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.

I ordinarily don’t comment far in advance on films based on my work, especially TV films, but in the case of Desperation I am going to make an exception because my old partner in crime, Mick Garris, has produced an extraordinary piece of work, and the ensemble cast is outstanding. Ron Perlman as Collie Entragian will haunt your dreams. You might want to consider making time in May (tentative) for this one, which is when ABC plans to run it.

One word of warning: this is TV and it’s impossible to tell in advance how much of a given piece of work will be cut. The version of Desperation I saw was graphic and very frightening. This may make the network uneasy.

Stephen King

Desperation is now in Post-Production, but there is still no firm date set.
Director Mick Garris recently sent us some exclusive pictures from the set of Desperation, click here to check them out.

Riding the Bullet is scheduled to be released on DVD April 19th, 2005 in its uncut version (rated R) by Lions Gate.

In addition to being Inauguration Day, January 20th is Not One Damn Dime Day. This is a chance for those who oppose what is happening in our name in Iraq to speak up with a 24-hour national boycott in all forms of consumer spending. Even if you are one of those who approve of our actions in Iraq, where the American death toll continues to rise to the number of Americans lost in the World Trade Center disaster, Not One Damn Dime Day is your chance to protest the bloated cost of President Bush's Inauguration ceremonies, which are now estimated in the $40 million range. I think even fiscal conservatives and die-hard Republicans would agree, this is a shameful amount of money to spend on a party when children are dying in Indonesia. I don't intend to spend a damn cent on January 20th, let alone a damn dime. I urge you to do the same and I urge you to pass this message along to everyone on your email list.
-Stephen King