Gracie Blogging: Gaiman Vs. Moore

Before I start I want to give all my love to the people that were affected by Sandy.

It’s November, November means a lot of things, thanksgiving mostly. But it also means National Novel Writing Month.

Here’s the deal, you write a story that’s 50,000 words long (roughly 1,667 words a day). I am participating for the third year in a row (and I’m writing something that’s gonna be a surprise for you all come the end of the year.)

If you are participating, lets turn the comments and forums into a discussion of your progress, and also a place you can turn to for help.

Anyway, I’m also gonna use this post to spotlight authors and books I love.

I guess I should start this with a feud my brain has been having over the past couple of years; who’s my favorite author ever? It’s a hard choice since I don’t have time to read as much as I used to and what I do read I choose based upon wether its good or not. I don’t go blindly into the library anymore (well exception being comics, generally I can read those faster than “real” books). So to pick an all time favorite is very hard.

I’ve at most narrowed it down to 2 authors and dear lord is it an ultimate cage match between them. Neil Gaiman vs Christopher Moore.

Now I bet many of you are familiar with Gaiman, but I doubt many are familiar with Moore. Moore’s name has grown in popularity over the years, but he’s not at Gaiman’s level, none of his books have been turned into films (though many studios own the rights to them, they’re all in production hell) and he hasn’t really done anything really nerdy.

But both of these authors are fighting vigorously for my affection. Moore came into my life after I got pissed with Twilight, I read his book You Suck; A Love Story and just fell in love (pun intended) with the story telling and the insane humor in it. Here’s one of my favorite passages;

Finding her boyfriend tied naked to an upright bed frame, covered in blood, with a dead, blue dominatrix at his feet would be enough to rattle some women’s confidence in the stability of their relationship. Some women might even take it as a sign of trouble. But Jody had been single for a number of years–she’d dated rock musicians and stockbrokers–and was conditioned to unusual bumps on the road of romance, so the simply sighed and kicked the hooker in the ribs–more as a conversation opener than a confirmation that the ho was dead–and said, “So, rough night?”  You Suck, Chapter 18, page 183

And Gaiman came into my life a little later, after I had read 3 more of Moore’s books. I read Gaiman because I was curious about Coraline. I wanted to see what Henry Selick had gotten himself into with adapting this book. And I loved it. I had to read more! And here’s one of my favorites from Coraline;

Coraline slept uneasily that night, waking from time to time to plot and plan and ponder, then falling back into sleep, never quite certain where her pondering ended and the dream began, one ear always open for the sound of something scratching at her windowpane. Coraline, Chapter 13 

I love these authors so much, they’re both daring (Moore’s most daring book is about the lost 40some years of Jesus’ life told from the POV of his best friend. Gaiman pushes boundaries when it comes to how mature and smart some of his books intended for younger audiences are), versatile (Gaiman has written comics, movies, and TV Shows. Moore has a comic and one of his books is written in Shakespeare-ish) and they both do many wonderful things outside the books they scribe (both have great Facebook pages and blogs)

Chris Moore Facebook, and his blog
Neil Gaiman Facebook and his blog

One day I can be on the edge of my seat figuring out what’s gonna happen next with Morpheous and Death talking to a baby and the next day I’m laughing at Sophie and her hell hounds taking a bath. These authors excite me, inspire me, and cheer me up when I’m down. How the fuck can I choose?

On the sidelines I have Ray Bradbury, J.K. Rowling (not liking Casual Vacancy much, sorry), Jerry Spinelli (read his Stargirl books, they are marvelous), and the early Carolyn Keene (AKA the first 20 Nancy Drew Books).

If you have favorite authors, post them in the forums and comments, and if you’re participating in National Novel Writing Month, good luck!