A Novel by Richard Dooling
Read the first chapter of The Journals of Eleanor Druse at Amazon.
I wrote this book as a tie-in to the Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital project.
Eleanor Druse, inspired by the original character from Lars Von Trier’s mini-series and played by Diane Ladd in our version, was a delightful voice to inhabit during the months before Kingdom Hospital aired.
The project also enabled me to investigate the abundant literature on out-of-body and near-death experiences and to investigate the “land in between,” or “Swedenborgian space,” as Sally Druse so loved to call it.
The Journals is a prequel to Kingdom Hospital. If you peruse the Amazon reviews, you’ll see that some readers are bothered by this, but most don’t seem to mind. The novel is a prelude to the series, yes, but it works by itself, too.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I really enjoyed the book. Can you tell me who the real narrator is on the audio book? I’d like to hear more of her narrated books. Thanks!
Wow, I don’t know. I’ll check Stephen King’s site. I bet they have a forum where it’s come up before.
Thanks,
Rick
I really enjoyed this novel and the technique you used for perspective. I was just wondering why you didn’t want to put your name on the book, even if it was as little as the lettering for FICTION at the bottom. So many of the reviews still think the novel is by Stephen King even though he gives you full and well deserved credit.
Jenn,
Glad that you liked it. I really enjoyed writing it. Druse was a work-for-hire for Hyperion (Disney’s publishing arm) and done in connection with ABC’s Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital. The idea was to pretend that Eleanor Druse had really written her own journals. I think it might have spoiled the fun if I put my name on it, though I would have been happy to do so.
I dabble in horror (usually in tandem with satire), see e.g., White Man’s Grave, my second novel. I have a couple of horror screenplays in various stages of development hell.
Thanks for your interest.
RD