It must have been over 25 years ago that I first started reading his books. I rapidly became addicted to the point where I would have read his shopping list if he'd decided to publish it. Anyone who knows me at all will have realised by now that I'm talking about Stephen King, master storyteller and all-round weirdo. 

Tomorrow is his birthday. He'll be 64 so Do I still need him? Would I still feed him? (to paraphrase the song). Yes to both. I still love his books although there are some I love less than others. I can go back to my favourites time and time again, always finding something new to relish in his writing. That's all I need. 

I've never checked how many adverbs he uses, or examined his use of dialogue tags. I just get lost in the story.

I'm sure he'll have a very happy birthday. I've raised a literary glass to him by reading his latest short story "Mile 81". It isn't brilliant, but it's good enough, and when you're one of the world's top sellers - that's "good enough" in itself.

Anyway, that's my tribute over. DO you think he might feature me on his blog sometime? Probably not, he's already written "Misery".