An unassuming elevator near the entrance of the Eugene Public Library transported readers into a different world — a process similar to what happens when you open one of TJ Klune’s books. Stepping out of the elevator, attendees entered a room that was crowded to the point that newcomers began to ring the edges of the room, all to hear Klune speak.

Klune, a fantasy and romance author, came to the Eugene Public Library on May 10. He is known for his books “The House in the Cerulean Sea” and “Under the Whispering Door,” which emphasize acceptance and authenticity.

Backed by a rainbow made out of balloons, Klune stood on a stage with a lectern, although by the way he spoke, you’d hardly notice it was there — Klune was more concerned with not tripping over the cord to the microphone he was speaking into as he paced the stage in his Converse.

“When a homosexual like myself buys a new house, what’s the first thing they do? They make it gay. What did I do? I put up a freaking huge pride flag on my deck,” Klune began, referencing his experience moving to Leavenworth, Washington. “What I did not know was that this pride flag can be seen by my neighbor down on the main road.”

He proceeded to explain that this neighbor was homophobic and spewed hateful rhetoric to Klune’s handyman, which got back to him. “What do you do in a situation like this? Do I go and confront him? Do I ignore it and go away? Then I realized I am a petty b****. I wanted to get revenge.”

Klune’s elaborate revenge crusade included “seducing” the neighbor’s dad. Klune’s delivery of his experiences, like this story, rife with homophobia, was done in a way that he would nearly bring the mood down before getting to a punchline you didn’t even know was coming.

But he wasn’t afraid to speak candidly about his experiences: about growing up in Roseburg, Oregon, in the 80s and how it was a place full of racism, misogyny and homophobia.

As Klune spoke, people listened intently, many having experienced something similar. An older couple in matching tie-dye tees, a man dressed as if he had just finished a trail run and an attendee with ombre pink and purple hair were part of the amalgam of people in the audience.

“I grew up around Roseburg, so to hear him talk about the same thing that informed so much of how I grew up was really emotional for me,” Kurt Williams, a Eugene resident, said. “The first time I read his books, I felt so seen. It’s just unexplainable.”

Klune took this story of growing up and not being understood by anyone around him and, almost surprising himself with the direction the talk was taking, turned it into the story of how he wrote fanfiction about the video game “Metroid” — delivering it in a way reminiscent of stand-up comedy.

His writing journey began in his seventh-grade English class with an assignment to turn a memory into a comedic story. Upon reading his story, unlike with any of the others, his teachers were laughing out loud.

“That was the very first time in my life that I understood that the written word has power,” Klune said to the audience. “Words put together in a certain way can make people devastated. Words put together in a certain way can make people feel like they’re flying. And I didn’t understand that until that moment.”

The control he had over the room was tangible, the audience hung to his every word like moths to a flame. It was easy to forget he was an author until you got to experience his storytelling in real time — and until he quipped that if people spoke over him, he would kill off one of his characters.

Klune cracked many jokes throughout his talk: about spoiling a 50-year-old book, about working at Geico and being good at insurance or about responses he’s gotten to having the antichrist as a character. He frequently laughed at himself, which turned into laughter echoing through the crowd like a song.

The talk was organized by Caitlin McMahan, a teen librarian at the Eugene Public Library. McMahan wore a patterned vest with cats all over it; after introducing Klune, she stood at the edge of the room and nearly blended into the audience. She worked with the Eugene Public Library Foundation and Klune’s agent to coordinate the visit.

“There are many reasons that we wanted to bring TJ Klune to the library. First is that he’s an incredibly popular author and we thought that people would be very excited about the opportunity to hear him speak,” McMahan said. “He’s also a member of and a strong advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, which is an important group in our own community here in Eugene.”

In the rest of his talk, Klune spoke about the ups and downs of his career, what he’s working on next and the spectrum of responses he has gotten to his books: being berated to being told the positive impact his books have had on queer families and relationships.

To finish, Klune circled back to his revenge bit from the beginning, as he turned a story about his neighbor and getting revenge on him by seducing his dad to a powerful message for queer people.

“I see you, I hear you, I know it’s hard. But here’s what I always will believe. There is so much more joy in the world with you than without. Please stay, please fight and know that if you ever need me to kick somebody’s a** for you, all you have to do is say so and I will do it… probably not, but that’s okay.”

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