Stephen King is helping a group of young writers publish a book.
According to The Associated Press, the Maine native’s foundation is covering $6,500 for a 290-page manuscript from students in the Author Studies Program at Lewiston, Maine’s Farwell Elementary School. (The students reportedly launched a Kickstarter to raise the money, but the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation offered to help after learning of the project.)
The students took a unique approach to storytelling, starting with Gary Savage’s 2016 book, Fletcher McKenzie and the Passage to Whole — about a 14-year-old from western Maine — which they adapted to incorporate their own life experiences amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school’s principal, Amanda Winslow, told the AP she’s proud of the students, thanking both Savage, who advised the writers, and librarian Kathy Martin.
King recently offered advance praise for Hunter Biden’s upcoming book, Beautiful Things, out April 6th. The horror icon described the title, which chronicles Biden’s ongoing struggles with substance abuse, as a “harrowing and compulsively readable memoir” that proves “anybody — even the son of a United States President — can take a ride on the pink horse down nightmare alley.”
In December, CBS All Access launched its limited series remake of King’s 1978 post-apocalyptic novel, The Stand. The author penned the 10-episode show’s final installment, which airs February 11th.
In other King-related news, the author is preparing to release a new crime novel, Later, on March 2nd. The book’s Amazon synposis reads: “The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine — as he discovers when an NYPD detective draws him into the pursuit of a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave.”