Journal

Friday, March 15, 2024

In which I can now worry significantly less about something terrible happening to 126 things...

 I spent yesterday in Dallas, at the Heritage Auction headquarters -- I had decided to auction off some artwork and memorabilia to benefit two charities (The Authors Literary Fund and the Hero Initiative, which help authors/writers and comics creators who have fallen on hard times or who need help), and, just as importantly, I wanted to give something back to the artists whose art I was entrusting to new custodians. 

It seems to me fundamentally wrong and inequitable that art that artists sold for $50 or a hundred dollars thirty or forty years ago now sells for hundreds or thousands of times that amount, but the artists, most of whom are old, some of whom are no longer working or not working as they were, never see another penny. I decided the best way to change that would be to set an example, and show people another way of doing it.

Here's the New York Times article before the auction: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/23/arts/design/neil-gaiman-auction-collectibles.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Xk0.5PkB.9iQtuvn6Bwof&smid=url-share

And here's me in Dallas two nights ago, walking around the exhibition before the auction with Robert Wilonsky from Heritage, with guest appearances by my oldest friend Geoff Notkin, whose fault this all is



and for the very curious, the whole live auction is also up on YouTube. I tell a lot of stories about the things that are up for auction.

The auction made a lot of money, and it's going to do a lot of good, and that makes me very happy. Thank you to all the lovely helpful people at Heritage Auctions, to all of the bidders, lucky or otherwise, and to all of the artists, craftspeople and geniuses without whom it could never have happened.


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Tuesday, October 31, 2023

For Two Nights Only: A Christmas Carol

Thirteen years ago, I put on a Victorian Suit and a false beard and I read Dickens' prompt copy of A Christmas Carol at New York Public Library. It was a wonderful, sold out performance, introduced by Molly Oldfield, who told us all about Dickens's reading routine.


I looked a bit like this.


And the book looked a bit like this.



The reading of A Christmas Carol has become the most popular of the NYPL's audio downloads, and they repost it regularly. Here's the one from 2019:
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2019/12/19/listen-neil-gaiman-reads-christmas-carol

For years people have been asking if I was ever going to do it again. This year, back while the writers of the WGA were on strike, my assistant Rachael asked if I'd do it, and if I did, could she document it? I said yes, and it's becoming a thing.




It's going to be a Christmas Extravaganza, with carol singers and suchlike, signed books for sale and all sorts of goodies planned. I'm hoping we can get Molly Oldfield over to New York to introduce it once again.

When I was a boy, I saw Welsh actor Emlyn Williams being Charles Dickens on stage, a one man show I've never forgotten.

Here's the town Hall page for the 18th: https://thetownhall.org/event/neil-gaiman-performs-a-christmas-carol-12-18

Here's the page for the 19th: https://thetownhall.org/event/neil-gaiman-performs-a-christmas-carol-12-19

The ticket presale starts on Thursday Nov 2nd at 12 pm, and regular tickets go on sale on Friday at 10:00 am.

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Tuesday, November 08, 2022

Unboxing the most expensive book I have ever paid for...

I just filmed a little unboxing-and-enthusing video. It's for the 25th Anniversary editions of Little, Big or, The Fairies' Parliament, by John Crowley. Illustrated (or rather, with Art by) Peter Milton. 







Most of the edition was pre-sold long ago, but a few hundred remain. You can buy them at https://store.deepvellum.org/products/little-big and they will go too fast. It was, I would hazard, worth waiting the extra 15 years for. 

My essay is on the dust-jacket of the Green edition. Lots more information about all of this to be found at https://littlebig25.com

(And to clarify, it's the most expensive book I've ever paid for, because of the reasons explained in Ron Drummond's blog at https://littlebig25.com/PR-210915.shtml, and not because you have to pay that price to get it. For you, it's $135 until there aren't any left and then watch rare book dealers make a killing on the copies they bought...)

And no, the actual copies HAVE NOT YET SHIPPED. This is an advance copy for me to inspect.

....

Also, I'm now on Mastodon. Follow me at @neilhimself@mastodon.social -- and there's an invitation waiting for you at https://mastodon.social/invite/kP5BRV9s. My first ever Mastodon post has a Good Omens photo from yesterday. Expect more mysterious backstage photos there -- and here -- for a while...

