Terry Goodkind

Terry Goodkind's first novel, Wizard's First Rule (1994), established him immediately as a major voice on the epic fantasy scene. Subsequent books in the Sword of Truth series have climbed steadily up the national bestseller lists. The saga of The Sword of Truth started growing in Goodkind's mind during the early 1990s, while he was building his house in the forests of the northeastern U.S. "It started with the character of Kahlan, and grew from that seed," he recalls. "It really became a haunting experience. As soon as I started writing Wizard's First Rule, I knew writing was my calling. I've found something to which I truly want to dedicate my life." Goodkind was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also attended art school, one of his many interests on the way to becoming a writer. Besides a career in wildlife art, he has been a cabinet maker, violin maker, and he has done restoration work on rare and exotic artifacts from around the world — each with its own story to tell, he says. In 1983 Goodkind moved to the forested mountains he loves. There, in the woods near the ocean, he built the house where he and his wife, Jeri, live, and came at last to tell his own stories.