Neil Gaiman 'grateful for American Gods success'

Neil Gaiman has said that he is "grateful" for the continued success of his 2001 novel American Gods.

The author reflected on the longevity of American Gods during a recent conversation with MTV News on the tenth anniversary of the book's release.

Gaiman explained: "The truth is, as an author, all you are is grateful if you turn around ten years after you wrote something and it's still in print.

"It makes me ridiculously happy as an author, but mostly it makes me ridiculously happy that my book is being read."

Gaiman went on to say that he considered American Gods to be a great way of paying homage to his experience of being an English citizen moving to America and how that change affected his life.

"All of the things that I loved about America that just seemed weird went into American Gods. I was fascinated by the way people coming to America tried to become 'American'," he said.

"The idea of using old gods as a way of talking about what people bring with them when they come to America was a really fun one."

American Gods, which focuses on a mysterious ex-convict named Shadow and his adventures following the death of his wife, will be adapted into a TV series to air on the HBO network.

It has been reported that the show will span six seasons, each consisting of ten to twelve episodes.