Even if you’ve never read a Stephen King novel, chances are you’ve seen a few of the myriad films and TV shows based on his work. The latest one is Lisey’s Story, an Apple Original adapted from what is, by King’s own account, his favorite book (first published in 2006). So there’s a good deal of buzz surrounding this limited series starring Julianne Moore as Lisey Landon, a widow wrestling with memories of her recently deceased novelist husband Scott (Clive Owen)…
Stephen, why is Lisey’s Story “the one I love best”?
STEPHEN KING: It’s a story about love and marriage and the creative impulse. And it’s also got a kick-ass villain in it, which I like a lot.
What was the inspiration?
SK: I had double pneumonia and came very close to stepping out. During the convalescence, I was in the hospital for about three weeks. When it was clear I was going to get better, my wife decided she was going to totally clean out my office and change it around and make everything new again for me. And when I came back home, Tabby [King] said to me, “Don’t go in your office, you won’t like it.” And that’s because it wasn’t done yet. The first thing I did was to go into my office and it was totally empty. I was still feeling very rocky and I was on a lot of different medications, and I thought, “This is what this room would look like after I die.” And Lisey’s Story came from that.
Does your wife get upset when you draw inspiration from your life?
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