LightNews LightNews
@drawthetardis.bsky.social
240 followers 250 following 250 posts
Here to stay informed on issues. Writer/artist. She/her.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Rhianna Pratchett clarifies that Robert Rankin's and Alice James’s stories were likely true at the time, but also true that Gaiman and Terry Pratchett were talking in 2013. Their friendship waxed and waned.
February 4, 2025 at 11:46 PM
And another: www.reddit.com/r/books/comm...
From reddit user LavingtonWindsor: "Hi, I’m Alice James, a very little known author of SFF novels. I met Terry a million years ago when he came to Birmingham, England, at a tiny ticketed somewhat informal event organised by a fan group. I was A HUGE FAN. He was absolutely lovely to absolutely everyone. Towards the end of the session, I asked him about working with Neil on Good Omens; I told him that I loved the book and wanted to know if there would be a sequel or if they would work together again. He said, in his gentle way, that they would never work together again, and that their friendship had come to an end. He absolutely refused to say a single negative thing about Neil, or go into why they had parted ways. He just said they were no longer on speaking terms."
February 4, 2025 at 9:36 PM
From 2008. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...
Kalamazoo, MI: Would you consider ever working with Neil Gaiman again? Loved Good Omens, it was a fantastic mind meld of my two favorite writers! Terry Pratchett: Neil and I talked about this a lot back in the 90s. I think that we took the view, and it has been borne out as correct by history, that we would entertain the world rather better as individuals than as co-authors. I recall how relieved we both were to find out that the other guy had no particular interest in a sequel. We had both been acting upbeat about it because we thought the other guy wanted to do one. Gosh, that was great.
January 28, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Terry Pratchett regretted working with Neil Gaiman?
Screenshot of a public Facebook post from author Robert Rankin. Robert Rankin: Things not looking too good for Neil Gaiman, I was never a fan, but I had no idea he was such a monster. Commenter: I'm glad Terry isn't alive to witness this, it's just so depressing that this is still happening in this day and age, it feels like the human race is regressing. Robert Rankin: Terry told me he wished he'd never worked with him, but I never found out why.
January 15, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Reskeet with a favorite book from your childhood
Book cover for 'Elfangor's Secret', Megamorphs #3 in the Animorphs series.
November 14, 2024 at 2:27 AM
🤨
Tweet from September 10, 2024, reading: "My only surprise about Good Omens is that it wasn't cancelled long before. It's long been associated with poor behaviour above the line".
October 4, 2024 at 6:38 AM
Neil Gaiman is now listed as "Alumni" on UNHCR's website. He was previously a goodwill ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. www.unhcr.org/prominent-su...
Screenshot of Google News results which show the recent change made to Neil Gaiman's entry on UNHCR's website. He is now listed as an alumni. Screenshot of Paul Caruana Galizia's tweet on August 1, 2024: "The UN's refugee agency, where Neil Gaiman is a goodwill ambassador, has described the allegations as "very serious", adding that it is "assessing the detailed reporting".
September 30, 2024 at 10:44 PM
Wikipedia's section on the Neil Gaiman sexual assault allegations has recently been expanded. Previously, only Julia Hobsbawm's account was described in any detail.
In 2024, five women accused Gaiman of sexual assault and abuse. All five of these women were interviewed on the Tortoise Media podcast "Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman." One, who used the pseudonym "Claire", was also interviewed by the New York Times. Claire described being kissed and groped by Gaiman without her consent after meeting him at a book tour event. Women identified as "K" and "Scarlett" allege that Gaiman sexually assaulted them during the course of their romantic relationships with him, and a former tenant of Gaiman's named Caroline Wallner alleges that he demanded sexual favors in exchange for being allowed to continue living on his property. Julia Hobsbawm, OBE, accused Gaiman of "an aggressive, unwanted pass" and described how Gaiman pushed her onto a sofa and French kissed her. He has denied all the accusations, and dismissed the Hobsbawm incident as "no more than a young man misreading a situation," according to the Tortoise Media report. Old version: In 2024, five women accused Gaiman of sexual assault and abuse, including Julia Hobsbawm, OBE, who accused Gaiman of "an aggressive, unwanted pass" and described how Gaiman pushed her onto a sofa and French kissed her. He has denied all the accusations, and dismissed the Hobsbawm incident as "no more than a young man misreading a situation," according to the report.
September 29, 2024 at 6:21 PM
Hmm, consequences from publishers?
