[Cygnus]

The rumor is that Stephen King is retiring after finishing up five more books. See this link to CNN for more:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/SHOWBIZ/books/01/29/stephen.king/index.html

I applaud his decision as long as he finishes up the Dark Tower series.

[Warewolf]

Okay, I read the article and heard the words from his mouth (so to speak), but I still find it hard to believe. He writes with such passion and has such a fertile imagination, I just can't see him putting down the pen and walking away. Look at Michael Jordan. He wanted to leave at the top of his game, but he couldn't deny the competetive spirit and passion for the game that was an integral part of him. Same thing with King. He might take a sabbatical for a couple of years and then, if he does come back, he might even only put out a book every couple of years or so, but I can't imagine him walking away completely. We'll see, I guess...

[Llama]

King promises to retire every three or four years. Always fails to keep his promise, unfortunately.

[Coldfire]

Unfortunately?

[Erebus]

Long live the King!

Well, as one of my favourite storytellers, the freshness of a new King novel will be sadly missed. We can all only hope that this is yet another of his threats to retire, and not yet actually the case. I couldn't really imagine him not wanting to write any more. It has always been his life's passion, and I know I couldn't just say one day: okay, that's it; no more books! So, for all of us who enjoy King's remarkable ability for creating a wonderful, spellbinding tale, let us hope that he reigns onward for some time yet!

[Llama]

Yup, "unfortunately". I think King has long since been publishing anything original, and the vast amount of money he and other writers (like Koontz and Saul) who are endlessly recycling their stories are requiring they be paid by their publishers has essentially meant the death of the midlist horror writers.

Who's read Lucy Taylor, Thomas Ligotti, Brian MacNaughton, Gerald Houarner, Charlee Jacob, Simon Maginn? These are original horror writers who once might have been published by a major publishing house but who now are relegated to the independent, small press market. It's no secret that the cause of this lies in the fact that a few bestselling writers like King demand larger and larger advances, that the publishing houses feel that given the amount of money advanced they need to make sure these writers continue to succeed so they devote an ever increasing amount of their marketing budget to their books, and that the folks who end up getting screwed are the newer, younger, less established writers who are only beginning to establish their fan base. So yes, I would be very happy if King retired. I think it would be a net plus for the horror field.