And I want to say thank you to Gordon Lee for bearing up so well and hanging in there. It's hard for the people who think that the authorities are out to get them. It must be much harder when the authorities really are out to get you.
As I said when I made the announcement, the CBLDF has spent over $100,000 to make sure that this attempted miscarriage of justice didn't happen, all of that money raised a dollar at a time from fans and readers and professionals. So two nights ago we had an event for publishers, the kind who publish books (and who are now publishing graphic novels), in order to spread the idea that a) they needed to know what the CBLDF is -- they may need us, and b) we'd like them to take out corporate memberships.
The CBLDF reading tonight was fun, and Bill Hader is hilarious. (His impression of me listening to Al Pacino pitching his interpretation of the Sandman movie would have been worth the price of admission, if I'd paid to get in, which I hadn't.) ...
Last week, Sharon and Bill Stiteler came out and we took advantage of a warm Sunday to go and say hello to the bees, and do the spring inspection (and spring cleaning)of the hive. (We'll be putting in some new hives over the next few weeks.) Sharon blogged about the bee inspection over at
I was fascinated by this, in the way you can only be when you once wrote a book about something (actually I'd finished writing the book when most of this was happening. A small glimpse into what might have been on the sequel to the infocom Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Computer Game... -- http://waxy.org/2008/04/milliways_infocoms_unreleased_sequel_to_hitchhikers_guide_to_the_galax/
Tabs, writing and why writers should not carry portfolios
I'm sending a box of Good Omens scents off to Terry Pratchett today. We have to vote on things like War (with or without ginger) and Shadwell (with or without condensed milk) and tell Beth at Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs what we think. If you put on a dab of War (with ginger) to see what it smells like on your skin, a large white dog will come and happily try and lick it off.
Ken Hazlett wrote to point out that I'd never linked to these dead insects battling dead fairies ("The thing that intrigues me is that it seems sort of half fairy-undead and half fairy biology/osteology, the singularity where science and magic intersect," said Ken, and he's right) which then left me wondering if I'd ever linked to these beautiful hybrids of insects and watch parts: science fiction as art.
Dave Mckean has finished the DVD of his short films, and it'll be out for San Diego. I see there are a few samples up at http://www.squidoo.com/davemckeanfilm/ -- "Me and my Big Ideas" was a proposed TV series based on The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish, and the short film up was a sort of a sample piece done for it -- it uses Dave McKean art, but I don't think it was actually made by Dave.
Hi, Thanks for posting the new location of that Penn Jillette podcast. I feel bad for making you (or your assistant) search for it when I could have done that but I console myself with the knowledge that I'm probably not the only one seeking that information and this was really something that your readers wanted to know.
I hope you are stretching and warming up before taking the dog out for a run.
Regards, Heidi
Agreed -- I should probably go and fix the original post. And I love Budgie's every-con-report-you-need-to-read post.
Hi Neil
I'm writing because I'm a big fan of your work, but also because I'm an equally big fan of the no-nonsense advice you occasionally dispense in your blog.
I've just had my first short story published (in The Sun Book of Short Stories), and have been invited down to an awards ceremony in London for the Quick Reads Learners' Favourite Award. I'm informed that this will be followed by lunch and an opportunity for "networking and discussion with partners involved in the Quick Reads campaign".
As I'm a total newbie to this sort of thing, I'm asking if you have any advice on the proper etiquette for 'networking' with publishing industry-types. Being polite and friendly is a given, but should aspiring writers carry around a portfolio of their work, or would that seem overly pushy? Should I have business cards? And in which order should I use the cutlery?
Hope you can help.
Gavin
First of all, congratulations.
Secondly, you're not an artist, where having a portfolio might conceivably be useful if you're absolutely gob-smackingly amazing. You're a writer. There is no social situation in which producing a portfolio of your work will be acceptable or useful.
Business cards are your call. I've always meant to get around to getting some, but never have, in almost 25 years of writing. But they are useful and they save you having to find a napkin to write your address down.
