Terry Brooks: Genesis of Shannara

As a writer, it's almost cathartic to see the connections between events, the spiderweb-thin threads that weave us and our experiences of one another together. It is also humbling to realize that each of us is just one of 6.8 billion on planet Earth.



Connection 1: Just about a year ago, when I contacted Terry Brooks via his website to ask him to be the keynote speaker at our small, local Young Authors' Conference, I received a kind email from his manager: Terry Brooks is feverishly finishing his next novel. Not even his family is seeing him right now.



Connection 2: Fast forward a year. The Gypsy Morph, third and final book of the Genesis of Shannara trilogy, won't be out until August 26th, 2008. Imagine my surprise when, at the final event of this summer's PNWA conference, we all receive a free copy of Terry Brooks' Armageddon's Children, the first book in the Genesis trilogy which, in a simplified nutshell, spans the gap between the Shannara and the Word & Void books.



Connection 3: The News? The book was a teaser, designed to whet the appetite. So, save up your frequent flyer miles! Terry Brooks will be the keynote speaker at the July 2009 Pacific Northwest Writers Association Summer Conference.



Churning out a novel a year, Terry Brooks has an entire novel finished by the time the current one goes to print. Whether you love him or hate him, Brooks is a titan of the fantasy world, intent upon retaining the crown of authorship.