Author Gaiman: Coming to Naperville, Anderson's 'will be fun'
From comic books to poetry, Neil Gaiman has found success writing in just about every genre imaginable.
The storyteller who penned "Coraline" and the John Newbery Medal-winning "The Graveyard Book" will be in the area this week for several appearances to talk about his craft as part of the 2010 Naperville Reads campaign.
Gaiman will speak to adults at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Waubonsie Valley High School, 2590 Ogden Ave., Aurora. On Wednesday, he will speak to families at 7 p.m. at Waubonsie.
The events are free, but tickets are required. They can be picked up at Anderson's Bookshop, 123. W. Jefferson Ave., or any Naperville Public Library location.
The Naperville Reads campaign is a partnership of Anderson's, the Naperville Public Library, Naperville Unit District 203 and Indian Prairie Unit District 204 to get people reading - and discussing - the same books.
Gaiman recently spoke with the Daily Herald about his coming visit and the projects he is working on. Here is an edited version of that conversation.
Q. What message do you hope to get across to students during your visit?A. Definitely pro-reading stuff, pro-learning stuff and pro-imagining stuff most of all, I think. If there's one thing that's definitely been brought home to me, it is the value of the imagination and I want to talk to them about that. The joy for me is going to be as much the question-and-answer as it is anything else. Finding out what interests them and what kind of questions they have. Kids come up with things you would never imagine to tell them and they also ask amazing questions.Q. What is your secret for writing in a way that appeals to both children and adults?A. I write the kind of books I'd like to read. When I'm writing a kids book I try to make it the kind of book I would like to have read when I was their age and also that I find interesting or funny or whatever now. If you write a picture book for kids you're also writing something an adult is probably going to have to read. And not only just read once but, if they like it, maybe read it three times a night for several months. You want to make something that will work, something that will endure.Q. What are you working on now?A. I'm working on a film script, which is just starting to take shape, it's incredibly late, for my novel "Anansi Boys" for Warner Brothers. But it's starting to work now so I'm really happy about that. I'm working on a TV series and I'm working on a nonfiction book about China.Q. You've written some pretty creepy books. What gives you nightmares?A. I used to have great nightmares and then I became a writer. At the point I became a writer whenever I'd have a really good nightmare I'd wake up going, "Oh my God that was amazing, I can use that." Very rapidly the nightmares went away. I think whoever was doing them just got disappointed in my reaction.Q. Your comic book fans have been wondering if there are any plans for a "Sandman" movie. Also, will there be more "Sandman" comics? A. I don't know. There's always talk of (a movie). It's one of those things whenever I go to Hollywood, Warner Bros. is very aware this is one of the jewels in their crown. There may be a "Sandman" movie. A "Death" movie looks more likely right now. Will there be more "Sandman?" I don't know. There are new people in control at DC Comics and maybe there will be.Q. What is it like seeing your writing turned into movies?A. It's mostly really enjoyable. Occasionally you sit there going "Oh my God it wasn't meant to be like that," but mostly you sit there going "This is wonderful" and it's hard to complain. You're watching (director) Henry Selick turn something like "Coraline" from a book into a movie, it's such an amazing little movie. It makes me very happy.Q. You've written novels, comics, TV and movie scripts. Do you prefer one genre over another? A. I love radio plays but don't get to do them very much because there's not very many places in the world that want radio plays. Even the ones that do can't pay you very much and my children would starve if I went over to radio plays. What I love doing is telling stories. That for me is the best bit.Q. Your writing took a departure from your usual writing style when you wrote the poem "Blueberry Girl." What was your inspiration?A. What inspired that was my friend Tori Amos the musician phoned me up about a decade ago to say, "I'm about to have my baby, would you write something for her?" So I wrote "Blueberry Girl." I started doing it in readings and after each reading people would come up to me and say, "Excuse me, could I have a copy of that," so after awhile (illustrator) Charles Vess and I started talking and went "well let's do this as a book," so that's what we're doing with it.Q. Have you always wanted to be a writer?A. Yes. I don't remember wanting to be anything else. There was never a day where I really wanted to be a taxi driver or a brain surgeon or astronaut. I really just wanted to write. I get to be a taxi driver or brain surgeon or astronaut whenever I want. It's all about making things up and it's all about making them up in a way that makes people happy.Q. As a writer, I know the feeling of sitting at the computer and feeling writer's block creep in. Do you experience that and how do you overcome it?A. For me the best thing about writers' block can be working on more than two things at once. You're probably not blocked on two things, you're probably just blocked on one so you can work on the other.The problem I sometimes get into is if I'm late enough on two or more things I sit there and go, "Oh my God if I work on this then I'm not working on this and if I'm working on this then I'm not working on this." Sometimes somebody has to shout loud enough that something is really late and the deadline is now and then I get back to work.Q. What do you think of people characterizing you as a "rock star?"A. It's kind of weird. It's certainly not something I've ever said and it's sort of crept in around the edges. I guess it's kind of nice at the age of - 49 to be described as a rock star, but I think it also runs the risk of mischaracterizing what you do. It's very nice 1,000 people come out to hear you talk. But (they should be there to hear about) the books, not because they think you're a rock star. So it's nice, but it's odd.Q. You've been blogging for a while, but I noticed you're now on Twitter too. How do you like communicating with fans that way?A. It's really fun, but there's a bit of a point where you realize you have an immense power and a constituency that you don't think you have. There was a thing last week where an English company named Paperchase had copied a lady's drawings and weren't paying her for them. I just put a link (on Twitter) to her blog comparing the drawings side by side, which demonstrated very conclusively one had been traced from the other and saying it's a shame. I woke up the next morning and it was national news and it had become national news because there are 1.6 million people following me and enough of them had curiously clicked and enough of them had gone, "this really is the same," and had begun to complain. What fascinated me about all that was going, "OK I did this for the right reasons, but it's so terribly powerful." In the wrong hands it points the wrong way and it would be a bad thing. So there's definitely a thing with Twitter where I'm continually reminding myself something I think is an interesting link may set off some sort of weird firestorm.Q. I just read on your Twitter feed you're editing "The Best American Comics" this year. How has that experience been?A. It's true, I am. One of the things I'm late on right now is the introduction. We did make the selection. It was fun although the moment the selection was in, I started kicking myself going, "But I had mentioned that," and "What about 'Beasts of Burden,' I love 'Beasts of Burden,'" It was very, very silly. Of course the weirdness of "The Best American Comics" is they have to be done by Americans. I keep picking things and going "That's beautiful" and then discovering the person who had done it was Swedish. I really think it's so fascinating (that) the nature of comics are so international that "The Best American Comics" in some ways seems redundant.Q. Is there anything else you'd like to say?A. I'm looking forward to coming to Naperville. It's somewhere I've been and done signings over the years and it's always been big and they've always been fun and Anderson's has always been a great bookshop to work with. I love independent bookshops. This is one of those invitations where I went, "I don't really have the time, but this will be fun."If you goWhat: Naperville Reads 2010 author Neil GaimanWhen: Gaiman for Grown-ups, 7 p.m. Tuesday; Gaiman Family Night, 7 p.m. WednesdayWhere: Waubonsie Valley High School, 2590 Ogden Ave., AuroraTickets: Free; available at Anderson's Bookshop, 123 W. Jefferson Ave., and Naperville Public Library locationsInfo: napervillereads.org; (630) 355-2665False19052000Neil Gaiman is the 2010 Naperville Reads author.Courtesy of HarperCollinsFalse