neil gaiman
Oct. 9th, 2008 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
2eclipseso i went to go see neil gaiman's graveyard book tour last night with corrin and darla. it was held at a church instead of a bookstore and i think it really added a lot to the atmosphere, even though the acustics were a bit of a problem.
neil read from his book and that was pretty neat. and we got to see film footage for the new movie being made of coraline.
and he says he's working on a film script for anansi boys.
and he read blueberry girl to us - a picture book he wrote for tori amos's daughter.
but the best part of the evening was the Q&A.
Q: which one of your characters would you like to have at a dinner party.
A: the idea terrifies me!
honestly, i think dinner would go and be nice and then they'd say something like "neil, that broken arm on page 84? what was the point of that? that HURT!"
Q: what would you do if you couldn't be a writer?
A: well i'd really like to run a pen shop. only i'd not be a very nice pen shop owner. people would be surprised. they'd come in and i'd find them exactly the right pen. and i'd help them personally. but if they asked me to try a different pen i'd say no. that pen is not for you. THIS pen is for you.
and if they asked for merlot ink. i'd say no no you are not ready for merlot. you will write with blue. and then you will come back and i will give you blue-black. then in a year you will perhaps write in grey or brown...and only then will you be ready for merlot.
Q: do you dream in color?
A: yes.
Q: what advice do you have for aspiring fantasy authors?
A: steal from someone other than tolkein and read outside the genre.
Q: did you like the new batman movie?
A: yes and no. it seemed like there were two movies happening at once. on one hand there was this really fabulous heath ledger film. and then on the other there was this VERY long, brooding movie that was not very good.
Q: what will you work on when you go home?
A: the next 11 pages of a new batman comic. allan got to write the last superman comic and i'm sort of getting to write the last batman.
Q: why minnesota?
A: well this can be read in two different ways depending on where you put the accent. if you mean why do i live here, it's because i'm british. and they didn't explain the cold fully to me before i came. i thought that when lakes freeze and snow falls on the ground, that's as cold as it got. i didn't understand the kind of bottomless cold that happens in minnesota.
on the other hand if this question is emphasized differently, it could be kind of an exestential question - WHY minnesota!? maybe someday minnesota will tell us why.
Q: what is your favorite halloween memory?
A: well most of them aren't scary because we dont' do halloween in england like you do here. i remember sitting with terry pratchet in new york and watching a huge parade going by with witches and ghouls and zombies...and terry turned to me and said, "you couldn't do this in england. you'd wake things up! you can only do it over here where there's nothing to wake." but another one is my daughter coming to me and saying she had nothing good to dress as for halloween so she was going as me.
this is my favorite
Q: could you summarize dicken's bleak house? i skipped my reading to come here and see you.
A: (neil laughed a lot at this) well first off, if you are assinged the WHOLE text of bleak house for one assignment, you are in trouble. i mean, you could have driven down from canada and it still wouldn't be enough time to read the whole thing.
but okay. there's mud and that's actual mud, but it's also the legistlative system getting everyone all tangled up and messy....(neil went on and i didn't catch everything he said..but it was very funny).
also i got a signed copy of the graveyard book.
neil read from his book and that was pretty neat. and we got to see film footage for the new movie being made of coraline.
and he says he's working on a film script for anansi boys.
and he read blueberry girl to us - a picture book he wrote for tori amos's daughter.
but the best part of the evening was the Q&A.
Q: which one of your characters would you like to have at a dinner party.
A: the idea terrifies me!
honestly, i think dinner would go and be nice and then they'd say something like "neil, that broken arm on page 84? what was the point of that? that HURT!"
Q: what would you do if you couldn't be a writer?
A: well i'd really like to run a pen shop. only i'd not be a very nice pen shop owner. people would be surprised. they'd come in and i'd find them exactly the right pen. and i'd help them personally. but if they asked me to try a different pen i'd say no. that pen is not for you. THIS pen is for you.
and if they asked for merlot ink. i'd say no no you are not ready for merlot. you will write with blue. and then you will come back and i will give you blue-black. then in a year you will perhaps write in grey or brown...and only then will you be ready for merlot.
