Guacamole-headed thoughts...

I remain utterly mush-headed, but should have completely recovered in time for the UK tour and to do it all over again.

Just a quick post about http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95790778, which is a really lovely review and link to an All Things Considered piece on me, beekeeping, Doctor Who, and (mostly) The Graveyard Book. (And while I was looking, I ran into this Stephin Merritt interview and songs too: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94926812)

There's a Graveyard Book review in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Although aimed primarily at younger readers, "The Graveyard Book" has enough heft to keep adults thoroughly engaged. The model for the story is, of course, "The Jungle Books," but Gaiman pays homage to Ray Bradbury, with perhaps a salute to Charles Addams tossed in for good measure. Bod's coming of age has its moments of wonder, terror and tenderness, and Gaiman hits exactly the right notes every time.

and one in the Washington Post which concludes,

Like a bite of dark Halloween chocolate, this novel proves rich, bittersweet and very satisfying.

Barnes and Noble have pulled out an interview I did with them a few years ago, when Anansi Boys was published. It contains some pretty decent answers to some frequently asked questions.

There's a terrific account of a journey to the Coraline studios at http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/28623270.html

Brad Meltzer in the White House. And Lincoln. And me.

I think I'm starting to get rather fond of The Middleman. (There are a bunch of them on the Tivo, and they're playing in the background as I've been working this evening.) The vampire glove puppets made me go "I wish I'd thought of that." (I did a demonic serial-killing glove puppet a long time ago, reprinted in the Golden-Wagner-Bissette Prince of Stories. But vampire glove puppets...)

I have a ridiculous question - inquiring minds! - based on your point today about using Montblanc's "dried-blood-coloured Bordeaux" to sign your way across the US. Is it in any sense possible to take a bottle of fountain pen ink through security?!? I am imagining you do not check luggage, but how are you able to get away with this miracle of fluid-possession? Inky toiletries bag?!? I suppose it must be OK if the bottle holds less than 2 oz. of fluid...

I loved The Graveyard Book - it reminds me, too, I must reread Kipling, my childhood favorite was "Puck of Pook's Hill" which is a most magical book also!

best wishes,
Jenny Davidson

It's not a ridiculous question at all. You can put ink bottles in the clear quart bag for liquids (as long as it's less than 100ml). Or you can put bottles of ink in your shoulder bag and forget to put them into the clear quart bag, and discover that nobody ever seems to notice them, probably because the shapes don't look like bottles when they go through x-ray machines. (Sometimes you may have to explain to security people at airports what ink is and why it's in heavy glass bottles.) You can also carry ink cartridges.

I cheated on the last tour, though, and handed the ink bottle to Elyse Marshall, from Harper Collins and she always produced it when I needed it.

Have you seen this website? Wow.

http://www.suck.uk.com/product.php?rangeID=103&rangeNew=1

Check out the Cat Playhouses. And the Terrorist Tea Pot.

Stephanie.

That is the best Terrorist Tea Pot I've ever seen.

Hi Neil,

Just thought you might be interested in the Graveyard Book pumpkin my girlfriend and I made. We modeled it after the book cover and included our very own ghoul gate. It took a while but was definitely worth it. I put up the pictures on my blog, here:

http://decaffeinating.blogspot.com/2008/10/graveyard-pumpkin.html

Happy early Halloween and I hope you like the pumpkin! And thanks so much for writing The Graveyard Book in the first place.

Brent

And that is the best Graveyard Book pumpkin I've seen.

Labels: book reviews, ink, pumpkins which don't look like me, teapots, x-rays

the one with the Dave McKean Graveyard Book cover sketches in

Lots of people wrote to tell me that X-Rays were needed for TB tests, and some people suggested that they were in hand-baggage as they might be fogged by X-Rays in checked baggage, but no-one explained why there seemed no mechanism for anyone ever to look at the (quite expensive, and carried over in hand-baggage), x-rays until this arrived from Mr Petit...

Having been a commanding officer in the UK -- meaning I had to supervise
airmen and NCOs under my command when they wanted to bring their UK brides
back to the US -- I had to chuckle when I saw the note about the x-ray.

It's not required by the immigration folks (either Division 6, or anyone
else). Since it's a different federal agency, I'm not surprised that an INS
employee wouldn't know about it. It's required by the US Public Health
Service, for everyone, regardless of nationality, who is trying to immigrate.

And they do, on occasion, get checked, but only if there's advance reason to
believe there's "a substantial risk of exposure." For example, you can bet
that flights on foreign-flag carriers originating in, say, Nairobi get more
scrutiny than would a BA or AA flight from Heathrow.

The relevant statute was passed in 1938 (there may have been a predecessor,
but I doubt it) and hasn't been updated yet. What a surprise.

And this came in from my editor Jennifer Brehl at Harper Collins about the free American Gods -- I'm putting it up because she says it better than I could paraphrase it:

First of all, the online edition has been optimized and the embedded pages are moving much faster. I’ve asked that the widget confusion be fixed – i.e., open up widget to full book rather than older partial version.

We’re wondering if you might have some time tomorrow that we could call you and we could have a conference call to discuss things? We want your fans to know that we are responsive to their concerns and, although it’s painful getting the criticism, it’s also a good learning opportunity.

So there will be a conference call, and I'll report back on it.

...

Neil,

Huge fan, metaphorically speaking, regular sized person.

Did you see this? You're creating favorites that stand the test of time: http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20181426_13,00.html.

-Mike


Oh good.

(And I should mention, I loved this Michael Chabon New Yorker article about Superhero costumes.)

Hello Neil,
I am going to the Easter Con in Heathrow because I'd like to hear you. Could you recommend which day would have the most Neil-time or most Neil-events? I know I'm not made of the right stuff since I might have to be selective about the days at the con, and even though I'd love to build my own battle-ready space ship, I still would like to get two flies with one swat....being battle-ready an'all (Ahem!).

Thank you,

Henriette

From the schedule, it looks like it's definitely Sunday.
http://www.orbital2008.org/sunday.pdf
-- and you get a Mitch Benn concert into the bargain.

...


Dave McKean says he doesn't mind me putting up his sketches for The Graveyard Book cover...

So to bring you up to speed...

Dave did a cover while I was writing the book. As the book continued, it became sort of obvious that the cover was younger than the book was, and we needed a cover that told adults that this was a book for them too.

So I finished the book and Dave read the book and did a bunch of sketches, all of which made me happy, and all of which felt a lot more like the book I'd written...

All of these are sketches, it's worth pointing out -- roughs for me and the various editors and art departments to look at and choose from. It's not finished art, nor is it meant to be.

(The actual typeface is something Dave plans to scan in and create from photos of old gravestones.)

And in the next post I'll tell you what the response was, and which one we wound up going with and why.

Labels: continued on next rock, cover sketches, Dave McKean, eastercon, free book, immortaility -- is it really in Entertainment Weekly, The Graveyard Book, x-rays