You don’t need to be a horror fiction fan to know the household name of Stephen King. He is huge and has been a published writer for the best part of fifty years.
What I wish to discuss here are what I see as Stephen King’s secrets to success referring to his 1996 novel Rose Madder. Don’t worry, it is not my intention at Sharon’s Writers Tidbits to scare the living daylights out of anyone, I’ll leave that to real life (just kidding)! So this will NOT be a book review as such.
Suffice it to say Rose Daniels is an abused wife who concludes one day that enough is enough and decides to flee. The only problem with that is, her husband Norman is unhappy with her decision and decides to track her down, helped immensely by the fact he is a cop!
You would have thought this would be your typical cat and mouse thriller, the chase then the catch or escape. But the clue is; this is Stephen King a master storyteller. Apart from the fact that Rose Madder could fit into several genres, horror, supernatural, fantasy or thriller, it’s Stephen King’s writing style that sets him apart from many other writers.
In Rose Madder there are two protagonists Rose and Norman (a dual point of view). He manages to portray the two conflicting characters perfectly. You really want Rose to escape from her husband and start a new life which she does. Yet at the same time the crazed mindset and the pursuit of her husband creates a great deal of tension. You are anxious to find out what he will do next in pursuit of his target!
And this is the skill employed in the novel Rose Madder; the thrill of the chase is chilling, the suspense feels real and thus a compelling page-turner is born. This novel will keep you reading into the small hours. And this is a long book!
I feel the real clue to Stephen King’s success is that he writes with such great attention to detail. He gets under the skin of his characters with frightening effect. He draws you in with excellent characterization, a good sense of location, even though in Rose Madder he deliberately keeps the location vague (somewhere in the midwest of America). You feel you have a front seat to whatever battles his characters are facing. And so this makes for very engaging fiction.
Stephen King has many, many books to his credit and many have been made into movies. I personally like Misery starring the late James Caan and Kathy Bates (1990).
You may or may not enjoy horror fiction but the writing skills and attributes mentioned here can be applied to any writing genre.
Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time.
Sharon
Sharon's Writers Tidbits 
Sharon, I hope this message finds you and your family well. I have been away from WP busy with family matters recently
I saw ‘Misery’ for the umpteenth time the other week. It still holds up really well. One of the first books I remember reading (as far as big books which adults read) was King’s ‘Christine’. I tried at least another during my adulthood, but his style and the plot didn’t really grab me.
If I get the opportunity (based on your fantastic review here), I would like to try ‘Rose Madder’. I think it would be available at my local bookstore.
Big hugs
Matt K
Welcome back Matt! Thank you for your kind wishes towards me and my family. I hope you and yours are well. Matthew, Rose Madder is certainly worth reading, I think you might like it! Take a look on Amazon, it might still be in print as it’s Stephen King. I know what you mean about ‘Christine’ I tried to read it recently and couldn’t get into it. You won’t have that trouble with Rose Madder! Oh, ‘Misery’ is great, they have taken it off Netflix here, such a shame!! Kindest regard. X
We are well. Thanks for your well wishes. How is your brother progressing? The kids just went back home. Took my eldest to the gym this morning and he fell in love with it. It was his first foray into it. A great father – son moment which I’ll always cherish. When I get paid next I’ll go and look for Rose Madder which I’d be surprised isn’t at this book store which has King material a plenty. Cheers my London friend.
You are going to treasure that father son moment Matt! How lovely! My brother is progressing well, thank you for asking. I will see him this week! If you get Rose Madder, don’t complain to me, he is not known as the ‘king of horror’ for nothing!!!
Thanks for your lovely sentiments Sharon. I’m thrilled your brother is doing well.
I look forward to the opportunity to reading Rose Madder – thanks to you!
Don’t thank me yet Matt, that character Norman Daniels is a nightmare!!!! Thanks again, Sharon.
Hi, Sharon. I’ve read a lot of King novels, but not this one. It sounds really good! I feel like sometimes his books are hit and miss, especially with some of his endings. I enjoyed your post, and the humor. It’s much needed today. 🙂
Hi Kymber, thank you for your kind comments! Yes, I agree, some of his novels can be hit and miss! Rose Madder is good although, you may or may not like the ending! If you do read it, please do let me know what you think! Kymber, I was on your site last night trying to find the place to ‘like’ some of yours, but I could not find it!! Is this just me? Thanks again for stopping by, best wishes, Sharon
Oh, yes, I will let you know, for sure if I read it. My TBR is soooo long right now. haha But I will always add King to the pile.
I wonder if you were at my old site? Sometimes people end up there instead of where I’m really at. lol
Here is the link if you’d like to come back: https://booomcha.com/
Thanks Kymber, heading there now! X
Thank you. I hope it works out. Someone told me today they couldn’t comment on my site unless they did it through the Reader. I’m in the process of tracking down what the problem could be, so let me know, if you can, if you have anymore issues.
Thank you so much. xoxo
Thanks Kymber, I finally figured it out! Don’t worry it was me!!! Best wishes, Sharon x
Never read the book Misery but I enjoyed the movie. It’s been a while since I read a Stephen King book, I have totally forgotten which I read.
Hi Janice, I was thinking of getting the book ‘Misery’ but like you, the movie is great! We had it here on Netflix, but it’s gone now, such a shame! Yes, Stephen King has so many books out there, it’s easy to forget what you have read etc. If I read ‘Misery’ I will probably review it here. Best wishes. X
Stephen King is one of the best!!
He certainly is! Thank you for your comment. Sharon
Hello friend, I enjoyed reading your post. 😸I subscribed. See you often. Have a happy and bright day🌙💫
Thank you so much for your kind comments and for subscribing! Wishing you a wonderful day also. Best wishes, Sharon
Good morning Sharon,
I hope you’re well.
Reading this has made me want to count my SK books: 52 titles and I’m missing quite a few. That’s an impressive output in 50 years.
I occasionally find he wanders a little off track or sometimes goes into too much detail but that’s just me.
Enjoy your day,
Chris x
Hello Christopher! Thank you for taking the time to comment. I agree with you, sometimes SK writes with a little too much detail for sure. Wow, so you have 52 of his books!! Amazing! I was thinking of reading ‘Misery’, loved the film, so wondered what the book would be like. I am OK, thank you for asking. Hope this finds you well. Kindest regards. X