June 2012
sonicpatronus asked: So I just finished reading The Graveyard Book (nice work, by the way) and I had a question about Silas' character. You said that the book was inspired by your son, Michael. Does that mean you, as the paternal figure in your son's life, wrote yourself in as Silas in a way, or did somebody else (fictional or real) inspire him? If you wrote yourself in, did you find it easy/hard to reel...
icarusbeforeme asked: A lot of authors talk about knowing your ending before you start writing. They say that you should have a beginning, an ending and let the middle be the surprise. When I write I find that I don't really know the end or the middle. All I really have is a beginning and some characters. Do you always know your ending before you start?
aninhaclara asked: How are you? What you think about we not having much black characters in books? Would you write a novel with a black character ? I asked this once, but I bet you have tons of question to answer, so I'm asking again, maybe you answer this one. And good luck answering all the other questions!
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mizzkatonic:
What exactly is Obamacare and what does it change?
abaldwin360:
big thanks to reddit user CaspianX2 for typing all this out!
What people call “Obamacare” is actually the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. However, people were calling it “Obamacare” before everyone even hammered out what it would be. It’s a term mostly used by people who don’t like the PPaACA, and it’s...
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itscalledthecarousel asked: Hi Neil! Is your dog named after the Clive Barker book? Is that the case, is your dog supossed to lead the Tribes of the Moon?
eternallyeccentric asked: Hi, I'm (finally) attempting to write a novel and I was wondering what you find to be the better approach when you're stuck with a particular scene: be persistent and force yourself to write it as best as you can, not continuing until it's done? Or make a quick note of what the scene should be and move onto the next one until later when it might come more easily? I tend to do the...
crimmson asked: Hello Mr. Gaiman. My friend is working towards becoming an author, so I pointed her to your tumblr because I think you give a lot of good advice that could help her. She worries a lot about what other people will think though, and she was disheartened when her first book didn't sell as much as she had dreamed it would. Do you have any advice to give her, and aspiring authors in general? On...
aphroditecomplex-deactivated201 asked: Dear Neil: I've asked you in Twitter, but I think this is a better place to ask. I want to tattoo a phrase of you, but I still can't decide which one. Can you give me an advice? Or perhaps I'll get your answer tattoed.
raiykei-deactivated20130404 asked: Hello, Mr. Gaiman! This might seem kind of random, but how do you pronounce Cabal's name? Is it 'Ca-Ball' or more like 'Cable'?
meganannedear asked: Mr. Gaiman, I think you missed a "pro" for handwriting; my computer froze recently and I lost a story and several poems that I hadn't saved yet, and now they're gone. Notebooks don't freeze, and nothing gets deleted.
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“- When you began writing in your adult life, it felt like coming home. Back...”
– It just keeps going. You should read the whole thing. Wise words by Terence Blacker (from his ENDPAPERS column in the Society of Authors Magazine, THE AUTHOR), for anyone who is, who loves, or wants to be an author.
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awfulconsequences asked: Do you think there are any pros and cons between writing a story by hand vs. typing it out onto a computer?
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tumblwip asked: Hello Mr. Gaiman. I asked you a question a while ago and you didn't answer so I'm assuming it wasn't an interesting question. If this were an interesting question, what would your answer be? Thank you, Ciaran.
mainermoose asked: Edinburgh is your only festival? "Fall for the Books" in Fairfax, Virginia has you listed as a headliner this September. Is that not true? :(
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Edinburgh Book Festival. It's my only Edinburgh...
FAMILIES & 10+
Monday 13 August
8:00pm - 9:00pm
RBS Main Theatre
£7.00, £5.00
To mark the 10th anniversary of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, Chris Riddell has created beautiful, atmospheric and unsettling illustrations for a new edition. The tale of the lonely girl who discovers an alternate world where her ‘other mother and father’ live has been turned into a graphic novel and a film. Neil...
spacecricket asked: Last night I had a dream that I was fortunate enough to run into you on the street while carrying a copy of American Gods. But you signed it "To Brian" and when I said "My name is Michelle," you were like "WHATEVER, KID." So now I'm mad at you. You owe me a better dream!
