Stephen King Reveals How Wife Tabitha Saved Carrie From the Trash and Changed His Career

Stephen King’s debut novel Carrie nearly ended up in the trash before his wife, Tabitha, convinced him to keep writing it. King, 79, recently reflected on the novel’s unlikely beginnings while speaking with The New York Times alongside Mike Flanagan, who adapted Carrie for a new Prime Video series starring Summer H. Howell. The 1974 book went on to launch King’s career, but he initially doubted whether he could finish it. Carrie began as a short story idea. King was writing short fiction for magazines at the time, but he realized the story was becoming too long. His solution was simple: he threw the pages away. Tabitha, whom King married in 1971 and who is also a writer, found the discarded pages, smoothed them out and encouraged him to continue. King recalled her telling him, “This is good. You should go on with this.” King still had doubts, particularly because much of the story focuses on teenage girls and a high school locker room. He remembered telling Tabitha, “I don’t know a #CelebrityNews #HollywoodNews #PopCulture