If you're in a social situation with editors and publishers and other writers, go and meet them and make friends. Meeting other writers is fun. They have the same problems you have and they have different problems, and you can grumble together or support each other. Meeting editorial folks is good -- you learn that they are human, and nice and what they want and so on. They will relax considerably when they realise you aren't trying to sell them something. Possibly relax enough that, if you do ever want to sell them something, they'll be pleased to hear from you.
Don't go there to work. Go to meet people and enjoy yourself. sir, after deciding on writing a fantasy novel, how should i pick up the story line?i am a twelfth grader and i have decided to write novels in my forthcoming summer holidays..(for which there is exactly a year's time left !!)
I'm not quite sure that it works like that, or it doesn't for me. I rarely go "I will now write a ..." (whatever. Fantasy, or pirate story or detective story or ghost story) and then try and find a plot. Mostly, I go "This would be a story..." and then follow it where it goes. I think that's more fun. Worry more about your characters -- are they people you would like to meet and spend time with? -- and what you're trying to say, what the story's about, than you do what the story is. Because if you know what it's about, then you can simply inspect and use or reject ideas.
Enjoy yourself.
Dear Neil,
Being a Very Famous Author, you may not need to worry about this anymore, but when you had deadlines that absolutely needed to be met, how did you focus in order to force words to come out of your head? I'm trying to write my masters thesis right now (about a cow lameness detection machine) and was wondering if you could give some tips on setting the mood to coax a brain into writing. Also, having read Winnie the Pooh when I was younger, I noticed you sometimes write like Milne did. Instead of writing "very famous author" you write "Very Famous Author," minus the quotes. Do you know if that originated with Milne, or is it just something that writers do? Cool dog by the way!
Phil
It's what comes of reading too much Milne and Noel Langley and people as a boy, I'm sure although I suspect I was probably more influenced by Milne's adult essays and short pieces, from collections like The Holiday Round, (which contains the wonderful Little Plays For Amateurs) than I was by his children's fiction. The judicious use of capitals for humorous effect predates them, though -- W. S. Gilbert did it, and Jerome K. Jerome, amongst others.
As for deadlines...
Like a hanging, I find they concentrate the mind wonderfully.
The best suggestion I can make is to stop doing other things. Turn off the computer, or take a laptop somewhere they don't have wireless. Don't play solitaire or bring a mobile phone. Then write.
It's amazing how much time you can spend not writing, without even trying. Make a rule that you can either write, or not do anything at all. (No TV. No long baths. No reading New Scientist. Staring out of the window is okay.) Pretty soon, you start to write, because it's more interesting than staring vacantly out of the window. (I think I got it from a Daniel Pinkwater essay in Fish Whistle, and it's a wonderful concept.)
Hello, Do you have any updates on Coraline for us? It's been a while since you have mentioned it. Thanks.-Jordan
I've seen a reel of the revised opening ten minutes, which they've tightened and made so it gives more information, with a very spooky opening title credits, and then I've seen a five minute sequence of Coraline talking to her parents while it rains outside and going and looking around the house, counting doors and blue things and so on, which was partially animated, and the animation looked amazing. It's still on track for a release by Hallowe'en of 2008...
Hi, I have a quick question in relation to your newly acquired pet, and pet name. I for one know I chimed in with Cabal. But I imagine about a million other people did as well. I was curious about all the different names you got sent. Did you see one time come up much more than others? Might give us insight into the group psychology of your avid readers.
TC Barnabas and Daniel were out there in first and second place, but I didn't want to name a dog after a fictional character. Well, not from one of my fictions anyway. I think Cabal/Caval/Cafall variants collectively were in third place. After that, a few Barneys and then a madcap assortment of names from Bob to Ditch to Blank.
Let's see. Recently I've written an introduction to a book on The Twilight Zone, and am currently doing my editorial pass on the galleys of INTERWORLD, a young adult book that Michael Reaves and I wrote some years ago that we're currently bringing out of mothballs, dusting off and sending to meet the nice people.
I also got swept up in a small adventure that turned me into a giddy twelve-year-old comics fan, and about which I shall say nothing more until the time is right. And possibly not even then. It was all Jonathan Ross's fault, anyway.
