Neil Gaiman read today at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, promoting his new book Fragile Things. This is my second time seeing him at Kepler's (the last time at Keplers was during his American Gods book tour), and he was just as entertaining as the first time I saw way back in 2001.
Gaiman first received an award from a local sf club, and then started with a short fiction reading, followed by a reading of one of his poems, and then answered questions before signing until his hands fall off.
Kepler's has a reputation of asking the most interesting questions, but I feel a bit letdown that our questions tonight are unlikely to become Gaiman fandom folklore (How did you meet Terry Pratchett? How did you meet Dave McKean? How did you meet Tori Amos? How did you meet Jon Singer?) or of caliber of previous Kepler questions ("What are the lyrics to I am an English Coastline?") (some Gaiman fans at the American Gods event did come up with lyrics for him and sang it to him when they got their books signed). Q&A in extended.
Gaiman starts off with an introduction about Kepler's, and how last year during his Anansi Boys tour, his appearance at Kepler's was canceled due to Kepler's closing, and that his publisher had booked him solid for three weeks straight, and that Keplers was his day off in three weeks during the book tour, and that he was grateful to Kepler's for that day off.
Question: How did a Jewish upbringing influence you? Answer: He doesn't know. He was sent to North London to religious relatives for his bar mitzvah, but he had a rabinical, singing literalist, and Gaiman spent his time distracting him and geting him off topic. Some of his more obscure stories and references in the Sandman originate from here. (Like the story of Adam, Lilith, the Middle Woman and Eve.)
Question: What comes first? Theme or Plot? Answer: They all begin somewhere -- the editor sometimes with a a call about needing a story. Gaiman tells of how he got the Lovecraft/Sherlock Holmes story when an editor called him up. Gaiman started thinking about it -- Lovecraft works because there's a lot that is unexplained, wheras Sherlock Holmes is "everything has an explanation" so he made a story set in the 3rd generation, a version of the first Sherlock Holmes story about a corpse oozing green ichor and called it a Study in Emerald (in the anthology Shadows Over Baker Street).
Question: Fairly longwinded question of old material vs. new material -- they seem to have a common theme shared amongst his works -- what does Neil think the ratio between them is? Answer: 80/20. He tries to come up with new works, because as an artist he doesn't like to think of his stuff as rehashes, but then other people start telling that it's all very similar and connected thematically.
Question: Where did you end up getting jeans in SF? Answer: Armani, because it was close. (Apparently Neil likes his own jeans more).
Question:A reminder to talk about Coraline the Musical. Answer: Coraline will have 3 forms: a puppet play, a stop motion animated movie, and a musical. He wants to see the puppet play, because apparently, the people are suited all in black, and how they just blend right in. It's supposed to be creepy.
Question: Why have you had a better movie experience than Alan Moore?
Answer: (does this great impression of Alan Moore) but basically it's because Moore takes the money and shuts up while Gaiman holds his breath until he turns blue while stomping his feet until they make the changes he wants. He also talks of the badness of some of the Sandman scripts he's seen, and how pleased with themselves Hollywood is until he points out the stupidity of it to them. He notes a recent experience on the Stardust movie where they had the costumes for Primus and Septemus made in two sizes, in case Primus turned out to Septemus and vice versa. And Gaiman shouted "No!". He likened this exchange to the roles of Gandalf being evil and Saruman being good on account that Christopher Lee fit into the grey Gandalf costume.
Final Question: Questioner comments that he heard of a high school teacher having his class work on Rube Goldberg machines based on inventions in Neverwhere. What's the strangest thing you've heard of people doing based your works?
Answer: Rube Goldberg machines based on inventions in Neverwhere. He tends to reply when someone sends him something they've done: "you people are mad, how wonderful!" He liked the Discworld cake -- "no, wait, that's Terry's". Gaiman then sidetracks on how amazing this cake is with the four elephants and all.
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