Etched in Water

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/11/final-reminder-for-bookshops.html

A quick reminder (as I was just asked) that today is the day that the bookshop Graveyard Book party reports have to be in to Harper Collins. By 9 pm PST.

http://files.harpercollins.com/Mktg/HarperChildrens/PDF/GraveyardContest_rules.pdf are the rules and info for those who lost them.

Hi Mr. Gaiman,

I was disappointed today to read you won't be part of the judging for The Graveyard Book contests. My not-wealthy, middle-of-nowhere bookstore just sent in its entry, and something we're concerned about is the fairness of judging.

For example, independent bookstores like Powell's (I'm sure you know) easily have enough money and are in a convenient enough location to ask you to come at one time or another. Against stores like that, who were able to put more money into their parties, we stand little chance.

I don't think that it's a lost cause for us; we were very creative. I'm just nervous to know you won't be judging. Can you tell me whether you think the judges will take things like size and location of bookstores into account? It would make me sleep a little easier until the results are announced.

Tusen takk,
Allison

Well, per the rules, the judging is based on:

(i) Overall creativity of the Party, as demonstrated by the invitations, signage, decorations, activities, entertainment, and refreshments.
(ii) Customer attendance and response (i.e., enthusiasm, costumes, participation).
(iii) Ability to capture and represent the spirit of The Graveyard Book.
...specifically to reward creativity, and not the ability to outspend other shops. (That was also why the party had to actually be at the bookshop, and not at another location.)

I asked my editor, Elise Howard, and she said,

Gosh, yes. Here's what we think is happening. We are looking at all the entries. On Monday, we'll send you the best 11, from which you will choose the Grand Prize Winner. The rest will get the first-prize package. So the short answer is that you ARE helping to choose.

The longer answer is that we will be very fair and will consider creativity, which includes work done with available resources, along with pure execution. (Don't you think? We haven't done anything yet; still waiting for more entries to come in.)

...which means that

a) I was wrong and will be the ultimate judge, from the shortlist. (Damn.)

and

b) everyone's on a level playing field.

Does that help reassure you?

PS -- Widgett's Graveyard Book Dessert competition winners have been announced over at http://www.needcoffee.com/2009/11/06/graveyard-book-dessert-challenge-winners/.

This one had NOTHING to do with me at all. But lor' the winning desserts look tasty...

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/11/note-to-self-nights-are-for-sleeping.html

Still trying to get back onto a diurnal schedule. (And, I should add, failing.)
And, of course, although I posted it before, it bears repeating that you can watch the film that Steven-Charles Jaffe made of the "Dark and Silly Night" comic Gahan and I did for art spiegelman and Francoise Mouly's Little Lit at the New Yorker site, or here:



And if I'd been here for Hallowe'en I would have posted it here then. Which reminds me, The Graveyard Book party season is over. Over thirty independent bookshops had Graveyard Book parties (The ABA's Bookselling This Week reports on thirteen of the parties -- and the shops -- at http://news.bookweb.org/7149.html.) The very best one of all will get me in their shop doing a signing in December and, looking at these thirteen, I am very glad I am not any kind of a judge for the awards.

My only hope is that the shop that wins will be somewhere warm. But most of the places on the party map will be just as cold by December as my house. (Vague and only climate-based relief that HarperCollins said No to Alaska in the rules mingles with vague and selfish disappointment that they also said No to Hawaii.)

It looks like the CBS Sunday Morning profile on me is going out this Sunday, the 8th, 9:00-10:30 AM, ET. According to this website:

Correspondent Serena Altschul visits author Neil Gaiman -- the tender-hearted master of the macabre -- whose books, including Coraline and The Graveyard Book have topped best-seller lists for 25 years.

.. which left me wanting to go "I am NOT a tender-hearted master of the macabre, I am in fact VERY SCARY INDEED," but I suspect I would convince nobody.

Thrilled to see that Odd and the Frost Giants was listed as one of Amazon.com's Best Books of 2009. While I was in China The Graveyard Book was listed as one of the ALA's teens top ten for 2009 as well, an award voted on by over 11,000 teens. (And I made it onto the list with lots of other good people.)

