"I wanted to be the person who had written The Lord of the Rings."
Hearing your favourite author say these words, comes as a relief. Even Neil Gaiman – a man whose work has inspired millions of readers – started out as most authors do: Writing school essays and dreaming of following in the steps of his literary hero.

Fifty years later, Gaiman – who as a seven-year-old spent all his pocket money on books and read C. S. Lewis’ 'The Chronicles of Narnia' over and over again, has become one of the greatest authors of our time. With over 40 books to his name, including his epic modern fantasy novel American Gods (recently adapted into a TV series starring Ian McShane), as well as acclaimed collaborations with the likes of Terry Pratchett and Alan Moore, you might expect the success to go to his head.

However, Gaiman is still very down-to-earth, humbly describing himself an 'okay' writer, rather than great. With an award list twice as long as his bibliography, we can’t help but be sceptical about such self-effacement, but Gaiman insists a lot of his success is down to ruthless editing. As soon as he has finished a piece, he puts it away for a week before coming back to it as a critic. "My wife Amanda is a fantastic and merciless reader," he adds.

Starting out as a journalist, Gaiman interviewed bestselling authors while secretly hoping to make useful acquaintances and get advice: "It’s always easier to start in non-fiction." Later on, he became a novelist and screenwriter for TV, penning a couple of Doctor Who episodes. In recent times, he has also appeared in shows like 'The Simpsons' and 'The Big Bang Theory', where he dealt with the most difficult challenge an actor can face: playing himself.

Gaiman still loves the excitement of writing something he did not expect a page before. "You’re scribbling as fast as you can, because you’re the first reader," he notes. "When I sit to create, I am God."

It’s this idea of limitless possibility that fascinates him most about his job. Certainly, his material tends to be unconventional and surprising. Featuring female, gay and multi-racial characters, the Sandman comics, for example, were ahead of their time when published in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Nonetheless, they were still extremely popular with both men and women.

"Nobody except me knew what I was doing," reflects Gaiman. "But it was selling okay." He remembers comic book shop owners expressing their gratitude at conventions: "Dude, I gotta thank you. You brought women into my store."

Like 'The Sandman', many of Gaiman’s works – such as the short story 'Freya’s Unusual Wedding' that he chooses to read at the Convention Centre – are based on myths, one of his many obsessions.

"The easiest way to get it out of my head," he says, "is to write about it." Conversely, however, he is also capable of leaving a work unfinished if he is no longer passionate about it – which means we may never get to read the story about the teapot or the piece about frogs in central park. A sad thought, without question.

But sooner or later Neil Gaiman will blow our minds again (after he has recovered from three hours of signing 1,000 books). Until then, we are left waiting for his new show 'Good Omens' to air and reading as much of his words as we can get our hands on. And after that we can go on with the authors that inspire him: Michael Moorcook, Dianna Wynne Jones, Ursula K. Le Quinn, P. L. Travers and always and forever Terry Pratchett.

I interviewed @neilhimself last night & he was a brilliant, gracious interviewee. There were some other people there watching us for some reason (a thousand or so) and afterwards Neil stayed until after one in the morning signing books for the fans. The man's a legend.

— PatrickFreyne (@PatrickFreyne1) 28. Mai 2018

A very special evening at @TheCCD with @neilhimself in conversation with @PatrickFreyne1. Some really great audience questions, followed by an epic book signing that is still going... More photos to come tomorrow! #ILFDublin pic.twitter.com/CvVJVbkeus

— ILF Dublin (@ILFDublin) 27. Mai 2018