David Maybury | Blog

I bumped into Neil Gaiman in the salubrious surroundings of the Clarence Hotel in Dublin. He was incredibly nice, and though visibly tired he withstood my questioning for over half an hour before being whisked off to read in front of a very packed bookshop. Neil was blindingly honest with his answers and was brilliant to talk to.

The full interview will appear in Inis - but for now here is Mr Gaiman answering the questions you sent by email/comments:

Many thanks to Cat Mihos, Cormac Kinsella, Patricia Kennon and Children’s Books Ireland for the chance to meet Neil. (And to everyone who sent in questions!)

I’m sorry. Busy day away from the web. (More tomorrow, promise.)

Patrick Ness has been given free reign over at the Guardian - he’s set up a competition (£50 book token, a signed copy of Patrick’s book and ten other books from Walker Press). It’s only open to anyone living in the UK but it’s an interesting challenge that might get a few people writing.

Whenever I write a short story or a novel, I ­always know the last line before I start. I might not know what the climax of the story will be, or how I will get to that line, but I always know the last feeling that I want to leave a reader with. My challenge is to write a story in no more than 600 words that …

… Starts with the line: A bell rang and I opened my eyes. I thought, ‘Oh, no, not him, anyone but him.’ … and finishes with the line: Then she let go of my hand, and I fell and kept falling.

Details about the competition are here.

I have a few minutes with Neil Gaiman later this week - anyone have any questions they would like to ask him??

I’ll try and ask as many of them as I can and put the interview up on the site afterward. And if you’re feeling really energetic Neil will be signing books in Easons on O’Connell Street from 7pm on Thursday - details here.

Its the Friday before a long weekend. You were hardly expecting anything more than a whole lot of links - and maybe a video. Were you?

> David Levine gets the star treatment inVanity Fair ( via Scamp.ie)

> Apparently Daniel Craig turned down the offer to play Thor in Marvel’s new movie. He was afraid the power would go to his head… (guardian.co.uk)

> A librarian in Brooklyn was fined $500 for promoting his daughters book - a graphic adaptation of Macbeth (guardian.co.uk)

> Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book gets reviewed in the UK Independent, sort of.

> Andy Riley’s new book DIY Dentistry features on the Guardian site - at the same as being banned in Oregon apparently.

And finally, a great video of the trials and tribulations of making a pop-up picturebook with Sam Ita. (lifted, meaning stolen, from Boing Boing)

The Arts Council has announced a one day conference, New Media, New Audience?,  aimed at Arts Council funded organisations and policy makers that are interested in “the potential that new media has on the way in which they work, and in the way it can attract and broaden audiences.”

The conference is free and has some really great speakers - including Charles Leadbeater, Damien Mulley, Conn Ó Muí­neacháin, Dermod Moore and plenty more who-be-whats-its of web the world, including yours truly.

Plenty of topics and workshops to get people looking at new media formats - so if you want to know your twitter from elbow; or your facebook from your bebo then you probably should tag along. There is a website to boot - and all of the talks and discussion will appear as podcasts after the curtain has closed.

Congratulations to Inkheart and Carbags, and everyone, who read at last nights Children’s Theatre Festival’s New Writer Slam. (Thanks to the Flip Flop organisers - especially Valerie - and to Sarah Webb, Conor Kostick and all round funny woman, Aislinn O’Loughlin too) Had a great night, including the midnight snacking in Eddie Rockets afterwards.

And there is still loads happening - including the launch of Siobhán Parkinson’s new book Dialann Sár-Runda Amy Ní Chonchúir in Pearse Street library in Dublin this morning. And then later today the launch of Conor Kostick’s Move tonight at 6 in the Stephens Green Shopping Centre (Dublin).

If, after yesterdays two events and the new writers’ reading in Dún Laoghaire tonight, you are still craving more then why not head to Hughes and Hughes in St Stephen’s at half six on Wednesday for the launch of Conor Kostick’s new book Move.

Liam O’Dwyer discovers he can move between parallel universes – when he wants something to go his way, he moves to the universe where it happens. (Remember Sliders?) But there are consequences to each move and they are starting to catch up with Liam and his friends.

Robert Dunbar will be officiating the night and the launch is in a bookshop - so there’ll be plenty of choice!

I haven’t disappeared, just been plenty busy with all of the happenings around Dublin over the last few days - including Octocon over the weekend. I got to meet some of the who-be-whats-its and writers of fantasy and science fiction, including the loverly Sarah Rees Brennan (who’s Demon Lexicon is coming out next year) and to hear some interesting characters talk about things I barely understood.

