lucy_anne | 
04 23rd, 2002| 
Librarian bias aside, the whole of Lucien’s Field Guide to Sandman Fans is just very neat and worth the look.
Wish I had more, but I’m not finding anything useful this week. Sorry 
Apr
16
Allen, Moira. “Dispatches”. The Writer, March 2002, pg 10.
…When Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods, moved from England to America, he sought “one of those things only America can provide,” he tells January Magazine-an “Addams Family house.” And he found one, near his wife’s family in Minneapolis, complete “with the big pointy tower and wrap-around porch.” It even has a reputation for being haunted:
“Somebody once told me that someone had actually hung themselves in the tower, but I’ve never been able to find anything about that anywhere else, so I suspect they probably didn’t.” Still, children refuse to come near the house on Halloween, even though the Gaimans stock up with candy.
Finding an Addams Family house was just part of Gaiman’s process of learning to understand America and Americans. “It was what American Gods came from: discovering that America was a much more complex place than I thought. … You wind up having to understand history and then come forward, to figure out who came where and what they did and what was going on economically and what the cultural patterns were. … Which again was stuff that I tried to get into the novel.”
As for writing in general, Gaiman says he’s long since learned not to go for the cash. “Go for the [project] that seems interesting, because, even if it all falls apart, you’ve got something interesting out of it. Whereas, the other way, you normally wind up getting absolutely nothing out of it.”…
Clippings of note:
Some general info that might be of interest:
Apr
12
Similar situation to BookAmerica, and posted strictly as an alert to people who are already going, or considering going to,ALA 2002 in Atlanta.
Preconferences and Special Events
Getting Graphic @ your library: June 14, 8:30 AM-5:30 PM
Comic books and graphic novels have been a part of American culture for over 60 years, and now they are successfully finding their place in libraries. Join us as we take a practical and fun look at this exciting new trend. Guest speakers include Pulitzer Prize-winning author Art Spiegelman (Maus), NY Times best selling author Neil Gaiman (Sandman, American Gods), Eisner-award-winning creator Jeff Smith (Bone), and Eisner nominee Colleen Doran (A Distant Soil).
Fees: Division Member: $185 ALA Member: $225* Nonmember: $275 Student: $185 *includes $40 division membership. Ticket info.
Apr
10
from Dave Dinsmore:
Changes to web site.:
Just a quick note to let you know that we have added an “ABOUT US” section on the main page.This section will show you how George Walker) engraves the wood blocks and the printing and binding methods.
There is some pictures of George doing an engraving for Snow,Glass,Apples, and the whole process is quite interesting.
It takes a minute to load so be patient.
Apr
9
Yes, I know they’re in the Journal, but they really are worth noting (and reading) in more than one spot:
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And if you need a usual suspect, DVDPlanet has the Saragossa Manuscript
Apr
5
From yesterdays PW Daily:
Comics’ Recipe for Success: Chapter 11
A bankruptcy filing usually isn’t cause for celebration. But to Top Shelf, a graphic novel publisher whose distributor, the LPC Group, filed Chapter 11 quite suddenly this week, bankruptcy never looked so good.
After publisher Chris Staros found out about the filing - and watched as a $20,000 check from LPC bounced - he sent out an e-mail SOS. The message appealed to 400 to 500 comics fans to buy $50 worth of his books to help keep Top Shelf alive.
Tuesday morning, Staros says, “Top Shelf was effectively out of business.” But twelve hours later, he says he’s received more than 1000 orders (200 by phone and 850 online orders) that have “made us operational again and put several thousand copies of our graphic novels into circulation.”
Among the many comics professionals that came to his aid were bestselling comics authors Warren Ellis and Neil Gaiman, who both discussed the appeal on their daily online forums. Staros’ competitors even chipped in: Publisher Mark Alessi and The CrossGen Comics staff bought $5000 worth of Top Shelf graphic novels and will donate them to the public library. Says Staros: “We’re in better shape now than we were before the LPC filing.”
-Calvin Reid
