Stephen King: Sleeping Beauties

Kelly Braffet and Tara Altebrando gave us enormously helpful readings of an early, much-longer version of the novel. We are much obliged to them.

Thanks are due to all the folks at Scribner, and in particular to Nan Graham and John Glynn, who coedited the book with tireless efficiency and panache. Susan Moldow lent moral support. Mia Crowley-Hald was our in-house production editor, and we are grateful for her hard work. Angelina Krahn did a wonderful job of copyediting a long and complex manuscript. Katherine “Katie” Monaghan is the tireless publicist who worked to get news of the book out there. Stephen’s agent, Chuck Verrill, and Owen’s agent, Amy Williams, both supported us through this long effort and worked together as if they had been doing it their whole lives. Chris Lotts and Jenny Meyer sold the foreign rights all over the globe, and we thank them for their efforts.

Steve wants to thank his wife, Tabitha; his daughter, Naomi; and his other son, Joe, known to his readers as Joe Hill. Owen wants to thank his mom, his sibs, Kelly, and Z. All of them understand the difficulty of the job, and made time for us to do it.

Last but hardly least, we want to thank you, sir or madam, for reading our novel. We appreciate your support more than words can say, and hope you enjoyed yourself.

STEPHEN KINGis the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes The Bill Hodges Trilogy— Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel), Finders Keepers , and End of Watch —and the story collection The Bazaar of Bad Dreams . His epic series, The Dark Tower, is the basis for a major motion picture starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. IT is also now a major motion picture starring Bill Skarsgård. King is the recipient of the 2014 National Medal of Arts and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King.

OWEN KINGis a graduate of Vassar College and the MFA program at the Columbia University School of the Arts, he is the author of the novel Double Feature and We’re All in This Together: A Novella and Stories . He is the coauthor of Intro to Alien Invasion and the coeditor of Who Can Save Us Now? Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories . He lives in Upstate New York, with his wife, novelist Kelly Braffet, and their daughter.

“An ambitious and warmhearted first novel” ( Entertainment Weekly ) from Owen King—the epic tale of a young man coming to terms with his life in the aftermath of the spectacularly bizarre failure of his first film.

In this wildly entertaining collaboration, novelists Owen King and Mark Jude Poirier team up with illustrator Nancy Ahn to present a wickedly funny graphic novel about an alien invasion on a college campus.

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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First Scribner hardcover edition September 2017

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-5011-6340-1

ISBN 978-1-5011-6342-5 (ebook)

“Born A Woman.” Words and Music by Martha Sharp. Copyright © 1956 Painted Desert Music Corp. Copyright Renewed. International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission. Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC.

“The Auld Triangle,” from The Quare Fellow , by Brendan Behan. Copyright © 1956 Estate of Brendan Behan, reprinted by kind permission of the Estate of Brendan Behan and The Sayle Literary Agency.

“I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead.” Words and Music by Warren Zevon. Copyright © 1976 ZEVON MUSIC. Copyright Renewed. All Rights Administered by SONGS OF UNIVERSAL, INC. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission. Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC.