Last Monday was the big day for CBS to premiere Stephen King's Under the Dome. Apparently, this is going to be a series? I have my DVR working overtime to keep updated with it, but I have read the grumblings of fans far and wide that they are disappointed as there are a lot of changes from the book already. Stephen King responded to this via his website. Click here to digest his defense! There aren't any spoilers, really, but I feel like King was a bit miffed at fans who were upset with changes. I almost feel he was... I don't know, sort of condescending? Maybe I'm wrong, but I do know that I'd probably feel inclined to defend changes for my work if I were in his shoes (ha, I should be so lucky!), but there is always that doggone Hollywood-artistic license which gets in the way. As avid readers, we should all just automatically assume anyway any book adapted to film will have gigantic and erroneous changes. It is what it is, no matter how much of a purist we can be. Oh, well.

And yes... I'm late in posting this so that all of you can have a chance to publicize your write-up of the halfway mark. There is a good reason for that, but I'm not announcing that until this weekend...! But my apologies for the delay and please do make sure you add your link to the below.

Here are my thoughts so far:

• I was hooked into the story so quickly that within the first week, I only had 300 pages left and needed to slow down and eded up taking a break. Slow intro, but once it picked up, it really got going. The usual formula from Uncle Stevie, and I can always count on it.
• Yet again, the town becomes its own character, one divided from the rest of the world, left to its own devices. Stephen King is the master when doing this, whether it's the scary town of Derry in Maine, Castle Rock, or this quiet township trapped under an invisible dome, it's the same effective method of truly isolating an entire area. Freaky stuff.
• Not to mention, Stephen King always brings an infuriating injustice into the mix of it all. The fact that Barbie was ganged up on in the Dippers' parking lot and no one except the Chief (who is now dead) can appreciate that Barbie wasn't the antagonizer? I mean, it was four against one, for cryin' out loud.
• Who doesn't love Dale Barbara, aka Barbie? The strong drifter who has incredible ethics, love him.
• While I don't know if I'd classify this as strictly horror, there is such an intensity of fear at the idea of a dome falling over a town and imprisoning everyone within it with no indication of why it fell, and how to destroy it, that I can sense the attempt at the same build up of tension felt in The Stand.
• SICK Characters. Big Jim Rennie?! The image of true evil led by greed and need for power. The guy is a whack job who has the successful snake-like charming abilities to lead those who aren't bright, but mostly who are just downright afraid. Seeking solace in anyone who takes ownership of a bad situation always makes one feel safer, and Big Jim certainly is up to task for it. And his son?? Sick, sick, sick, not to mention the Chef. Twisted.
• When the kids started to have the same visions, I started to get this goosebump, hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck feeling. It was the first time I felt that it really could be horror. The Great Pumpkin? Who knew that could be so frightening?
• I'm getting flashbacks of The Stand. Anyone else? Trashcan Man=the Chef? Big Jim Rennie=Randall Flagg?
• I have decided that this is my new tradition: For the start of summer each year, I will always read Stephen King to kick it off. It's the only way to do it right.

Have you all seen this picture for the CBS show? So sad.

And let's hear it from you! Link your post to Mr. Linky below. Readalong participants, please make sure to visit each other's posts.

Have no fear! While the readalong technically starts today through July 27, everyone is of course starting whenever they want to and reading at their own pace. (Which is why there aren't dates on the buttons!) If you'd like to join, click here for the sign-up post.

A few questions came up over the past forty-eight hours, and I thought a quick post might be helpful.

I read fast and know I'll finish before the deadline.

Awesome! Just put together a post to collect and save your thoughts but schedule it to be published on the final date. That way, if you have spoilers you want to talk about, it won't surprise anyone by that point!

Er...the Twitter hashtag looks weird...

Yes! #domealong could be construed in a VERY WRONG way. Hence, #DomeAlong was born! Capitalize that D and A and no weird spammy things should come our way.

Is there anything I should be prepared for with Stephen King?

Great question for the new SK reader!

Stephen King likes to tell a story. And I mean TELL A STORY. Under the Dome is over a thousand pages, and he is always criticized for having too much story and that everything should have been edited down to 200 pages less. King meanders and tells a tale and he makes no apologies for it. Just give it time and stick with it and it will all make sense.

King is not just a mass-market horror writer. It's actually unfair to lump in that category. Does he write a lot of scary stuff? Of course. But anyone who has read 11/22/63 or On Writing, or even Lisey's Story, can tell you that there is so much, much more to his work than just meets the fearful eye. Give him a chance.

He does include the bizarre s3x scene or two that sometimes make no sense and really are just out of place. Meh. I'm used to it by now. Although there were a few things in IT I would take issue with.

The most important thing is that Stephen King has created this alternate universe and most of his books are somewhat linked together. When you've read a number of his books, you'll realize that characters from one book make an appearance in others, such as Dick Halloran in The Shining, who then makes an appearance as a major character in IT. Or Richie and Bev from IT making a cameo in 11/22/63. Castle Rock and Derry are regularly featured towns in Stephen King's books, they almost take on a life of their own. I also recently learned all of these intertwining tales and characters are crucial to The Dark Tower series, which is on my list to read sometime later this year or next, and only once I've read more of his other works that contribute to that series. There are many more Stephen King tips, so once you start reading his work, don't stop!

