Saturday, November 13, 2010

Author Bumping - Stephen King


For those of you who haven’t been following my Author Bumping antics please check out my earlier posts.  Bumping into authors is one of my many peculiar talents.
In October, I began with my tale of bumping into the belly of Robert B. Parker as I made a mad dash to escape a cockney ladies’ loo lurker in London.  I followed up with Bumping into Zombie Authors – The Walking Dead premiere.  In that post I shared a creepy childhood story told to me by writer, director, producer – Frank Darabont. 
Mick Garris was next.  He’s  best known for his adaptations of Stephen King’s stories. Mick and I were chatting when the phone rang. It was Steven Spielberg congratulating Mick on the success of The Stand – which had premiered the night before.  Through some sort of quirk in the atmosphere or some blessed black hole, I find myself in the most wonderful company of writers through no planning and complete accidents. I’m fascinated by my gift of Author Bumping which always occurs in strange ways, and I believe under a full moon.
In the beginning: I was at my first writers’ conference. Excited to finally be pursuing my dream of writing, I had signed up without paying close attention to the names on the speakers/attendees list. I’m a leap and then look person.  The energy of a group of writers, particularly horror writers, can be like downing a six-pack of Red Bull on an empty stomach. My head was spinning with long submerged plots and characters. The encouragement I received from established writers made my knees weak and my fingers ache to be typing. I learned quickly that the energy cast off from gathered writers can be like the heat from the sun. It burns.
Needing a break from the heady vibes that cut like dragon flies from writer to writer, I sought quiet in the “Movie Room.”  One room had been designated as a time-out zone. The movie that played continuously was Blade Runner.
I fumbled in the darkness and took a seat in the small auditorium. It was about ten minutes into the film. A tall someone sat next to me. He apologized and settled in. As Harrison Ford wandered the screen with a perpetually puzzled puss, the chap next to me struck up a conversation. The words weren’t important.  It was the idea that someone would talk during a film. Movies are religious experiences to me. I  enter them and disappear.
 The tall stranger didn’t say much, but he did break the Harrison Ford moment. I’m not a shusher,  I’m a glarer. But in the dark it was hard to throw a “quiet, please” look and have it recognized. He spoke with an accent. Boston? No. Maine. The lights went on and it was Stephen King. He was sweet and chatty and exhausted. He’d stepped into the darkness to collect himself, just as I had.
Later we shared beers in the bar. He was wearing a black t-shirt with fake seagull poop dripping down both shoulders. Childlike, he was  tickled at the t-shirt joke. He suggested I sign up for the London Workshop which was set for that summer.  From there it was a short distance to my sliding into Bob Parker’s belly. My career in Author Bumping had begun.

16 comments:

  1. John, Thanks. It's more like a quiet amazement on my part. I've never won anything... but I keep winning time with wonderful authors. And it always happens in a silly way. :)

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  2. Wow. I didn't know about this blog or author bumping thing till you sent me an email. Stephen King? Way cool. I wouldn't mind bumping into Phillipa Gregory.. or Victoria Hislop.

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  3. Great story to share, Barbara. Stephen King was my all time favorite years ago. How very cool you got to have a chat with him. :)

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  4. Candace, I actually ended up taking part in a Writers' Workshop with him in London. King, Bob Parker, PD James and other mystery and horror writers taught a small group of us. It was a wonderful week. If you read my earlier post about Robert B. Parker - Author Bumping - you'll get a feel for that workshop. It was pretty unique.

    Stephen King is a very nice man. At one conference I watched him sign autographs for at least 3 hours ... steady. He treated the last person in line as kindly as he treated the first.

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  5. Woo hoo! That's great! I wish I could have Stephen King on The Lit Chick Show :-)

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  6. What a great story, I am sure it made your week...Have a wondeful weekend barb thanks for the smile

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  7. I loved this AND your Robert Parker story! Very funny. I'm a celebrity bumper myself - I once rudely ignored a chatty Dick Van Dyke in a drug store because I thought he was a crazy old man. :-( We'll have to get together in person sometime and share war stories. :-)

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  8. Karen, Now that's really funny.
    Dick Van Dyke talking up strangers in a drugstore. Just the visual on that is hilarious.

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  9. Barbara, you are so lucky to have met Stephen King. I love his book On Writing. When I read it, I could tell he was very nice just from the way he talked about his family. The most famous author I ever met was Dick Francis and that was at an event where he gave a talk about his books and signed autographs, so it wasn't like we became pals or shared beers.

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  10. Most big name writers are such lovely, generous people. I've only met one who had a chip on his shoulder. He shall remain nameless.

    I have more Author Bumpings to share. They are kinda like whale sightings. :) I get excited and jump up and down.

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  11. I'm reading On Writing right now :-) He's hilarious when he's not being horrifying.

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  12. On Writing is excellent. Every writer should read it. He's putting adverbs out of business. :)

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  13. Barbara -

    See, all those realtors were right. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

    I'm green with envy. No worries - it's just the zombie makeup.

    Congratulations!

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  14. Jeff, That is the absolute truth. Right place right time. Could not have screwed that one up if I tried.

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