The Stephen King Project: Walking the Walk

I must start by saying, "Thank you, Carrie Green." In mid-November, horror author Carrie Green wrote a guest post here thanking Stephen King for influencing her. The post, Thank you, Stephen King, grabbed me. I never read horror prior, deeming it too scary, and Carrie changed my mind. I decided to dip my toe in the horror genre.

My first step, reading Carrie's short stories and novella. I've read her two short story collections so far and have just started her novella. Loving them! I will post reviews soon. My next step, reading Stephen King. I started with his On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I finished that book even more inspired. My plan... read more King!

A few days ago, thanks to the wonderful Bookstack blog, I learned about The Stephen King Project reading challenge.

The Stephen King Project Overview

1. This will run from January through December 2012
2. Anyone can join. But you should have a blog OR an account with Goodreads, Shelfari, etc., so you can write your reviews and we can visit via the link at The Stephen King Project.
3. The Project will be hosted at The Stephen King Project. Participants should link their reviews to the Linky there.
4. Audiobooks count.
5. E-books count.

What Are the Commitment Levels?

• A King Novice: 1 book
• A Lil Bit of King: 3 books
• A King to Balance It All: 6 books
• A King Legend: 9 books
• A King for All Seasons: 12+ books

What About the Movies?

• Hell. YEAH. Same rules from the above apply, except...
• You can mix and match but you should have more books than films in your end-of-year total tally.

What Should You Do Now?

1. Write an announcement post on your blog.
2. You don't have to put a list of books together in your announcement post. Or you can.
3. Use one of the blog buttons from the sidebar.
4. Enter the link to your announcement post here at The Stephen King Project at the appropriate post.
5. Every time you write a review, enter the link to it for the appropriate month at the review site. (On the 1st of each month, a new entry will be posted at the review site, and you can link up your reviews there).
6. At the end of each month, one participant from that month will be selected via random.org and will win a book from either Kathleen or I (or we may both have a book to give you). The book may or may not be King-related.
7. At the end of the year, one participant from the year will win a $50 gift card!

I'm going for A Lil Bit of King. Since I just reviewed On Writing, I have a good start. But my next King is 11/22/63, quite a big book. 3 books seems doable and a good start to what I suspect will be a lifelong love of Stephen King.

I'll keep everyone updated.

I've asked before, but please leave your favorite Stephen King books in the comments below. I still need to pick one more.