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The CBLDF Salutes Chicago With A World Class C2E2 Showing!

This weekend the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund lands in the windy city with an incredible array of events and exclusives for our supporters at the inaugural edition of C2E2! Join us for An Evening with Neil Gaiman, Signings with Tony Harris, exclusive new prints by Gaiman and Harris, and the launch of the CBLDF Exclusive Benefit BPAL fragrance Banned in Boston!

An Evening With Neil Gaiman

On Saturday, April 17, at 7PM Neil Gaiman will be giving his only reading in 2010 to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in the Arie Crown Theater at McCormick Place! The last time Neil Gaiman performed theatrical readings was ten years ago on the "Last Angel Tour." On that tour, he crisscrossed the country, giving sold-out readings of stories and poems, both new material and beloved tales. That was ten years ago. In those ten years, Mr. Gaiman's published such books as American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book. He's made movies and operas. He even started keeping a blog. A generation has grown up who have not seen an evening with Neil Gaiman -- until now.

For One Night Only. Neil Gaiman. Only for the CBLDF, and only at C2E2!

Tickets for An Evening With Neil Gaiman are available at C2E2 Registration at McCormick Place on the 2nd Floor or the CBLDF booth 933, starting Friday. Admission is $20 for C2E2 Badge Holders and $35 for the General Public not attending the convention. For more information, please visit: http://c2e2.com/en/Events/Neil-Gaiman/

Exclusive Neil Gaiman/Tony Harris Print & Harris Signings!

To commemorate Neil Gaiman's triumphant return to Chicago, Tony Harris, the award-winning artist of STARMAN, EX MACHINA, and WAR HEROES has illustrated an all-new print based on the unpublished poem "In Reilig Oran," which Gaiman will premiere for the first time at "An Evening With Neil Gaiman!" Unsigned copies of this gorgeous full-color 11 x 20 print will be available for a $20 donation to CBLDF at C2E2.

Harris will also be appearing at the CBLDF booth (933) to sign copies of the print, and his graphic novels. Harris will also be creating one commissioned piece of original art per day. Harris appears at the CBLDF booth:

Friday - 4:00 to 6:00 PM
Saturday: 12:00 to 2:00 PM
Sunday: 12:00 to 2:00 PM

All New ECHO Print by Terry Moore Premieres in Chicago!

Terry Moore, the award winning creator of ECHO and Strangers in Paradise premieres a brand new print to benefit the Fund at C2E2. A beautiful 11 x 17 presentation of the original black and white line art from the cover of the upcoming Echo #22, this print is only available for donation to the CBLDF!

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab Releases Array of New CBLDF Benefit Fragrances!

The Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, creators of unique fragrances based on literary and artistic works, are coming to Chicago in force with a variety of new fragrances to benefit the work of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund at booth 951! New fragrances include BANNED IN BOSTON & the NEVERWHERE family of scents. Details include:

BANNED IN BOSTON

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17. drive-by blogging

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By: Neil Gaiman, on 5/21/2009
Blog: Neil Gaiman (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  CBLDF, subterranean, honestly who didn't kill Amanda Palmer at this point, Spin Housing Works event, Add a tag

posted by Neil

Catching up on things, so this is just me nipping on to say that the sold-out SPIN Housing Works me&amandapalmer event on June 3rd has posted a handful of front row tickets that they are auctioning off, ten in all.

Housing Works is a good cause ( see http://www.housingworks.org/social-enterprise/).

You get a front row side table for two at the event, a signed poster and complementary drinks. You can bid for the five front row tables at http://www.shophousingworks.com/auction.cfm?storeID=7&windowImageID=1313. At least right now they haven't gone into the world of silly money.

Also, for those of you who were asking about the super-fancy and super-sold out Subterranean Press edition of The Graveyard Book, Bloomsbury Books has a final 50 copies for sale at their website. Yes, it's expensive, and is far and away the best of the Subterranean Press books, designed by Dave McKean.

And finally, this is disappointing: http://www.cbldf.org/pr/archives/000390.shtml

Personally, I wish the CBLDF had been running the case, and not Mr Handley's lawyers. I am sure they feel they did the right thing, keeping him out of prison for owning manga and not allowing it to go to trial, but it's a bad outcome all around: bad for him, bad for comics and bad for the First Amendment.

Labels:  honestly who didn't kill Amanda Palmer at this point, CBLDF, Spin Housing Works event, subterranean

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18. Beyond tea

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By: Neil Gaiman, on 11/19/2008
Blog: Neil Gaiman (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  CBLDF, New York Times Bestseller, m+e, Add a tag

posted by Neil

If you can't afford to have me for tea (and at those prices, who can blame you?) it might be wiser to just bid for me playing the drums...






