Events

Lee Child and Stephen King talk inspiration, movie magic, and faking it

They celebrated Child’s latest book, ‘Make Me,’ at a Harvard Book Store event.

Authors Lee Child (left) and Stephen King (right) speak at an event sponsored by the Harvard Book Store in Sanders Theater. Photo courtesy of Ellen O’Leary

By Ellen O'Leary @elle_mno

September 10, 2015

3 minutes to read

On Thursday, Stephen King will receive the National Medal of Arts from President Obama. Before flying down to Washington D.C., he stopped by Sanders Theater for a Harvard Book Store event with fellow author Lee Child.

They walked out to a standing ovation from avid fans eager to take part in the duo’s banter about Child’s latest Jack Reacher novel, Make Me.

“Just a couple of white guys, sitting around talking,’’ said King, opening the event.

Child and King are two of the most prolific modern writers. Make Me is Child’s 20th novel, and King has written more than 50.

On the subject of inspiration, Child said that it’s not a matter of coming up with ideas, it’s about sifting through them to figure out what will be durable enough to carry a book through publication and beyond.

“The story is being told to me,’’ Child said. “I feel it just happens.’’

King said that writing is more about stenography than genesis. Sometimes it’s about getting out of the way of the story and letting it tell itself.

The character of Reacher is a kind of James Bond-meets-hardboiled detective. He was informed by Child’s father’s time as a British soldier in World War II, as well as other pop culture material that Child has absorbed.

“The only sensible answer [for where Reacher comes from] is from what I’ve read before,’’ Child told King.

Child sometimes verifies certain elements with ex-law enforcement officers, but he generally holds that sometimes you have to get things wrong to get them right. Getting bogged down in specifics can make a fast-paced New York subway scene read “like MapQuest,’’ according to Child.

Sometimes, he said, you just have to set things down with confidence.

This method seems to be working for Child: The crowd hung on the words of both authors for the duration of the event. Ten of his Reacher books have landed him on the Best Seller’s list. In 2012, his work was adapted for the big screen in the movie Jack Reacher.

“The movie is always going to be worse than the book,’’ Child said, to applause from the audience.

Then, he assured the audience that Tom Cruise will not come to their house and steal their books, the message being: enjoy the books and the movies as separate entities.

King defended the movie, saying that the magic of film can fudge things like an actor’s height. He talked about how perfect Michael Clarke Duncan was for the role of John Coffey in Green Mile, even if it meant that he had to stand on an apple crate next to Tom Hanks.

“Tom Cruise is okay with the guy who’s going to the White House,’’ King joked to the audience.

Regardless of the movie’s accurate embodiment of the books, Child said he was thrilled to have been approached about the adaptation. He’d wanted to be an entertainer since childhood.

“I wanted to be in the Beatles,’’ Child said. “That was the plan. It didn’t work out.’’

Though his own musical career didn’t take off, he told a story of meeting a young Robert Plant in a practice studio before Led Zeppelin ascended to stardom.

While Child stayed for a signing of Make Me, which came out September 8, while King ran to catch his flight. Later this week, King will also be one of the first guests to appear on the new Late Show with Stephen Colbert.