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Friday, November 04, 2022

A joint statement from Amanda and me

Hullo,

(Amanda is posting this on her blog as well.)

After many years of marriage, we have made the difficult decision to divorce. While we will no longer be partners in marriage, we will remain in one another’s lives as co-parents committed to raising our wonderful son in a loving and compassionate environment. We deeply appreciate everyone respecting our family’s privacy so we can focus on our son as we enter this new chapter in our lives.

Thank you.



Wednesday, November 02, 2022

Everything you've hoped is true!

The rumours are true. Well, the good ones are, anyway. Netflix is delighted and thrilled that so many of you, all over the world, have been watching and loving Sandman, which means that the thing we were all hoping would happen...?

It's happened.






And that's not all! You dared to Dream (and, y'know, kept asking me when and whether they were ever going to show up). And it's happening! The Sandman profile icons are coming to Netflix! Let joy be unconfined!

(I'm going to be Goldie. No, Matthew. No, Goldie.)

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Tuesday, November 01, 2022

Just a note to say...

Just a note to say that this blog has become rather dusty and abandoned over the last two or three years. But I think it's time for me to use it a lot more. At least until Google notices that they still own Blogger, and close the whole thing down.

Hullo. Welcome back.

This is a good place, on the whole, this blog. I started it in February 2001, for American Gods. This was the first entry.)

Here is an Edward Gorey drawing called The Happy Ending, to celebrate the New Beginning.



Monday, October 24, 2022

Bloody Sunrise

Your humble web goblin here again, after a brief hiatus of eight and a half years. How time flies.

 

"Remember when you hosted 13 Nights of Fright and got to lie in a coffin?" I was nonchalantly decorating for spooky season.

Mr. G allowed that he did without looking up from his latest manuscript.

"That was fun." A pause. "Look what I found in a back corner of the basement, between the mummified shedu and Chabon's golem."

Like a cat with a box, so is Mr. G to a red velvet lined coffin; leave one in the middle of a room and he'll be laying in it the next time you turn your back. I was ready with a handful of box nails and a hammer. It won't hold him for long. We don't have long.

 

Twelve hours from now, something will premiere. Something seasonally fitting. Something fun. Secret for now, but the revelations begin there.

ETA: More here.

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Monday, March 14, 2022

An Evening With Neil Gaiman

I start touring 6 weeks from now. It's the first time I've done something like this since before Covid -- get out there every night, read stories and poems and suchlike, answer questions and generally try to interact with a living, breathing audience. I'm a bit nervous, to be honest. Still, the idea of interacting with living, breathing human beings seems wonderful.

Here's the list of places I'll be appearing, with links to get tickets. Right now there are tickets available to all of the venues except Madison Wisconsin. If you are sad I'm not going to be somewhere near to you, I also am probably sad about this too.

(There are different Covid regulations at different venues, please check your venue for their protocol.)

And I'll see you there, I hope...


Thursday, April 28, 2022

Schenectady, NY

Proctor’s Theatre. 7:30 PM

https://tickets.proctors.org/TheatreManager/95/tmEvent/tmEvent13763.html

 

Friday, April 29, 2022

Boston, MA

Emerson Colonial Theatre. 8 PM

https://www.emersoncolonialtheatre.com/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=D8EA3E70-5B3E-474C-949D-98ED0073B67E

 

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Seattle, WA

Venue: Benaroya Hall 7:30 PM

https://www.seattlesymphony.org/en/benaroyahall/bh-calendar/benaroya-hall-events/neil-gaiman

 

Monday, May 2, 2022

Eugene OR

Venue: Hult Center for the Performing Arts / 7:30 PM

Link: https://tickets.hultcenter.org/971/972?_ga=2.26526261.902947090.1628807551-307867051.1626909133

 

Tuesday, May 3, 2022  

San Francisco, CA

Sydney Goldstein Theater / City Arts & Lectures / 7:30 PM

Link: https://www.cityarts.net/event/an-evening-with-neil-gaiman/

 

Thursday, May 5, 2022  

San Diego, CA

Venue: Balboa Theatre   8:00 PM

https://artpower.ucsd.edu/event/an-evening-with-neil-gaiman/

 

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Austin, TX

Venue: Dell Hall, Long Center   7:30 PM

https://bit.ly/NeilGaimanAU

 

