Elizabeth Knox ponders Outrageous Coincidences in Fiction!

I was really annoyed when I discovered that JJ Abrams had made a monster movie called Cloverfield, because that was the working title of my sequel to The Vintner’s Luck. However, it turned out to be a lucky break because it forced me to come up with a better title, The Angel’s Cut (forthcoming in June).

But you can imagine how I felt when, a few minutes ago, I read on Beattie’s Book Blog that Stephen King’s next novel will be “Under the Dome", in which an invisible force field seals off a Maine town from the world”.

For a year now I have been writing a novel called Wake, in which an invisible force field seals off a small Tasman Bay town from the world.

After lying on the floor crying for a few minutes I reflected. Even from the very brief description of Under the Dome I can tell that there are numerous differences between his book and mine. King’s has a cast of more than 100; mine a cast of 18 living people (and 18 kakapo).

The characters in my book try to make sense of their situation partly by discussing precedents from popular culture, including the novels of Stephen King, of which I’m a huge fan. I suspect I won’t appear in his book.
What is to be done? I have 60,733 words in a good draft, and a lot more to be going on with. I think the best thing I can do is finish my book before I get a chance to read his in November.

Elizabeth Knox
5.40pm, Monday 6 April, 2009