Little Shop of Stories Gets Neil Gaiman!
Decatur Metro | November 16, 2009
Photo Courtesy of Neil Gaiman’s website
It’s no secret that Decatur has lusted after fantasy/sci-fi rockstar writer Neil Gaiman for a good, long while.
This past year, the Decatur Book Festival went out of its way to get Gaiman’s attention, urging festival-goers to sign an online petition to get Gaiman as a keynote speaker. Unfortunately, the process was “cumbersome” – according to Daren Wang – and it wasn’t enough to get Gaiman inside the city limits.
But while Decatur Gaiman-ites were disappointed, they certainly were not defeated.
Only a few weeks ago, Little Shop of Stories heard Gaiman’s challenge to bookstores: throw the best damn Halloween party in the country, and he would reward them with a visit.
And so in true Henry V style, Little Shop picked up the DBF’s fallen banner and declared to the world…
We tried our darnest to get Neil Gaiman to come to the AJC Decatur Book Festival this year. There was an e-mail campaign. We contacted people we knew at Harper Collins. We begged. We failed.
…So we’re doing it. Friday night. October 30th. On the Eve of All Hallows Eve. 7pm
There are some 35 other bookstores in North America also competing for Neil’s affections. (You can click here to look at the entire list on this map.) But ours will be best because, after all, this is Decatur.
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
OK, maybe I added that last line, but you get the idea.
And throw a Halloween party they did.
Well hell if that “little” bookstore didn’t just go and win the whole damn contest!
To get the info straight from the horse’s mouth, jump over to The Little Shop blog. Details like date and time will be announced later this week!
UPDATE: Daren Wang reports that Gaiman will be at Little Shop on December 14th.
OMG! Woot! Woot!
I’m so giddy about this! My husband was the voice of the Sleer, for anyone who was at the party.
And I believe it’s 12/14 at 6pm – they’re still working out the details though.
I need to read more.
Oh! Oh! Oh! I’m so there! The kids of Decatur will have to fight off the legions of adult Gaiman fans on this one.
[...] you like Neil Gaiman? Do you live near Decatur? Then clear your calendar for December 14th. This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 11:35 pmand is filed under books, [...]
OMG……. I am soooooooo freaked out! I l-o-v-e Gaiman’s books. Neverwhere scared the devil out of me.. one of the best books I’ve ever read.
We are sooooo there. I can’t wait to tell my 4th grader. She was at the party in style but she didn’t think we’d win.
I loved The Graveyard Book! I don’t even read science fiction!
Yes, but is Amanda Palmer coming with him? That would be dream, too.