( October 8, 2007 ) - On the whole, author Stephen King only had good things to say in his acceptance speech.

Speaking about his goals as a writer, King said, "From the beginning, I saw writing as a fundamentally aggressive act," going on to say that his books are the literary equivalent of a heavy metal record. "I want you to be actively engaged. I don't care if you laugh, scream, cry, throw up, whatever - but I like to get a reaction."

However, King, who was in Toronto to collect a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Booksellers Association, made a few bitter comments about best selling author James Patterson, winner of the 2007 ThrillerMaster Award.

"I don't like him, I don't respect his books because every one is the same."

Patterson, author of such Intenational best sellers as CROSS, JUDGE & JURY, THE 6th TARGET, ALONG CAME A SPIDER, KISS THE GIRLS and STEP ON A CRACK, replied to King's attack in a review of the movie 1408 (which is based on a Stephen King story):

"Recently Stephen King commented that he doesn't have any respect for me. Doesn't make too much sense--I'm a good dad, a nice husband--my only crime is I've sold millions of books. As far as 1408 goes, what can I say, I liked it--the first third is especially fine. I'm a John Cusack fan and, in terms of the books anyway, a Stephen King fan, too."

When asked about the writers who influenced him, Patterson replied: "Ernest Hemingway always said his influence was Cezzane. I really can't point to any one person in particular. There was a book at Thompson on creativity that I avoided, but was then forced to read for a symposium I was preparing on the same topic. And I was on a plane reading it and realized, 'Ooh, this is a really cool book.' And it really did get out a lot of principles about why some people are the way they are and what are some of the things that make people more or less creative.


"The point that really struck me, because it was true about the limitations of my own creativity, is that there is very little completely creative, out-of nowhere stuff that appears. It's more likely someone puts together Chinese poetry and out of that, along with four or five other influences, this cumulative process creates something new and different. Previous to reading about that, I hadn't been that interested in a lot of side things. Then I started to think, being creative is what I love to do, and yet I'm not taking in enough stimuli, so I really started broadening my span of things that I am interested in.


"For instance, this past summer, I forced myself to pay attention to things I've missed. For example, I've never really been that interested in classical music so I spent a lot of time with classical music. The previous summer, I spent a lot of time with jazz which I hadn't been as into although I had some interest in it. I tried some science fiction and discovered that, no, I'm not going to do that. But I did give it a shot. I also spent a lot of time last summer with modern philosophy and that shows up a lot in CAT & MOUSE. I like to go into untried areas and spread my wings a little bit."

He added, "I read 150 books a year. I'm just re-reading Leonard Michaels, the short story writer from the '50s and '60s. It depends on what I'm in the mood for at any given time. Right now, I'm reading a fair number of political books. I'll probably read one of the Hillary Clinton biographies - probably the one by The New York Times authors, rather than the one by Carl Bernstein."

Stephen King, in summing up his own literary career, concluded: "I'm the literary version of the Grateful Dead, I guess... I'm not a big fan of psychoanalysis: I think if you have mental problems what you need are good pills. But I do think that if you have thinks that bother you, things that are unresolved, the more that you talk about them, write about them, the less serious they become. At least that's how I see my work in retrospect."

Two different writers. Two different backgrounds. Two different bodies of work...

To see more articles about best selling writers of the 20th Century, go to WRITERS OF THE SCARLET SERGE which can be found at http://mounted-police.00books.com/custom.html

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian Alan Burhoe is the author of many dog-related articles and short stories. His fiction includes the free online story WOLFBLOOD A Northwestern in the Tradition of Jack London. Many of his articles can be found at PUPPY DOGS INFO Dog Breeds Training Care Literature.