Journal

Friday, November 16, 2001
In from the mailbag.... not exactly FAQs, so we'll do them over here: Not a question, but I had to send it somewhere. Under the link "Sandman and Other Comics" it refers one to the Vertigo site. There isn't anything at the Vertigo site except info about the month's forthcoming books (and even that is a month behind). You know, that was exactly what I said when I saw it. (Although I'd originally suggested we link to Vertigo, as plans are afoot for a Real Vertigo Website. But it hasn't happened yet.)

Sometime in the next week it should start linking to some fan sites with info on Sandman. I couldn't find an exhaustive one on all the comics, including Mr Punch and Signal to Noise et al. If any of you feel like creating the definitive guide to the comics of Neil Gaiman, I will happily ensure that that page links to your site.

Sorry to be pedantic, but why is the FAQ link on your site a possessive rather than a plural? Again, exactly what I said. As for why, I'm afraid they don't explain these things to me. I can only guess. My theory is that HarperCollins, being a publisher, always has lots of leftover apostrophes and needs to use them somewhere. In England, we give them to people selling fruit and veg, and then whenever we see signs advertising Apple's and Artichoke's and Lettuce's we feel faintly superior and amused and thus buy more artichokes, apples and lettuces, which is probably the plan all along.

Why has Harlequin Valentine been pushed back to February? I'm pretty sure the book is done from all the reviews...was it a situation of Dark Horse not promoting the title enough?
thanks
Sascha


Again, no idea -- in fact, that's the first I'd heard that it was pushed back. Harlequin Valentine is an adaptation I did with John Bolton of my short story of the same name into a graphic, well, short story, form. I wrote some stuff at the end, too, and Dark Horse, with an eye for posterity and the book trade, are doing it as a slim hardcover. I think we hit all our deadlines, and the orders were Incredibly Healthy, so my guess would be that, if it is delayed, it's something on the production end. John's paintings are gorgeous.

I suppose they might have decided that they would get even more orders from the book trade if they held it off until Valentine's Day (as it really is a Valentine's Day book).

I should phone Diana Schutz at Dark Horse and ask her, really, shouldn't I? Rather than just wittering. Or at least I should pick a couple of these that I can answer.

[Did you know P. Craig Russell is currently doing an adaptation of my story MURDER MYSTERIES as a graphic novel for Dark Horse (soon to be a major motion picture, or at the very least a minor motion picture, from Dimension. Murder Mysteries, that is, not Dark Horse.)]

Here's one I can answer. Are Coraline and The Wolves in the Walls the same book?

Nope. Coraline's a short, scary novel for disturbed young women of all ages and genders; The Wolves in The Walls is a rollicking picture book, rather like The Day I Swapped My Dad For 2 Goldfish.

Coraline will have about 14 black and white Dave McKean illustrations (in the US edition) in front of each chapter; Wolves is all huge picture-book size colour illustrations, about 60 of them...

And finally Hey Neil --- just a quick verification -- are you really going to be in New Orleans this weekend? Yup. Typing this from the convention hotel room in Metarie (which is New Orleans-ish). A panel with Steve Brust tonight; reading and signing and writers workshop tomorrow (saturday); signing and reading on Sunday.

(What am I going to be reading? Dunno. Maybe the new Xmas card, but that won't take very long.)

http://ws.exoticon.org/exoticon/frame.htm is the convention website.