(I do not play drums. Even when I was in a band I did not play drums.)

It's one of an amazing bunch of things that have just gone up on ebay from the CBLDF, who appear to have released everything cool they've been sitting on this year all at once. You want a character from the Sandman 20th Anniversary poster? You want the background from the Sandman Anniversary poster? You want the Sandman-Hellboy crossover drawn by Mike Mignola and me?



Then you go to this ebay link, and go shopping for the Holidays...

Labels:  CBLDF

0 Comments on Beyond tea as of 11/19/2008 7:58:00 PM

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19. from Logan airport

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By: Neil Gaiman, on 11/8/2008
Blog: Neil Gaiman (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Jonathan Coulton, what you do in planes when you go on tour, Thea Gilmore, CBLDF, Add a tag

posted by Neil

Let's see. I gave the talk in Las Vegas (enormously fun, especially the Q&A bit. Incidentally, for anyone who was there, I checked and the news story I mentioned occurred neither in Pittburgh nor Detroit, but in Philadelphia). Then from there I found myself whisked to a room at the top of a Casino, sitting at another table and signing more books for the people who had funded and helped the Book Festival, and for those who had sprung for an expensive ticket. It was a lot like a normal signing only nobody could hear anything over the music, so if I signed your book to Brian and it should have been to Ryan... er, sorry.

Then I spent most of the day on a plane. (I was meant to be working. Instead, in what is becoming a familiar refrain on this blog, I slept.) Last night I saw Thea Gilmore and Nigel Stonier supporting Joe Jackson (they were wonderful), and met their son Egan again: he's now bigger and blonder.

Now typing in Logan airport -- I've flown up for a family event. Hoping that everything goes according to schedule and I can make it (my cousin Scott's bar mitzvah) and get back to New York in time for the event tonight. I bet I can. It just adds a little excitement to the day.

Charlie Fletcher did the kind of interview in Scotland last week that left me worried that he wouldn't have any interview material as we'd spent the whole time chatting happily. I shouldn't have worried -- his interview is up at http://living.scotsman.com/features/Neil-Gaiman-interview-One-foot.4674238.jp, although I think he would like you to know that he didn't write the headline.

The Dangerous Alphabet confuses the New York Times reviewer (well, she describes it as "funny, frightening and confusing all at once"). "The humor seems better aimed at older kids than the publisher’s recommended “5 and up.” Call me a goody-two-shoes, but I won’t be reading the words “Q is for Quiet (bar one muffled scream)” to my kindergartner anytime soon," she says. Still, it seems like the kind of mixed review that would let people who would like the book know it was out there...

Here's a complete version of the Manchester Creepy Doll (although I am a bit invisible, for reasons that will become obvious):



And finally, an article about tonight's event in New York (and a bit about tomorrow's event) as well as an interview with Charles Brownstein of the CBLDF:

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/11/neil-gaiman-com.html

Labels:  what you do in planes when you go on tour, Jonathan Coulton, Thea Gilmore, CBLDF

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20. In which the author goes for a walk and then tries to answer some of the things in the mailbag

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By: Neil Gaiman, on 9/19/2008
Blog: Neil Gaiman (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  completely abandons the idea of writing lots of labels and goes to bed instead, Douglas Adams, Cats, Coraline movie, CBLDF, mushrooms, national book festival, Add a tag

posted by Neil

So I got home yesterday at sunrise. Slept all day. Was up all night but not good for much. (This is what sunrise looks like when you get close to my house.)

Today I slept until early afternoon. Then got up and walked the dog. I got very used to using the camera as a diary while I was in China (as a back up for a notebook, and sometimes a substitute), so took the camera along on the walk.

G. K Chesterton observed that one of the best things about being away is that you get to see what you come back to with different eyes.

Found myself amazed by the size of my house, for example. There are a lot of people in China, and they live, on the whole, in much smaller places than mine. (Actually, that's probably true of most of the world: it takes a certain idiocy to want to live in an Addams Family House in the first place). But having, over the last month, met a number of families in which several generations lived in one room, it seems really strange to have so much space.

I saw many vegetables growing, pumpkins even, while I was in China, where I also learned that pumpkin vine tips make a great stir-fry-vegetable (if you peel off the fuzzy stuff first). And was happy to see that I had a few pumpkins in my garden. Not many, but enough.

Was pleased to observe, on my walk, that the falling-down barn has not yet fallen down.

