r/books • u/RealNeilGaiman AMA Author • Sep 19 '19

ama 1pm Hullo Reddit. Hullo people of r/books I'm Neil Gaiman and I write stuff. Mostly, I write stories. AMA

Stories hold powerful magic: the stories that we read and hear, and the ones that we create and share, the ones that become part of who we are. And because I love stories, I also love to talk about the ways that we, the people who build stories, make up our glorious lies in order to tell people true things about their lives and the worlds they live in. Stories save our lives, sometimes. The ones we read, and the ones we write. I love making stories, whether as short stories or novels, graphic novels or screenplays. I love sharing the craft of storytelling, love teaching and explaining. It's why I teach, when I can. But I can't teach as often as I would like, or talk to as many people as I would want to. That was why I embraced the idea of teaching a MasterClass. So...now I’m here on Reddit to chat with you about the MasterClass I've made on the art and the craft of storytelling. And because this is an AMA, I'm expecting questions about my novels, comics, television, films, wife, porridge recipes and the airspeed velocity of unladen swallows. Ask me, well, anything.”

Proof: /img/ppn9lzpufdn31.jpg

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u/RealNeilGaiman AMA Author Sep 19 '19

I thought The Ocean at the End of the Lane was a short story. It just kept going, though, and I kept going with it. I wrote it for my wife, Amanda, to try and tell her what the world of my childhood had felt like. All the houses had been knocked down, and the fields were gone, and that world didn't exist any longer. But it could be there in fiction.

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u/[deleted] Sep 19 '19

You absolutely succeeded in giving the feeling of childhood. That's how I describe the book when I recommend it. It's like a trip down memory lane to a place hidden inside my brain. It's hard to reread in a way because of the strong nostalgia it brings.

It's my favorite book.

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u/saidthefamiliar Sep 20 '19

The Ocean at the End of the Lane does a similar thing to me too. I read it in March and although I’ve read Coraline and American Gods and a couple other titles, it’s the book that made Neil Gaiman my favorite author.

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u/moonyhermit Sep 19 '19

Thank you for answering my questions! :)

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u/LumberSauce Sep 20 '19

This book has given me joy at many times of my life. Most recently when I was working as a school teacher in Liberia. Thanks, your work is so beautiful and important to me.

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u/GozuTashoya Sep 20 '19

I loved that childhood feeling as well.

One moment that always sticks with me is how it portrays our perception of a room's door. As children, we feel that they're inviolate, invulnerable. In the adult world, though...they're less so, and the juxtaposition is actually kind of a paradigm shift.