This is hopefully the start of a regular series of posts on the writers that I love and look up to. Some of them are well known, some of them independent, but all of them come highly reccomended.
At the end of each post, I will add a link to the author’s blog and any other links that I think you need to know about, so that you can discover their work if you feel like it…
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Neil Gaiman is one of those writers that I look up to. He writes what he wants to write and it is always a good read. It doesn’t fit into any one genre but slips and slides between them, the rhythm of his word choices carrying you into other places, other times and lacing it all with the unmistakable addiction drug that is a good book.
Sometimes his words are dark, sometimes they’re funny. There’s rarely anything in them that doesn’t bring a new side to the story or the characters. His stories are simple at first glance but the more you read them, the more you see.
He’s a gentleman to his fans. His tumblr blog gets questions galore. He doesn’t answer all of them (he’d never get any writing done if he did), but when he does answer them, his answers are thoughtful and never nasty, no matter what the subject.
Today’s question was a fascinating one:
I think he handled the question with his usual gentlemanly aplomb, especially as it’s one of those trickier ones.
Mr Gaiman is without doubt one of the world’s best writers and I was introduced to his work the same way that I met the work of Terry Pratchett; I picked up a copy of “Good Omens” out of curiosity. With Terry Pratchett, it didn’t take me long to be hooked, I started with “The Colour of Magic” and devoured every book I could get my hands on.
With Neil Gaiman, I had to reread “Anansi Boys” twice before I decided to look at his other work. As I’ve got older, I’ve come to appreciate his work more and more. Even his children’s books are beautifully worded, my favourite of those being “Blueberry Girl”.
I’m slowly collecting his work. savouring each one. I have both Coraline and Stardust in Movie form and despite the differences from the book form, they are delicious. I hope that you will join me in appreciating his work, but I am realistic enough to know that they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea.
So here are the links for you to discover him through –
The Publisher’s Site: http://www.neilgaiman.com/
The Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/neilhimself
The Tumblr Link: http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/
The Young Reader’s Site: http://www.mousecircus.com/
The World of The Teigr Princess 
I love Gaiman’s blog and he is indeed quite the gentleman. We Americans have happily accepted him as a British import for nearly 30 years now (I think he moved over here to Minnesota in the late 80s). I finally discovered him in 1994 when I started working at my local comic shop. He was writing THE SANDMAN at the time (a series I know you would love) as well as the spin-off miniseries DEATH: THE HIGH COST OF LIVING, which is what I read first. I was so enamored with what I think is his greatest creation, THE ENDLESS family from The Sandman comic — a family of anthropomorphic beings who were the embodiments of Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Delight/Despair and Delirium. I’d also read GOOD OMENS around that time period. He’s boundlessly creative and has quite the knack for blending a kind of literary and poetic narrative style within speculative fiction. He’s not as influential to me now as much as he was in the 90s, but he is definitely a very worthy selection as one of your heroes.
I just love how he writes – the way he uses words is inspiring.
Yes. On certain old works of my own his unique voice/style managed to creep in, of course blended with the likes of another Brit import in Clive Barker. Both fantasists of the highest order with similar styles.