posted by Neil
This morning's meeting just got out early, so I have time to Blog a little. As Maddy says, W00t.
I'm in New York right now, having meetings from dawn until long after dusk on all manner of things, including a movie adaptation someone cool wants to do of one of my short stories, some people who want to adapt a novel as a musical. I recorded some Public Service Announcements for National Library Week. Lots of finding out what's going to happen now Marvel owns Marvelman (more information when I am at liberty to talk). Had an
Annotated Sandman discussion. Saw conjoined twin sisters
Evelyn and Evelyn play their debut gig (Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley are presenting them to the world. They are very shy).
Tomorrow morning is the first PETER AND THE WOLF rehearsal. Very happy and a bit nervous about it (it'll be on Saturday Night in New York.
Details are at this link.)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
7:00 pm
WFC Winter Garden
Lower Manhattan’s own professional classical music ensemble, The Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra, continues its second season with a new twist on a classic work and a world premiere! Sergei Prokofiev’s children’s classic, Peter and The Wolf, is given new life when special guest Neil Gaiman, winner of the 2009 Newbery Award and author of Coraline, narrates this tale.
The evening proceeds with the world premiere of And Bold To Fall Withal – Henry Hudson In The New World composed by Gary S. Fagin for tenor and chamber orchestra. The work celebrates the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's sail into New York Harbor and features Jason Danieley who was described by The New York Times as "the most exquisite tenor on Broadway."
It's
in the New York Times. It lasts an hour. It's free. See you there?
Most exciting news was an email from The House on the Rock. Now The House on the Rock is a real place about an hour west of Madison Wi, that I write about in American Gods, and I had to tone down my description of it and leave things out in the book in order to make it believable.
It's a monument to kitsch and wonder and madness and uncertainty. It contains the largest carousel in the world, which nobody ever gets to ride (although people ride it in the book. It takes them somewhere). I know that people read American Gods and then visit the House on the Rock, because they tell me at signings and in email, and it looks like the House on the Rock has noticed this too.
Tom Kupsh at the House on the Rock suggested some kind of event for fans. I asked what he had in mind, and this is what I got back:
Here are the ideas we have so far:
--Although the tenth anniversary of publication is 2011, we would like to do something this year (and maybe next year as well). We would like to do this over the Halloween weekend--perhaps a three day event.
--I suggest you go to our web site at thehouseontherock.com and see the facilities that we have at the three sites. We have a limited number of rooms--about 200; there are a great number of rooms available within easy driving distance. We also have some conference rooms available and are accoustomed to handling larg
posted by Neil
The editor at CBS Sunday Morning asked if I had any photos of my son Mike back at the period when I first had the idea for
The Graveyard Book - late 1985. I looked. We really didn't have any. I wandered next door and asked Mary (his mum, my former wife and for these last five years my friend and next-door neighbour) if she had any photos from back then. "No," she said. Then, "Do you mean those transparencies? I have them in an envelope somewhere." She vanished and came back with a large manila envelope from a long time ago. "Here."
Half a lifetime ago -- literally -- I was nearly 25, and working for magazines. Henry Fikret, who photographed a lot of the interviews I did, volunteered to take some photos of me and my family, and he did.A week later the envelope arrived, and I realised that everything he shot was on colour transparencies -- like huge slides -- and I was never sure what do with them, other than being fairly sure I couldn't take them down to Boots the Chemist and have prints knocked out. So they stayed in their envelope, and they kept their secrets, and were forgotten.
Yesterday I had the transparencies scanned, and finally got to see lots of pictures I had never actually seen before of Holly as a baby, Mike at the time that I would have watched him riding his tricycle around the graveyard, and me... at exactly half my age: A young journalist who had sold a very small handful of short stories and two non-fiction books, with dreams of writing fiction and comics. At the time I was dressing in grey, but was getting tired of the way that you would buy something grey and take it home and discover that it was a blueish grey or a brownish grey, and wondering if I'd have the same problem if I just started to dress in black.
And half a lifetime on, it seemed like it might be good to put one up here. I checked, and Mary didn't mind. What odd clothes we wore back then. What big glasses. And look, my hair is practically normal.
So long ago, and it went like the blink of an eye.
...
Birthday wishes are flooding in from around the globe. I wish I could reply to everyone personally, but it would take the next 365 days... so thank you. Thank you all.
Peter showed lot of INDPENDENCE when he went off in search of the wolf. (Watch OUT! Peter)
Like the wind! Faster than lightning! Lots of news and no time to tell it. In brief . . .
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Aah Peter and the Wolf! I reviewed several picture book versions here: http://www.playingbythebook.net/2010/03/18/peter-and-the-wolf/ I can’t recommend Susie Templeton’s animated version of Peter and the Wolf enough (http://www.peterandthewolffilm.co.uk/). It completely revived the piece of music for me. Thanks for linking to Playing by the book – have you seen my “visits” to the other Nordic countries?
Nay, but I will now. A collected list would be superb. It’s all theoretical for most of us here in the States, but for those who travel it might prove invaluable. Cheers!
Funny. that’s the exact cover on my copy of “Starring Sally J. Freeman As Herself.”
Karen, mine too! (And it took me till I was an adult to notice/get the Jewishness of the whole Freedman family. Sometimes we white Midwesterners are slow.)
That’s the cover I had too. And I liked this because this was about as contemporary as a Jewish family got in the books I had growing up (compared to All-of-a-Kind Family) and the family sounded like people I knew.
As Karen and EM says, that’s the cover that was on my copy of Sally J. Freedman too! I think mine even has the same wrinkles.
Thanks for putting up the entry I received for “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon”! (In fact, just today I received ANOTHER entry for Grace Lin’s book — done entirely with shadow puppets — I’ll share it soon!)
Today I put up 2 more 90-Second Newbery entries I’ve received — a really great “Witch of Blackbird Pond” and another rendition of “A Wrinkle in Time.” I’m getting really excited for this festival!
http://jameskennedy.com/2011/05/09/90-second-newbery-the-witch-of-blackbird-pond-1959-and-a-wrinkle-in-time-1963/