Stephen Edwin King was born on September 21, 1947 in Portland, Maine. When Stephen King was only 2, his father left the house to but a pack of cigarettes...but never returned. Stephen King hasn't seen his father since. After their parents separated, Stephen and his adopted older brother, David King, lived with their mother back and forth between Massachusetts and Maine.

King attended Lisbon High School, in Lisbon, Maine in 1962. Collaborating with his best friend Chris Chesley, in 1963 they published a collection of 18 short stories called People, Places, and Things-Volume I. A year later King's amateur press Triad and Gaslight Books, published a two part book titled "The Star Invaders".

He made his first actual published appearance in 1965 in the magazine Comics Review with his story "I Was a Teenage Grave Robber."

In 1966, he graduated from high school and took a scholarship to attend the University of Maine. Later that summer he began working on a novel called "Getting It On", about some kids who take over a classroom and try unsuccessfully to ward off the National Guard. During his first year at college, King completed his first full length novel, "The Long Walk." Stephen King made his first small sale with his story "The Glass Floor" for the amount of thirty-five dollars.

In June 1970, he graduated from the University of Maine with a Bachelor of Science degree in English and a certificate to teach high school. On January 2, 1971, Tabitha Jane Spruce and Stephen King were married. And in the fall of 1971, King took a teaching job at Hampden Academy. The Kings then moved to Hermon, a town west of Bangor, Maine.

Stephen King then began work on a short story about a teenage girl named Carietta White. After a completing a few pages, King decided it was not a worthy story and crumpled the pages up and tossed them into the trash. Fortunately for Stephen, his wife Tabitha took the pages out and read them. She encouraged him to continue the story. He did. In January 1973, King submitted Carrie to Doubleday. In March, Doubleday bought the book. On May 12, Doubleday sold the paperback rights of Carrie to New American Library for $400,000. Based on the book contract, Stephen King would get half of that. King quit his teaching job to pursue writing full time.

Since then, King has had numerous short stories and novels published and movies created from his work. Stephen King is called the "Master of Horror". His books have been translated into 33 different languages, published in over 35 different countries. There are over 300 million copies of his novels in publication. He enjoys rock music (Bruce Springsteen). He has many quotes in his novels from rock songs, and is in the band "Rock Bottom Remainders".

On June 19, 1999, Stephen King was seriously injured when he was struck by a minivan on a road near his summer home in Lovell, Maine. After undergoing extensive surgery on his leg and hip, he spent months on major rehabilitation and physical therapy before he was able to walk.

In the summer of 2000, King opened new doors in publishing when he released a first installment of The Plant on his official Web site, asking readers to pay $1.00 to download the chapter. The venture was extremely successful, with many faithful readers paying far more than the required dollar to read King's work. He released a second chapter in late August 2000, and plans to continue such exclusively online ventures in the future. His latest novel, Dreamcatcher, was published in early 2001.

Stephen King and his wife live near Bangor, Maine, and have three children: Joe, Owen, and Naomi.

