The Dark Tower is my uber story, no question about that. When it's done, I plan to ease back. Maybe retire completely.
August 7, 1998
Took my usual walk this afternoon, and tonight I took Fred Hauser with me to the AA meeting in Fryeburg. On the way home he asked me to sponsor him and I said yes; I think he's finally getting serious about sobering up. Good for him. Anyhow, he got talking about the so-called "Walk-Ins." He says there are more of them around the Seven Towns than ever, and all sorts of folks are gossiping about them.
"How come I never hear anything, then?" I asked him. To which I got no answer but an extremely funny look. I kept prodding, and finally Fred sez,
"People don't like to talk about them around you, Steve, because there have been two dozen reported on Turtleback Lane in the last 8 months and you claim not to have seen a single one."
To me this seemed like a non sequitur and I made no reply. It wasn't until after the meeting - and after I'd dropped my new pigeon off - that I realized what he was saying: people don't talk about the "Walk-Ins" around me because they think that in some crazy way I'M RESPONSIBLE. I thought I was pretty well used to being "America's boogeyman," but this is actually sort of outrageous...
January 2, 1999 (Boston)
Owen and I are at the Hyatt Harborside tonight, and head off to Florida tomorrow. (Tabby and I are talking about buying a place there but haven't told the kids. I mean, they're only 27, 25 and 21 - maybe when they're old enough to understand such things, ha-ha.) Earlier we met Joe and saw a film called Hurlyburly, from the play by David Rabe. Very odd. Speaking of odd, I had some sort of New Year's Night nightmare before leaving Maine. Can't remember exactly what it was, but when I woke up this morning I'd written two things in my dreambook. One was Baby Mordred, like something out of a Chas Addams cartoon. That I sort of understand; it must refer to Susannah's baby in the Dark Tower stories. It's the other thing that puzzles me. It says 6/19/99, O Discordia.
Discordia also sounds like something out of the DT stories, but it's not anything I have invented. As for 6/19/99, that's a date, right? Meaning what? June 19th of this year. Tabby and I should be back at the Turtleback Lane house by then, but so far as I can remember it's not anybody's birthday.
Maybe it's the date I'm going to meet my first walk-in!
June 12, 1999
It's wonderful to be back at the lake!
I've decided to take 10 days off, then finally return to work on the how-to-write book. I'm curious about Hearts in Atlantis; will folks want to know if Bobby Garfield's friend Ted Brautigan plays a part in the Tower saga? The truth is I really don't know the answer to that. In any case, readership of the Tower stories has fallen off a lot lately - the figures are really disappointing, compared to that of my other books (except for Rose Madder, which was a real tank-job, at least in the sales sense). But it doesn't matter, at least to me, and if the series ever gets done, sales may go up.
Tabby and I had another argument about my walking route; she asked me again to quit going out on the main road. Also she asked me "Is the wind blowing yet?" Meaning am I thinking about the next Dark Tower story. I said no, commala-come-come, the tale has not begun. But it will, and there's a dance called the commala in it. That's the one thing I see clearly: Roland dancing. Why, or for whom, I don't know.
Anyway, I asked T. why she wanted to know about the Dark Tower and she said, "You're safer when you're with the gunslingers."
Joking, I suppose, but an odd joke for T. Not much like her.
June 17, 1999
Talked with Rand Holston and Mark Carliner tonight. They both sound excited about moving on from Storm of the Century to Rose Red (or Kingdom Hospital ), but either one would fill my plate up again.
I dreamed of my walk last night & woke up crying. The Tower will fall, I thought. O Discordia, the world grows dark.
Headline from the PortlandPress-Herald,June 18, 1999:
"WALK-IN" PHENOMENON IN WESTERN MAINE
CONTINUES TO RESIST EXPLANATION
June 19, 1999
This is like one of those times when all the planets line up, except in this case it's my family all lined up here on Turtleback Lane. Joe and his family arrived around noon; their little boy is really cute. Say true! Sometimes I look in the mirror and say, "You are a grandfather." And the Steve in the mirror just laughs, because the idea is so ridiculous. The Steve in the mirror knows I'm still a college sophomore, going to classes and protesting the war in Viet Nam by day, drinking beer down at Pat's Pizza with Flip Thompson and George McLeod by night. As for my grandson, the beautiful Ethan? He just tugs on the balloon tied to his toe and laughs.
Daughter Naomi and son Owen got here late last night. We had a great Father's Day dinner; people saying things to me that were so nice I had to check to make sure I wasn't dead! God, I'm lucky to have family, lucky to have more stories to tell, lucky to still be alive. The worst thing to happen this week, I hope, will be my wife's bed collapsing under the weight of our son and daughter-in-law - the idiots were wrestling on it.
You know what? I've been thinking of going back to Roland's story after all. As soon as I finish the book on writing ( On Writing would actually not be a bad title - it's simple and to the point). But right now the sun is shining, the day is beautiful, and what I'm going to do is take a walk.
More later, maybe.
From the Portland SundayTelegram,June 20, 1999:
STEPHEN KING DIES NEAR
LOVELL HOME
POPULAR MAINE WRITER KILLED WHILE TAKING AFTERNOON WALK
INSIDER CLAIMS MAN DRIVING LETHAL VAN "TOOK EYES OFF THE ROAD" AS HE APPROACHED KING ON ROUTE 7
By Ray Routhier