isthisagoodidea asked: I just watched your lovely Doctor Who episode, The Doctor's Wife. A great piece. The bits when Amy and Rory were in the TARDIS and House was making them suffer reminded me of AM in Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream. Was this similarity intentional? Or is it just my interpretation?
trippedthelightfantastic asked: forgive me for phrasing my question this way, but what's wrong with Jonathan Livingston Seagull?
mjschryver asked: Have you ever had a computer flake out in that way that only computers can, and eat something you wrote, and decided, "Ah, screw it," and just let it go? Or do you / would you always go back and do it again?
rockwoodjade asked: I'm a little worried that I'm getting too self-involved with this story I'm writing. So I'm wondering: Have you ever cried while writing any of your stories?
ugla asked: Hi Neil. Are you going to publish another book soon (like ... this year? Pretty please because then all my top favorite authors are publishing new books this year: JK Rowling, Marian Keyes, Terry Pratchett, Robin Hobb - and you! Literature bliss for me!) And if you are writing/publishing a new book; what is it about? Best regards and I'm sorry for your friend passing away. Love from Iceland!
misterwil-son asked: Hi, Neil. I'm rereading Fahrenheit 451, and I'm noticing something that used to bother me when I was a kid, back when I blamed my imperfect eyesight: the type on some pages is more bold and dark than on other pages. My Google searching has proved fruitless. Can you provide some explanation? Thanks for reading, as always.
aleisterflowery asked: Dear Mr Gaiman, I just finished re-reading your collection of short stories, Fragile Things, and I was curious about something. What made you pick the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma to be mentioned not once, but twice?
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Making it rebloggable, because people keep asking....
Hi, Neil. In a recent VlogBros. video Hank Green said that 50 Shades of Grey has sold more copies than the number of books Ray Bradbury sold in his lifetime. That worries me, and I’m afraid that it will become increasingly difficult to find brilliant literature in the future. Do you think the commercialization of literature (if that’s an appropriate phrasing) has put good, thoughtful...
misterwil-son asked: Hi, Neil. In a recent VlogBros. video Hank Green said that 50 Shades of Grey has sold more copies than the number of books Ray Bradbury sold in his lifetime. That worries me, and I'm afraid that it will become increasingly difficult to find brilliant literature in the future. Do you think the commercialization of literature (if that's an appropriate phrasing) has put good, thoughtful and...
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if you are interested in Jill commissions...
jillthompson:
I created a new email account thats for commission requests only! After getting too many lost amidst spam and coupony things, I finally smartened up and gave them their own mailbox!
SO- if you’d like to get commissioned artwork please send your inquiry to jill dot commissions at g mail dot com…I’d write the email out but last time I did that I got plagued by bots and hacky type...
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pavorst asked: Dear Mr Gaiman, I hope that one day I'll write something truly good. Maybe even just one good sentence. How is it that you can write so many good sentences and pull them together and knit them into novels? I often wonder how that happens, what happens inside of your head. Thank you, for making me realize that I could, in fact, write.
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“The Law is a blunt instrument. It’s not a scalpel. It’s a club. If...”
– Because sometimes it needs restating.
(I wrote about why I’ll fight to defend unpleasant,uncomfortable or icky speech and images in my journal over at
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/12/why-defend-freedom-of-icky-speech.html)
murderbornofvengeance asked: Hello Mr. Gaiman! As I was reading your tribute to Ray Bradbury, I was reminded of his short story "The Veldt" and a creative piece I had written in high school for extra credit. Unfortunately, anything considered "creative" was to be done on our own time...but your tribute brought me right back to that family, the house, the nursery, the psychologist, the lions. I believe the...
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My story, THE MAN WHO FORGOT RAY BRADBURY is...
The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury
By Neil Gaiman
I am forgetting things, which scares me.
I am losing words, although I am not losing concepts. I hope that I am not losing concepts. If I am losing concepts, I am not aware of it. If I am losing concepts, how would I know?
Which is funny, because my memory was always so good. Everything was in there. Sometimes my memory was so good that I even...
hellziggy asked: Re: library ebooks. Yes, it does work the same as the physical books. The library has to buy a license for each & every copy they want of each book. Only one patron can have each one checked out at a time, and checkouts are limited to a set length of time (usually 3 weeks) with the book returning automatically if the patron doesn't return it early. Library ebooks are one of the only times...
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