February 2012
133 posts
2 tags
whethervane asked: Hi Neil! I just watched The Doctor's Wife. Stellar work, there, by the way. <3 Anyways, I was curious - did you come up with the Corsair and the psychic container yourself, or did you base them both off of earlier writings? Either way, they're both lovely. Thanks for your time.
crowleyshouseplant asked: Regarding your answer to the ghostwriter: As someone who was recently offered (and accepted) my own ghostwriting gig and as a fan who appreciates your work, it was hurtful and disappointing to see you go beyond stating your ignorance, telling the individual to just write their own novel, thus completely invalidating a means of writing/writing identity because it didn't fit in with your...
itsverybeautifuloverthere asked: I was discussing literature with a checkout girl at a supermarket the other day, and she made some throwaway comment along the lines of "do you know how many authors *actually* write their own books?" Please reassure me that this is scarcely more than cynical hokum, I don't think I could bear having writing become another thing not to believe in.
stuartforsyth asked: If circumstance stranded you on a desert island for a year with no hope of rescue and one book of your choice, what book would you take?
3 tags
brynnely asked: Neil, did you ever take classes on social media and networking, or how to sell your writing around to publishers? Or did you have to stumble around blindly to figure out how to break into writing for a living?
laikacomehome asked: I'd heard that your short story "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" was being turned into a short film. It's one of my favorites in Fragile Things, and I was wondering if this was true or just a rumor.
tearsintime asked: so... what should I eat for breakfast?
ajmoser asked: Hey I was considering picking up a ghostwriting job for a novel, but I don't know how much I should ask for payment. Seeing as I haven't ever done this before, what should I ask for?
mavstark asked: Hello, I'm new here. I heard a lot about your tumblr from my friend. She told me about your books etc. but honestly I didn't read any of it yet. I just want to ask you, which book I should read first? Maybe it's a stupid question but well I'm just curious. :D
segoli asked: Do you know anything about the possibility of an Android version of the aforementioned app?
1 tag
The World Book Day App Announcement
The World Book Day App will be available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch coming soon to the iTunes store and for the low, low price of absolutely free!
This brand new App features exclusive new short stories from Malorie Blackman, Neil Gaiman, Charlie Higson, Anthony Horowitz, Sophie McKenzie and Rachel Vincent!
And as if that wasn’t enough (well, you can never have too much great writing) there...
2 tags
ENO announces Mini Operas: A Worldwide Online...
English National Opera announces Mini Operas, a world-wide, online search for composers, writers and film makers that will seek out emerging opera talent of the future from across the world. Three competitions to find future stars of all the components of creating an opera will be launched online allowing everyone to submit entries for one or more categories.
Live from 26 March 2012, this...
the-shad asked: I bought my niece Coraline as a gift. When I next saw her, I asked what she thought of it. She got about half-way through, then got so scared she wrapped it up in a blanket and put it in a shoe box. Then put the shobox in an empty toybox, then filled the toybox, locked it, and put it up in the attic. Which was then locked. Just thought I'd share that.
1 tag
Where I wish I was going to be this coming Sunday
PEN New England & The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library cordially invite you…
The 2012 Awards for
Lyrics of Literary Excellence
presented to
Chuck Berry &
Leonard Cohen
Awards Committee
Bono, Rosanne Cash, Elvis Costello, Paul Muldoon, Smokey Robinson, Salman Rushdie and Paul Simon. Bill Flanagan, Committee Chair.
Song...
3 tags
miseryfieldes asked: How many times per day do you get people asking for you to read their manuscripts? Are you ever interested (assuming they give you a short summary)?
chronicluscious asked: You've probably been answered this before, but I was recently rereading "Fragile Things", and I couldn't help but notice the, uh, more-than-coincidental similarities between the story "A Study in Emerald" and the pilot for the BBC's new "Sherlock" series. What's the story with that?
From Today's Blog on Who Jonathan Carroll is, and...
“All poets and story tellers alive today make a single brotherhood; they are engaged in a single work, picturing our human life. Whoever pictures life as he sees it, reassembles in his own way the details of existence which affect him deeply, and so creates a spiritual world of his own.” -Haniel Long, Notes Toward a New...
geekvixen asked: I'm having a really, really hard time letting my main character make mistakes, but I'm also really, really worried about having a main character who always makes the right choice (because that's fucking boring). Any advice?
3 tags
1 tag
MICHAEL CHABON AND NEIL GAIMAN HEADLINE 2012 FALL...
