Terry Brooks official biography

Terry Brooks was born in Illinois in 1944, where he spent a great deal of his childhood and early adulthood dreaming up stories in and around Sinnissippi Park, the very same park that would eventually become the setting for his bestselling Word & Void trilogy. He went to college and received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and he received his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University.

A writer since high school, he wrote many stories within the genres of science fiction, western, fiction, and non-fiction, until one semester early in his college years he was given The Lord of the Rings to read. That moment changed Terry's life forever, because in Tolkien's great work he found all the elements needed to fully explore his writing combined in one genre.

He then wrote The Sword of Shannara, the seven year grand result retaining sanity while studying at Washington & Lee University and practicing law. It became the first work of fiction ever to appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, where it remained for over five months.

During the spare time he could afford from his law practice, Terry wrote The Elfstones of Shannara, which followed in 1982 and once again brought the literary world an epic novel of wonder and adventure in the eagerly awaited sequel to The Sword of Shannara. The Wishsong of Shannara, published in 1985, finished the remarkable trilogy.

After publishing his first three Shannara novels, Terry knew that writing was not only his life's ambition but that he could make a living with it as well. Even though he was hesitant, he quit his practice of law to pursue a full-time writing career. He moved to Seattle and began writing Magic Kingdom for Sale--Sold!, which began a bestselling new series for him in 1986. After two more Landover novels—The Black Unicorn and Wizard At Large—Terry wrote The Heritage of Shannara, a four-book series returning to the very heart that had made him such a success. The publication of The Talismans of Shannara in 1993 concluded that storyline.

Terry can't write in one series for long. He needs, as a creative writer, to take time off from a project which inevitably allows him to explore new mythos and ideas that he is constantly thinking about; he recharges himself in this way for when he comes back to a series it is meaningful storytelling. Rather than start a new Shannara novel after he finished The Heritage of Shannara series, he wrote two more Landover books—The Tangle Box & Witches' Brew.

Once done with the Landover books and another foray into the Shannara series with the release of First King of Shannara, Terry decided to create something new. Since the beginning of The Heritage of Shannara series in 1990, Terry had been thinking of a new series; a dark, contemporary fantasy set in a town similar to the Illinois hometown he grew up in. The ideas for this new series grew, expanded, and grew some more over the next several years while he wrote other novels, and in September 1997 Terry released Running With the Demon, his darkest most complex masterwork yet. The story of Nest Freemark and John Ross continued in A Knight of the Word and Angel Fire East in what has been tentatively titled The Word & Void trilogy.

In the midst of writing The Word & Void trilogy, George Lucas, the esteemed creator of Star Wars, personally asked Terry if he would write the novelization to Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Being a Star Wars fan Terry agreed easily and soon found himself travelling to Skywalker Ranch to discuss the project with Lucas, and a month before the theatrical release of the movie the book was published with great success.

It was during this time that Terry decided to have an official website, one that a dedicated fan would devote time towards to ensure that the latest news, touring information, and book summaries could be available to his fans. Terry found his fan. Read that history here.

During the six years that followed the website's inception, Terry wrote two Shannara trilogies: The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara and High Druid of Shannara. The six books take place 130 years and 150 years respectively after the events of The Talismans of Shannara where Walker Boh is still a Druid and is still trying to form a new Druid Council.

This year's release of The Gypsy Morph, Book Three of the Genesis of Shannara series, finishes off a storyarc begun in Armageddon's Children and The Elves of Cintra. Terry has just finished writing a new Landover novel as well! Click here to get a glimpse of what Terry is up to right now.

Terry Brooks lives with his wife Judine in the Pacific Northwest and on the road meeting his fans.

To read a more comprehensive biography of Terry Brooks, read his memoir/writing book titled Sometimes the Magic Works.

Dick Hill relishes the variety of his audiobook roles and loves never setting foot on a stage. "It's an opportunity to play all the parts!" When he worked in regional theater, what Dick enjoyed most was the rehearsal process. "The fun is in the discovery." The joy of exploring a role was definitely more appealing than repeating it in each performance. With audiobooks it's all new work--every session. Dick has read audiobooks for Brilliance Audio in Michigan for six years and has logged in nearly 200 audiobooks. Like many other narrators, Dick has enjoyed a dynamic mix of thrillers, fantasy, classics, popular fiction, biography, and other nonfiction. He's acclaimed for Michael Connelly's police series featuring Harry Bosch and other gritty thrillers. But he also gets high marks for his romances. For women's voices, often difficult for male narrators, Dick steps out of his normal "tessitura," or primary range of a voice part, and wills a suspension of disbelief. Occasionally, his wife, Susie Breck, joins him in a two-voice narration, but often lately he and Susie have been a directing/narrating team.