Screenshot of a reddit user saying that, according to their friend who works for an unnamed publisher, one of Neil Gaiman's future books has been postponed/cancelled.
September 12, 2024 at 6:29 PM
Web goblin guy has posted his explanation.
Reddit user web-goblin: "I am not 'one of his personal assistants'; he has one executive assistant (and it's not me). I wouldn't call it an article, either. Mr. G forwarded me a request from Deep Vellum to promote the book with a note to please post it to the blog. I tried to be succinct and clear. I did some digging and found that the trade hardcover referenced features an essay by him and I didn't want people to be surprised by that so I disclosed it as plainly as possible. So far as I know, Mr. G does not benefit from sales of this book. Surely he was paid a one time fee for the rights to his essay. I do not think that this post was meant to benefit him; I assume he is trying to support an independent non-profit publisher and the author and artist. I know we're all eager to hear from Mr. G. I know that a post from me can only be disappointing in that light."
September 12, 2024 at 5:11 PM
Screencap of tweets from August 2018. Rhianna Pratchett, responding to a quoted tweet from Neil Gaiman: "Neil is Right. Good Omens is a stand alone project. We don't foresee anything more beyond the original book. Separately Neil and @Narrativia_Ltd have plenty of our own projects going on." Quoted tweet from Neil Gaiman: "It's Good Omens. There is just one story, and it starts in episode one and finishes at the end of episode six."
September 4, 2024 at 2:26 AM
Pratchett's daughter confirmed it too.
September 3, 2024 at 9:43 PM
This is cool. (And coincidentally, I am right in the middle of watching an episode of Scott & Bailey where the color of mold was disputed to be green or blue...lol!)
September 3, 2024 at 9:28 PM
The version of the American Gods story he told AV Club:
Neil Gaiman in an AV Club interview: “I’m like, ‘Okay, guys, if you do that, I will go and step in front of a bus, and I will leave a suicide note explaining exactly why this is your fault,’” Gaiman said. “They were like, ‘You really feel that strongly?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I really do. He would not do that, and it’s wrong, and it throws everything out of kilter.’ And they are like, ‘Yeah, but he’s just out of prison. Wouldn’t he want a blowjob?’ And it’s like, ‘No. Not in that circumstance, not from that person, and he’s heartsick over Laura and this is the wrong time. No, don’t go there.’ And then what’s lovely about that is where they did go with that is so much better.”
September 3, 2024 at 4:28 PM
Reminder that Gaiman also used suicide to try to manipulate Scarlett, who was nanny to his child, out of reporting sexual assault.
From a transcript of the second episode of Tortoise's series on the Neil Gaiman sexual assault allegations: "Paul Galizia: Okay, look at this. So on the -- on that day, Neil messages Scarlett. And he says, 'Honestly, when Amanda told me that you are telling people I’d raped you and were planning to MeToo me, I wanted to kill myself. But I’m getting through it a day at a time. And it’s been two weeks now and I’m still here. Fragile, but not great.'" From a transcript of the second episode of Tortoise's series on the Neil Gaiman sexual assault allegations: "Paul Galizia: So then he really, just a few minutes after that, sent her a message saying, 'It was very unstablizing. I think I spent a week actively not killing myself, if you see what I mean.' Rachel Johnson: About her MeTooing him."
September 3, 2024 at 4:24 PM
🤨 So not Gaiman's first time with the ol' "I'll kill myself" to get his way, then.

(translated from Rolling Stone's Brazil site)
"Neil Gaiman Threatened to Kill Himself Over Oral Sex Scene in American Gods. 'I had to work hard to keep it from becoming something I didn't like,' the writer said when discussing adaptations of his works. In an interview with Folha de S. Paulo , Neil Gaiman discussed the adaptations of his works such as American Gods and Good Omens . When mentioning the success of the production originally shown on Starz, he revealed that he thought about killing himself because of the oral sex scene. " “On ‘American Gods,’ sometimes they listened to me, sometimes they didn’t. If they had an idea, they would go with it even if I said something,” he says. “I had to work really hard to keep it from turning into something I didn’t like. In the first episode, I stopped Shadow [the protagonist] from getting a blowjob on his wife’s grave. I said, ‘If you do that, I’m going to kill myself, I’m going to walk out of here, throw myself in the middle of the cars and leave a note saying that’s why.’” Gaiman was an executive producer on American Gods, which originally aired on Starz.