Also, Fragile Things was awarded the French 2010 Les Grands Prix de l’Imaginaire Award for translated short fiction. My thanks to the judges, but mostly to the translator, who in this case is the incredibly talented Michel Pagel. If I ever look good, do well, sell books or am popular in a foreign country, it's because of the translators, and they never get enough thanks or acclaim. And I think I'll post the cover here, because I never have.

You're welcome. I think this link has everything for sale in the auction: http://shop.ebay.co.uk/scrawldog/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/11/author-comes-home-and-displays-many.html

I went to XinjiangProvince in Western China to continue researching my Monkey/China book. This is the photo I took of a scenic building that, I discovered when the men came out to arrest us, turned out to be a police station. If you're in Kashgar do not take pictures of this building. Trust me on this.



... or discussion of the pomegranate crop, counted as politics. It made my journey even stranger than it might have been already.
More photos of China and Singapore in my next post, I hope. In summary: Singapore was wonderful, but the visit was much much too short: we were there for about 50 hours altogether. Once again, the food was amazing and the people delightful.


(Middle photo of the amazing bubble by Miss Holly Gaiman. Who is fundraising.)

What is everyone currently reading at this time? I'm curious.

I'm a little over half done with Homeland by R.A. Salvatore. I borrowed the Dark Elf trilogy a while back and I think it's time that I read it so I can send it back to its owner. ^_~ I like the book, but I'm looking forward to the next volumes since I hear it gets better.

But as far as my own books go, I'm reading Oliver Twist, which I only own because I needed something to get with my store credit at the used bookshop. And I've always been meaning to read this classic.

Here is what I have so far:

( 1 through 30 )
31. "Flight of the Raven" Jennifer Roberson
32. "A Tapestry of Lions" Jennifer Roberson
33. "The Tao of Pooh" Benjamin Hoff
34. "The Te of Piglet" Benjamin Hoff
35. "The Immortal Prince" Jennifer Fallon
36. "The Gods of Amyrantha" Jennifer Fallon

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/10/i-go-i-go-look-how-i-go.html

Mr. G is too busy to use the internet, so I'm still here.


Item, the first :: CBS Sunday Morning has moved the segment on Mr. G from this Sunday, November 1 to (tentatively) Sunday, November 8. More as it develops.

Item, the second :: Thanks to reader Tony McFee and Audible.com's director of direct marketing, we have the NYC subway ad!


Item, the third :: Reader Aurora RuPert carved Death into a pumpkin:

---

And then there was the mailbag:


In honor of the many Graveyard Book Halloween parties being thrown this weekend, Emily P. submits her own goblin variation, journal as an algorithms problem set:

Between the hours of 11pm on Friday October 30th and 11pm Sunday November 1st, 15 bookstores will be hosting Graveyard Book Halloween parties. Mr. G would like to visit as many as he can in these four hours. Assume you can model these bookstores as a connected graph G(V,E) where each vertex v corresponds to a bookstore. Positive edge weights w(u,v) denote the time (in minutes) it takes to travel between bookstores u and v.

a. Give an algorithm to calculate the maximum number of bookstores Mr. G can visit in four hours by traveling along the edges of this graph.

b. Give the run time of this algorithm.

c. Assume each bookstore also has a weight B(v) which tells you how long you can stay at that bookstore. Mr. G does not want to play favorites so on a given path p of n bookstores, he will stay k minutes at each bookstore where k = min(B(v1),B(v2),...,B(vn)). Given this constraint, give an algorithm to determine how many bookstores Mr. G can visit in four hours.

If anyone manages to provide a suitable answer set, they shall have an imaginary cookie.

---

Brittany H. writes:

Hi Lorraine!

I just wanted to say thanks for the link to BDFAR in Durham! I've lived in the area my whole life, but somehow how I had never heard of it. I am G-mapping directions there as we speak and now have a fruitful occupation for my afternoon.

1.) I'm not Lorraine. (She's far more fabulous.)
2.) You're welcome! I hope you liked it. I picked up some incredible used books there over the years, as well as the comics and music.

---

Teresa J. writes:

Any chance of you posting a photo of yourself before you hand the reins back? I'm sure the ladies would appreciate seeing another staggeringly good-looking, funny, and smart gentleman over whom they can swoon. :)

I'm sure they would, but I thought you were asking for a picture of me? *rim shot*

I like my quasi-anonymity. The closest you're going to get is this:


This is Eben, my spirit animal.

