I ran out of Hardy Boy mysteries in our local library, and somehow I started reading The Stand. I was about 10, or maybe 11. It was ten times longer than anything else I had read before then, and I was hooked.

I read everything he wrote after that. My writing style through school was unconsciously modeled on his. I would have to credit him for my high grades in writing.

Oddly, even though I enjoy reading King, and I write a little like him, I can't write in his genre. Oh well. At least I play guitar.

His style is concise, and his prose is direct (not as much as Hemingway though). His ideas are terrific, his plots are usually not that complicated, but his characters are positively alive.

He says he creates his characters and lets them do whatever they do, and they create the story. He doesn't plan anything. I like that approach.

Alas, his best stories seem to be behind him. There have been a few good tales lately, but my favorites are still his early ones. I particularly liked Night Shift, Firestarter, Needful Things, and Bag of Bones.

His non-fiction book On Writing is excellent.