Powell's Books

Why do you write?
A couple of years ago, my answer to this would have been different, I expect. Wizards of the Coast was putting together an anthology of all of the short stories I had done for the Forgotten Realms over the years. Part of my task was to provide an introduction to each of the stories — what was I thinking when I wrote it?

Going over those stories was like looking at an old photo album. I was thrown back to the time, place, and mental state so vividly… it was like reliving the last 25 years of my life.

And then I understood why I write: This is my spiritual journey. This is the way I make sense of the world around me. I use my characters as sounding boards as I try to resolve the big questions bouncing around inside my head. I cannot imagine my life without this tool, this outlet.

Read the rest of our Q&A with R. A. Salvatore: http://powells.us/10RwflO

“I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of fed up with realism. After all, there’s enough reality already; why make more of it? Why not leave realism for the memoirs of drug addicts, the histories of salt, the biographies of porn stars? Why must we continue to read about the travails of divorced people or mildly depressed Canadians when we could be contemplating the shopping habits of zombies, or the difficulties that ensue when living and dead people marry each other? We should be demanding more stories about faery handbags and pyjamas inscribed with the diaries of strange women. We should not rest until someone writes about a television show that features the Free People’s World-Tree Library, with its elaborate waterfalls and Forbidden Books and Pirate-Magicians. We should be pining for a house haunted by rabbits.” - Kelly Link