Don’t ask me why, but I’ve been working all day under the assumption that today was November 9, 2008. It’s only now in the evening that I realize that it’s actually November 10, hence the reason why this Neil Gaiman feature celebrating the author’s 48th birthday today is coming so late (sorry Neil!).

For those of you who don’t know about Neil Gaiman’s contributions to the geek world, I both pity and envy you — pity because of the deprivation you’ve experienced thus far; envy because if you follow the advice I’m about to give you, a whole new world is going to open up to you — and it’s a truly exhilarating experience.

One thing you’ll learn pretty quickly is that Gaiman is versatile enough to dabble in various literary categories, so there’s something out there for everyone — even the kids. Since Neil’s been writing for a such long time, you might not know where to begin. So, to help you out on your impending magical, eye-opening, life-changing journey, here’s a list of Neil Gaiman writings you need familiarize yourself with immediately (trust me, you’ll be thankful you did).

*The following is a translation in Portuguese of our A Beginner’s Guide To Neil Gaiman feature. Thank you to reader Pati Fimbrethil for the translation!

*Obrigado ao leitor Pati Fimbrethil para traduzir este artigo em Português.

Para aqueles de vocês que não conhecem as contribuições de Neil Gaiman para o mundo geek, eu tanto os invejo como tenho pena de vocês – pena por causa da privação que vocês sofreram até hoje; inveja porque se vocês seguirem o conselho que eu estou prestes a dar, um novo mundo inteiro se abrirá pra vocês – e é uma experiência verdadeiramente arrebatadora.

Uma coisa que você aprenderá bem rápido é que Gaiman é versátil o bastante para escrever em várias categorias literárias, então tem alguma coisa aí fora pra todo mundo – até para as crianças. Uma vez que Neil já está escrevendo há tanto tempo, pode ser que você não saiba por onde começar. Então, para ajudá-lo(a) nessa sua iminente experência mágica, aqui está uma lista dos escritos de Neil Gaiman com os quais você precisa se familiarizar imediatamente (confie em mim, você agradecerá por tê-lo feito).

The official site for the Focus Features big-screen adaptation of Coraline has gone live.

In the film, young girl Coraline, who discovers a parallel home to hers complete with another mother and father who entice her to remain with them. But once she’s there, she finds out that things aren’t what they originally appeared to be.

Navigate through the site, which is made up to look like the “Other” world, to find 10 secret items hidden on the home page and throughout the various sections — Story, Characters, Videos, Downloads, Activities; find all the items and unlock a video featurette. Also, in each section there’s a door that opens up into the real world, which looks bleak in comparison to the newly discovered world.

Focus Features has released a behind-the-scenes featurette for their upcoming stop-motion animated feature, Coraline.

You can watch the video here below.

Coraline, written directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas) from the book by Neil Gaiman, will hit theaters nationwide in February 2009.

For a chance to win a visit to the set of the film in Portland, Oregon, enter the IGN sweepstakes. Based in Portland Oregon, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for one fan to experience the magnificent creative vision, the mind-blowing craft, and the meticulous detail of the first ever high-definition stop-motion animated feature to be filmed in 3-D!