September 3, 2024 at 4:19 PM
Showrunner Steve Yockey has thanked Neil Gaiman in his instagram response to the cancellation of Dead Boy Detectives...
Image from steveyockey76's instagram stories: Incredibly proud of "Dead Boy Detectives" and the small army of passionate writers, actors, artists, technicians, and craftspeople who brought it to life. Extremely grateful this weird, wild, extremely queer show ever made it to air. Thank you to @neilhimself for believing in us. And a huge thank you to the amazing fans who loved the show, supported these characters, and are currently posting heavily online about committing arson. We love you. Please don't burn anything down.
August 31, 2024 at 3:43 AM
And for today's WTFery about Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer, which manages to be awful, absurd, and eye-rolling in how entirely unsurprising it is...
Text from post. Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer's 'therapist' that Scarlett had contact with isn't a therapist. Going through he transcripts, Scarlett alleges Neil had her call his therapist to say the allegations weren't true, and he sent her a message implying her friends are trying to control her perception of reality. Tortoise names him, and I was able to find that the guy was brought on Amanda's podcast for an episode they recorded in 2019. She describes him as her therapist, and her and Neil's relationship therapist, and promotes his books. This was alarming to me, because of how many professional conduct violations it looks like have happened. I wanted to check what kind of credentials he had, and if there could be an investigation into if he had violated his license. Turns out, there is no path to getting his mental health license reviewed, because he doesn't have one. I found his webpage, he's based in Arizona. He casually describes himself as a therapist, after identifying himself as an executive leadership mentor and minister. He's primarily an author. He appears to have no mental health or psychology credentials of any kind. His education is from divinity school. I'm not sure to what extent he is marketing himself to people as an actual mental health professional, but if he is that is a serious form of fraud. It is also possible his clients are fully aware that he is a minister and not a mental health professional, and are seeing him specifically for that reason. His confidentiality / client privilege to Neil would be religious client privilege, which in most of the US is stronger than mental health patient privilege by a considerable amount. If a mental health practitioner believes their client is a danger to themselves or others, they have a legal obligation to report. A minister generally cannot even be compelled to disclose regarding a client
August 30, 2024 at 2:16 PM
The purpose of a postmenopausal female
Image of Sergeant Catherine Cawood, played by Sarah Lancashire
August 16, 2024 at 5:53 AM
Jeff Mariotte also wrote about his long-time acquaintance with Gaiman.
Jeff Mariotte: "It occurs to me that I haven't commented on the Neil Gaiman situation. There are a couple of reasons for this: I've been so consumed by the Kickstarter that I haven't had much time to read up on the evidence, and I'm not sure what my opinion means to the overall story. But I've known Neil for a long time--since 1990, when I sat with him at the San Diego Comic-Con, selling copies of Good Omens at his signing there. We sold out quickly, even selling the copy I had set aside for myself. I've had lunch with Neil (and separately, with Terry Pratchett, his collaborator on Good Omens). I've been to his hotel room. I've met Amanda Palmer. Neil's daughter Holly and my daughter Holly are the same age, and they corresponded for a while (I don't know if they're still in touch). We were both great fans of, and commiserated over the loss of, a great SF/fantasy bookstore in London. To say that we were friends would be stretching the point, but it's fair to say that we were friendly." Jeff Mariotte's post, continued: "We aren't [friendly] any more. His behavior, as described by various women he's victimized, was appalling. I'm certain that over the decades, many, many women have made themselves available to him sexually. I would have no problem with him availing himself of those opportunities in a consensual way, as equals who were attracted to one another. But for someone with so much power over others--power acquired through fame, wealth, and influence--to use it to coerce or pressure women into sex is wrong, and it's unforgivable. By now, enough stories--detailed and in some cases backed up by evidence--have come out that the facts seem undeniable, though he continues to try to deny them. His excuses and explanations don't hold up to scrutiny." Jeff Mariotte's post, final part: "If you love Sandman or American Gods or Coraline, you can still love those things. The fact that an artist is a wretch doesn't necessarily make his work abominable. Woody Allen is also a wretch, but from What's Up Tiger Lily through Radio Days, he made some brilliant movies (and a few duds). J.K. Rowling is a wretch, but her Harry Potter books made millions of kids into avid readers (and the spillover from that made a lot of money for other writers, myself included). Sometimes we have to separate the artist from the art."
August 11, 2024 at 1:47 AM
Jeff VanderMeer shared Lewis Shiner's post and commented the following.
