I would hope DC wouldn't use the same plot device twice, but who am I kidding? It's DC!
It's funny you say that King feels full of himself - it seems the opposite to me. It seems like he's really focused on gratitude to the fans who are enjoying his work, and giving them worthwhile stories. Maybe that's just because I've listened to podcasts where he says these things, as well as met him at cons, and I hear his inflections in those sentences that feel genuine.