【明報專訊】Stephen King, writer, was born on September 21, 1947 in Portland, Maine. He graduated from his state university and continued to live in Maine, at first supporting himself with odd jobs while establishing his writing career. The success of his first horror novel Carrie (1974) enabled him to publish earlier work under the pseudonym (筆名) Richard Bachman (1977-1984), a ploy which disguised the true extent of his prolific (多產的、豐富的) output of novels, short stories and screenplays, until the ruse (花招) became public knowledge and he abandoned it.