This sort of began when I was writing Anansi Boys, and I needed to name a Cruise Ship. So I threw the naming rights to the ship up for auction, to benefit the freedom of speech via the CBLDF (over at www.cbldf.org), and an eBay auction raised over $3,000. A week or so later I got a letter from Michael Chabon, telling me that the First Amendment Project really needed money to operate.
Now, I am a big fan of the First Amendment, and of Freedom of Speech. It's without doubt my favourite thing about America. I happen to believe that the remedy for speech and ideas you don't like is not stopping the offending speech and punishing the speaker, but replying to it and creating your own speech. (And there's always the off-switch and the market place.)
So I called Michael Chabon and told him about the cruise-ship-name auction and suggested that if we could mobilise a few writers and get them to take part in a character-name auction, we could raise the money they needed. Michael went off and contacted a bunch of writers and set the wheels in motion, and the plan worked (I auctioned a name on a gravestone in the upcoming Graveyard Book, which went to the magnificently named Miss Liberty Roach, bid for on her behalf by a parental unit) and we raised over $150,000.
Now this year's auction has begun -- like last year's it will run in three stages.
If you've ever had a yearning to be in a book, or if you've ever wanted to give someone a gift that is about as unique as unique comes, now is your chance. You could be a stuffed rat in a Carl Hiassen book or a character in a Chris Ware comic or... well, go and look at the complete list yourself: http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=auctioncause . And pass it on, mention it in your blog. Tell your friends. It's for a good cause...
You've probably already seen this but a good resource for finding non-liquid
toiletries:
http://www.wists.com/popgloss/carry-on
That's brilliant -- thanks.
ok i tried to make sure you haven't been asked this before but at some point my eyes started to blur, sooo, would you ever consider collaborating with Clive Barker on a movie or series? I'm a fan of the series Strange and keep thinking how much scarier and strnager it would be with you two involved.
I'd love to work with Clive, and we've talked about doing something together from time to time over the last two decades. Having said that, SFX magazine recently asked us for a joint interview and we've also spent the last month trying to coordinate our schedules, and finding half an hour that we both have free has been proving really hard, so both of us finding time to do something bigger would undoubtedly be even harder. I'd not hold your breath.
...
This year there will only be a very few US events for FRAGILE THINGS -- last year's ANANSI BOYS tour was punishing enough that I decided that it was time to start seriously cutting back on signing tours, possibly even for good, and I also decided that wherever possible on FRAGILE THINGS I'd read stories (it's the good thing about having a book of 31 stories -- plenty to read aloud) and talk, rather than sign (and have pre-signed books available. It won't be that way at every stop, but it will be at some of them).
A few people have contacted me a bit worried about the September 28th New York reading/interview with Daily Show Correspondent, Personal Computer, and Author John Hodgman, as they'd been told that the hall would only fit about 300 people, and they wanted to know whether they should start lining up at dawn.
I just got a reassuring email to let me know that the hall at FIT seats 750 people, which is about what we had at the last New York signing event. If you want a good seat you may want to get there early, but you'll probably be all right either way.
7:00 PM Thursday, September 28, 2006 – New York, NY
AN EVENING WITH NEIL GAIMAN
Hosted by John Hodgman
The Great Hall at FIT
Fashion Institute of Technology
227 West 27th Street
New York, NY 10001
212-217-7717
Contact for the event:
Carla Oliver Bowens
212-217-7717