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Neil Gaiman
Bestselling author Neil Gaiman has long been one of the top writers in modern comics, and has also penned many books for readers of all ages, including AMERICAN GODS, ANANSI BOYS, CORALINE, and M IS FOR MAGIC. He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers, and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama. He has written multiple New York Times bestselling books, and is a Hugo, Nebula, Bram Stoker, SFX, and Locus Award winner. He has also worked in support of First Amendment rights, and was awarded the Defender of Liberty Award in August 1997 by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund for his efforts. Born and raised in England, Neil now lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has somehow reached his forties and tends to always need a haircut.
Dave McKean
Dave McKean has created illustrations and photographs for hundreds of CD, book, and comics covers as well as publishing projects with John Cale, Stephen King, and the Rolling Stones, and is probably best known for his graphic novels, including the best-selling ARKHAM ASYLUM and Neil Gaiman's The Sandman series. He also illustrated Gaiman's graphic novels VIOLENT CASES, SIGNAL TO NOISE, and MR. PUNCH, and the children's books CORALINE and THE DAY I SWAPPED MY DAD FOR TWO GOLDFISH. He is the author and illustrator of THE GRAPHIC NOVEL CAGES, which won the Alph Art, Pantera, and Harvey Awards for Best Graphic Novel, and PICTURES THAT TICK, which recently won the Victoria and Albert Museum Illustrated Book Awards Overall First Prize. He has written and directed several short films, and has contributed production designs for the second and third Harry Potter films. He lives in England.
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AUTHOR TALK
September 2003
In this interview, award-winning author Neil Gaiman tells readers what inspired him to write his latest book for children, THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS. He also talks about the process of creating a book with illustrator Dave McKean and reveals what he would never want to find in the walls of his house.
Q: Both CORALINE and THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS have brave heroines. Are Coraline or Lucy inspired by anyone you know?
NG: Coraline was a little bit my daughter Holly when she was young, and Lucy is a little bit my daughter Maddy, when she was younger, but both of them are utterly their own selves. Maddy dreamed that there were wolves in the walls when she was little, and that they came out, which was where I got the idea for the story...
I think both CORALINE and THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS are about bravery, in very different ways: about fighting back and dealing with the things that scare you.
Q: How did you and Dave McKean create a book together? Do you write and then he illustrate, or do you get together and make it all happen?
NG: Mostly I start the book, with the idea and the words, and then Dave takes the words and does magic to them. He's my toughest critic, so if he likes something I know it will work.
I like it when he goes off and does the pictures, because they are always a surprise to me.
Q: What would you personally find the most frightening thing to discover in the walls of your house?
NG: What would be the most frightening thing to find living in the walls of my house?
A hard question. First I thought wolves, then I thought spiders or snakes --- big ones --- and then I thought monsters. But on reflection, I think the answer is probably lawyers.
Q: Did you ever have a friend like pig-puppet?
NG: I didn't, but Liam McKean, Dave's son, certainly did. In fact, when he was about two, I got an urgent phone call from his mother asking me to go and buy another pig-puppet just like the first one (which was bought near my house, although Dave and Clare live thousands of miles from me) because Liam would not let go of the pig puppet long enough for Clare to wash it.
So I sent the substitute pig-puppet, and Liam reluctantly let the first pig-puppet be washed.
Liam has a life-sized plastic pig in his bedroom, too, big enough to ride.
Q: And finally, what advice would you give to anyone who heard sneaking, creeping, crumpling noises coming from the walls inside their house?
NG: Hmm. Sounds like wolves to me. And if the wolves come out of the walls, it's all over...
© Copyright 2003, HarperCollins. All rights reserved.
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