Astonished and delighted to see blackberries. I planted the one blackberry bush about five years ago, and people would always decide it was a weed and mow it or cut it. Finally, earlier this year, we put big metal rods up to persuade people not to mow over it, and now I'm home and, gosh, blackberries. Not as nice as the ones in my grandma's back garden, when I was a boy, mind.

Also a grape-trellis covered with grapes. Really yummy ones.

Lorraine tells me that Cabal was depressed while I was away, and he went off his food and moped. He's been extremely happy since I've been back. I have not the heart to tell him I'm going off on tour soon. (Maddy knows, but she assures me that as manager of the volleyball team she will probably not have time to really miss me. She is probably just telling me this to make me feel better.) (I just read that to her and she says, "Say 'PS Maddy will totally miss me', so they don't get any wrong ideas.")

A tree in front of my writing gazebo has been cut down, I notice. It was a sapling when the gazebo was built, but had grown and was cutting off the light.

Brightly coloured fungus on the side of trees. Tomorrow, when I walk, I may look for giant puffballs in the woods, but without enthusiasm, as they are my least favourite of the edible mushrooms. (Which reminds me -- when I was in China I was fed something called both Bamboo Pith and Bamboo Fungus, also known, less appetisingly, as the Stinkhorn. I googled and wound up learning all about the unexpected but, for ladies at least, gratifying qualities of the fresh stinkhorn. Dried and reconstituted with bamboo shoots, it would not have the same effect.)

And also, while I was gone, the remarkable Hans put in an electric fence. There have been more and more sightings of bears in this region, and we've been assured that an electric fence will keep bears out of the beehives, as long as the bears don't get to them in the first place. (Which is to say, if you have a beehive and a bear gets into it and then you put up an electric fence, the bear will cheerfully go through the fence to get to the honey.)

And because, not unreasonably, the last time I posted dog photos, many people asked for pictures of cats, and because I don't think Coconut (who was, long ago, Maddy's kitten) has ever been photographed in this blog, here are Princess (sitting) and Coconut, in the front hall, where the dog is not allowed to go.

I went to the Humane Society today and picked up their list of Things They Need, and gave it to Lorraine. She went out and bought bleach and cat food and peanut butter and so on, then went up to the Humane Society to drop the stuff off.

She returned much later carrying a cardboard box containing a calico kitten with whom she had fallen in love, and was last seen taking the kitten home to introduce to her Bengals. This is Princess glaring at the calico kitten...

And this is Lorraine's kitten, puffed up and halloweeny in order to persuade everyone that she is in fact a very big cat indeed.

...

There's an interview with me over at Goodreads -- http://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/12.Neil_Gaiman?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Sep_newsletter

and lots and lots of Coraline movie information out there, probably too much to link to without it being overwhelming, but
http://photos.latimes.com/backlot/gallery/coraline is a terrific photo gallery at the LA Times, and there's a really good article about Laika studios and Henry and the Coraline team from the Oregonian at http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/huge_artistic_stakes_are_ridin.html.

Several people wrote to ask what I thought about Eoin Colfer writing a new Hitchhiker's book -- for example,

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article4773155.ece

In regard to the above, did they ask you to do it, and would you have accepted if they had?

Nobody asked me to do it, but then, when Douglas asked me if I'd like to adapt Life, The Universe and Everything for radio I said no, and that was with Douglas alive and asking. (Dirk Maggs did it, and did an excellent job.) It seemed a thankless task.

I like Eoin very much, and wish him well with the book. He'll probably write a sixth Hitchhiker's book with more enthusiasm, and certainly faster, than Douglas would have done. But it won't be a Douglas Adams Hitchhiker's book.

For the record, if I don't get around to writing a sequel to something while I'm alive, I'd very much rather that nobody else does it once I'm dead. It should exist in your head or in Lucien's library, or in fanfic. But that's me, and not every author feels the same way.

Hello Neil,

This is almost a dangerous question to ask you, because it is about something John Byrne has said. But as a large proponent of libraries, I was curious as to your thoughts on something he recently stated regarding trade paperbacks in libraries:

"Ever since I started writing for a living, I have found myself viewing libraries somewhat differently than once I did. I think we are all in agreement that libraries are A Good Thing -- but are they A Good Thing right across the board? When we have niche products like comics, is it really a good idea for them to be available in libraries?"

I don't think it's a dangerous question, and it has a remarkably easy and straighforward answer, which is, Yes, it's a very good idea for them to be in libraries.

Hello Neil,

First off, I hope this email finds you well.

