Last Saturday, instead of going to the Real Salt Lake game (we have season tickets!), I took my handsome son on a date. Not to a concert, but to see another kind of rockstar. My kind of rockstar: a writer, and none other than Neil Gaiman.

He did NOT want a selfie with me

The drive to Park City is gorgeous, and while my son napped, I listened to the audio book of Good Omens, which Neil Gaiman co-wrote with Terry Pratchett. In one section I was laughing so hard that my son woke up, so he listened to Keane and Coldplay instead. Sometimes when I haven’t heard some songs for a while, and I go back to them, I remember how much I love them for the melody, but especially the lyrics. I feel the same way with favorite books. But anyway, the Park City High School  Eccless auditorium was packed. Everyone looked like we were about to see Santa Claus or another mythical creature. In a way, Neil Gaiman is that mythical creature that can create stories for both adults and children with the same magisterial skill. When he walked on-stage, he got a standing ovation. “Sit down,” he said. “A standing ovation when I haven’t even started is nice, but also very silly. Sit down.” Chastised, but smiling like goons, the audience (including myself) sat down, ready to drink in his words. In a way, listening to him was a little like reading his books: like falling into a dream or trance, and once awake, you know you loved every second of it, but once you try to put the feeling into words, the magic is gone and you can just say, “it was wonderful!” You had to be there to understand the energy in the room. The interviewer (I forgot his name) was very skilled, directing the conversation but never taking charge.

Neil on stage

Neil said he never consciously wanted to be a writer. Instead, he had these very vivid daydreams of him going to an alternate world with a copy of The Hobbit, and then finding an adult to type the whole thing. Getting rid of the witness, and then sending the “manuscript” off to a publisher that would help him become the author of The Hobbit. Or, he wanted to kidnap all of his favorite authors through time and space and MAKE them collaborate on the ultimate novel and then publish it as his own. None of the plans actually involved him doing the work of writing the book though 🙂

He said that his favorite birthday present was when he turned 9 and his parents gave him the reading shed he’d asked for. Talk about lucky! I’ve been dreaming about this modern-sheds so I can have my

I want a writer shed!!!!

own little writing/reading/sleeping space! My husband is kind of worried I want to move out on my own (not forever! Just a few hours in the day and a few nights here and there!). I’ll keep asking for it and see if it works like it did with Neil. Neil, we’re on a first name basis, he and I 🙂

Me, fangirling. Photo cred: my son

He finally said that once when he was in his twenties, he realized that he didn’t want to reach the end of his life and realize that he could’ve been a writer, but that he hadn’t given himself the chance. He decided to try, even if he failed. He didn’t, at least from an outsider’s point of view, but like every writer, he suffered his share of rejection. He just kept going. That was my favorite advice of the night. Keep going and pursue your dreams!

Neil has a new book out, Trigger Warning, a collection of short stories. I can’t wait to dive into it, but I’m in the middle of Packet 4 preparation. I can’t wait to get the critical essays done to get them off my mind!

My boys

I’m also reading Bone Gap, by Laura Ruby. My friend R. recommended it to me, and she read me a passage from it that kept me thinking and thinking about it. Well, I started it last night at 1030. You know how that ended. Needless to say, I’ll need major divine intervention to get through today (carpool at 9 pm. Ouch!). At least Barça won yesterday against Paris St. Germain, and although my darling Leo Messi didn’t score, we’re through to the next round! That’s it for today! I’m also working on two short stories. One for the Need Diverse Books short story contest in honor of Walter Dean Myers, and another for the Bath Short Story Award. They’re both due April 27th. Are you entering?

THE PURSE!!! Isn’t it gorgeous?