RAS: The future? Well, I think of Corona as my new home. (I've signed for three more books; I envision many more after that.) However, I think of Drizzt and his friends as my family. So while I love my new home, I can go back and visit my family from time to time. Seriously, I think DemonWars is taking me to a new level of writing -- the story gets bigger and bigger. There will be other projects, as well. Right now, I'm working on a Star Wars novel (who could ignore the invitation to jump into the greatest myth of our time?).

RAS.COM: Out of all your books, which character is your all time favorite, and why?

RAS: Tough question. I'd have to say that Drizzt is my favorite, because I know him best, and heck, he was my voice through so many (now 11) novels. Oliver deBurrows, my highwayhalfling cross between Inego Montoya (The Princess bride) and the little French guy on the wall in Monty Python's Holy Grail, was the most fun to write, along with Pikel Bouldershoulder of the Cleric Quintet. And now I've fallen for Avelyn Desbris of DemonWars, though my favorite of that series became Pony, not Elbryan, as I had originally believed. I think Pony is the most "real" person I've ever written. One more note about that: at the end of the third book, The Demon Apostle, I met a new character who might prove to be the toughest, most complicated, hero yet. As for bad guys, no contest: Artemis Entreri. I'll be doing books about him in the future. I did like Ghost in Night Masks, as well.

RAS.COM: It is reported that Charles Dickens regretted killing off some of his characters (ie. Little Nell & Nancy). Do you have any regrets about the fates of any of your characters.

RAS: I do regret the turn of events for Wulfgar. When he died, it caught me by surprise, and saddened me quite a bit. I'm still not sure I should have brought him back. I got so many letters from Wulfgar-lovers begging me to do that. Also, I came to miss him, and came to regret the way he had become very two-dimensional. Now, after writing The Silent Blade and The Spine of the World (the Drizzt book for 1999), which is completely devoted to his task of finding himself, I'm thrilled to have brought him back, and I think the readers will be, too.

RAS.COM: Growing up did you enjoy reading? What type of books did you enjoy?

RAS: I liked reading when I was a little kid -- Peanuts comics, mostly. I have quite a collection of first-printing Charlie Brown books! After that, I don't know what happened. I think school beat the reading out of me, mostly by giving me books I found irrelevant, and just plain boring. My love for literature began anew in my freshman year of college (February, 1978), when, during a tremendous blizzard, I escaped to Middle Earth for an adventure with Bilbo Baggins. Nothing's ever been the same.

RAS.COM: Living in today's society, with all of the visual stimuli (ie. TV, internet, etc) Do you feel like people have lost interest in reading and the ability to use their imaginations?

RAS: I do feel that people have lost a degree of imagination. What's worse, though, is that we're so bombarded by the ordinary that everytime a writer (or any other artist) tries to take some departure, some really creative turn, he/she is likely to get lambasted. I had one guy going around on the Internet trashing The Demon Awakens, and I couldn't understand what his problem might be. Then I got an IM from him -- a very flattering IM. I recognized the name from some very bad reviews and asked him bluntly what was going on. His response: he was afraid that if people liked The Demon Awakens, I wouldn't write anymore Drizzt books! So he was trashing Demon Awakens. Unbelievable. Talk about the tail wagging the dog!

RAS.COM: In your "spare time" what activities do you enjoy doing most?

RAS: I like to work out, weights and Nordic Track. I'll be heavily into biking next year, as my goal is to run the PanMass Challenge, a 192 mile rally to raise money for cancer research. Other than that, I spend almost all of my "free" time running around with the kids. I love it.

RAS.COM: Do you feel a lot of people enjoy fantasy because of the way good usually overcomes the evil reguardless of the obstacles involved?

RAS: I've often said that good winning out isn't a cliche, it's a philosophy. I do think people want good to win out; I think people want to have hope that their lives, and all the world, will get better, not worse.

RAS.COM: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

RAS: If you can quit, then quit. If you can't quit, then you're a writer. Also, grow a very thick skin, because you're going to get kicked, often, in this business. When you're trying to break in, you'll face rejection after rejection (you think calling a girl for a date was bad? Hah!), and if you do break in, you'll be bombarded by critics (and so many more of them because of the Internet!). No one writes a book that everybody loves, and the people who hate the book are always more vocal than those who love it.

RAS.COM: What is the most recent book you've read and really enjoyed?

RAS: Running with the Demon by Terry Brooks. It's great to see Terry break out of the genre (sort of) in such a wonderful way.

RAS.COM: Do you enjoy traveling across the country to different signings and conventions, meeting fans?

RAS: I do love the booksignings, especially (if you can believe this) when there aren't too many people there. It's great to have time to sit and talk with readers of the genre, to get their take on things and their honest responses to things I've done in the book. The travelling can get tough. I've got very busy kids, and a wife I love deeply, and being away from home can really wear on me. That's why my tours are whirlwind, and very tightly packed.