King cites part of his inspiration for Doctor Sleep as coming from a morning news show about a cat who could sense when someone was going to die.
He admits that he likes scaring people -- a lot. King says, " I wanted to go back to that real creepy scary stuff."
When asked if he was intimidated to return to such a popular book, King admits that he was indeed hesitant, since most sequels "suck." That's funny -- since it's exactly what many of you are afraid of with Doctor Sleep!
King also reveals a character named Abra -- a nod to the main female character in East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I love it when King does stuff like that (gives nods in his work to other authors.) He says it had been a while since he used a kid as a major character, and he was excited to do that. Me too! I really connect with King's characters that are children.
In the interview, King also tells us a little more about "The True Knot" and what inspired him to create these villains
King says animatedly,
"Doctor Sleep is a sequel to the novel. It’s not a sequel to the Kubrick film. At the end of the Kubrick film, the Overlook is still there. It just kind of freezes. But at the end of the book, it burns down."King reveals that he hired Rocky Wood to read over the manuscript for consistency. Actually, inconsistency doesn't bother me much -- I usually just go with the story where it's at. I mean, novels are not history -- it's just a story. When someone like King writes, and is digging into their own work, they have a mess on their hands because he's created such a vast universe of fiction.
I also really enjoyed the discussion of King's feelings about a prequel. I've been reading "Before the Play" in TV Guide, and it's great.
Check out the full interview at shelf-life.ew.com
I think Doctor Sleep is going to work well because King has always been a writer of the time at hand. He doesn't do a lot with the past, and certainly not much with the future -- he writes about the right now. That means that a similar amount of time has passed in the world of the Shining as it has for us. Or, put another way: Both books are set in the time they were written in.
In the past King's characters with supernatural abilities have often been children or teens. Carrie, Danny and Charlie all come to mind. But in Doctor Sleep, King will take us into the adult world. Danny used his powers as a child to get himself out of a jam -- and it worked quite well! Now as an adult he can use those powers for a larger purpose to serve others. (I'm totally guessing here.)
That's a great interview. I'm glad to hear the King's already made it clear to his kids -- not that he'd need to, since his two sons are both also writers -- that nobody is to allow his books to become franchised out after he passes away.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather not have to deal with a world in which some hack is writing a sequel to "Christine," or something like that.
Where is this cover from?
ReplyDeleteCause so far i only saw a small version of it and i didnt see this one in the interview.
Thanks !
"When asked if he was intimidated to return to such a popular book, King admits that he was indeed hesitant, since most sequels "suck." That's funny -- since it's exactly what many of you are afraid of with Doctor Sleep!"
ReplyDeleteHah! Actually, you may be right, though for me it was always a matter of the integrity and archetypal nature of a well written story, as some who've heard me before know (brief shout out thanks to those who indulged my thoughts further than a blog post. A listening ear was all I asked and it was given, thanks for that!).
Anyway, here are some of my guesses for what the story will, be like.
From listening to this interview, two ideas entered my thinking.
1. The climax will be held on the burnt out rubble of the Overlook
2. I'm not certain, but it's possible Danny may be killed off.
Neither of these prosects fill me with confidence, even if it is my own sorry impressions.
King says he IS worried about people thinking he's "Run of of Ideas."
My thought it, no, not really. He just needs to slow down his pace as he doesn't write at the same speed or with the same "Urgency" (King's words) as he did before.
I believe it was that "Urgency" that made him write so well in the first place, especially when he was at the top of his game from 73-01.
I further think that he should maybe a bit of R&R from stories might be in order in case of creative burn out, just on the cautious side.
I am interested in what others might have to say to all this, though.
ChrisC
Brief revise,
DeleteWhat I should have said was "R&R from stories. Maybe that way he can gain back that original "Urgency" a bit at a time."
ChrisC