Meeting Neil Gaiman

I'm still all jazzed up.

About a month ago I discovered that Neil Gaiman was coming to Stockholm for a signing in connection with The Ocean at the End of the Lane being released in Swedish. As soon as I saw it I decided I was going. I was not going to miss a chance to meet him.

Today was the day and the Sci-Fi bookstore had warned us on before-hand that there was going to be a lot of people so they had put in place a queuing system. Namely an old calendar and then they let people go upstairs to his signing table by month. They started giving away queueing tickets when the shop opened at 10am and I wasn't able to be there until about 3pm. The signing was going to start at 4pm. I still managed to get a ticket, October, but was warned that since Neil could only be there signing until 7pm, I might not get my book signed.

But Neil was quick. After 45 minutes they had called up May, and around 5.45pm October was called up. Most people had brought their copies of The Ocean at the End of the Lane with them (both Swedish and English), but I saw some American Gods, Fragile Things, and Good Omens. The guy just in front of me in the line had brought with him The Sandman Omnibus which was huge and looked really heavy. The shop employee standing next to Neil's signing table remarked on how tough it must have been to stand in line for all that time carrying that big thing.

I had originally planned on asking him to sign the book with my favourite quote of his: "Growing up is overrated. Just be a writer." But as soon as I got up there and after we had said our hellos and how are yous, he remarked that he liked my t-shirt.
Neil: "It's Alice, isn't it?"
Me: "Yes, it is Alice."
Neil: "The first time I was in Stockholm was actually to see him."
Me: "That's great. I'm going to see him again this summer actually."
Neil: "If you get the chance to meet him tell him I send my love. He's one of the sweetest people."
Me: "I will. Thank you."
I was wearing this T-shirt:

Neil Gaiman is an Alice Cooper fan! Now I love him even more! *fangirl moment*

I was all smiles for the rest of the evening. And here's my book all signed and pretty:

Something I really liked about him was that although he had limited time he actually took some seconds to say something to each and every one of us rather than just saying hello and signing the book and send us on our way. According to the Sci-Fi bookstore staff Neil thought it was a lot of fun to meet us all, and thinks warmly of his Swedish fans. And as for myself I thought this signing went a lot better. I wasn't starstruck at all when I stood there in front of him and I could actually both speak and think coherently. But just before the signing started and I saw him walk to the table and waving to all the people I felt a little like: "OMG he's really real!" Like the feeling you get when you've only ever seen pictures of someone and then they're suddenly there right in front of you and actually really real.

So that's my third signed book. While I was there waiting for the signing to start I also bought two books: American Gods and Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Anthology.