Last night I went to see Neil Gaiman for a Writers on a New England Stage event at The Music Hall. It’s a part of his book tour for the 10th Anniversary publication of American Gods. The place was packed with everyone from hardcore fans of all things Gaiman, to relative neophytes and people who had only found Gaiman through “gateway drug of comic books” (and perhaps some people like myself, who found Gaiman through the gateway drug of Terry Pratchett). While waiting for Mr. Gaiman to take the stage the in-house band played a collection of Gaiman-themed songs, like “Mr. Sandman”. And then he appeared, to much applause.

He started by chatting a bit about the book tour, his recent bad luck with flight delays, and how the limousine driver got a bit lost in Portsmouth, giving Mr. Gaiman an impromptu tour of the city.

“Did you know – well, you must know – you have a submarine.”

He made several quips about The Albacore, remarking that it’s one thing we certainly have on the original Portsmouth. “You’re not a proper town if you don’t have a submarine.” He even joked that it might show up in American Gods 2.

Yes, American Gods 2.

He read a few excerpts from American Gods (“It’s a big book about gods. And America.”) and it turns out the only thing that can make Sam’s “I believe” speech better is Neil Gaiman reading it in the voice of an American teenaged girl. When he squealed, “Oh my god!” I died.

And then he talked with the very nice lady from New Hampshire Public Radio, about everything from Twitter to beards (he has both now). He remarked that among the things he has stored away for American Gods 2 is his interest in way the internet has changed our culture, from shortening attention spans to the phenomena of online communities. He also said that America is no less weird to him now than it was when he first wrote the book, but he seems to have a certain fondness for that weirdness.

Did he mention that we have a submarine?

She asked him a question about libraries and their influence in his life, and he gave a nice little speech about libraries and why librarians are like superheroes, and the whole time the librarian sitting in front of me was honestly and legitimately FLAILING. He talked about spending his entire summer holidays holed up in the town library, and the wonder of discovering that he could read any book in England.

“If you’re ten years old, and you’re me, discovering the magic of Inter-Library Loan is like someone giving you the keys to Fort Knox. Or, not just that: it’s like being the supervillain with an octopus pit and the button to open it. And you’ve got your finger on the button. All power is yours.”

And then he completely and totally geeked out about Doctor Who. Said he’d been watching it since he was three, and that his obsession with The Doctor went back much further than his interest in mythology. Being asked to write an episode for the new series was like a dream come true. “When I wrote the words Interior – TARDIS, I thought: this must be what God feels like.” He also commended the BBC on doing right by the episode, and there was much cheering all around.

Red Sox or Yankees? After waiting for the raucous BOO’s to die down, he quipped: “I’m a Brit, I’m exempt.”

Star Trek or Star Wars? “Trek.”

Gods or aliens? “Gods.”

Favorite book ever? “Don’t. ask. evil. questions.”

And then the last question tied back in to American Gods, specifically Shadow’s speech about the power of belief to help us create and do. So what does Neil Gaiman believe? “I believe stories are important. I believe people are important. And I believe that people deserve stories.”

In conclusion, Neil Gaiman.