Q: do you dream in color?
A: yes.
Q: what advice do you have for aspiring fantasy authors?
A: steal from someone other than tolkein and read outside the genre.
Q: did you like the new batman movie?
A: yes and no. it seemed like there were two movies happening at once. on one hand there was this really fabulous heath ledger film. and then on the other there was this VERY long, brooding movie that was not very good.
Q: what will you work on when you go home?
A: the next 11 pages of a new batman comic. allan got to write the last superman comic and i'm sort of getting to write the last batman.
Q: why minnesota?
A: well this can be read in two different ways depending on where you put the accent. if you mean why do i live here, it's because i'm british. and they didn't explain the cold fully to me before i came. i thought that when lakes freeze and snow falls on the ground, that's as cold as it got. i didn't understand the kind of bottomless cold that happens in minnesota.
on the other hand if this question is emphasized differently, it could be kind of an exestential question - WHY minnesota!? maybe someday minnesota will tell us why.
Q: what is your favorite halloween memory?
A: well most of them aren't scary because we dont' do halloween in england like you do here. i remember sitting with terry pratchet in new york and watching a huge parade going by with witches and ghouls and zombies...and terry turned to me and said, "you couldn't do this in england. you'd wake things up! you can only do it over here where there's nothing to wake." but another one is my daughter coming to me and saying she had nothing good to dress as for halloween so she was going as me.
this is my favorite
Q: could you summarize dicken's bleak house? i skipped my reading to come here and see you.
A: (neil laughed a lot at this) well first off, if you are assinged the WHOLE text of bleak house for one assignment, you are in trouble. i mean, you could have driven down from canada and it still wouldn't be enough time to read the whole thing.
but okay. there's mud and that's actual mud, but it's also the legistlative system getting everyone all tangled up and messy....(neil went on and i didn't catch everything he said..but it was very funny).
also i got a signed copy of the graveyard book.
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Now I have to ask you...
Date: 2008-10-09 04:36 pm (UTC)And if I come visit, can we do a drive by of Neil's house?
Re: Now I have to ask you...
Date: 2008-10-09 04:44 pm (UTC)i don't know where neil gaiman lives...and minnesota is BIG. if he lives far, it will depend on how much time we have. you can drive 6 hours and still be in the state. but if he lives close and you can find out where? absolutely.
i like minnesota. i like living here a lot. i miss virginia a lot too. it's home. but minnesota is fun. i like how cozy the winters make you feel, and how there's lots of good snow for x-country skiing, and how all the coffeeshops and libraries have fireplaces and all the coffeeshops have drive-throughs. i like how winter is sunny with snow on the ground here instead of endless months of dreary skies.
i like how the summers get hot and how spring BURSTS forward in a way you can almost feel because it's so eager to be here.
i like the politics. i like the support for the arts. i like the MANY knitting stores. i like the lakes and rivers everywhere. minnesota is good for many reasons.
but the ones that actually got me here are two-fold.
1) ross works here in the top of his field and is union-employed in a field where he'd have to start at the bottom anywhere else.
2) it's the second best area in the country for non-profits (the first being dc).
Re: Now I have to ask you...
Date: 2008-10-09 04:53 pm (UTC)That's as far as I've gotten. Heh.
How do you like the Graveyard Book?
Re: Now I have to ask you...
Date: 2008-10-09 04:59 pm (UTC)i haven't started the graveyard book yet. i only just got it last night...and then i went in the hot-tub with ross...and then i fell asleep cuz i was so tired.
i will probably know more after this weekend.
however, i can tell you that it is kinda like junglebook, except that the boy is raised by dead people (and maybe undead people) in a graveyard. the chapter neil read was pretty neat.
Re: Now I have to ask you...
Date: 2008-10-09 06:05 pm (UTC)Re: Now I have to ask you...
Date: 2008-10-09 06:59 pm (UTC)Re: Now I have to ask you...
Date: 2008-10-09 10:07 pm (UTC)Funny story - a few years back he was nominated for a Minnesota writing award. One of my friends at the time contacted the agency about it, and he wasn't eligible.
He may, of course, have moved since then. That was about 3 years ago.