Actor McLarty signs book deal

Actor Ron McLarty, whose long struggle to publish a novel was greatly helped by a plug from Stephen King, has agreed to a two-book deal with Viking Penguin.

King, in his featured column for Entertainment Weekly, recently cited McLarty’s “The Memory of Running” as a novel “that can do more than walk; it has a chance to be a breakout bestseller.” The book, which had been available only in audio form, soon became the object of a seven-publisher bidding war.

McLarty’s novel, the story of a 279-pound toy factory supervisor on a cross-country journey, is scheduled to come out next year.