I learned late last week that Flight or Fright is already going into a second printing with Cemetery Dance, and publication is still six weeks away. So that’s pretty cool.
In other publishing news, Simon & Schuster audio is going to release Shining in the Dark as an audiobook next February. I received my Czech copy last week. (Or, as I told my wife, the Czech was in the mail, har-de-har-har.)
Normally, I would be writing about my NECON experiences right about now, but this year I had a scheduling conflict that prevented me from attending. Turns out, if I had opted for NECON, I would probably have had to cancel because of a day-job obligation. As it was, I was able to duck out mid-day on Friday and catch a plane for Bangor. A group of friends who know each other through Stephen King’s message board held their annual King Kon in that city this year, and a few people were invited, including Robin Furth, Glenn Chadbourne and me.
I got in late (very late) on Friday. So late that all the traffic signals in the city were flashing. It was a little disconcerting and disorienting, driving down Stillwater Avenue. Most of them were flashing yellow, but the odd one was flashing red and with my limited color perception, I had to look very carefully to make sure I didn’t cruise through one of the latter. I was driving a Kia Niro, my first time behind the wheel of a hybrid. It was a little strange, driving something that is so quiet. At times I wasn’t sure if the car was running.
On Saturday late morning, I meandered into downtown Bangor, where I took the above picture, which reminded me of a certain scene from It. No floating balloons, though. That would have been awesome/creepy. I only went a few blocks when I met Gerald Winters, owner of the King bookstore in town. We chatted a few minutes (he was also invited to attend) and I went a few blocks farther, where I encountered Glenn Chadbourne. He and I decamped to a nearby pub for a little fodder before the main event, a panel at the Arts Exchange. The four of us (Robin, Glenn, Gerald and I) signed stuff, answered questions, told tales, took pictures, etc. for a couple of hours. Then Robin, Glenn, Marsha (King’s executive assistant) and I hung out at Denny’s for a while, waiting until it was time to go to the Oriental Jade restaurant, location of a pivotal scene in It. We had a nice buffet dinner, there were door prizes, swag bags, etc. The conventioneers had other things planned, including a trip to Dysart’s (Maximum Overdrive) the following morning, but I had to get back to Texas. Those 5:30 am flights always seem like a good idea when I book them, but getting up at 3:30 wasn’t my favorite thing to do!
Of course, the flight was 90 minutes late departing. First, the navigational computer on our plane was misbehaving and it was going to take an hour or more just to get the repair crew on site. Fortunately, the pilots were able to convince the airline to let them swap to another plane. We were on the taxiway when they were told that they couldn’t take off because of a hold at Philly airport, where we were heading. So we had to sit there until 7 am, Fortunately, I was able to rebook my connecting flight while we waited. After that it was smooth sailing, and I was back home by early in the afternoon.
It was a nice time. Always fun to catch up with old friends and make new ones. My only disappointment was that I discovered, after I was back in Texas, that there are Tim Horton’s restaurants in Bangor. Three of them! And I didn’t get to go to one. No timbits for me! Ah, well. Next time.
I received the above postcard in the mail today. Note the return address! If you haven’t checked out my Castle Rock preview, you can do so here. The first three episodes drop on Wednesday on Hulu.
I finished watching Season 2 of Goliath (Amazon) en route to Bangor on my iPad. Billy Bob Thornton plays a hard drinking lawyer who ends up taking on high profile cases, playing David to various Goliaths. It’s a very good series. Season 2, stylistically, reminds me a lot of Breaking Bad. Episode 7 is very, very strange (in a good way).