Awards World Fantasy Best Novel nominee (1976) : Salem's Lot World Fantasy Best Collection nominee (1979) : Night Shift World Fantasy Best Novel nominee (1979) : The Stand Nebula Best Novellette nominee (1980) : The Way Station World Fantasy Best Novel nominee (1981) : The Mist World Fantasy Best Short story winner (1982) : The Reach British Fantasy Society Best Novel winner (1982) : Cujo World Fantasy Best Novella nominee (1983) : The Breathing Method World Fantasy Best Collection nominee (1983) : Different Seasons World Fantasy Best Novel nominee (1984) : Pet Sematary World Fantasy Best Novella nominee (1985) : The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet World Fantasy Best Novel nominee (1985) : The Talisman World Fantasy Best Collection nominee (1986) : Skeleton Crew World Fantasy Best Short story nominee (1987) : The End of the Whole Mess Bram Stoker Best Novel winner (1987) : Misery World Fantasy Best Novel nominee (1987) : It British Fantasy Society Best Novel winner (1987) : It Bram Stoker Best Novellette nominee (1988) : The Night Flier World Fantasy Best Novel nominee (1988) : Misery Bram Stoker Best Novellette nominee (1990) : The Langoliers Bram Stoker Best Collection winner (1990) : Four Past Midnight Bram Stoker Best Novel nominee (1991) : The Waste Lands Bram Stoker Best Novel nominee (1991) : Needful Things Bram Stoker Best Collection nominee (1993) : Nightmares and Dreamscapes Bram Stoker Best Novel nominee (1994) : Insomnia Bram Stoker Best Novellette winner (1995) : Lunch at the Gotham Cafe World Fantasy Best Short story winner (1995) : The Man in The Black Suit British Fantasy Society Best Novel nominee (1995) : Rose Madder British Fantasy Society Best Novel nominee (1996) : The Green Mile Bram Stoker Best Novel winner (1996) : The Green Mile Bram Stoker Best Novellette nominee (1997) : Everything's Eventual British Fantasy Society Best Novel nominee (1997) : Wizard and Glass Bram Stoker Best Short story nominee (1998) : Autopsy Room Four Bram Stoker Best Novel winner (1998) : Bag of Bones British Fantasy Society Best Short story nominee (1999) : The Road Virus Heads North British Fantasy Society Best Short story nominee (1999) : Hearts in Atlantis British Fantasy Society Best Collection nominee (1999) : Hearts in Atlantis Bram Stoker Best Collection nominee (1999) : Hearts in Atlantis British Fantasy Society Best Novel winner (1999) : Bag of Bones Bram Stoker Best Novellette nominee (2000) : Riding the Bullet Bram Stoker winner (2000) : On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Collections Night Shift (1978) Different Seasons (1982) Selected Works (1983) The Bachman Books (1985) (As Richard Bachman) Skeleton Crew (1985) Four Past Midnight (1990) Gray Matter: And Other Stories (1993) Nightmares and Dreamscapes (1993) Hearts in Atlantis (1994) Six Stories (1997) Blood and Smoke (audio) (1999) Stephen King Omnibus (1999) Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales (2002) The Man in the Black Suit: 4 Dark Tales (2002) Non Fiction Danse Macabre (1980) Nightmares in the Sky: Gargoyles and Grotesques (1988) Stephen King Live (1999) On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000) Novels Carrie (1974) Salem's Lot (1975) Rage (1977) (As Richard Bachman) The Shining (1977) The Stand (1978) The Dead Zone (1979) The Long Walk (1979) (As Richard Bachman) Firestarter (1980) Cujo (1981) The Mist (1981) Roadwork (1981) (As Richard Bachman) The Running Man (1982) (As Richard Bachman) Christine (1983) Pet Sematary (1983) Cycle of the Werewolf (1984) Thinner (1984) (As Richard Bachman) The Eyes of the Dragon (1986) It (1986) Misery (1987) The Tommyknockers (1987) Bag of Bones (1988) The Dark Half (1989) The Stand, the Complete And Uncut Edition (1990) Needful Things (1991) Dolores Claiborne (1992) Gerald's Game (1992) Insomnia (1994) The Shawshank Redemption: The Shooting Script (1994) (with Frank Darabont) Rose Madder (1995) Desperation (1996) The Green Mile (1996) The Regulators (1996) (As Richard Bachman) The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (1999) Storm of the Century (1999) Dreamcatcher (2001) From a Buick 8 (2002) Series The Dark Tower The Gunslinger (1982) The Drawing of the Three (1985) The Waste Lands (1991) Wizard and Glass (1997) Wolves of the Calla (2003) The Green Mile The Two Dead Girls (1996) The Mouse on the Mile (1996) Coffey's Hands (1996) The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix (1996) Night Journey (1996) Coffey on the Mile (1996) Talisman The Talisman (1984) Black House (2001) Short Stories Cain Rose Up (1968) Here There Be Tygers (1968) The Reaper's Image (1969) Graveyard Shift (1970) I Am the Doorway (1971) Battleground (1972) The Mangler (1972) The Boogeyman (1973) Gray Matter (1973) Trucks (1973) Night Surf (1974) Sometimes They Come Back (1974) The Lawnmower Man (1975) Salem's Lot (excerpt) (1975) Strawberry Spring (1975) I Know What You Need (1976) The Ledge (1976) The Cat from Hell (1977) Children of the Corn (1977) The Man Who Loved Flowers (1977) One for the Road (1977) The Gunslinger (1978) Jerusalem's Lot (1978) The Last Rung on the Ladder (1978) The Night of the Tiger (1978) Nona (1978) Quitters, Inc. (1978) The Woman in the Room (1978) The Crate (1979) Big Wheels (1980) Crouch End (1980) The Mist (1980) The Monkey (1980) The Way Station (1980) The Wedding Gig (1980) The Jaunt (1981) The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands (1981) The Reach (1981) Apt Pupil (1982) Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (1982) The Body (1982) The Breathing Method (1982) Morning Deliveries (1982) The Raft (1982) Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (1982) Survivor Type (1982) Uncle Clayton (1983) Uncle Otto's Truck (1983) The Word Processor (1983) Word Processor of the Gods (1983) The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet (1984) Gramma (1984) Mrs Todd's Shortcut (1984) The Revelations of 'Becka Paulson (1984) Beachworld (1985) For Owen (1985) Paranoid: A Chant (1985) The End of the Whole Mess (1986) The Fifth Quarter (1986) Popsy (1987) Dedication (1988) The Night Flier (1988) The Reploids (1988) Sneakers (1988) Dolan's Cadillac (1989) Home Delivery (1989) The Langoliers (1989) The Library Policeman (1989) My Pretty Pony (1989) Rainy Season (1989) Secret Window, Secret Garden (1989) The Sun Dog (1989) The Moving Finger (1990) It Grows on You (1991) Chattery Teeth (1992) You Know They Got a Hell of a Band (1992) Brooklyn August (1993) The Doctor's Case (1993) Head Down (1993) The House on Maple Street (1993) Sorry, Right Number (1993) Suffer the Little Children (1993) The Ten O'Clock People (1993) Umney's Last Case (1993) The Man in The Black Suit (1994) Lunch at the Gotham Cafe (1995) Autopsy Room Four (1997) Blind Willie (1997) Everything's Eventual (1997) L.T.'s Theory of Pets (1997) Lucky Quarter (1997) The Little Sisters of Eluria (1998) That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French (1998) Hearts in Atlantis (1999) Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling (1999) Low Men in Yellow Coats (1999) Riding the Bullet (1999) The Road Virus Heads North (1999) Why We're in Vietnam (1999) 1408 (2000) In the Deathroom (2000)