 

Monday, May 9, 2022

Denver, CO

Venue: Paramount Theatre   7:30 PM

https://www.ticketmaster.com/neil-gaiman-denver-colorado-05-09-2022/event/1E005B63DDA12DA5

 

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Hartford CT

The Bushnell Performing Arts Center. 7:30 PM

https://bushnell.org/shows-concerts/an-evening-with-neil-gaiman

 

Thursday, May 12, 2022

Philadelphia, PA

Merriam Theatre : 7:30 PM

https://www.kimmelculturalcampus.org/events-and-tickets/202122/kcp/neil-gaiman/

 

Friday, May 13, 2022   

Chicago IL

Auditorium Theatre 8 PM

https://mytickets.auditoriumtheatre.org/overview/3019?queueittoken=e_presaleneilgaiman~q_8f2b69c0-de3a-45c1-9688-d97522585888~ts_1636660722~ce_true~rt_safetynet~h_16adf9e6a35024c0d734c9c67136c1fc0c92bef38b10b630f2b0c7073fe03c25

 

Sunday, May 15, 2022

Madison, WI

Venue: Orpheum Theater 8PM

https://madisonorpheum.com/event/an-evening-with-neil-gaiman/

(This one is sold out, I'm afraid.)

 

Monday, May 16, 2022

Indianapolis IN

Clowes Auditorium at Butler University  7:30 PM

https://butlerartscenter.org/performance/neil-gaiman/

 

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Cleveland OH

Playhouse Square  7:30 PM

Link: https://tickets.playhousesquare.org/online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=ACAD824C-ED50-471B-8438-87A341A602C6

 

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Columbus OH 

Palace Theatre. 7:30 PM

https://my.cbusarts.com/3190

 

Friday, May 20, 2022 

Dallas, TX 

AT & T Performing Arts Center. 8:00PM


https://www.attpac.org/on-sale/2022/an-evening-with-neil-gaiman/


 

Sunday, May 22, 2022

Houston TX

Jones Hall / Society for the Performing Arts. 8 PM

https://spahouston.org/events/neil-gaiman/

 

 

Monday, May 23, 2022

Los Angeles CA

The Theatre at Ace Hotel. 8:00 PM

https://www.axs.com/events/403235/neil-gaiman-tickets

 

Thursday, May 26, 2022

Pittsburgh PA

Carnegie Music Hall   7:30 PM

https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/16005B64C93844CE



All the details are also over at https://www.neilgaiman.com/where/

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Thursday, January 06, 2022

Letting the cat out...

 So, let's see.

I was the castaway on Desert Island Discs. This probably doesn't mean anything to anyone who isn't from the UK. (You can hear it at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00120cb.) 

The Ocean at the End of the Lane opened at the Duke of York's Theatre in St Martin's Lane, with a press night on Nov 4th. I saw it (my father-in-law Jack was there as my family guest) and marvelled at how something I thought was as good as it could be when I saw it at the Dorfman Theatre had somehow managed to become bigger and better and more powerful. 

It's collected a slew of five star and four star reviews, and a bunch of award nominations.

If you're in or near London, you should see it. It's special. https://www.oceanwestend.com/




It's on until May 14th 2022, when we lose the theatre to another show, and Ocean goes on tour around the UK.

(Remember, every day they release a limited number of £25 Rush tickets at https://www.todaytix.com/london/shows/21527-ocean-at-the-end-of-the-lane)

In October and November I was working on Good Omens 2 and on Anansi Boys, each on a different side of Edinburgh. Both astonishing casts and crew. Anansi Boys is shooting in one of the biggest studios there is. You won't believe Brixton...

I'm back in New Zealand currently to be with a small boy and his mother. (I got very lucky in the MIQ lottery.) I've been able to showrun remotely, because technology is amazing these days and lets you do that, but it's definitely easier to do while I'm in Scotland, and easier on everyone else to have me there.

Which reminds me... There's a piece of Good Omens news I've been keeping close to my chest, but I think as we prepare to go back to shooting, it's time to let this particular Cat out of the bag:

When I first started planning Good Omens 2, I thought it would be a good idea to have what I started referring to as "minisodes" -- stories that begin and end within a larger episode, ones that dive into history. And I thought it would be fun to invite some other people to write the minisodes. We have three of them.