Saturday was Free Comic Book Day too and was run alongside 24 Hour Comic Book Day in the Central Dublin Hotel. I met the loverly Clíodhna Lyons who filled me in on all things comic booky - and if you haven’t already, get yourself out and pick up Clíodhna’s comic anthology “Sorry I can’t take your call right now but I’m off saving the world”.

Cathy Hopkins and Jenny Valentine (chaired by Patricia Kennon) are in town today to talk about writing for teenagers - details are here - and the UCD Creative Writing anthology Anything But Simple is being launched - details are over on you-know-who’s blog.

And finally - tomorrow will see yours truly and some very talented people take to the stage to read as part of Flip Flop, the Children’s Theatre Festival, in Dún Laoghaire. Hope to see you there!

The budget cuts announced yesterday make for interesting times in nearly every sector - including the arts, which is heavily subsidised by the state. Deirdre Falvey breaks down the changes in today’s Irish Times - effectively it is a 10% cut for the Arts Council (Down from €85m to €76m). Culture Ireland, the organisation in place to support and promote Irish Arts abroad, will maintain its funding of €4.7m.

The National Library of Ireland, the National Archives and the Manuscripts Commission will become one organisation; as will the National Gallery of Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Crawford Gallery. All of the organisations will keep their own identities but the management, HR, board and other aspects will all be amalgamated.

What is most interesting was the quote from Maurice Foley, deputy chairman of the Arts Council

Significant grant cuts are unavoidable, conditional commitments will have to be reviewed and some organisations will need funds from other sources if they are to survive.

Foley’s comment resonates with my own beliefs about arts funding and it will be interesting to see how different organisations/performance groups/festivals and individual artists innovate and use their work to create new opportunities to support themselves. The Arts Council funding announcements in November and December might the beginning of new ideas and discussions. The Arts Management blog has even more on what is to come.

In non-arts related topics - what is the story with taking away medical cards for people over 70? Sigh.

Two very quick links today - plenty of bloggoring to come later this week including an audio post with a special guest. (Oh the intrigue)

Mary Richert debates whether computer games can encourage reading or not on the Guardian site.

And David Walliams talks to Suzi Feay at the Independent UK about his book, Quentin Blake and dressing up.

And because I can - Aha’s Take on Me (The Literal Version)

Paddington Bear turns 50 today.
So many memories - too much of a head cold to write about them though. Still - love the google homepage today.

Wikipedia have more and the official Paddington Bear site is here.

Plenty of things happening in the real world these days - and I managed to detach myself from the keyboard and tag along to a few…

First was the Irish Pen event last Thursday on Writing for Children. I had a lovely chat with Sarah Webb and Carbags, as well as a quiet drink with Steve Simpson, of Scamp.ie fame, and Brian Gallagher, a very brief hello/goodbye with Oisín McGann and PJ Nolan, a chin wag with the Hungry Caterpillar and the beautiful letter writer Karl O’Neill. Sarah has a comprehensive review of the night - including stats and notes on what everyone said. And she called me lovely. Yup, I’m lovely. (Not quite on the cute-boy list yet but I’m working up to that)

Saturday saw the inaugural (and amazing) Irish Web Awards. And what a night that was. Lovely to meet the regular gang of cohorts (you all know who you are) and to see some others I don’t get to talk to so regularly - including - Sineads, Jen, Deb, Sabrina, Redmum, Martha, Lexi, Suzy, John, Paula, Ciara, Peter, Niall, Aoife, Keith, Ken, Ross, Alan and hello to Jen - who I sadly didn’t see.

Damien surpassed any and all expectations and put together an amazing night and the Grand Boo-Bah did a stand-up job (see what I did there?) on the mic. Congrats to everyone who won (or was nominated - winning isn’t everything you know). There are plenty of pics out there - so far this has been my favourite:

The VHC mentioned one of my old favourites the other night. He has written more than 130 books, worked on TV series, and is no stranger to controversy. He was one of the authors that I read voraciously when he was at his peak. And he’s back - along with his Goosebumps series - this time in graphic novels. He is RL Stine.

The Graphic Classroom has the whole story:

The stories are typical for the Goosebumps series, with plenty of age-appropriate spook and creep to satisfy the young soul searching for fun horror.

I’ve never heard of Jean-Marie Gustave le Clezio. Neither have quite a few people I’ve spoken to. But I’m looking forward to reading him in the future.