I've planned to attend the Library of Congress book festival and just wanted to know if there are any general rules of etiquette for your signings.

Is there a book limit for signing?

Can a say a few words about how much I enjoy your work in person? I promise it won't last longer than 15 nervous seconds.

Most importantly, how early should I arrive before the likely rush of other frothing fans?

These questions constantly roll in my mind. I'd hate to add extra weariness to a likely hot, humid, noisy,(yet still awesome) festival.

Thanks for coming to the southeast!

Sincerely,
Dan

The book limit will depend on how many people there are, and how many people I can get through in the time I've got. It'll be announced at the signing, but it won't be more than three books, and it may well be only one.

And of course you can talk to me. Most people seem to use the signing line as an opportunity to say thank you, and most authors are pleased to hear that they've made a difference, or just to be thanked. We like it if you say hello, honest.

How early you should get there? I don't know. Each time I've signed at the LoC Book Festival it's been different. According to the website this time it's:

Teens & Children Pavilion

11:45-12:15 pm (This is a short reading from The Graveyard Book, and a Q&A).

Book Signing

1-3 pm (and it'll probably go longer if they don't need the space, but may be cut off if they don't have anywhere to move it to, or have something else planned for me at 3.00pm).

We may wind up with people who would like to be at the reading/Q&A who skip it in order to be early in the signing line. But that's if they've actually told people where to line up for the signing, which they may or may not do.

Last time people were in the signing line before dawn. I don't think that would work this time, as I'm not doing a morning signing.

Hey Neil,
I would love to know what time the Columbia University reading is taking place on September 30th. I am very excited t go but don't know what time to arrive. Thanks.

-Dan

The details are now up at http://www.neilgaiman.com/where/ -- according to which it starts at 7.00pm.

I see in "Where's Neil" that you'll be doing a signing in New York City and Philadelphia. With New Jersey right in between, why not a stop here?

Because the people who aren't on the East Coast, some of whom are travelling hundreds of miles to get to the readings, would rise up as one person in their anger at the unfairness of it all, and destroy New Jersey in their rage. Which would be sad, because there are lots of bits of New Jersey that are actually quite nice.

When Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, she (allegedly) attempted to get books she didn't approve of out of the public library. This is scary. Are free speech organizations like the CBLDF and the First Amendment Project going to take this issue on?

No. They are too busy fighting actual cases of censorship from all the way across the political spectrum, to bother with partisan silliness. (Here's the Snopes report on Palin's non-existent Bookbanning.)

What you fight is specifics: bad laws, bad arrests and the like. People trying to ban books and comics and people trying to stop other people selling or publishing or creating comics and books and suchlike.

You don't fight "alleged attempts to get books out of a public library" ten years ago. To "take this issue on" I suspect would consist, Father Ted-like, of people walking around Sarah Palin with placards saying "Down with This sort of Thing" and "Careful Now", which would probably not result in increased freedom of speech.

Hi Neil! This Andrew Drilon (I was the creator "Lines and Spaces", the Alex Niño tribute comic which won the Philippine Graphic/Fiction Award last year). I've been making lots of short comics since then, under the banner title Kare-Kare Komiks, and they've gotten nice comments from people like Emma Bull and Warren Ellis, so I thought you might be interested:

http://www.chemsetcomics.com/category/kare-kare-komiks/

Anyway, I'll be posting "Lines and Spaces" there tomorrow, for those who are planning to enter the contest this year (the deadline's at the end of the month), and I'm hoping you can help spread the word.

Consider it posted.

Labels:  Douglas Adams, Coraline movie, Cats, CBLDF, mushrooms, completely abandons the idea of writing lots of labels and goes to bed instead, national book festival

0 Comments on In which the author goes for a walk and then tries to answer some of the things in the mailbag as of 9/20/2008 1:17:00 AM

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21. Last post for a bit

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By: Neil Gaiman, on 7/20/2008
Blog: Neil Gaiman (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  CBLDF, Dave Sim, blog holiday, BPAL, Snow Glass Apples, auctions, Add a tag

I'm at Clarion. Which is in San Diego, about ten miles from where Comic-con will be. I don't have any plans to be at Comic-con, my plate is pretty full here. I also won't be blogging -- I want to give teaching my full attention. I haven't done this before.