We've announced that I'm co-writing the show with John Finnemore. We haven't told you that John has also written a solo-story set in biblical times, though. He has. It's thoughtful and funny and wise.

We haven't told you that novelist and screenwriter Cat Clarke wrote a story set in Victorian times in Edinburgh, have we? She did...

I asked Cat if she wanted to say something about it, and she replied,

 ‘When Neil kindly invited me to join Good Omens 2, I bit his hand off. (Terribly sorry about that, Neil. Hope you’re managing to type OK?) It’s been an absolute joy to play in the glorious sandbox that Neil and Terry created. I can’t wait for the world to see our favourite angel and demon get into a wee bit of a pickle in Edinburgh.’

And there's one other minisode, written by two people working together: Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman. Jeremy is a writer (and one of the members of the League of Gentlemen -- he was portrayed by one Michael Sheen in the League of Gentlemen movie) and Andy's a writer, a worker of strange miracles and an actor. They are best known as a collaborative team for writing Ghost Stories, as a play and a film. Their story is set in London during the blitz.

They sent me a message too: ‘We’ve had such a great time writing for Good Omens 2. It’s been a true privilege to be allowed to dive into Aziraphale and Crowley’s lives. We hope we’ve been able to bring laughs, magic and a few scares to this wonderful world.’ 

...

Sandman on Netflix is doing brilliantly. I can't wait for everyone else to see what I've been seeing.

And from 28th of April until the 26th of May, hitherto unknown strains of Covid permitting, I'll be on an American Tour, doing most of the cancelled and postponed Evenings With Neil Gaiman from 2020 and 2021. Details at https://www.neilgaiman.com/where/ and links to tickets on each entry. (Madison WI has already sold out.)


...


And I didn't get to write a New Year's Wish, because I've been sole parent for Ash while Amanda is away at a lovely Yoga and Hiking retreat in the South Island, and there wasn't the time to write one and stay up with a small boy to welcome in the New Year. Perhaps I'll write a belated one, perhaps not... (This blog is being brought to you by an iPad and Scooby Doo and Mystery Incorporated.)















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Saturday, November 13, 2021

Art and Climate

I really ought to blog about making Good Omens (we're in week 4 of shooting) and making Anansi Boys (starts shooting next week), and about the astonishing Ocean at the End of the Lane play at the Duke of York's Theatre in London (and now that I've said this, I know I will) but yesterday I spoke (via Zoom, because of Covid Protocols) at COP26, the Conference of the Parties on Climate Action, and I thought I ought to just put what I said up here. So it doesn't get lost.






Art is how we communicate. Art began when we left marks to say we were here. 

The oldest art we have is the 200,000 year old handprints of Neanderthal or Denisovan children, on the Tibetan Plateau, making marks with their hands because it was fun, because they could, and because it told the world they had been there.

The human family tree has been around for millions of years, Homo Sapiens for a much shorter time. We are not a successful branch of the tree, because, unless we use our mighty brains to think our way out of this one, we don't have a very long time left.

We need to use everything at our disposal to change the world, and show that we can compete with the ones who were here before us. And by compete I mean, not make the world uninhabitable by humans. The world will be fine, in the long run. There have been extinction events before us, and there will be extinction events after we’ve gone.

When I was young I wrote a short comics story about the use of the planet Earth as a decorative ornament. It was about our tendency to destroy ourselves. Back then, I worried about nuclear war: one huge event that would end everything. Now I'm worried that we are messing things up a little at a time, until everything tips.

We who explore futures need to build fictional futures that inspire and make us carry on. When I was a kid, it was going to the stars that was the dream. Now it has to be fixing the mess that we've left behind, and not just walking away, leaving the Earth a midden.

We need to change the world back again. And that will take science, but it will also take art. To convince to inspire and to build a future.

We need to reach people's hearts, not just their minds. Reach the part of their hearts that believes it's good to plant trees for our grandchildren to sit beneath. Reach hearts to make people want to change, and to react to people and organisations despoiling the planet and the climate in the same way you would react to someone trying to burn down your house, while you are living in it.

So that 200,000 years from now, children can leave handprints in clay, to show us that they were here, and because making handprints and footprints is fun.


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