With his new novel Lisey’s Story, Stephen King has produced one of his occasional not-so-horrific books, and publisher Simon & Schuster is busy promoting it “almost as if it were written by an up-and-coming author on the verge of a breakout book,” in the words of New York Times reporter Motoko Rich. Rich notes that despite his years of sales success, King remains hungry for literary credibility, and sure enough, in the piece King touches on some familiar themes, like critics who have “made their ignorance of their own popular culture a virtue.”

In pumping his new novel, King notes that he has been paying attention to language over plot in a way that he didn’t in his early days, and he also offers an always-welcome surfing metaphor. “It’s like surfers and the seventh wave,” he tells Rich.

“You ride six waves that are O.K., and then the seventh one is really great.” But with every seventh wave, you mess up the ride, “so really it’s only every 49th wave that’s really a great, great wave, and I felt that way with Lisey.”

Quillblog is still trying to figure out those numbers — and we thought the ninth wave was supposed to be the sublime one — but anyway, the point is that Lisey’s Story is one special book, at least according to its author.

Related links:
Click here for the New York Times story on Stephen King