A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art, either in an experimental design or in a traditional comics format. The term is employed in a broad manner, encompassing non-fiction works and thematically linked short stories as well as fictional stories across number of genres.

Graphic novels are typically bound in longer and more durable formats than familiar comic magazines, using the same materials and methods as printed books, and they are generally sold in bookstores and specialty comic book shops rather than at newsstands. Such books have gained increasing acceptance as desirable materials for libraries, which were once ignored when titled or viewed as comic books.

The term is not strictly defined, though one broad dictionary definition is "a fictional story that is presented in comic-strip format and presented as a book." In the publishing trade, the term is sometimes extended to material that would not be considered a novel if produced in another medium. Collections of comic books that do not form a continuous story, anthologies or collections of loosely related pieces, and even non-fiction are stocked by libraries and bookstores as "graphic novels" (similar to the manner in which dramatic stories are included in "comic" books). It is also sometimes used to create a distinction between works created as stand-alone stories, in contrast to collections or compilations of a story arc from a comic book series published in book form.

Michael Alfred Chaney AO (born in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian businessman, and current Chairman of the National Australia Bank Limited, Woodside Petroleum Limited and Gresham Partners Holdings Limited. He is Chancellor of the University of Western Australia, a member of the JPMorgan International Council and a Director of the Centre for Independent Studies.

Son of Sir Fred Chaney, a minister in the Menzies government and brother to Fred Chaney, a former Western Australian Senator, he attended and graduated from Aquinas College, Perth.

Mr Chaney graduated with Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees from the University of Western Australia in 1972 and 1980 respectively. He completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1992 and has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Western Australia.

After obtaining his Science degree, Mr Chaney worked for eight years as a petroleum geologist in Australia and the USA. He joined the Australian Industry Development Corporation in 1980 as a corporate finance executive and became Manager for Western Australia in 1981. He joined Wesfarmers in 1983 as Company Secretary and Administration Manager, became Finance Director in 1984 and was appointed Managing Director in July 1992. He retired from that position in July 2005.

Paulo Coelho (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpawlu koˈeʎu]; born August 24, 1947) is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist. He has become one of the most widely read authors in the world today. The recipient of numerous prestigious international awards, amongst them the Crystal Award by the World Economic Forum and France's Legion d'Honneur.

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He attended a Jesuit school. As a teenager, Coelho wanted to become a writer. Upon telling his mother this, she responded with "My dear, your father is an engineer. He's a logical, reasonable man with a very clear vision of the world. Do you actually know what it means to be a writer?" After researching, Coelho concluded that a writer "always wears glasses and never combs his hair" and has a "duty and an obligation never to be understood by his own generation," amongst other things. At 16, Coelho's introversion and opposition to following a traditional path led to his parents committing him to a mental institution from which he escaped three times before being released at the age of 20. Coelho later remarked that "It wasn't that they wanted to hurt me, but they didn't know what to do... They did not do that to destroy me, they did that to save me."