back to sleep, back to reality

Woke up this morning and realised the tour is done. Went back to sleep.

I really like this "went back to sleep" thing. I could get used to it.

Thanks to all who came to the signing yesterday. Sorry about the rain.

I just phoned the hotel to ask about when check out time was and they told me it was an hour ago but they hadn't wanted to bother me. I like my hotel...

Dear Neil,
We just thought you would like to know that on this evenings Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, your mate Mr Jonathan Woss was under the impression that his WIFE wrote Stardust..
Maybe you should correct him before all BBC viewers get the wrong impression....oh but the trailer looked very good.
Kind Regards,
Clair and Jim

But his wife did write Stardust, at least in its upcoming incarnation, and she wrote it very well. Over at Friends of English Magic she answers a lot of questions about the Stardust movie what she wrote. http://www.foem.org.uk/?p=161 for a lot of information straight from Jane Goldman.

The interview with Jane also contains fun bits like:

FoEM: I’ve been thinking about the various comparisons in the press (mainly from the preview audiences) that Stardust resembles The Princess Bride and The Pirates of the Carribean, who would win at a sword fight between Tristan Thorn, Inigo Montoya, and Captain Jack Sparrow if they were all up against each other?

Well, I’d have to say probably not Tristan. I can’t imagine him even wanting to get involved in a sword fight unless he really had to, for some reason he felt really passionate about.

Skill-wise, my money would probably be on Inigo, especially if Captain Jack had been drinking, but Jack seems to be one of those guys with luck on his side, so I imagine that perhaps a piece of heavy furniture might fall on Inigo at the last minute.

I wouldn’t like to see them fight, though. I’d hate any of them to get hurt. I like them all too much. Could they perhaps all wrestle each other instead? I’d definitely watch that.

Hey there,

I know you're a fan of Lemony Snicket and the 826 Valencia project. Would you mind pointing people to the 5th Annual Comedy Night fundraiser thingummy they're doing tomorrow night in San Francisco? (And I know his photo's not on the poster, but Daniel Handler is going to be there)

Details here: http://www.826valencia.org/comedy/

thanks,
squeaks

Consider it done.

Hello, Mr. Gaiman. I picked up the most recent issue of my local alternative paper, and noticed the headline on the front page: "Sci-fi Geeks Battle Comics Dorks"
http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-03-28/news/from-hell-s-heart-i-litigate-at-thee.php

as someone who is both a comics writer and a sci-fi/fantasy author, I thought you might be interested. I think you may also know Harlan Ellison (I'm not sure about the Fantagraphics guys). What surprises me is not that Gary Groth and Harlan Ellison can't settle their differences, but how the article seems to indicate that this is indicative of a larger feud between fans of comics and speculative fiction. If such a feud exists, I've never heard of it: I read both avidly, and all of my friends that are either speculative fiction fans or comics fans also read a little from the other group. Did I miss something?
David Lev

It's a rather odd article -- it seems like someone wrote a real, informative piece of journalism about the Groth-Ellison problem, and someone else decided to come in and rewrite it as a really-not-very-good wacky humour piece. No, I've never encountered or heard of such a feud. I think you have a specific problem between the Fantagraphics principals and Harlan, going back over twenty years, with over twenty years of bad blood, which have nothing to do with anything other than the people in question. (My own opinion? I think the whole thing is unfortunate. As a long time friend and fan of Harlan's and a long time fan and supporter of Fantagraphics and Kim and Gary I recused myself from the process when Fantagraphics applied for support from the CBLDF, which the CBLDF board eventually turned down, and I think rightly, as being outside its remit, because it wasn't comics but prose journalism that was being sued, and there are other organisations that help with that. For the most part I simply wish the energies being expended here were being expended on more positive things.)

Labels: Fantagraphics, Harlan Ellison, hotel, Jane Goldman, sleep, Stardust, whether there really is a mystery feud between geeks and wads like in the Onion article