And now the weather forecasters are predicting the mother of all winter storms for us in the midwest this weekend. Ten inches of snow. Freezing rain. An ice storm. Everyone is making contingency plans and buying several months' suppies of toilet paper, and I'm being English and am convinced it won't happen. Interesting weather almost never does, not when they say it will.
This just came in from Charles Vess, who wonders if any of you have any of the STARDUST art he's looking for...
From Charles Vess:
From June until September of this year I'll be mounting an exhibition of my Stardust art at the the William King Regional Art Museum in their premium exhibition space.
A LOT of people will be seeing the exhibition and I want to put my best 'face' forward. So I'm looking for various pieces of Stardust original art that I've sold over the years and would like to borrow that art back for this show. The names of the donors will be included in various publications concerning the exhibit as well as being on the identifying labels themselves.
In particular I'm looking for these full page illustrations:
(All page numbers refer to the trade paperback edition)
1. (page 46) The couple on the hill (with the Village of Wall in the background) beside a tree looking up at the falling star.
2. (page 52) Tristran in his bowler hat entering the deep woods surrounded by various fairy types.
3.Cover art to mini #2 with all of the Lords of Stormhold floating in the air around the dark rocks of Stormhold.
4.(Pg #96 -97) The two pages of multiple panels with Tristran's first candle walk between worlds.
5.(Pg #104)Tristran and Yvaine walking in the wood. She has a crutch. 6.Tris and Yvaine riding the unicorn through woods with gnarly creatures in the fore ground.
7..(Pg #161) Small figures of Tris and Yvaine looking up as galleon passes through golden clouds above them.
8. ( Pg #188)Tris passed out on ground w/ Yvaine sitting beside him. A dark haired woman (his mother) stands above him. Red goblin creatures frolic in the fore ground tree limbs.
9.( Pg #193)Tris in a sitting room w/ Victoria Foster surrounded by nick nacks and green men. A cat sits on the rug beside him.
10.( Pg #205) Yvaine gives Tris the medallion. Dark haired Mom looks on. The air around them is filled with all manner of people and beasties.
11. ( Pg #209) Looking down at the fair w/ the Village of Wall off to the left. Very small figures of Tris and Yvaine walk off thru the field. In the far distance the mountains of Stromhold rise w/ Flying Galleon beside them.
12. (Pg #213) Last piece in the book. Colored pencil on black paper. Yvaine stands amidst dark stones and raises her arms towards her 'sisters' that dance through the night time sky above her.
Here's my e-mail if you have any information on the location of these pieces: charles@greenmanpress.com
Thanks!
Charles
...
The previous post drew a lot of responses -- most of them agreeing with me. A few articulately disagreeing, and I thought I'd post a couple of them....
Mr. Gaiman-
If I may, a few comments about today’s posting about the appearance of the word “Scrotum” in the children’s book.
1. A few librarians in this NY Times article were quoted out of context from e-mails taken from LM_NET, a listserv for school librarians. In fact, LM_NET postings are subject to copyright and librarians were not contacted by the Times in response to their quotes. 2. All librarians are not tight-bunned, tight-assed “Shh-ing” maniacs. (I know, I am one—a librarian, that is, not tight-assed.) 3. Given the current climate of education in the US, you can’t blame a public (or private) school librarian for being incredibly sensitive to this issue. Unfortunately, we live in a period where it’s easier to throw away books and tell kids to “just google it” rather than keeping librarians on-staff. Each of us fights for our credibility and necessity every day. One conflict with a prominent community-member over (an admittedly) ridiculous matter such as this can end a career, as it’s easier to drop a staff member’s salary than fight a legal battle over censorship. While there are those of us who are willing to throw our chins out and fight, there are many battle-scarred vets of the library wars who have been cowed by the system and will quietly drop it rather than fight anymore. The public school librarian is fighting to keep of the endangered species list.
While I’ve been an ardent fan of yours, I could not let today’s journal slide without some commentary.