But Charles Brownstein from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund asked me to get the word out on a couple of things:

1) Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab have done a limited edition of their amazing "Snow, Glass, Apples" scent. It smells like green apples and like sex and vampires, all at the same time. It's coming out with a limited edition illustrated chapbook of the story, with art by Julie Dillon. There are going to be a few signed ones, and some unsigned. The donation for the unsigned ones will be $50. As they say:

The long-awaited Snow, Glass, Apples perfume will be making its debut at San Diego Comic Con! The SGA package includes Neil Gaiman’s short story in chapbook format, beautifully illustrated by Julie Dillon, and a 5ml bottle of perfume inspired by the tale. This set is a limited run of 1000. 250 will be sold by CBLDF at Comic Con 2008, and the remainder will go on sale July 30, 2008 on the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab web site and will be available as long as supplies last. All proceeds from this project go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund!

(I just want to say that Beth at Black Phoenix has proved herself an amazingly staunch supporter of the CBLDF, and has been a complete joy to deal with in all this.)

2) You remember I signed a hundred tee shirts for the fund? (I signed them in thick fabric paint.) They will have some of them for sale at San Diego. Probably $50 each, with a few of the rarer tee shirts going for more.

3) and then there's the auction on Saturday night. As Charles said in his letter,

In our Saturday night auction, we have a number of tremendous items. The coolest is Ryan Graff's Endless Reflections, offered here to commemorate Sandman's 20th. Serious bidders should come by the CBLDF booth (1831) to learn more about this book, which is probably the rarest of all Sandman items. We also have some other cool items including:

1) Dave Sim, Neil Gaiman, "Lithograph 1: Neil Gaiman," signed by Sim, collage retouch by Gaiman (prints/original art)
2) Neil Gaiman, The Dangerous Alphabet #260/400 (prints)
3) Neil Gaiman, Murder Mysteries HC, #122/250 (book arts)
4) Neil Gaiman, The Sky At Night broadsheet #1/5 (prints)
5) Neil Gaiman, Stardust Movie Premiere ticket, signed (ephemera)
6) Cerebus #147, featuring Neil Gaiman's 24 Hour Comic, signed with sketch by Sim (comics)
The full list is terrific, and has some other great pieces, including work by Jack Kirby, Jeff Smith, Matt Wagner, and many more. Full list is here: http://www.cbldf.org/pr/archives/000365.shtml

The auction is Saturday at 7:00 in Room 2 of the convention center

The Lithograph #1, is the third of these, and the second to go on sale. (The second one we did was lost by the post office between my house and the CBLDF, and despite being insured for $1000, the Post Office declined to pay. Sigh.

Anyway, I took Dave's original multiple portrait of me, and then painted it, attacked it with a knife, and collaged strange machines onto it. It's one of a kind...

Hi Neil!

I greatly enjoyed the story and photos of all the signed black t-shirts, and of your first black t-shirt. But something's been bothering me ever since, and I only just managed to put it into words.

My brain can't quite cope with the thought of you having a *first* black t-shirt, in much the same it struggles to cope with the Big Bang. What came before?

Mili

Grey. But it didn't work, because, I discovered, there are brown greys and blue greys and greenish greys and they don't really match, and if you want to dress in grey you have to work at it. Black is so much easier...

Who do I have to approach to get you for a UK bookshop event? How small a shop are you willing to do?

You talk to the publisher. In the case of The Graveyard Book, you'd talk to Bloomsbury. And I go where I'm sent, but try and do shops that are big enough that the people who've come for a reading or a signing fit inside the shop and don't have to stand outside in the rain.

0 Comments on Last post for a bit as of 7/20/2008 3:23:00 AM

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22. not really about anything...

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By: Neil Gaiman, on 5/17/2008
Blog: Neil Gaiman (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  knitting, CBLDF, cory doctorow, The etymological wossname of Freak Out, Dr Whomlet, Fourth Street, Barbie Death, Add a tag

Let's see -- spoke at Maddy's school yesterday, to about a hundred 13 and 14 year olds. Survived. The pear tree and the cherry trees are coming into blossom too. Tomorrow, without the glorious leadership of Bee Boss Sharon Stiteler, I get to inspect the Kitty hive and go and see how the queen is doing...

I'm currently spending most of the time in the gazebo at the bottom of the garden, alternately writing a sort of outline for something and proofreading The Graveyard Book. This is the US edition of The Graveyard Book, and now I'm taking all the corrections and fixes I did to the UK manuscript when I was in Australia and transferring 90% of them over to the US version (only 90% because I'm letting a few Americanisms that my UK editor had problems with stand -- particularly the ones my otherwise wonderful UK copy editor and I butted heads over. )(There's me at two in the morning on Skype muttering, "Look freak out can't just be a newfangled Americanism -- it's in Fanny Hill, for heaven's sake...") [For the curious, http://fiction.eserver.org/novels/fanny_hill/09.html five lines from the bottom.]

