Novelist Stephen King published “Herman Wouk Is Still Alive” in The Atlantic this month, a dark exploration of aging and tragedy. The new short story also features a cameo appearance by former New York Times publishing reporter Motoko Rich (she now covers the economics beat).

In the middle of the story, King fabricated a publishing story under Rich’s byline entitled “Nonagenarian Wouk to Publish New Book.” In an interview about the short story, King explained why he included novelist Herman Wouk (and the imaginary publishing story).

Check it out: “Every year my son Owen and I have a bet on the NCAA March Madness Tournament, and last year the stakes were that the loser would have to write a story [with a title] the winner gave to him. And I lost. Except I really won, because I got this story that I really like. The title that he gave me for the story was “Herman Wouk Is Still Alive,” because he’d just a read a piece saying that the guy was still alive and he’s still writing even though he’s 95 or 96 years old.”