"Del Rey Internet Newsletter #37" - читать интересную книгу автора

I would someday write that story myself. Well, here was my chance.
But this seemed to me a hard story to write. The ending was already known
to every reader of the series. So how could I make it exciting and
suspenseful? I didn't want to give a bland recitation of the events
surrounding the battle between the rebel Druid Brona and Jerle Shannara,
and let it go at that. Then after some thought and some casting about for
a solid plotline, I came up with what I thought was a good story.

There were some new characters, including the Borderman Kinson Ravenlock,
the Druids Risoa and Tay Trefendwyd, the apprentice Druid Mareth, and Jerle
Shannara's great love Prela Starle. There were old friends like the
once-Druid Cogline. There were more than a few new tales to be told about
some familiar people, and a few revelations about how things came to be.

To my surprise, the outline came together in about three weeks. I knew it
was going to be a big book, because the story was sprawling and covered a
large period of time. Don't worry, said my editor. Don't worry, said my
wife. I immediately began to worry. But the ease with which the story
unfolded once I began to write it was a pleasant surprise.

Even Keke the cat got in on the action. Early in the writing of the book,
I left the computer on and walked downstairs for a short break. While I
was gone, Keke must have walked across the keyboard, because when I came
back, the sentence I had left unfinished now read:

"There is time yet before it reaches us," Bremen whispered. "I think we
should aaaaeeaeaeaeeeeiiiiii. . ." Of course, maybe it wasn't the cat.
Maybe it was the things that live under the house. Maybe they're getting
impatient. The book I put off doing, after all, is about them.

--copyright 1995 by Terry Brooks

IN DEPTH II--------------------------------------------------------------

(Didn't like the previous In Depth, perchance? In honor of the DRIN's
third anniversary, this month we have two.)

Bill Smith is the _Star Wars_ roleplaying game line editor for West End
Games. Since joining West End in 1991, he has edited or written over 30
_Star Wars_ game books and he has entirely too much fun doing his job. He
lives in Northeastern Pennsylvania with Amy (his understanding girlfriend)
and a mountain of _Star Wars_ "stuff." Here he tells us a little about his
latest project:

George Lucas captured my imagination when an Imperial Star Destroyer first
rumbled overhead. What can I say? I was only a kid. Now that I'm
twenty-seven--an adult by some standards--I guess you're expecting me to
say I've outgrown such things. Guess again. _Star Wars_ is my favorite
fictional playground. It has heroes and villains, aliens and droids, and,
of course, starships and vehicles.