The Day I Met Neil Gaiman.

A few months ago I met Neil Gaiman *Eeekkk*! There are very few people who I would ever get star stuck over, and even fewer who I would make the effort to go and meet, but Neil Gaiman has to be top of the list for me. 

I have loved Neil Gaiman's work since my early to mid teens, it all started when I stumbled across his Death the High Cost of Living graphic novel. I was deeply rooted in my Goth era then and I just thought Death was the coolest character ever, I even started to wear an Ankh because of her, which I still do today. One summer when I went to London with my friend, we were waiting to go on a Jack the Ripper tour when an American tourist came up to me and said ''You read Sandman don't you, you look just like Death''. That was and still is one of the most awesome compliments I have ever had in my life (I realise this is maybe a little weird). 

I soon meandered to American Gods, this book is probably my favourite in all the world. If I could only read one more book it would be this one. I am a massive sucker for mythology and folklore, especially of the Norse schism so it just pulled me in and kept me there. The story and characters are intoxicating and it provided me with some much needed escapism. 

Then there was Neverwhere. I was going through a difficult time in my life, I was living away from my parents, I wasn't particularly happy and I felt utterly lost. This book gave me a world that I could envelop myself with and somehow it gave me hope that better things were out there within my grasp.   

So looking back Neil Gaiman's work has been an inspiration, a comfort and kindling for my imagination. It was an amazing evening to go to Ely cathedral and sit watching the occasional bat flitting around whilst listening to him answering questions and read from his books. We were told that we were allowed to take one book and one other thing that we loved most in the world. I was lucky because Ed didn't mind getting The Ocean and the End of the Lane and Neverwhere signed for me whilst I got American Gods and a photograph of Doris. 

This was a totally magical evening for me and one that I will never forget. 

much love

Kirst

Book Review - The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar.

I picked up this book in a wonderful little bookstore that stocked an eclectic mix of sic-fi, fantasy and graphic novels in Edinburgh. it was up a little cobbled street and the book shop owner was very quiet and book-wormish, I am a confessed bibliophile so I rationed myself to just one book! After a couple of laps around this little shop this caught my eye. I love anything to do with fairies and when I spied that the introduction was my Neil Gaiman my excitement grew. The deal was clinched when I read on the back that "It is a book for every girl with home-dyed hair and fairy wings...". Well for anyone who doesn't know I have fairy wings tattooed on my back and well this may be a shock but I am not a natural red head.

I picked up this book this morning and didn't put it down until I had finished it this afternoon. This book is a real gem, it characters are a mix of fairies and humans that are loveably flawed. The book is set in New York to a backdrop of run down apartments and the main human characters trying to make ends meet. I loved the juxtaposition of the grimy surroundings and the touching goodness of the fairies, even though the kindness is very well hidden at times under lashings of whiskey and bad language. I really enjoyed the hint of dark smut that was sprinkled throughout the pages as well as it gave it a real delicious edge. 

I am going to give this book 4 stars out of 5. This is because I loved this book and I thought the little details that helped to thread the plot together were really well thought out. The Fairies of New York is a surprising book and at times I was left thinking that Martin Millar must have had help from the fairies to manage to entwine all of the characters and events together in such a satisfying and diverse way. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because, even though I enjoyed all the characters and their relationships I didn't feel too sad to leave them behind, when I closed the last page of that book. But maybe that is down to Martin Millar tying everything up beautifully. So you'll just have to read it and decide for yourself.