....

If you're on the upper East Coast and sad that you won't get to see me at MIT as all the tickets have sold out, you could -- and should -- down your sorrows in Cory Doctorow. As you will learn over at http://www.cbldf.org/pr/archives/000357.shtml you can learn all about it....

What: Cory Doctorow Benefit Reading For CBLDF

When: Sunday, May 25 at 5 PM; VIP After Party at 7 PM

Where: Comix, 353 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10014

How Much:
General Admission: $20/advance $25/day of show;
VIP Admission: $100/advance only, includes preferred seating, copy of the book, & After Party with open beer/wine/soda bar

Tickets:
General Admission tickets available at
http://comixny.com/event.aspx?eid=416&sid=1302;

VIP Admission available at
http://store.fastcommerce.com/prod_cbldf-ff80818119f1676e0119f2fbcdc91642.html


You should go.

...

I know that David Tennant's Hamlet isn't till next year. And lots of people are going to be doing Dr Who in Hamlet jokes, so this is just me getting it out of the way early, to avoid the rush...

"To be, or not to be, that is the question. Weeelll.... More of A question
really. Not THE question. Because, well, I mean, there are billions and
billions of questions out there, and well, when I say billions, I mean, when you
add in the answers, not just the questions, weeelll, you're looking at numbers that are positively astronomical and... for that matter the other question is what you lot are doing on this planet in the first place, and er, here, did anyone try just pushing this little red button?"

There. Thanks. Sorry about that.

...

This came in from Laurel Krahn -- I've already mentioned Fourth Street Fantasy on this blog, one of my very very first American conventions, the one at which I first discovered the joy of talking to Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden (amongst others) and failing to argue with Steve Brust:

Any chance you could mention the return of Fourth Street Fantasy Convention in your journal/blog thing? We've extended the pre-registration date from May 15th to May 31st to give us all more time to plug the convention, it also gives those who haven’t registered yet a bit more time to gather the funds together to do so.

June 20 - 22, 2008 in Minneapolis, Minnesota with Guest of Honor Elizabeth Bear.

More details at http://www.4thstreetfantasy.com/

My friend Lillian Edwards pointed me at the TechnoLlama blog, where over This, this and finally this post the entire matter of Dr Who knitting patterns is discussed to within an inch of its life.

I crochet, and I'm a Doctor Who fan, so I've been following the thing with the knitted pattern a little. I've always had a set of Lil' Endless on my mental list of things to eventually crochet, but now that you've mentioned that DC is a bit strict about things I think I might just keep them to myself instead of writing up a (free, not to be sold) pattern. What would your feelings be about crochet/knitting patterns of your characters? It's not just The Endless I have in mind, I've done a seven legged spider before, and there are several other characters or concepts that I think would make neat projects.

As long as things aren't being sold in quantity, DC Comics is incredibly unlikely to grumble about it.

I don't mind at all, as long as it's not commercial. I don't mind anything that's creative, and I especially don't mind if people ask nicely first.

(I mind, very much, things like people selling on ebay CDs with PDFs of the complete Sandman books on them.)

(Nobody is going to complain if a fan turns a Barbie into a Death -- although I heard that DC said no to one of those appearing in a book of photos of interesting Barbie dolls. Nobody is going to grumble if a fan puts up a "how to make Barbie into Death" guide online. If someone put up a how to guide, and then one day hundreds of Death Barbies turned up on eBay, I can see Warners lawyers trying to close it down...)

...

Had a conversation with Paul Levitz the other day about Gaiman's Law of Superhero Movies, which is: the closer the film is to the look and feel of what people like about the comic, the more successful it is (which is something that Warners tends singularly to miss, and Marvel tends singularly to get right) and the conversation went over to Watchmen, which had Paul explaining to me that the film is obsessive about how close it is to the comic, and me going "But they've changed the costumes. What about Nite Owl?" It'll be interesting to see whether it works or not... Read the rest of this post

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23. Very very sleepy post

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By: Neil Gaiman, on 4/18/2008
Blog: Neil Gaiman (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  CBLDF, Gordon Lee, bees, Douglas Adams, posts you write when you really ought to be in bed, Add a tag

This is the best news I've had in ages -- being able to announce it at the beginning of tonight's reading was an enormous thrill:
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=154204

And I want to say thank you to Gordon Lee for bearing up so well and hanging in there. It's hard for the people who think that the authorities are out to get them. It must be much harder when the authorities really are out to get you.