Dick takes a visual approach to narrating books. "I have a visual picture of the scene." Using whatever the author provides, he sees the characters, adding details that help him hold them in his mind's eye. When there's a change from a daytime scene to night, Dick says he makes a subtle shift with his voice to reflect those environmental changes. "It's a clue to listeners, but also just for me." Dick has a keen appreciation of Southern writers, and his skill with them is evident in the success of titles like Billy Letts's THE HONK AND HOLLER OPENING SOON or Terry Kay's THE RUNAWAY. Brilliance's studio manager, Max Bloomquist praises Dick's interpretive skills. "His narrative voice is really robust, smooth, but with just enough grit to make it interesting." Dick also expresses a humanism that colors his vocal portraits, making characters memorable long after their scenes are over.--December 2000

December 2007 Update
Included among a whopping 50 titles recorded this year, listen up for his readings of series from Lee Child (BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE) and Henning Mankell (SIDETRACKED). AGAINST THE DAY by Thomas Pynchon nearly set a record for length: 53 hours!

December 2006 Update Dick is such a thriller master, and he continues to add to an already impressive list of authors, including W.E.B Griffin, John Case, P.T. Deuterman, Kay Hooper, Lee Child, and Greg Iles. Iles's TURNING ANGEL got a recent Earphones Award. Child's ONE SHOT gave Dick a shot at the 2006 Male Narrator Audie, while the newest Jack Reacher story, THE HARD WAY, is an equally strong performance. He also found time for a memoir, SHOOTER, and fantasies from Terry Brooks (Armageddon's ARMAGEDDON'S CHILDREN) and Anne and Todd McCaffrey (DRAGON'S FIRE). All in all, a busy recording year for Dick.

December 2005 Update
This has been a year filled with awards for Dick. His narration (with Joyce Bean) of KISS ME WHILE I SLEEP won a 2005 Audie Award. A finalist in the Audies Best Male Narrator category, Dick also merited Earphones Awards for his recordings of HUNTING FEAR and the new Jack Reacher adventure, ONE SHOT. Listeners can look forward to Dick's reading of a new mystery series for Blackstone and WEIGHT, one of Brilliance Audio's new retellings of ancient myths.

December 2004 Update
This year's highlight for Dick was definitely the 2004 Audie Awards. In addition to being a presenter along with his wife, Susie Breck, Dick was nominated in three categories. He and Susie took home the Multi-Voice Award for Sharon McCrumb's GHOST RIDERS. The winning pair enjoyed another audio duet for Brilliance this year, WHISKEY SOUR, the first in a new and promising series by J.A. Konrath. And, speaking of series, Dick has completed his eighth Jack Reacher thriller by Lee Child--THE ENEMY. Dick has started recording for new publishers and particularly enjoyed the work he did on Pocket University's 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT.

December 2003 Update
Dick recorded several popular titles this year--A FINE DARK LINE by Joe Lansdale, THE PERSUADER by Lee Child, LIFE SENTENCE by David Ellis, and--bringing a little leavening to the thriller fare--Dave Barry's BOOGERS ARE MY BEAT. A highlight for Dick outside the audiobook realm was winning the 2003 Michigan Playwriting Award for his play, Gus and Angie. Dick has also recently completed a musical "review," Boomers. Librarian fans will have a chance to see Dick at the Public Library Association February conference program, Seattle Supper Social.

December 2002 Update
During the past year, Dick has taken special pleasure in recording Dave Barry's hilarious TRICKY BUSINESS as well as WITHOUT FAIL, Lee Childs's latest Jack Reacher thriller. One of Dick's favorite projects was the two-voice recording of Stuart Woods's BLOOD ORCHID, done with Susie Breck, his favorite actress and wife of more than 20 years.

December 2001 Update
Dick has recorded his usual wide range of titles this year, from the National Book Award-winner WAITING by Ha Jin to P.J. O'Rouke's CEO OF THE SOFA. Many listeners know Dick for his skills with the tense suspense of authors Lee Child (ECHO BURNING, RUNNING BLIND), P.T. Deutermann (HUNTING SEASON) and John Case (THE SYNDROME). He has the uncanny ability to keep listeners on edge even while following plots and subplots and then makes the most of surprising conclusions. Dick's comic timing is also something we've appreciated more this year in his third title by Dave Barry, DAVE BARRY IS NOT TAKING THIS SITTING DOWN, and his first encounter with P.J. O'Rourke. Outside audiobooks, Dick received a grant through the Boarshead Theatre to create LIVING WITH DYING, which deals with the experience of terminally ill patients.

December 1999 Update
A versatile narrator recording for Brilliance, Dick has made Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch detective series a favorite among listeners. Try THE CONCRETE BLONDE or ANGEL'S FLIGHT.

Reference:
http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/gvpages/hill.shtml