Yours,
Harry F. Coffill Library Media Specialist East Grand Rapids Middle School
I'm afraid that just because something is "copyright" it doesn't mean it can't be quoted. It can. It's called Fair Use. And I don't see why the Times would have to contact the people about their quotes -- if it's written down, that's all you'd have to show the fact-checker, if there is such a thing... Once you've said it, it's out there. (This blog is copyright me. Doesn't mean it doesn't get quoted, or that I'm consulted about it when it is. Here's an example of one time it happened. If you're going to say something in a semi-public forum, you're quotable, or misquotable, and that's just how it is.)
Hey Neil,
Speaking as a librarian, I happily bask in your general approbation.
Speaking as a librarian, I detest the idea of censorship, and the thought of choosing not to purchase a Newberry-winning book simply because of a single word.
Speaking as a librarian, I must also point out that the issue is, unfortunately, perhaps a bit more complicated than that, and that referring to those librarians who choose not to buy the book as "rogues" who've gone over to the dark side is likely to be an unfair oversimplification, at least in some cases.
Are there prudish librarians who have knee-jerk reactions to "bad language" and "inappropriate content?" Of course. We're only human, and therefore only flawed.
However, in many cases...using, as an example, the librarian cited as saying that SADLY, they will not be purchasing the book...it is likely NOT the librarian's own personal choice or even preference to exclude this book from their collection, but is the decision of the library director, library board, or school itself, based upon community outcry and patron pressure. In many cases of books being challenged, the challenge never goes as far as a banning. However, there are still cases in which otherwise excellent books are banned due to some small piece of "questionable" content. Don't forget, one of the most challenged and banned authors of all time is Judy Blume, the author of well-beloved, classic, but very frank (and therefore "dangerous"), children's and young adult books.
Librarians, as much as anyone and everyone else in this country, are subject to mob rule at times, and are always always subject to the workings of bureaucracy and politics. It's sad, but it's true.
...which I understand, but both of which emails leave me thinking that surely saying "It won the Newbery Medal. We order the books that do that. It's been the most respected guide to quality children's literature since 1922," would fend off most threats to a school librarian's job... wouldn't it?
Ah well. My next children's book, the one I'm currently writing, is very unlikely to have any rude words in it at all, but people I've read the first few pages to tend to look at me with a concerned sort of look and say "Is this really a children's book? I mean it's scary and then that stuff..." and I say yes, and I'm sorry but that's how the book goes and there's nothing I can do about it. Of course there is -- I could cut it out and write a book that wasn't as good. And I can hope that anyone who gets past the first couple of pages will find it very hard to put down. I can hope. But I'd understand any school librarian who was worried.
And I also got this from the "Higher Power of Lucky" post, which made me smile...
Hey there, Neil. I illustrated "The Higher Power of Lucky" (although it didn't occur to me to provide a picture for the minor scrotum incident). Thanks for weighing in on the whole kerfuffle. Coincidentally, I read "Endless Nights" yesterday, absolutely loved it, and made some sketches this morning which I posted on my blog: http://planetham.blogspot.com/ I'm also a Writers House client, so maybe I'll see you at some swanky cocktail reception sometime (if they even have such things).All the best,matt phelan
Well worth checking out Matt's cool artblog, if just for the masonic raccoon... And alas, while I have been a client of Writer's House for almost 20 years, I've never been to a swanky cocktail reception there yet (although they once threw a lovely bash with nibbly bits at the Franfurt bookfair for all my foreign publishers).
...
I get a lot of appeals for good causes in and I long ago sighed and decided that I can't post all of them. But this one has camels in it...
Not a question, so much as a request. There is an amazing thing going on in Kenya involving librarians, generosity, and of course, camels. The link is http://camelbookdrive.wordpress.com/ if you could post it for the fabulous readers of this blog. If you have already mentioned it, I apologize. It's been awhile since I've visited, although now I seem to have spent about 3 hours reading past posts. Damn.
Beth (librarian in training, who, for the record, is perfectly happy about the word scrotum in any book)
consider it posted. And I'll see if I can't put together a bunch of books for the camel library...
And finally, another article from Nerve's comics issue. This one's about the Gordon Lee case and the CBLDF. I've written about it here before -- I've been writing about it for years. But if you've missed it, or you thought it was over... http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/clark/gordonlee/