Jeff VanderMeer on Facebook: "I heard rumors but had no firsthand knowledge. I was told he defended Brian Aldiss groping women at cons as a generational thing and did say something publicly about Aldiss. Also, have heard Gaiman is very litigious, which would dissuade people who knew or experienced it. There was also some talk in general as to why revised Clarion workshop handbook had to be so specific about teacher- student fraternization but that sadly could've been a reaction to more than one instructor?"
August 11, 2024 at 1:40 AM
More writers speaking up about Gaiman.

Lewis Shiner: "I am relieved that sexual predator and narcissist Neil Gaiman is finally being exposed. I have first-hand knowledge of lives that he's damaged, and I hope more and more survivors of his abuse come forward."
Lewis Shiner: "I am relieved that sexual predator and narcissist Neil Gaiman is finally being exposed. I have first-hand knowledge of lives that he's damaged, and I hope more and more survivors of his abuse come forward."
August 11, 2024 at 1:36 AM
It's definitely better off forgotten, the Doctor sexualizing a companion like that is so weird and wrong.

And ah, this was the rest of that story, re: Gaiman's supposed "creative relationship with the truth" and Doctor Who.

www.reddit.com/r/gallifrey/...
Part one of an old reddit post in a Doctor Who subreddit, discussing Neil Gaiman: "The most notable thing is a general dishonesty about his experiences working on Who. He maintains, especially in the wake of Doctor’s Wife going down so well and Nightmare in Silver sinking like a stone, that he had much less control over the latter- ie. trying to wash his hands of what he sees as a failure. Only it’s completely untrue. We know from documented BTS material that, so severe was the crunch time making 7B for Moffat, he actually more or less allowed Cross and Gaiman to serve as executive producers on their respective episodes. They had say over things like signing off on designs etc which writers wouldn’t normally have." Part two of an old reddit post discussing Neil Gaiman's involvement in Doctor Who: "This is especially aggravating given how huge a part Moffat’s editing played in making Doctor’s Wife a success - a DW writer said to me the final script is at least 60% Moffat (a friend of Gaiman’s disputes this but then he would, wouldn’t he?). Ever since Nightmare, Gaiman has been somewhat off in his pronouncements about the show, from the aforementioned dishonesty about its production to insinuating that the production team also wrecked one of Whithouse’s episodes for which he was present at the read through (I suspect Vampires). The guy seems to have a lot of sour grapes regarding Who, really. And from what I’ve heard his opportunities to pitch during the Capaldi years did not go all that well (but that's another story...)"
August 8, 2024 at 10:38 PM
IIRC, Moffat is responsible for a significant percentage of The Doctor's Wife anyway, even though Gaiman got the credit. (And Nightmare in Silver was a disaster behind the scenes?) But the below anecdote/rumor about Gaiman trying to pitch more Doctor Who stories has stuck in my mind for years.
Text from an old deleted post in a Doctor Who subreddit, part one: "So, I've heard two different versions of this, one more extreme than the other - although they're not exactly incompatible and the fact that they're from two difference sources does make me more inclined to believe them. The first, from a Who script editor, is that Gaiman pitched around the time of Series 9. He 'kept them in a room for 3 hours with no ideas. Nothing workable'. Basically a waste of time, but nothing worse than that." Part two: "The other version of events comes from Moffat's friend and former Who writer. Let's call him Bob Clearman. The story this time goes that Moffat had Gaiman round to his house. This might've been a separate occasion from the other meeting. Gaiman starts pitching, but none of the ideas are working out as anything plausible or workable. Feeling that Moffat didn't like any of his ideas, Gaiman started doing these weird hand puppet scenes complaining about this in front of Moffat. As in literally holding up one hand and having it snarl to the other one, 'the nasty man won't commission my scripts'. Steven goes back to the kitchen and Sue sees him put his head in his hands. Just a deeply weird man who comes up with strange gripes about other people that are even slightly on the verge of being libellous. No wonder the production team never got him back, tbh."
August 8, 2024 at 8:55 PM
Yet another for the "use trans people as a human shield" pile. Tortoise podcasters are apparently psychic and timed the fifth episode's release for when JKR went off on her sexist and transphobic tirade about Olympic boxers?
Screenshot of a twitter exchange between two users. User Steve Kidd believes that the Tortoise podcast is suspicious because it came out "days after JK Rowling's BS and the fact Gaiman's pro LGBTQ, it seems very sus".
August 3, 2024 at 3:27 AM