to the right place. Hard Case novels are as spare and as honest as a sock in the jaw.”

Hard Case Crime is scheduled to publish nine books in 2005, increasing to a schedule of one title per month in 2006. The next two titles in the line, due in stores at the start of March, are Home Is the Sailor by 1950s pulp master Day Keene and Kiss Her Goodbye, an original novel set on the mean streets of Edinburgh, by the rising young Scottish noir stylist Allan Guthrie.

For information about these and other forthcoming titles or to sign up for the Hard Case Crime mailing list, visit www.HardCaseCrime.com.