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When Stephen King came to Toronto to kick off the International Festival of Authors, I went thinking I would say all these things to him:
1. I read The Shining when I was far too young and I basically didn’t sleep for a year. I’ve read it many times since then and it still scares me. It’s one of my all-time favourite books.
2. It is the only reason I’m afraid of clowns.
3. I still haven’t read The Body because I think Stand by Me is perfect and I don’t want to know if the book is better.
4. When I was a kid I wrote a short story about a bunch of kids who go to camp and bad stuff happens. It was awful. But because your books were so good, I got it in my head that I could do what you did. So I kept wrting, and I haven’t stopped since.
5. On Writing is the best book about writing. Ever. I am so grateful you wrote it.
What I actually said to Stephen King:
“Thank you.”
I left disappointed, but now that I think of it, maybe those two words were enough. They say it all, don’t they?