Lessons from the Masters
Every now and then I am reminded why I love reading so much
and why I still aspire to being a better writer than I am!
One of my all time favourite horror writers is Stephen King
and I am sure there is not a single person who loves books who has not at least
heard of him. Dennis Wheatly before him
and then Mr. King were the two authors (in my misspent youth) responsible for
my fascination with tales of the supernatural and paranormal. Later I also
became a huge fan of many of Dean Koontz’s books too. Ah, but that was when I
was younger and more impressionable…
No, wait, I am still impressionable if the right kind of
story comes along!
The reason I am reminiscing about my early sojourns with
Stephen King and horror writing is that I recently read his latest offering.
And what a delight it is too. I have to admit that one or two of his books over
the last few years have been rather too rambling for me and did wonder if this
would be the same. But, no – this is King at his best! The main thing for me is
the absolute attention to detail and the quirky bits of imagery that transport
the reader back to an age that has long since gone. I was around in the late
fifties and sixties but only as a child so the detail has me totally
hooked. For those not familiar with this
book it is all about time travel and changing the course of history.
Fascinating stuff, anyway, but Mr King handles it so well… But then he would –
he has many years of successful writing under his belt and the largest number
of best sellers so he should know what he is talking about.
I am just about to decamp to one of Mr Koontz' books too - not visited his stories for some time. So I will see how or if he has changed. One thing I do know, he is still one of the biggest sellers of the genre so still has much to say to someone like me...
I only wish I could write the same!!
Oh well, onwards and upwards!
Who do you aspire to as a writer?