Other Notes 

• Click here to visit the Official Stephen King page for any insights to the author and books. I'm particularly excited for one of his upcoming pulp novels entitled Joyland that he has chosen to not release as an ebook. Click here for an exclusive excerpt shared by HuffPost Books. His intent is for everyone to purchase it at an independent bookstore. Go, Indies! Not to mention that Dr. Sleep, the sequel to The Shining, will be out this fall. 
• Click here for the Stephen King's Fans Goodreads' page, run by one of the readalong participants Angie!
• Click here for my tiny Goodreads page for Stephen King and here for my other blog The Stephen King Project. It's been a rare posting or two on that site, but the goal is to get back into it all now that Uncle Stevie has motivated me yet again. I promise I will change the picture so it no longer reads 2012! 
• Click here for The Stephen King Project on Facebook. 
• And TWITTER! Don't forget to participate in the discussion on Twitter by using #DomeAlong.

And here are the official participants from Wednesday's sign up post. If you still want to sign up, please do, never too late. Click here to enter in your info and I will update the participants' list below. You can sign up at any time! And to fellow participants, please do what you can to visit each others' sites to read their kick-off post if they have one. And for those who aren't yet convinced to join the crazy train, give it time. You will...

1. Prairie Horizons
2. Julianne Brewer
3. Lit and Life
4. Angela's Anxious Life
5. Col Reads
6. Care's Online Book Club
7. Colleen Turner
8. Peppermint Ph.D.
9. Zombie Bride
10. The Relentless Reader
11. Words for Worms
12. Sophisticated Dorkiness
13. Bibliophile by the Sea
14. Love, Laughter, Insanity
15. My Novel Opinion
16. Book Chatter (Our unofficial cheerleader!)
17. Karen's Vegan Kitchen
18. Avid Reader's Musings
19. Tina Says
20. I'd Rather Be at the Beach
21. The Overstuffed Bookcase
22. Rivers I Have Known
23. Whimpulsive
24. Infinite Curio
25. Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf
26. Under My Apple Tree
27. Courtney Reads A Lot
28. Kristi Loves Books
29. WordHits
30. Beagle Book Space
31. Bound4Escape
32. SLeighanne
33. The True Book Addict
34. Snarkfest
35. The Geeky Blogger's Book Blog
36. Life: Merging
37. Mari Reads
38. My Little Heart Melodies
39. Buch Handling

Thanks go out to...

• Ms. Jilly Bean, aka Fizzy Thoughts, for the fabulous idea earlier this year for an Under the Dome readalong. While I won't be able to send gifts out to everyone (I am not creative like that, have no idea what to do), I hope everyone enjoys the collaboration together.
• Thanks also go out to Trish at Love, Laughter, Insanity, Lesley at Prairie Horizons, and Lisa at Lit and Life for dealing with my last minute Twitter panic that I missed the readalong, and then thoughts on set up, all in the past twenty-four hours!

Although the mini-series will premiere in exactly one month on CBS, our summer readalong starts now and will extend past the mini-series premiere. I plan to DVR the show and watch it after the readalong has concluded. Reading and blogging has taken a backseat for many of us this year, but I can definitely attest even more so to it. I think the only thing that can bring me back into the thick of things is a combination of Stephen King and, most importantly, a summer readalong with all of you!

Notable Notes

• Published: 2009
• Number of Pages: 1,074 (my copy)
• Genre: Sci-fi Horror (Keep in mind that The Stand was considered horror-ish, but only the first part as it set the stage was scary; the rest was more of an epic journey and battle than anything else.)
• New York Daily News reviewed Under the Dome and proclaimed Stephen King "returns to his glory days of The Stand."
• This is an Indie Next List choice from Indiebound.org.
• A CBS mini-series premieres June 24, 2013.

The blurb on the back of my book

My copy, all 1,074 pages

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day, a small town is suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and rain down flaming wreckage. A gardener's hand is severed as the dome descends. Cars explode on impact. Families are separated and panic mounts. No one can fathom what the barrier is, where it came from, and when - or if - it will go away.

Now a few intrepid citizens, led by an Iraq vet turned short-order cook, face down a ruthless politician dead set on seizing the reins of power under the dome. But their main adversary is the dome itself. Because time isn't just running short. It's running out.

The CBS mini-series trailer

You Want Structure? You Got it.

• Do you need a blog to participate? No way. If you don't have a blog, you can either sign up in the comments below, or you can create a free account with either Goodreads, Shelfari, or LibraryThing and enter that information into the linky below. Any of those sites will make it easier for you to track your thoughts, or you can use a Twitter account to sign up. If you don't want to do any of those, but still want to participate, then you can post your thoughts in the comments for each of the mile-marker posts throughout the readalong.
• Timeline: May 25 through July 27
• How many posts? Who cares! It's informal. However, if you want a little structure, you can do a kick-off post now, then a middle-of-the-road post (halfway through the book) on June 24 (to celebrate the mini-series premiere even though we all probably won't watch it until we're done reading), and then a final sayonara post on July 27. Sound good?
• Twitter-chat? Use the hashtag #domealong
• Mini-series Twitter chat? After the readalong as we watch our DVR'd recordings of the show? Maybe?
• And do anything you want in-between! Throw a "Stephen King, you are freakishly awesome" party, or do a screamfest movie marathon, or write a gushing post on the fall release of Dr. Sleep, the sequel to The Shining. Or, you can just post your glee on the fact that you've been a horrible blogger and reader in 2013 and this readalong is going to bring. you. back. Back, baby! Oh, maybe that's just me...

So the buttons are available below and above. Choose whichever you prefer! Then, if you want to read the book and participate in the fun, enter your details below. If you want to link to a kick-off post, go for it!

Doing a kick-off post? Then feel free to give details on:

• Show us your copy! Audio or print?
• Have you read Uncle Stevie before?
• What are you familiar with about Under the Dome or Stephen King?
• What are you looking forward to?
• Or, just throw your hands up and screech, "HEY! I'M GOING TO READ THIS BEAST OF A BOOK NO MATTER WHAT!"

Whatever works!