#number 1!!!!

And last but not least:

Neil Gaiman

"He is a treasure house of story, and we are lucky to have him in any medium. His fecundity, coupled with the overall quality of his work, is both wonderful and a little intimidating." - Stephen King

"Gaiman is a star. He constructs stories like some demented cook might make a wedding cake, building layer upon layer, including all kinds of sweet and sour in the mix." - Clive Barker 

I’m not going to lie, I don’t have that many followers. But I am sure not everybody thought that number one was going to be who they thought it was.

I mean my blog name is after a Philip K. Dick book, so that would have been a plausible number one. He is in the top 10, ‘cause I am a big fan of his books, but the author above has captured my heart and held it for a very long time. The longest out of any of the authors on this list.

One word: Comics.

I’ve been following Mr. Gaiman since he was just a lowly comic book writer (his words, not mine). It all started because of a little comic book called The Sandman. And progressed from there. I read his first novel (an adaptation of his television series) Neverwhere, and after that was hooked on whatever I could get my hands on. Unfortunately (except for comics) there wasn’t much.

But the book that was out there, the co-authored with Terry Pratchett, Good Omens, has remained one of my most treasured reads. So much that I am on my third/fourth copy, having given them to friends to pass along the genius that the book is.

Then Smoke & Mirrors came out. A collection of (not just) stories, it featured anything and everything any writer, and fan could want. It didn’t feature one genre, but transgressed everything imaginable. There were fairy tales with a new twist (“Snow.Glass.Apples.”), charming mish-mashes (“Chivalry“), and whimsical horror (“We Can Get Them For You Wholesale“).

He then released his own fairy tale: Stardust.

But it was the 2002 Hugo and Nebula Award winning American Gods, that made him a household name. He did what his friend and mentor, Alan Moore, couldn’t. Broke out of comics (Moore has to date written one novel, the great, but tedious Voice of the Fire). He was now a New York Time Best Selling novelist.

But he has never lost where he came from, and he is probably one of the most generous writer’s when it comes to fans. Watching him read one of his works, is akin to having a conversation with God. After listening to him read once, you will never hear anything except his voice when you read one of his books, and this is not a bad thing.

Gaiman is my favorite because every time I read a book, or story, or comic of his, I get this sense of wonder. Of discovery. Of going to either a fantastic, or terrifying place, but always having a candle to light my way.