Q & A Neil Gaiman
Interview by Rosanna Greenstreet
From the April 1st
Guardian
Neil Gaiman was born in Hampshire in 1960. He was a journalist before becoming a graphic novelist, and his breakthrough came with The Sandman, a hugely successful cartoon strip. In 2001, he produced the bestselling adult novel American Gods. He recently published a new adult novel, Anansi Boys. His children's book, The Wolves In The Walls, has been adapted for the stage and is on tour until May 20. He is married, has three children and lives in Minneapolis
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Reading under a tree on a summer's day.
What is your greatest fear?
Something dreadful but unspecified happening to my children.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I'm utterly disorganised and I wish I wasn't.
What makes you depressed?
Not writing. I get moody and roody and irritable if I'm not making stuff up.
What has been your most embarrassing moment?
School - it was a long moment, but an embarrassing one.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Buying books I'll never read, in the vague hope that if I'm stranded on a desert island I'll have remembered to pack a trunk with unread books.
What is your most treasured possession?
My iPod - the idea of it, having all my music when I need it, rather than the rather battered object.
What is your favourite smell?
November evenings: frost and leaf-mould and woodsmoke. The smell of coming winter.
What is your favourite book?
A huge, leather-bound, 150-year-old accounts book, with 500 numbered pages, all blank. I keep promising myself I'll write a story in it one day.
What is your fancy dress costume of choice?
Pirate.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Wasting time.
What is your greatest regret?
I wish I'd enjoyed the journey more, rather than worried about it.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Time. Ten-day weeks, six-week months, 20-month years. Things like that.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My children.
What keeps you awake at night?
Silence.
From the April 1st
Guardian
Neil Gaiman was born in Hampshire in 1960. He was a journalist before becoming a graphic novelist, and his breakthrough came with The Sandman, a hugely successful cartoon strip. In 2001, he produced the bestselling adult novel American Gods. He recently published a new adult novel, Anansi Boys. His children's book, The Wolves In The Walls, has been adapted for the stage and is on tour until May 20. He is married, has three children and lives in Minneapolis
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Reading under a tree on a summer's day.
What is your greatest fear?
Something dreadful but unspecified happening to my children.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I'm utterly disorganised and I wish I wasn't.
What makes you depressed?
Not writing. I get moody and roody and irritable if I'm not making stuff up.
What has been your most embarrassing moment?
School - it was a long moment, but an embarrassing one.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Buying books I'll never read, in the vague hope that if I'm stranded on a desert island I'll have remembered to pack a trunk with unread books.
What is your most treasured possession?
My iPod - the idea of it, having all my music when I need it, rather than the rather battered object.
What is your favourite smell?
November evenings: frost and leaf-mould and woodsmoke. The smell of coming winter.
What is your favourite book?
A huge, leather-bound, 150-year-old accounts book, with 500 numbered pages, all blank. I keep promising myself I'll write a story in it one day.
What is your fancy dress costume of choice?
Pirate.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Wasting time.
What is your greatest regret?
I wish I'd enjoyed the journey more, rather than worried about it.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Time. Ten-day weeks, six-week months, 20-month years. Things like that.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
My children.
What keeps you awake at night?
Silence.