---

Apropos of nothing, except that Mr. G has been known to mention his Android phones, I'm playing with the Motorola CLIQ this evening. It's fun and cute, but I don't think I'll be trading my (deliciously modified, optimized) G1 in for anything short of a significant upgrade in processor and RAM.

I am feeling serious gadget lust for both the Motorola Droid and the Nokia N900, but the former is only on Verizon (and possibly, next quarter, AT&T), and the latter has a great deal going for it (including, but not limited to, my love for my N810 and the superiority of Maemo judged purely on the bases of openness and linux-completeness), but I've become rather partial to Android and its Google apps. I can only hope that T-Mobile quickly gets on the ball and announces something on par with either. (Surely Google won't bring out an inferior ADP2, or switch carriers?)

---

National Novel Writing Month begins Sunday. I've been participating successfully since 2005, and recommend doing it at least once if you have any sort of writerly ambition. It's a good deal of fun, and completely mad.

---

I've received several queries about where else I may be found online. I'm willing to go as far as re-stating that I have a largely neglected livejournal.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/10/playing-with-forms-journal-as-list-of.html

[My apologies to those of you seeing these posts again in your feed reader. I am attempting to diagnose the current LJ syndication fail. -your faithful web goblin]

• Lest I give a mistaken impression by referencing The Guild and The Legend of Neil, please know that I am the very antithesis of a gamer. I have never played a MMORPG. I haven't played a first-person shooter since the original Castle Wolfenstein. Never the less, I enjoy a good laugh, so I avidly follow things like Penny Arcade and The Guild. (Am I the only one who thinks it's strange that PA has never featured Mr. G, by the way?)


• I am not the knavish sprite I once was; it now takes me more like eighty minutes to put a girdle 'round the Earth, and twice that to get one around myself.


• I don't, in fact, have a secret network of subway-photographing New Yorkers. Unless by "photographing" you mean "dwelling".


• There is no sanity clause.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/10/playing-with-forms-journal-as-weekly.html

[My apologies to those of you seeing these posts again in your feed reader. I am attempting to diagnose the current LJ syndication fail. -your faithful web goblin]

Due to his special needs and peculiar physiology, Mr. G is shipped from place to place in a specially designed steamer trunk filled with a brandy-like solution. Upon his return home, he is not so much re-installed as he is decanted, the solution slowly replaced with tea. Mr. G spends the first subsequent week in a zombie-like fog as he marshals his power and bids his senses return to him, like Odin summoning Huginn and Muninn.

During this delicate period, care must be taken that nothing unusual intrudes upon the process, lest ZomblieN go wandering into the forest after deer and hapless hikers. It is rumoured that the lye pit is getting full, and Woodsman Hans needs a new shovel.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/10/playing-with-forms-journal-as-back-page.html

[My apologies to those of you seeing these posts again in your feed reader. I am attempting to diagnose the current LJ syndication fail. -your faithful web goblin]

Clare M. writes:

I haven't a question, more a spot of praise for Dreamhaven Books that I'd like to share with you, if I might be so bold.

Some time ago, Neil told us that Dreamhaven had a new batch of signed stock. I was looking for a special gift for my honorary neiece and so ordered a signed copy of Blueberry Girl, feeling slightly apprehensive about having it shipped to the UK. But, it arrived wonderfully packaged, very quickly and for a modest shipping fee. Thank you Dreamhaven.

Three cheers for Dreamhaven Books! It has bought, sold, and even published a lot of awesome stuff over the years.

In the spirit of this, the Graveyard Book Parties contest, and Tor.com's serialization of Cory Doctorow's Makers (for which he has requested that readers share some of their favorite booksellers or bookstores with the rest of the community in the comments sections after each post), please allow me to wax nostalgic about one of my favorite ones.

My local independent book store, growing up, was Books Do Furnish A Room in Durham, NC. From third grade through college I was there at least once a week. When I was little, buying Batman and X-Men comics, I had no idea that the store owners had great taste. By the time I discovered what I'd been missing, the Miracleman TPBs and the Dave McKean art books were gone, but I did manage to snag "Angels & Visitations", "Warning: Contains Language", "Violent Cases" (numbered and signed by Mr. G and McKean!), the whole run of From Hell, several Sandman shirts and posters, and "Signal to Noise".

