Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman came to Oxford to do a reading and a signing session at Borders and me being a utterly devoted fan, I went down to see him. He read the first pages or so from Anansi Boys and had a wonderfully descriptive reading voice, interestingly, the most expressive part of which were his pauses. In many ways, he is as funny in real life as he is in his novels, where his particular wit shines through quite readily.

I bumped into Timothy Tay when I was leaving college to go to see Gaiman, and he gladly came along. I remember that I had passed Tim my copy of Neverwhere more than two years previously, when I was back on holiday in Singapore. Tim admitted that he was now hooked on Gaiman and a big fan. I remember passing some of Gaiman's the Sandman comic strip to a fellow friend in the army and him also getting hooked on Gaiman and buying the whole 10 book set. It always gives me tremendous pleasure to know that people have taken my book recommendations and enjoyed them immensely.

After his talk, Tim and I instead of trying to crash the queue, headed out to buy a sandwich (we had not had dinner) and thus ended up right at the back of the line - and faced a good hour's wait. I actually didn't have anything by Neil with me here in Oxford, and so I bought a copy of Stardust from Borders and got him to autograph it (I had wanted to get a copy of Neverwhere but they sold out). Tim bought the Endless Nights comic. Neil drew me a little picture of a moon and a star. I can only marvel at his patience, signing stuff for people, and trying to make each and every one feel special. I got a photo of the two of us on my mobile phone camera, which was fantastic.

So, quite a dream come true for me, meeting Neil Gaiman in the flesh. And it really was an experience, seeing the person whose writings inspire you, of which you greatly treasure. Something I won't forget in awhile.