It took Neil Gaiman 20 years to decide he was a good enough writer to turn his idea for “The Graveyard Book” into reality.
It took just four months on the shelves for librarians to bestow Gaiman with a John Newbery Award for it.
Decked out in all black from his shoes to his leather jacket, the hip British author recently spoke to Naperville Unit District 203 junior high students from a stage decorated with headstones.
Gaiman made a number of appearances in Naperville last week for both adults and children in his role as the 2010 Naperville Reads author.
The program is a partnership among Anderson’s Bookshop, the Naperville Public Library, District 203 and Indian Prairie Unit District 204 to get people reading and discussing the same books.
Gaiman told students he was inspired to write “The Graveyard Book” while watching his son ride a tricycle around the cemetery next to their house. When he started seriously writing the book two decades later – starting with Chapter 4 – it was one of his daughters who encouraged him to continue by simply asking what happens next.
“The trouble with being an author is if somebody actually asks you what happens next that gives you a reason to carry on writing,” he said.
Gaiman did just that and the book came out in September 2008. Four months later his phone rang at 5 a.m. The voice on the other end told him he won the Newbery Award.
Over the years, Gaiman has seen several of his books turned into movies, including “Stardust” and “Coraline.” The latter also was inspired by one of his children.
“The great thing about being an author is you have a really, really good opportunity to impress your children because you can actually do something they might like,” Gaiman said.
The book took about 10 years to write and filming the “stop-motion” movie was time consuming as crews had to move dolls in tiny increments and photograph each movement.
In addition to novels, Gaiman has written newspaper and magazine articles, poetry, TV scripts and comics. He is well-known by comic book fans for his “Sandman” series. In 2009, he also wrote, “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader,” which was set at Batman’s funeral.
“Last year I got to kill Batman, which was kind of fun,” he said. “Everybody should kill Batman once.”
Gaiman said writing was all he ever wanted to do.
“I was the kind of kid who grew up with a book in his hand … I loved books,” he said. “I wanted to write pretty much as far back as I can remember.”
He read to students from his novel, “Odd and the Frost Giants,” though he was briefly interrupted by one of the top annoyances to public speakers – a cell phone ringing.
Oops.
It was his own.
Gaiman also answered questions from students. In response to a query about whether there will be a sequel to “The Graveyard Book,” he said he may write another book using some of the same characters, though it wouldn’t exactly be a sequel.
In light of the creepy books Gaiman has penned, another student asked about the scariest movie he had ever seen. Gaiman said his favorite is “The Haunting,” which “scared me absolutely senseless.”
Washington Junior High seventh-grader Christopher Gamble, a fan of “The Graveyard Book,” said it was an honor to listen to Gaiman and he hopes to tackle “Odd and the Frost Giants” next.
“His books are nice and interesting and they keep going,” Gamble said. “They don’t calm down like some of the books.”
Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services