It's an awesome place.

---

Eden writes:

How did you first get into Neil Gaiman's work?

That's a good question. I hadn't actually thought about it in, well, possibly, ever, so the answer surprised me. My first exposure to the idea that there was a "Neil" was when I bought a used CD of Tori Amos' "Under the Pink" for $9 at Books Do Furnish A Room. I loved it; later, I got online and found out what "hanging out with the Dream King" and "Neil says hi by the way" meant.

The next time I was in BDFAR, I picked up the Sandman "Dream Country" TPB, because it was the shortest and least expensive. It hooked me completely, especially the Midsummer Night's Dream story with Vess. I picked up the earlier Sandman trades, started getting the monthly issue, and then got into his short fiction and other comics work. The rest is history, long-boxes, and continually upgraded bookshelves.

---

Sandi L. writes:

Are you enjoying your time updating Neil's blog?

Yes. I wasn't sure at first; I was feeling decidedly unwitty and unworthy this time 'round, convinced that Non-Birding Bill would be doing a much better job. In the past few days, though, I've received many nice notes, so I guess my meager attempts are not all rubbish.

I hadn't planned on doing any guest blogging at all. Mr. G isn't going to be gone all that long. I'm only posting because he keeps sending me little things he wants posted. I think he's kindly humouring me.

---

audra writes:

"goblin ears knit cap" ???

photographic evidence please. thank you.

and Angela W writes:

I should love to see a picture posted of you wearing your goblin ears knit cap.

I just knew, when I wrote that, that I was going to get a "pics or it didn't happen!" in response. And here it is.

Somewhere, in one of my previous posts from last year, I mentioned that the Web Elf and I had made grand plans for on-site bios of ourselves, complete with pictures in which we would be masked, or otherwise facially obscured, and wearing ears. I was going to commission a knit goblin ears cap from etsy or someplace. Alas, it did not come to pass.

If I did have a goblin ears knit cap, though, I imagine it might look something like this:

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/10/playing-with-forms-journal-as-industry.html

[My apologies to those of you seeing these posts again in your feed reader. I am attempting to diagnose the current LJ syndication fail. -your faithful web goblin]

• The Graveyard Book Halloween parties map is up to 33 independent book stores!


• Dave McKean is working on an animated film adaptation of "Cages"!


• Time is running out for those wishing to take advantage of neverwear.net's sale on the otherworldly How to Talk to Girls at Parties print by Camilla d'Errico.
  
  I have it on good authority that, after this week, the sale will end in order to make way for something completely new, and original. (You may have seen a sneak peek of it tweeted by a certain hugely popular artist.)

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/10/playing-with-forms-journal-as-csi-ny.html

[My apologies to those of you seeing these posts again in your feed reader. I am attempting to diagnose the current LJ syndication fail. -your faithful web goblin]

Mr. G sent the below image and directed me to find someone in New York that could get me a clean, complete photo of one of these subway ads. I wasn't sure if he meant me to post the request here, or if he thinks that I have a secret network of subway-photographing New Yorkers. Which I do, of course. They're just... uh... busy with other assignments. So, my own efforts having come to naught, I turn to you.

If anyone can take a clean, clear, complete photo of this ad for me, Mr. G and I would be appreciative.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/10/i-have-chart-dragon-chart.html

---

This is rumour control. Here are the facts:

• We're up to 35 independent book stores throwing Graveyard Book parties.


• Dark Horse has posted a preview of Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess.


• Livejournal syndicated feeds are borked up; it's not just us.


• For the record, I do not read Mr. G's email when he is gone, not even the FAQ line stuff. I only see things submitted via the Site Inquiry line.


• Mr. G is tweeting quite a bit again, so I expect this will be my final post for this outing. I remain, as always, your faithful web goblin.

---

First-time carver Charis sent the below image of a Coraline-themed pumpkin to Mr. G, who forwarded it to me, presumably for posting:



If you have your own carved pumpkin inspired by one of Mr. G's works, I'd love to see it.

---

[Journal as the opening to every Twilight book:]

All of my attempts at writing a new post had been in vain.