MICHAEL CHABON AND NEIL GAIMAN HEADLINE 2012 FALL FOR THE BOOK
Michael Chabon and Neil Gaiman will receive two of Fall for the Book’s major festival awards at the 14th annual festival—taking place September 26-30 at George Mason University and in venues throughout Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland.
Michael Chabon (photo: Jennifer Chaney)
Michael Chabon will receive this year’s Fairfax...
1 tag
ohhellyes-imanervouswreck asked: About the guy worried that his stories weren't unique, I was taught at uni that copyright laws can be insanely restrictive these days especially with 'intellectual property' (usually publishing corporations or deceased authors relatives trying to make more money.) Apparently if they can prove that you possibly came into contact with the original text then they can build a case that...
jabberbot asked: Do you ever use Write or Die? My brother did when he was doing NaNoWriMo. It's a site that screams horrible noises at you (babies crying backwards, dishes being tossed down stairs pitched up a couple octaves and sped up, ect ect) when you stop typing for any length of time.
loudestsong asked: How do you know if your ideas are original/unique? I read an essay you wrote about ideas where you said that if you let your mind wander ideas will just come to you, but how do you if they're really your own ideas? I've wanted to start writing for quiet sometime now and I've had one idea that I believe would make a pretty good story, but I'm not sure if it's unique and...
myhellhoundisbiggerthanyours asked: Hi Neil. Any plans for visiting Central Europe? You do many readings in US but none here. It's kinda shame. Well anyway, good luck and have a nice day:)
notablipintime asked: My friends recently showed me an add-on for firefox called leechblock that lets you block websites for specific periods of time or just when you need to be productive. You can set up exclusions and stuff to give yourself resources to fact check, but it's really helping me to not just endlessly scroll Tumblr when I need to get writing done. Do you ever use timers or external...
gabepants asked: I read how you went through a lot of trouble finding the name for Shadow in American Gods, does he have a real name? Perhaps one you keep to yourself. The one he gave away in the end?
la-souris asked: Hi Neil, A professor mentioned today that you would be coming to George Mason for our "Fall for to Book" Festival. Is this true? I really hope so; I think you're wonderfully brilliant and would love to hear you speak again.
miseryfieldes asked: I've read in many articles that you should strive for "show" writing rather than "tell" writing. Many of them have the quote from Mark Twain, "Don't tell us the old lady screamed. Bring her on and let her scream." As an aspiring writer, I'm not exactly sure how to really go about doing this. Any tips?
sonicpatronus asked: So a lot of people have asked you about the appearance of the Abrahamic God in American Gods--is it the prison warden?
the-dream-operator asked: Hi Neil,I was just wondering, is the HBO American Gods series also going to cover Anansi Boys, Monarch of the Glen, and/or the next book (in subsequent seasons perhaps)? Or will it just cover the events of the first book, and then end?
2 tags
What today is...
”Well, when I changed schools, when I was a kid, my Dad made a point of telling me how much he had always looked forward to Presidents’ Day, when he was a boy, because it’s the law that on Presidents’ Day, the kids who go to school dressed as their favourite presidents get a big bag of candy.”
“Oh. That’s a nice law,” said Rosie. “I wish we...
“Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Attack the Block, Joe...”
– You know when people say “It’s an honour just to be nominated”?
Ah, I look at the other things on that list, and it’s an honour just to be nominated.
(And I love that a Doctor Who episode is up against 6 actual movies.)
searchforelysium asked: Do you prefer to be addressed as "Niel", "Mr Gaiman", "Niel Gaiman", or something completely different, like "sexy" or "Mr Sandman"?
1 tag
Why Libraries Again...?
From: http://www.metafilter.com/112698/California-Dreamin#4183210
“I’ve spent the past year and a half of my life in library school, and about three years before that working in some capacity in rural, suburban, and urban libraries, and currently I’m currently at a cross-road in terms of whether or not I want to work in public libraries. There’s a constant state of fear...
1 tag
sherlockcomic asked: Hey, I'm a brand new writer (just finished a novel today! Hurray!) and I was wondering something I'm sure tons of people have asked you. How many novels have you written that have been rejected by publishers? How do you deal with them?
woolulihoo asked: you look so old in that video, Neil :( don't die, please
1 tag
noswayze asked: How do you make friends with scary people such as Alan Moore and Harlan Ellison?
4 tags
That last post
People are asking if that last post was a joke.
I don’t think so.
But even if it was, it wasn’t. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, many times, either as hate mail that came in on the FAQ line over at neilgaiman.com, or in other corners of the web — the saddest of which was a letter from a young, female Iranian fan, who loved my books all the way from Iran and...