What You Write Chooses You.

If You Are Always Frightened For Yourself You Can't Act, And Then Life Loses Its Purpose. You Just Have To Tell Yourself That, When You Get Right Down To It, You Don't Matter All That Much.

Herein Lies The Heart And Soul Of The Nations. Their Right To Be Free Men, Their Desire To Live In Peace, Their Courage To Seek Out Truth, Herein Lies The Sword Of Shannara.

Anyway, Several Rewrites Later, Del Rey Books Did Publish My First Novel, And It Did Become The First Work Of Fiction On The New York Times Trade Paperback Bestseller List.

On The Other Hand, I Still Approach Each Book With The Same Basic Plan In Mind - To Put Some People Under Severe Stress And See How They Hold Up.

Let Me Tell You Something You Haven't Learned Yet, Something You Learn Only By Living Awhile. As You Get Older, You Find That Life Begins To Wear You Down. Doesn't Matter Who You Are Or What You Do, It Happens. Experience, Time, Events - They All Conspire Against You To Steal Away Your Energy, To Erode Your Confidence, To Make You Question Things You Wouldn't Have Given A Second Thought To When You Were Young. It Happens Gradually, A Chipping Away That You Don't Even Notice At First, And Then One Day It's There. You Wake Up And You Just Don't Have The Fire Anymore." He Smiled.