With ice in my heart, I stared at the blank text input field, then tabbed back to my inbox. Still empty. When was Mr. G going to send me something else to post?

Would I ever learn what he was up to in China? Would I live long enough for that?

The odds of that didn't look so great.

Somewhere, far, far away in the cold mountains of Chendgu, a panda sniffled.

(Oh, Edward...!)

---

[Journal as academic paper:]

A Dream and My Cardigan: Thematic Similarities between Neil Gaiman's The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories and Miley Cyrus' Party in the U.S.A.

ABSTRACT: Speculative fiction and tween music are both ripe with stories of alienated characters attempting to find their way through unfamiliar, often bizarre environments, be it high school or the submerged city of R'lyeh. Sometimes, the two genres may intersect, such as with Gaiman's The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories and Cyrus' Party in the U.S.A., both about a lone protagonist's arrival in Hollywood, and subsequent descent into madness.

EXCERPT: ...cardigan, calling to mind Bjork's mad, transgressive act of eating her own cardigan in response to her treatment at the hands of director Lars von Trier on the set of "Dancer in the Dark". When Ms. Cyrus sings, "Noddin' my head like yea / Movin' my hips like yea", she is describing her own ritualized expression of otherness, dancing in her own dark, so to speak, submerging in the dim "womb dentata" of a club full of stilettos.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/10/playing-with-forms_25.html

Journal as CSI: NY:
Mr. G sent the below image and directed me to find someone in New York that could get me a clean, complete photo of one of these subway ads. I wasn't sure if he meant me to post the request here, or if he thinks that I have a secret network of subway-photographing New Yorkers. Which I do, of course. They're just... uh... busy with other assignments. So, my own efforts having come to naught, I turn to you.

If anyone can take a clean, clear, complete photo of this ad for me, Mr. G and I would be appreciative. (If you didn't catch my email address when Mr. G posted it a few entries ago, just post it to the LJ comments. Assuming, of course, that LJ actually deigns to publish this post -- I've been waiting 24 hours or so and still no dice.)

---

Journal as industry blotter:

• The Graveyard Book Halloween parties map is up to 33 independent book stores!


• Dave McKean is working on an animated film adaptation of "Cages"!


• Time is running out for those wishing to take advantage of neverwear.net's sale on the otherworldly How to Talk to Girls at Parties print by Camilla d'Errico.
  
  I have it on good authority that, after this week, the sale will end in order to make way for something completely new, and original. (You may have seen a sneak peek of it tweeted by a certain hugely popular artist.)

---

Journal as back-page letters column:

Clare M. writes:

I haven't a question, more a spot of praise for Dreamhaven Books that I'd like to share with you, if I might be so bold.

Some time ago, Neil told us that Dreamhaven had a new batch of signed stock. I was looking for a special gift for my honorary neiece and so ordered a signed copy of Blueberry Girl, feeling slightly apprehensive about having it shipped to the UK. But, it arrived wonderfully packaged, very quickly and for a modest shipping fee. Thank you Dreamhaven.

Three cheers for Dreamhaven Books! It has bought, sold, and even published a lot of awesome stuff over the years.

In the spirit of this, the Graveyard Book Parties contest, and Tor.com's serialization of Cory Doctorow's Makers (for which he has requested that readers share some of their favorite booksellers or bookstores with the rest of the community in the comments sections after each post), please allow me to wax nostalgic about one of my favorite ones.

My local independent book store, growing up, was Books Do Furnish A Room in Durham, NC. From third grade through college I was there at least once a week. When I was little, buying Batman and X-Men comics, I had no idea that the store owners had great taste. By the time I discovered what I'd been missing, the Miracleman TPBs and the Dave McKean art books were gone, but I did manage to snag "Angels & Visitations", "Warning: Contains Language", "Violent Cases" (numbered and signed by Mr. G and McKean!), the whole run of From Hell, several Sandman shirts and posters, and "Signal to Noise".

It's an awesome place.

---

Eden writes:

How did you first get into Neil Gaiman's work?

That's a good question. I hadn't actually thought about it in, well, possibly, ever, so the answer surprised me. My first exposure to the idea that there was a "Neil" was when I bought a used CD of Tori Amos' "Under the Pink" for $9 at Books Do Furnish A Room. I loved it; later, I got online and found out what "hanging out with the Dream King" and "Neil says hi by the way" meant.