I’ve met one Nobel laureate a few times and he is brilliant and humble. But Patrick Ness‘ story about meeting Dorris Lessing just couldn’t be ignored…

I met Doris Lessing once at the HarperCollins Summer Party. She was lovely and tiny and a wee bit hobbit-like and I was so afraid of saying something stupid, I didn’t say anything at all.

Later (and this is true) I was talking to some other people I’d just met and they were asking me how I was enjoying my very first publishing party (which it was). I, nervous and braying (as I often get when I’m nervous), said, “Well, I met Doris Lessing.” They said, “How was that?”. I then decided, in a moment of idiotic madness, to make the following, ahem, joke: “She hit on me. It was awkward for everyone.”

After the unsurprising stony silence this received, I then brayed, “So, what do you do?” And they answered, with impeccable timing, “We’re Doris Lessing’s agents.”

Tons happening everywhere at the minute (Book Fest, Poetry Day, Book launches) and tonight Irish Pen host their Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Writing for Children (and more!) talk in the United Arts Club in Dublin (from 8pm).

The Watchmen gets a viewing - and analysis - over on the Guardian Film Blog. Zack Snyder sounded more than a little defensive answering questions from the audience after the screening:

“there’s a rabid and vocal fan base for the graphic novel that support the graphic novel and are maybe against the movie. No Country for Old Men changed [its source material, the novel by Cormac McCarthy] three times as much as we have but I guarantee you there’s no rabid fan base who are going to kill the Coens!”

And finally - the Very Hungry Caterpillar has some more catching up with events, as well as letting slip about her afternoon tea with Cornelia Funke. Speaking of Ms Funke, Hughes and Hughes have signed copies of Inkdeath for sale - go get yours!

*line is stolen, blatantly, from Alan Moore’s The Watchmen.

Fancy sitting yourself on a dark stage in front of real people and a few judges while you read your work? Think you can handle the brutal truths, criticism and the potential fate of rotten vegetables? Want to visit the sea-side town of Dún Laoghaire? Sound good to you?

Then the Flip Flop International Children’s Theatre Festival - Children’s Fiction SLAM is right up your street.

The SLAM is offering anyone and their granny (even me!) the chance to read in front of a live audience so long as:

> You’re writing for children aged 3 to 12
> Have never had a publishing deal for a work of fiction, in any language. (Articles, or a work of non-fiction are all okay)
> Have citizenship for the planet Earth - though I reckon this rule can be contested if your great great grand-uncle ever passed through the Milky Way.

A SLAM winner will be hand picked by the resident judges Sarah Webb and Conor Kostick - and everyone will be kept in their seats by acclaimed lion-tamer Aislinn O’Loughlin. Still interested? Send them an email before 17 October and let them know! (And get all your friends, grannies and space travelling great great grand-uncles to buy tickets over here.)

I managed to miss the launch of Monster Kid’s Rampage a month ago - the Very Hungry Caterpillar nudged me in the right direction. The new blog on the block has some really great interviews with who-be-wots-its, book reviews and news from the book world.

Definitely one for the bookmarks and RSS readers. And it has one of the best urls I’ve seen in ages - carbags.wordpress.com (I’m looking forward to hearing the story behind it)

And while I’m at it - have you read any of these other rampaging monsters?

Stony River Farm, Sinead Keogh, Brian Coldrick, Niamh Sharkey, PJ Lynch and Achockablog

A few quick links on a Sunday evening -

Robert Dunbar (who really does live up to his title as the nicest man in letters) reviews some of the latest Irish books for young readers in the Irish Times.

To explain the picnic basket reference comes the news that Yogi Bear is being developed for the big screen. More over on the FP Blog.

Edel Coffey in the Irish Independent look at the latest (and some upcoming) new books for teenagers - have a read.

And back to the Irish Times for Adam’s interview with Bob Byrne, the man behind clamnuts.com and the brilliant Mister Amberduke.

In 1990 I was 6 years old. My brother was 3. That Christmas was special - we were hoping, praying, for a Starcom ship (more specifically, the StarMax Bomber) - but it was special for another reason. It was the first year we heard the name Roald Dahl. It wasn’t from his books. Or from Quentin Blakes‘ illustrations. They both came much later. That winter was the first time I saw the film adaptation of The Witches. Nothing was ever quite the same after that.

And now it’s back on the silver screen. (!) Yup. As part of their Halloween series the IFI are showing The Witches. One more chance to see Anjelica Huston as Mrs Ernst (or, if you’d prefer, The Grand High Witch)