It went very well indeed! Here are my pictures. I took my sugar bowl:
http://instagram.com/p/B5OAiSXg31N
As expected, Neil Gaiman was very thoughtful, and Daniel was very witty. I will try to recall some interesting things they said - they might be inaccurate:
- Daniel used to keep his manuscripts in a refrigerator, because he assumed it might be a safe place if the house burned down, so someone (maybe his wife Lisa) bought him a fire-proof box. He sometimes locks manuscripts inside it so that he can leave them and come back to them with a fresh perspective. On the note of perspectives, Neil said that he doesn't picture 'the reader' when he writes, because all readers have such differing interests. Instead, he imagines 'the reader' as a version of himself in an alternate universe, or as one of his children. He's currently writing a book about pirates which should hopefully be published by the time his son is old enough to read it.
- Daniel thinks that outlandish stories are more believable to young children than adults, because children are still learning what the world is, and they have no choice to accept what they're provided with. A baby is strapped into a chair, inside a box on wheels that transports them to another place, and they just have to accept it without question. So a story about a castle where everyone has to have a laughing contest to overcome their peril isn't necessarily going to be challenged, as it might be by an adult.
- Daniel thinks that fairytales convey their morals in very strange ways, eg. Hansel and Gretel, where the children are sent into the woods by their mother (or step-mother), to a house made of cookies, but they're not to trust the lady there etc., and somehow this teaches children to stick together, as opposed to teaching them not to trust their mothers.
- Daniel is working with a museum on a new project. This may or may not be related to the Snow Queen. Recently, he realised he'd been thinking about the Snow Queen for a very, very long time, perhaps without acknowledging it.
- Daniel noted how when one is trying to impress someone else in a relationship, they perform with all their best features (eg. reading poetry every night) and hide anything unattractive (ie. sitting around in your underwear watching TV for hours), then when you get married, you suddenly have to abandon this facade, because it can't be sustained forever, and both of you have to accept the other person's unattractive parts at the same time.
- Daniel and his wife Lisa spend a lot of their time laying around, laughing.
- Daniel taught his baby son to make him cocktails, since babies don't question your competence or authority. Now that his son is older, he'll only make Daniel drinks if it's in return for something.
- Neil Gaiman once gave Daniel some encouraging words, just as Daniel's books were starting to become popular. Daniel had always valued this and hadn't really spoken about until then. I can't remember what the words were. Neil said he'd been similarly encouraged by a fellow, albeit more-successful-at-the-time, writer, Stephen King, who once sent his sons into an event to invite Neil to dinner, while he waited in the car. Neil was signing books until about 10pm, so he ended up hanging out with Stephen in a hotel room, instead of having dinner, and Stephen opened up about life in the industry in a way that was useful and very much appreciated.
- Stephen King has also given Daniel good advice/support, because they share a stalker.
- Neil's favourite book of Daniel's is The Dark, because he read the audiobook. He doesn't often do audiobooks, but he found this story rather special. When Daniel's publicist(?) called Daniel to say who had been secured to read for the audiobook, she excitedly said it was going to be Neil Young. Daniel was pleased but a bit confused.
- Daniel sort-of knew about VFD when writing The Bad Beginning and sort-of didn't.
- Daniel noted how 'genre' can be considered a bad thing. When someone like Margaret Atwood writes a popular sci-fi novel like the Handmaid's Tale, it's no longer sci-fi, because it's too good to be that. Authors get promoted out of their genres.
- Daniel thinks he's lucky to have been so successful.
- One of Daniel's favourite books by Neil Gaiman is Coraline. He noted how it goes from funny to terrifying in an effective way. He briefly spoke about horror in writing - he finds Dracula terrifying, particularly in how Dracula is described to be stalking around different rooms, then is suddenly lost and no one knows where he is. He likes jump scares in films, even though they're not often appreciated.
It's worth mentioning that Daniel was in no hurry during the book signing. He had long conversations with each person, writing personal notes in their books, answering questions, asking people things about themselves and taking pictures. Despite his exuberant character, it is clear that he is humble and grateful. There was a lot of laughter in the line for the signing as he interacted with people.