Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman’s latest book for young children is Fortunately, the Milk (Bloomsbury £ 10.99), illustrated by Chris Riddell.

“You know what it’s like when your mum goes away on a business trip and Dad’s in charge. She leaves a really, really long list of what he’s got to do. And the most important thing is DON’T FORGET TO GET THE MILK.

Unfortunately, Dad forgets. So the next morning, before breakfast, he has to go to the corner shop, and this is the story of why it takes him a very, very long time to get back.

Featuring: Professor Steg (a time-travelling dinosaur), some green globby things, the Queen of the Pirates, the famed jewel that is the Eye of Splod, some wumpires, and a perfectly normal but very important carton of milk.”

New Gaiman on its way...

All at Piper are eagerly awaiting this book, due in June from Headline.

New Gaiman book on its way

Headline has acquired UK rights for The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Personally, I can't wait.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

“There is something strange about Coraline's new home. It's not the mist, or the cat that always seems to be watching her, nor the signs of danger that Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, her new neighbours, read in the tea leaves. It's the other house - the one behind the old door in the drawing room. Another mother and father with black-button eyes and papery skin are waiting for Coraline to join them there. And they want her to stay with them. For ever. She knows that if she ventures through that door, she may never come back.”

It’s unlikely that you haven’t heard of Neil Gaiman’s fabulous children’s dark-fantasy novel, Coraline, or seen the film. It really is a creepy story – a modern day fairy tale. But did you know that it’s ten years old this year? In celebration, Bloomsbury is re-issuing Coraline, again with illustrations by Chris Riddell. There is the regular hardcover at £12.99 plus a signed limited edition (signed by both Gaiman and Riddell) at £25.00.  Due in the bookshops next month.

Stories edited by Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio

With Neil Gaiman’s name on the cover you always expect something special. In this case, Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio have teamed up to edit an anthology called, simply, Stories. The flyleaf says, “Stories is a groundbreaking anthology that reinvigorates, expands, and redefines the limits of imaginative fiction.”

The book contains 27 all-new stories by: Richard Adams, Kurt Andersen, Lawrence Block, Jonathan Carroll, Jeffery Deaver, Roddy Doyle, Jeffrey Ford, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Hand, Joanne Harris, Joe Hill, Kat Howard, Diana Wynne Jones, Joe Lansdale, Michael Moorcock, Walter Mosley, Joyce Carol Oates, Stewart O’Nan, Chuck Palahniuk, Carolyn Parkhurst, Jodi Picoult, Tim Powers, Al Sarrantonio, Michael Marshall Smith, Peter Straub, Michael Swanwick, and Gene Wolfe.

With such a line-up expect something special, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it heading the ‘best of’ lists for 2010. The book is already available from Headline, at £18.99.

World Horror Convention announces its MOC

The World Horror Convention now lists five guests of honor plus one mistress of ceremonies. The GOH are writers Tanith Lee and David Case; artists Les Edwards and Dave Carson; and editor Hugh Lamb. All good enough reasons to attend. The icing on the cake is that the MOC is my long-time friend Jo Fletcher. She is Associate Publisherat Gollancz and has worked as an editor at several other publishers, including Headline and Pan. Jo has also edited and co-edited several books. She is an award-winning poet -- and examples of her brilliant and moving poetry can be found in Shadows of Light and Dark, co-published by the Alchemy Press and Airgedlamh Publications.

Copies of this book remain available -- but only a few. This book was designed by Michael Marshall Smith, has an introduction by Neil Gaiman, and is illustrated by Les Edwards and Seamus A Ryan -- and all of these, as well as Jo -- have signed copies of this limited edition hardcover.

If you would like a copy, at the special price of £10 inclusive of p&p in the UK, please email me at gatesoffantasy@gmail.com. I accept payment by PayPal, if that helps. And the WHC website is here.
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