Tomorrow may be hell, but today was a good writing day, and on the good writing days nothing else matters.
Stardust, Coraline, and American Gods—almost everyone knows these movies and television shows, but do you know that they are all based on books by Neil Gaiman? We’re here to tell you a little about the incredible author whose books are loved by many!
Gaiman was born 1960 and he is an English author and creator of short stories, novels, comic books, graphic novels, and films with the majority of his stories feature a dark fantasy setting. Religion is present in most of his books and also in his life, but more so exploring mythology. Gaiman’s family, which have Polish and Jewish roots, converted to be Scientologists and Gaiman says this about his own beliefs:
I think we can say that God exists in the DC Universe. I would not stand up and beat the drum for the existence of God in this universe. I don’t know, I think there’s probably a 50/50 chance. It doesn’t really matter to me.
His love for books started at the age of 4 when he was able to read on his own. He was fascinated by the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Lewis Caroll, and Edgar Allan Poe, while also enjoying Batman. In his early twenties, he wrote to his favourite author R.A Lafferty and asked for advice on becoming an author himself. After receiving an encouraging response back, he first worked as a journalist and also for the British Fantasy Society where he wrote book reviews and interviewed authors. His first book was published in 1984 and it was a biography about the British band Duran Duran.
Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it’s always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins.
Together with Terry Prachett, author of the Discworld books, he wrote Good Omens, which was published in 1990. The hilarious and fun book is about the impending apocalypse and the birth of Satan’s son, where an angel and a demon have to work together in order to prevent the end of the world. It was announced in 2017 that the book would be adapted into a television series by Amazon and BBC Two, and it would star David Tennant as the demon Crowley and Michael Sheen as the angel Aziraphale. The series was initially meant to be released in 2018, but it seems it will be released in 2019 now.
“He had heard about talking to plants in the early seventies, on Radio Four, and thought it was an excellent idea. Although talking is perhaps the wrong word for what Crowley did. What he did was put the fear of God into them. More precisely, the fear of Crowley.
In addition to which, every couple of months Crowley would pick out a plant that was growing too slowly, or succumbing to leaf-wilt or browning, or just didn’t look quite as good as the others, and he would carry it around to all the other plants. “Say goodbye to your friend,” he’d say to them. “He just couldn’t cut it…”
Then he would leave the flat with the offending plant, and return an hour or so later with a large, empty flower pot, which he would leave somewhere conspicuously around the flat.
The plants were the most luxurious, verdant, and beautiful in London. Also the most terrified.”
During this time, he worked on his first comic book series Sandman, which was published between 1989 and 1996 with 8 volumes in total. The series follows Dream who is an anthropomorphic personification of dreams. The series received a spin-off about one of its supporting characters, which led to the creation of Lucifer.
His first solo novel Neverwhere was published in 1996, which follows the story of Richard Mayhew who lives in London with his fiancee. One night after dinner, they find a girl named Door whom Richard wants to help. She introduces him to London below, which is a magical realm that exists under London. In 1996, the novel was adapted into a movie and in 2013, it was turned into a radio play narrated by James McAvoy, Natalie Dormer, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Christopher Lee.
In 1999, Stardust was published and it’s still a favourite of many readers to this day. The story takes place in old Victorian England and tells the story of a star which falls to earth. A young man promises the girl he is in love with that he will bring her the star, but when he finds the star, it is in the form of a woman and he falls in love with her. In 2007, it was adapted into an incredible movie starring Claire Danes and Charlie Cox.
The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before.
Gaiman published American Gods in 2001 and then its sequel Anansi Boys in 2005. The book combines several mythologies and religions where gods are fighting for their existence, which is in jeopardy as people are believing in them less. At the center of the story is Shadow who is fresh out of prison when his wife dies suddenly in a car accident. He meets Mr. Wednesday, who later turns out to be the Norse god, Odin. Mr. Wednesday wants to recruit other fading gods to fight against the new gods, such as Media and Technology. This book is currently the best-selling novel for Gaiman.
The rights for the TV adaptation was first acquired by Starz and Amazon, and the first season aired in 2017 with the second currently in production.
I don’t know if any single book made me want to write. C.S. Lewis was the first writer to make me aware that somebody was writing the book I was reading – these wonderful parenthetical asides the reader.
In 2008, he published The Graveyard Book, which is similar to the Jungle Book and tells the story of a boy who searches for shelter in a graveyard and he is adopted by the ghosts living there. In the German book Solange ich lebe kriegt mich der Tod nicht (in English: As long As I Live Death Won’t Get Me), the photographer and writer Thomas Wenzel takes cemetery strolls with authors. One of those authors is Gaiman who tells of where and how he was inspired to create The Graveyard Book
He also was part of some movie and TV productions not based on his books. He co-wrote the script for Beowulf, an episode for the British cult TV show Dr. Who, and wrote for the last three seasons of Babylon 5. He also a guest star on The Big Bang Theory. In 2014, he got a 5 year appointment as a professor in the Arts at Bard College.
Other books by Neil Gaiman include Coraline, InterWorld, The Silver Dream, The Ocean At The End of the Lane, Eternity’s Wheel, Norse Mythology, Fragile Things, and The View From The Cheap Seats.
I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something. So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life. Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it. Make your mistakes, next year and forever.
If you want to follow Gaiman you can check his website or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
