Blood At The Midnight Hour Forum Umm...

Rebecca Rogers	Umm... 15 Years Ago Is anyone else like me--tired of seeing the vampire madness? I mean, the whole Twilight phenomenon was cool at first, but now it's everywhere. Oh and did anyone see the article about Stephen King bashing Stephenie Meyer? Wow. Yeah... Well, here it is for those who haven't: I'm working on my big American Icons cover story on Stephen King today, and it could almost fill up two full issues. King gave me so much good stuff: He's a truly fascinating guy, and he had so many great stories and takes on things. When I flew up to Maine to talk to him in December, we got into a discussion of popular authors vs. the academic elite, a subject he has strong opinions about, and I asked him if his mainstream success over the past 35 years paved the way for the massive careers of Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling and Twilight author Stephenie Meyer. Click read more for King's feelings about those two as well as some other best-selling authors. And remember to check out my cover story on King in the March 6-8 issue of USA WEEKEND. King, whose Stephen King Goes to the Movies collection came out last week, doesn’t know how much of an influence he had on Meyer, but he does know that Rowling read his stuff when she was younger. "I think that has some kind of formative influence the same way reading Richard Matheson had an influence on me," King explains. "People always say to me, 'Well, what about H.P. Lovecraft?' And the thing was, you read Lovecraft when you were a kid but I never felt that he was speaking my language. It was chillier than my heart was, and when Matheson started to write about ordinary people and stuff, that was something that I wanted to do. I said, 'This is the way to do it. He’s showing the way.' I think that I serve that purpose for some writers, and that’s a good thing. Both Rowling and Meyer, they’re speaking directly to young people. ... The real difference is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer and Stephenie Meyer can’t write worth a darn. She’s not very good." But then King recalls that when his mom was alive, she read all the Erle Stanley Gardner books, the Perry Mason mysteries, obsessively when he was growing up. "He was a terrible writer, too, but he was very successful," King says. "Somebody who’s a terrific writer who’s been very, very successful is Jodi Picoult. You’ve got Dean Koontz, who can write like hell. And then sometimes he’s just awful. It varies. James Patterson is a terrible writer but he’s very very successful. People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it’s very clear that she’s writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It’s exciting and it’s thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because they’re not overtly sexual. A lot of the physical side of it is conveyed in things like the vampire will touch her forearm or run a hand over skin, and she just flushes all hot and cold. And for girls, that’s a shorthand for all the feelings that they’re not ready to deal with yet."
Sound	[no subject] 15 Years Ago haha...that's Stephen King for you. In my opinion, though, he's right. I've read the Harry Potter books and I've read the first Twilight (which I've heard is the best) and I can easily see a difference in the writting. JK is clearly the better writer, and definitely more imaginative. Vampires? Bah! Meyer didn't do anything I've never heard of. Now Quidditch? What the hell is quidditch!? And anyway, I think King has been writing bestsellers since I can remember--although the newer ones are rather stinky--and I say let the man speak his opinion. More than likely it's right.
Rebecca Rogers	[no subject] 15 Years Ago I think Stephen King likes originality and J. K. definitely has that. Stephenie only has originality in the fact that her vamps are vegetarians. (LOL) But overall, nobody will ever beat J. K. I believe she is a freaking genius. Seriously.
Twilight	[no subject] 15 Years Ago I like many of Stephen King's stories, but some of his recent writing has been disappointing. He normally uses a contemporary setting, which is fine. However, I sometimes enjoy something a little more imaginative! Thus, I also love to read the classic stories of H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Algernon Blackwood and others. How about the rest of you, fellow Group members?
Dreki	[no subject] 15 Years Ago This was a big topic on DA too. I think King was a little blunt, but he made his point. Still, and opinion is just an opinion and King admits that Meyer writes for a much younger crowed than he does. and no, I love me some vampires...I'm just tired of the same ol' s**t....
Rawhide	[no subject] 15 Years Ago I have to disagree with Stephen King on one point. I've read all of the Harry Potter books and love the series, but I don't think JK Rowling is a good writer. I think she's a great story teller with average writing skill. I haven't read Twilight or seen the movie. I am really tired of the romanticized vampire stories like Twilight. I would love to see more vampire stories and movies like 30 Days of Night.
1809 Black Plague Decem..	[no subject] 15 Years Ago Awesome insight. I love Steven King. Sounds, like you had a great time discussing authors, influences, and gifts. I'm still stuck with Poe, and romance books of the 1800's I tend to write my stories as such. I guess style and genre is a matter of taste. Maybe we are being a little bias, you think. Though, I'm so ever happy to hear you got to chat with him. =) ---mishel