As I said when I made the announcement, the CBLDF has spent over $100,000 to make sure that this attempted miscarriage of justice didn't happen, all of that money raised a dollar at a time from fans and readers and professionals. So two nights ago we had an event for publishers, the kind who publish books (and who are now publishing graphic novels), in order to spread the idea that a) they needed to know what the CBLDF is -- they may need us, and b) we'd like them to take out corporate memberships.

There's a few photos of the event at the bottom of this blog entry...
http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/04/18/icv2-conference-and-cbldf-reception

The CBLDF reading tonight was fun, and Bill Hader is hilarious. (His impression of me listening to Al Pacino pitching his interpretation of the Sandman movie would have been worth the price of admission, if I'd paid to get in, which I hadn't.)
...

Last Summer I was interviewed (or rather, Winterviewed) all over my house by Miss Winter McCloud -- it's just gone up at http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16044

...

Last week, Sharon and Bill Stiteler came out and we took advantage of a warm Sunday to go and say hello to the bees, and do the spring inspection (and spring cleaning)of the hive. (We'll be putting in some new hives over the next few weeks.) Sharon blogged about the bee inspection over at

http://www.birdchick.com/2008/04/spring-bee-inspection.html

I was fascinated by this, in the way you can only be when you once wrote a book about something (actually I'd finished writing the book when most of this was happening. A small glimpse into what might have been on the sequel to the infocom Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Computer Game... -- http://waxy.org/2008/04/milliways_infocoms_unreleased_sequel_to_hitchhikers_guide_to_the_galax/

...

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24. Why Introductions?

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By: Neil Gaiman, on 4/7/2008
Blog: Neil Gaiman (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  CBLDF, and snow, Something to do with old introductions, not staying in bed for a week, tea and not-tea, Add a tag

Good morning.

Well, I'm now into the second week of off-tea and eating-lots-of-fruit-and-veg-when-I-get-hungry. Drinking lots of water, and juicing things, and occasional herb teas. Weight is starting to drop. Concentration, which went completely out the window when I stopped drinking tea, is returning, and sleep patterns are changing.

The weather was wonderful two days ago, then it rained yesterday, and today I woke up and watched big white flakes of snow drifting past my window and thought, Oh bugger, and decided to stay in bed for days or weeks until the weather became more sensible, a thought that lasted until the dog needed to go out, two or even three minutes later.

Starting to plan out the coming year. I wrote a proposal for a personal, non-fiction book about travel and myth, and my publisher wants to do it, so now I'm figuring out all the whens and the hows, especially of the travel bits. And I'm deciding whether I'll blog from the road or stop while I'm travelling, leave the computer at home, and put the effort into writing in notebooks, or what.

It's ten days until the CBLDF reading and Q&A that I'm doing in New York at the comic-con. This just turned up in my email from http://www.cbldf.org/ and I thought I'd post it here as a reminder to anyone in the New York area...

Neil Gaiman Benefit Reading at NYCC
Tickets Available Now!

April 18: Experience the magic of Neil Gaiman at an exclusive reading to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Neil Gaiman, the renowned author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, and films will be presenting a live reading benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund at the New York Comic-Con. The appearance, a paid ticketed reading event, will be called an "An Evening With Neil Gaiman" with 100% of the proceeds going to benefit the First Amendment legal work of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

General admission tickets to the reading are available for $20, while supplies last. Tickets for the VIP reception are strictly limited to 100 pieces, and will include access to meet Mr. Gaiman and receive two signatures, plus a gift bag of exclusive Neil Gaiman oriented items from CBLDF, and preferred seating at the reading. VIP reception tickets are available for $500.

Seating is limited and going fast. Reserve your General Admission or VIP Ticket now! __._,_.

In addition to which, Jeff Smith is also doing an event for the CBLDF. With an open bar...

Toast the arrival of Jeff Smith's new comic book epic RASL! Come meet Jeff Smith in person at his only New York City appearance of the season, enjoy an open bar, and get a takeaway bag of tons of exclusive RASL goodies. Only 100 general admission tickets and 26 VIP tickets are available so get your ticket now! Tickets are available now! Get the Full Details here!

And then there's the Hellboy 2 team...



Why can't we give you fanart at the signings in Australia?