The next time I was in BDFAR, I picked up the Sandman "Dream Country" TPB, because it was the shortest and least expensive. It hooked me completely, especially the Midsummer Night's Dream story with Vess. I picked up the earlier Sandman trades, started getting the monthly issue, and then got into his short fiction and other comics work. The rest is history, long-boxes, and continually upgraded bookshelves.

---

Sandi L. writes:

Are you enjoying your time updating Neil's blog?

Yes. I wasn't sure at first; I was feeling decidedly unwitty and unworthy this time 'round, convinced that Non-Birding Bill would be doing a much better job. In the past few days, though, I've received many nice notes, so I guess my meager attempts are not all rubbish.

I hadn't planned on doing any guest blogging at all. Mr. G isn't going to be gone all that long. I'm only posting because he keeps sending me little things he wants posted. I think he's kindly humouring me.

---

audra writes:

"goblin ears knit cap" ???

photographic evidence please. thank you.

and Angela W writes:

I should love to see a picture posted of you wearing your goblin ears knit cap.

I just knew, when I wrote that, that I was going to get a "pics or it didn't happen!" in response. And here it is.

Somewhere, in one of my previous posts from last year, I mentioned that the Web Elf and I had made grand plans for on-site bios of ourselves, complete with pictures in which we would be masked, or otherwise facially obscured, and wearing ears. I was going to commission a knit goblin ears cap from etsy or someplace. Alas, it did not come to pass.

If I did have a goblin ears knit cap, though, I imagine it might look something like this:

---

Journal as "Weekly World News" tabloid:

Due to his special needs and peculiar physiology, Mr. G is shipped from place to place in a specially designed steamer trunk filled with a brandy-like solution. On his return home, he must be decanted, the solution slowly replaced with tea, and spends the first subsequent week in a zombie-like fog as he marshals his power and bids his senses return to him, like Odin summoning Huginn and Muninn.

During this delicate period, care must be taken that nothing unusual intrudes upon the process, lest Zombie Neil go wandering into the forest after deer and hapless hikers. It is rumoured that the lye pit is getting full, and Woodsman Hans needs a new shovel.

---

Journal as a list of disclaimers:

• Lest I give a mistaken impression by referencing The Guild and The Legend of Neil, please know that I am the very antithesis of a gamer. I have never played a MMORPG. I haven't played a first-person shooter since the original Castle Wolfenstein. Never the less, I enjoy a good laugh, so I avidly follow things like Penny Arcade and The Guild. (Am I the only one who thinks it's strange that PA has never featured Mr. G, by the way?)


• I am not the knavish sprite I once was; it now takes me more like eighty minutes to put a girdle 'round the Earth, and twice that to get one around myself.


• I don't, in fact, have a secret network of subway-photographing New Yorkers. Unless by "photographing" you mean "dwelling".


• There is no sanity clause.

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/10/playing-with-forms.html

Journal as CSI: NY:
Mr. G sent the below image and directed me to find someone in New York that could get me a clean, complete photo of one of these subway ads. I wasn't sure if he meant me to post the request here, or if he thinks that I have a secret network of subway-photographing New Yorkers. Which I do, of course. They're just... uh... busy with other assignments. So, my own efforts having come to naught, I turn to you.

---

Journal as industry blotter:

• The Graveyard Book Halloween parties map is up to 33 independent book stores!


• Dave McKean is working on an animated film adaptation of "Cages"!


• Time is running out for those wishing to take advantage of neverwear.net's sale on the otherworldly How to Talk to Girls at Parties print by Camilla d'Errico.
  
  I have it on good authority that, after this week, the sale will end in order to make way for something completely new, and original. (You may have seen a sneak peek of it tweeted by a certain hugely popular artist.)

---

Journal as back-page letters column:

Clare M. writes:

I haven't a question, more a spot of praise for Dreamhaven Books that I'd like to share with you, if I might be so bold.

Some time ago, Neil told us that Dreamhaven had a new batch of signed stock. I was looking for a special gift for my honorary neiece and so ordered a signed copy of Blueberry Girl, feeling slightly apprehensive about having it shipped to the UK. But, it arrived wonderfully packaged, very quickly and for a modest shipping fee. Thank you Dreamhaven.

