Neil Gaiman has finally arrived in Hollywood. Not that he cares. But judging from the packed auditorium in UCLA’s hollowed Royce Hall, his rise to fame seems equally the result of cult status-turned-acclaim from even the most cold-hearted of critics, as well as the movie industry’s intermittent love affair with what many believe to be “the most accomplished storyteller in the English language today” (as his publicist introduced him).

After what might have seemed to hard-core fans as somewhat, er, inconsistent adaptations of his work for the silver screen, The Almighty Academy last week announced that the movie adaptation of Gaiman’s 2002 book Coraline had been nominated for Best Animated Picture. According to Gaiman, the process was a bit of a challenge when first presented to his literary agent: “Neil, I read the Coraline chapters and loved it! I think it’s the best thing you’ve ever written. But I have to warn you: it’s unpublishable.”

Despite claiming he’d spoken a “ridiculous 70 minutes” at UCSB the night before, tonight the time flew by all too quickly : From the podium, he’s as much a natural storyteller as on the page. David Lynch once attributed his artistry to being able to imagine himself between the ages of 3 and 21, and perhaps it’s a similar outlook which allows Gaiman to put himself in the minds of both his childhood readers, and the adults who wish to be children again: Amongst other things, tonight Gaiman claims The Graveyard Book was inspired by his 2-year old son riding his tricycle in a cemetery. Gaiman had also composed a poem called My Last Landlady with his new dame, Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Dolls. “I really, really love Amanda,” he murmured fondly to himself before reading aloud from Landlady, about a new tenant at a cottage overlooking the ocean, the person who lives there and is visited — almost obsessively– by her neurotic and slightly creepy lessor. Gaiman’s influence behind it? It was inspired by a series of seaside resorts that were haunted by a pair of strange landowners who quasi-stalked the author.

In addition to his live readings, Neil Gaiman hinted at several upcoming projects (yes, he will be writing that Doctor Who episode in the near future), rare bits of information  (Did you know that he wrote the English adaptation of Princess Mononoke?) rare glimpses into his personal life and upbringing, describing himself as “spoiled”, and unable to commit to one genre with his writing. Like the greats Jack London and so many before him, his early writing attempts were a series of rejection slips; Coraline, like other works, were over a decade in the making. It ended up paying off, as the book won a Hugo, Newberry, and Bram Stoker Awards in 2002.
Finally he read from Odd and the Frost Giants, the story of a Viking boy who’d stumbled into a wild fox, a bear, and an eagle — new incarnations of the Norse Gods Loki, Thor, and Odin. This was an excerpt from a novella which Gaiman ‘s already published, and is brilliant, and you don’t have to be a kid to get.

Best of all is how Gaiman delivers his prose — the odd, the macabre, the morbid — all matter-of-factly. His charming British accent lends more credit to his masterful writing, clearly the result of years of reading and writing. I remembered reading an issue of Sandman and thinking that beyond the charming British affect and affable demeanor (one audience member suggested he take to becoming a voice-over artist, which he politely dismissed) was a storyteller that managed to knock the wind out of me; how a graphic novel that looked so gothy and mopey was something amazing and dreadful and addictive.

Finally, Gaiman offered some heartfelt tips for all us wannabes in the crowd. His most important advice for aspiring writers? “Don’t come to a novel with any preconceptions… trust your dreams, your heart, and your story.” Gaiman’s one of the few that could get away with such advice without sounding pompous or cheesy.

Words by Jeff Nau, Photos by Sidney Bensimon