(Boggles for a moment.) Of course you can give me art. Or anything you like, short of body parts. If it's too much for me to carry, I'll smile sweetly at the people hosting the events and get them to post it back to me. (So a month after I get home I get a box filled with cool things I'd forgotten.)

recently, on my latest hunt for more books, i bought myself a nice fat copy of fantasy short storys by Rudyard Kipling. That night i made my mug of cocoa and got comfy to read a couple, when turning the first few pages i happened upon a quick little 'hello and welcome to the book' by a certain mr N Gaiman. ok, so not really strange. Writers write intoroductions, nothing odd about that. but this is by no means an isolated incedent! it seems like ever since i started to read your books(become aware of you etc), you've been popping up in introductions everywhere. it appears to me that you do a fare share of them.

is doing an introduction something you enjoy and so you take most of the chances given to you? (you like sticking your 'neil was ere' mark on books)

or as an artist who works and has worked over several different medias do you simply get alot of offers?

what do you enjoy most about writing one?


ps. sorry if this question is slightly untimely now that you are unofficialy/officialy banned from taking any on!

Writing an introduction is really fun and pleasurable -- it's like introducing a really good friend at a party to a lot of people who don't know him or her, but you know they'd be friends if they met. You want to go "This is Mr Poe. He's written some wonderful poems and stories -- they're especially good if you read them aloud," or "This is Doctor Who. He built my internal landscape." Or "This is The Thirteen Clocks. If you feel sad you should read this book and it will probably make you feel better."

I get asked to write a lot more introductions than I say yes to, and they take up much more time than I imagine they will when I say yes, but there are very few that I regret having done. Really, I ought to try and make a place on this website that collects them. (Those not collected in Adventures In The Dream Trade, anyway.)

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25. A useful post (honest)

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By: Neil Gaiman, on 12/18/2007
Blog: Neil Gaiman (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  presents for people that do good things too, party, CBLDF, Add a tag

This just arrived in my in-box, and it seems a bit last minute, so I thought I'd repost it here for anyone in the LA area who was wondering what to do on the evening of Wednesday the 19th...

CBLDF Member Holiday Party This Wednesday
This Wednesday, December 19, the CBLDF's Member
Appreciation Holiday Party lands in Los Angeles at the venerable Golden
Apple Comics on Melrose! A sleigh full of great creators will be on hand to
celebrate Free Speech & spread comics cheer, including Percy "MF Grimm"
Carey, Rob (Scud) Schrab, Bill (Simpsons) Morrison, Gerry (Infinite Horizon)
Duggan, Marc (Manhunter) Andreyko, Christos (What If: Civil War) Gage, Larry
(Beanworld) Marder, Rantz (Displaced Persons) Hoseley, and more! Come by for
signatures, sketches & surprises! The first 50 current or new CBLDF members
signing up at the event will receive a gift bag packed with great items,
including preview editions of Frank Cho's Jungle Girl, Alex Ross' Superpowers,
Gerry Duggan's Infinite Horizon, and Rantz Hoseley's Displaced Persons, plus a
variant cover of Sinbad: Rogue of Mars #1, a DJ Spooky Sampler CD, a Will Eisner
graphic novel, and additional signed CBLDF prints!To make the night even more
special, Golden Apple will be providing holiday cocktails & snacks, a CBLDF
benefit auction, and 10% off all purchases made by CBLDF members, and a matching 10% donation to the Fund! Golden Apple has also prepared an exclusive MF Grimm
print, limited to just 25 pieces for CBLDF members coming to the event! The party
starts at 6:00 PM and runs until 9:00 at Golden Apple Comics, 7018 Melrose Ave.
at LaBrea. For more information, visit http://www.goldenapplecomics.com!/

For those who can't be there, there's an online auction at http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZcbldf -- and it includes a signed 1996 San Diego Stardust Print.

And then for those of you who want to look further than eBay for CBLDF things, there's the Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab CBLDF scents at http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/neverwhere.html is the American Gods and Anansi Boys scents,
and
http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/stardust.html is the Stardust one.

(Sooner or later Beth is going to release her Snow, Glass, Apples perfume which is, I think, my favourite of all of them. People smell like sexy vampire apples when they wear it. Honest.)

And I should post that there's a treasure trove of cool, rare, and (in my opinion) often criminally underpriced stuff ($20 for a signed Frank Miller Sin City Poster?) at the CBLDF store at http://www.cbldf.com/. (And books and comics signed by everyone from Frank Miller and Jim Lee to Matt Fraction and Jeff Smith, often at cover price.) And when the stuff is gone, it's gone -- there used to be an awful lot of stuff up on the CBLDF Neil Gaiman Store page, and I notice it's now down to 7 items. (Admittedly, one of them is the Fiddler's Green Program Book, which I thought long gone and sold out completely.)

Right. Bed now.

(Well, bed once I've posted this link --http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6513517.html -- to a Publishers Weekly article on The Writers' Strike and Comics...)

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