Three cheers for Dreamhaven Books! It has bought, sold, and even published a lot of awesome stuff over the years.

In the spirit of this, the Graveyard Book Parties contest, and Tor.com's serialization of Cory Doctorow's Makers (for which he has requested that readers share some of their favorite booksellers or bookstores with the rest of the community in the comments sections after each post), please allow me to wax nostalgic about one of my favorite ones.

My local independent book store, growing up, was Books Do Furnish A Room in Durham, NC. From third grade through college I was there at least once a week. When I was little, buying Batman and X-Men comics, I had no idea that the store owners had great taste. By the time I discovered what I'd been missing, the Miracleman TPBs and the Dave McKean art books were gone, but I did manage to snag "Angels & Visitations", "Warning: Contains Language", "Violent Cases" (numbered and signed by Mr. G and McKean!), the whole run of From Hell, several Sandman shirts and posters, and "Signal to Noise".

It's an awesome place.

---

Eden writes:

How did you first get into Neil Gaiman's work?

That's a good question. I hadn't actually thought about it in, well, possibly, ever, so the answer surprised me. My first exposure to the idea that there was a "Neil" was when I bought a used CD of Tori Amos' "Under the Pink" for $9 at Books Do Furnish A Room. I loved it; later, I got online and found out what "hanging out with the Dream King" and "Neil says hi by the way" meant.

The next time I was in BDFAR, I picked up the Sandman "Dream Country" TPB, because it was the shortest and least expensive. It hooked me completely, especially the Midsummer Night's Dream story with Vess. I picked up the earlier Sandman trades, started getting the monthly issue, and then got into his short fiction and other comics work. The rest is history, long-boxes, and continually upgraded bookshelves.

---

Sandi L. writes:

Are you enjoying your time updating Neil's blog?

Yes. I wasn't sure at first; I was feeling decidedly unwitty and unworthy this time 'round, convinced that Non-Birding Bill would be doing a much better job. In the past few days, though, I've received many nice notes, so I guess my meager attempts are not all rubbish.

I hadn't planned on doing any guest blogging at all. Mr. G isn't going to be gone all that long. I'm only posting because he keeps sending me little things he wants posted. I think he's kindly humouring me.

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audra writes:

"goblin ears knit cap" ???

photographic evidence please. thank you.

and Angela W writes:

I should love to see a picture posted of you wearing your goblin ears knit cap.

I just knew, when I wrote that, that I was going to get a "pics or it didn't happen!" in response. And here it is.

Somewhere, in one of my previous posts from last year, I mentioned that the Web Elf and I had made grand plans for on-site bios of ourselves, complete with pictures in which we would be masked, or otherwise facially obscured, and wearing ears. I was going to commission a knit goblin ears cap from etsy or someplace. Alas, it did not come to pass.

If I did have a goblin ears knit cap, though, I imagine it might look something like this:

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Journal as "Weekly World News" tabloid:

Due to his special needs and peculiar physiology, Mr. G is shipped from place to place in a specially designed steamer trunk filled with a brandy-like solution. On his return home, he must be decanted, the solution slowly replaced with tea, and spends the first subsequent week in a zombie-like fog as he marshals his power and bids his senses return to him, like Odin summoning Huginn and Muninn.

During this delicate period, care must be taken that nothing unusual intrudes upon the process, lest Zombie Neil go wandering into the forest after deer and hapless hikers. It is rumoured that the lye pit is getting full, and Woodsman Hans needs a new shovel.

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Journal as a list of disclaimers:

• Lest I give a mistaken impression by referencing The Guild and The Legend of Neil, please know that I am the very antithesis of a gamer. I have never played a MMORPG. I haven't played a first-person shooter since the original Castle Wolfenstein. Never the less, I enjoy a good laugh, so I avidly follow things like Penny Arcade and The Guild. (Am I the only one who thinks it's strange that PA has never featured Mr. G, by the way?)


• I am not the knavish sprite I once was; it now takes me more like eighty minutes to put a girdle 'round the Earth, and twice that to get one around myself.


• I don't, in fact, have a secret network of subway-photographing New Yorkers. Unless by "photographing" you mean "dwelling".


• There is no sanity clause.