Neil Gaiman was born in England and now lives in the United States. He has been writing for twenty years and is one of the top writers in modern comics, and a bestselling adult novelist. Neil has won awards all over the world.
Neil was the creator of the monthly cult horror series, Sandman, which sold over a million copies a year and was described by Norman Mailer as 'a comic strip for intellectuals, and I say it's about time.'
With Terry Pratchett he co-wrote the international bestseller Good Omens, soon to be a major motion picture directed by Terry Gilliam. In 1998 he wrote the English-language script for Miyazaki's record-breaking Japanese film Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke), which was released by Miramax in 1999.
Neil's first novel for children is Coraline. Henry Selick, who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, has bought the rights to Coraline, and is working on a script.
Neil has three children and lives in a 'big Addams family house' near Minneapolis in the States. He originally started writing Coraline for his daughter Holly and describes it as 'a very weird little personal essay about childhood, and the powerlessness of childhood.' Neil was inspired by a quote from G.K. Chesterton; 'Fairy tales are not true, they are more than true. Not because they tell us that dragons exist; but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.'
ACCLAIM FOR CORALINE
'It has the delicate horror of the finest fairy tales, and it is a masterpiece.' - Terry Pratchett
'The most splendidly original, weird, and frightening book I have read, and yet full of things children will love.' - Diana Wynne Jones
'This book tells a fascinating and disturbing story that frightened me nearly to death.' - Lemony Snicket