Journal

Friday, July 11, 2003

More early questions


Good morning!
I was just wondering if you could put together a list of everything you have coming out this summer. I'm a little confused between the Neverwhere DVD, 1602 and the Wolves in the Walls, and I think I may be missing something. I want to be sure that I can get everything!

Also, I recently gave the illustrated version of Stardust to my 8-year-old neice. She refuses to give the book up, she carries it around with her all the time. And, even though she's eight years old, every time I see her, she crawls into my lap and asks me to read it to her, since "it's not the same in my head." (Really, you should see it, it's the cutest thing in the world.) I think she's a little young for some of your other books, but I have a gift-wrapped copy of Coraline hiding in my closet for her birthday next week!
I think it's wonderful, the way that readers can grow along with your books, and, even though some of your books could be considered fairy tales, or for children, they're still so well-written that adults find themselves lost in the worlds you've created.
Thank you,
Jess



I may forget something. Let's see...

1602 part 1 and The Wolves in the Walls come out in August. So does the NEVERWHERE DVD. So, I believe, does Coraline in paperback.

September brings Sandman:Endless Nights and the Sandman: Endless Nights Special (which is a comic with the Miguelanxo Prado story in it, for retailers to use on nervous customers who aren't sure if they want to buy a big hardback book.)

Telling Tales, the new CD, just came out. (Yes, I realised too late that it has the same title as the Alan Bennett autobiographical sketches.)

Angels and Visitations's 10th anniversary edition comes out in around October, which will make people who aren't really sure that they want to pay $150 for it on eBay happy.

Neverwhere and American Gods come out in September/October in handsome trade paperback editions from Harper Perennial.

Alisa Kwitney's Sandman: King of Dreams book comes out in September as well, filled with lots of art that no-one's seen before (including the uncensored J Muth Desire painting from the Sandman trading cards) and much odd and cool stuff. I did the introduction to it.

My short story "A Study in Emerald" is published in Michael Reaves and John Pelan's "Shadows over Baker Street" in September as well.

It looks from the Amazon UK entry on the Silverberg Legends II anthology (this is the cover) that it may come out in September 2003 as well, with the new Shadow (from "American Gods") story in it. On the other hand, I don't believe it, and suspect it's an Amazon goof, because I can't find any mention of it anywhere else. Aha -- the Del Ray newsletter says it's coming out in January 2004.

(For many years DC Comics and I have been talking about "The Compleat Death" -- a collection of both the Death graphic novels, along with Sandman 8 and Sandman 20, and the Jeff Jones story. It's just been put on the schedule for this Autumn, and I've asked if it can be moved to the spring, because there's too much stuff coming out, and it's not fair on people.)

There. I've probably left something off.


Hello Neil!

I'm hoping, once MirrorMask is released, that you might grant a wish of mine: I am insanely curious as to what a script treament would look like, and I am hoping you would share the one you did for MirrorMask. I say once it's released mainly because I would hate to have it spoiled. Is this a possibility or a pipe dream?

My second bit is just a quick thank you. Due to work situations, my husband and I live four hours apart these days. On those long weekend drives, playing "WARNING: Contains Language" helps keep me sane.

Best to you and your family.

Chandra


You're very welcome. You know, there never was a treatment of Mirrormask. I had half a plot idea, about two girls in different worlds and an undependable guide, and Dave McKean had half a plot idea, about a dark queen and a light queen and a mirrored mask that was lost, and we got together in Jim Henson's house in Hampstead and stared and scribbled, and by the point we knew more or less what it was about I skipped the whole treatment bit entirely and started writing the script, which meant that most of the things that happened were as much a surprise to us as they were to Helena. (This is probably a highly unprofessional way to write a film. On the other hand, the dailies look wonderful.)

And Entertainment Weekly comes out today with the first MirrorMask image in it.

And they finish shooting the live action part of the film today as well. (It's a wrap! Now there's just ten months of animation to go...)