Why King will always be the distant sensei who inspired me to write at age 14 and who I’m aching to meet, even just for a mere couple minutes. Especially when I was writing in the music industry, I HAD TO HAVE every freelancing dollar possible to supplement my day job. I paid more than just the light bill with that coin. Every time I get a royalty check now, I smile and think of those brutal financial days that went on until the last couple years of my first marriage. I’m grateful to now drop the royalty checks and story publication money into my savings and never once take the significance of it for granted.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.