Legend of Drizzt
| Robert Anthony Salvatore | |
|---|---|
Salvatore in 2006
|
|
| Born |
January 20, 1959 Leominster, Massachusetts, United States |
| Pen name | R.A. Salvatore |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1982–present |
| Genre | Fantasy, science fiction |
| Notable works |
Forgotten Realms The DemonWars Saga |
| Spouse | Diane Salvatore |
| Website | |
| rasalvatore |
|
Robert Anthony Salvatore (born January 20, 1959), who writes under the name R. A. Salvatore, is an American author best known for The DemonWars Saga, his Forgotten Realms novels, for which he created the popular character Drizzt Do'Urden, and Vector Prime, the first novel in the Star Wars: The New Jedi Order series. He has sold more than 15 million copies of his books in the United States alone and twenty-two of his titles have been New York Times best-sellers.
Robert Salvatore was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, the youngest of a family of seven. A graduate of Leominster High School, Salvatore has credited his high school English teacher with being instrumental in his development as a writer. During his time at Fitchburg State College, he became interested in fantasy after reading J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, given to him as a Christmas gift. He developed an interest in fantasy and other literature, promptly changing his major from computer science to journalism. He earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications/Media from Fitchburg. He earned this degree in 1981 and later a Bachelor of Arts in English. Before taking up writing full-time, he worked as a bouncer. He attributes his fierce and vividly described battle scenes to his experience as a bouncer.
In the fall of 1997, his letters, manuscripts, and other professional papers were donated to the R.A. Salvatore Library at his alma mater, Fitchburg State University in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
In 1982, he started writing more seriously, developing a manuscript he titled Echoes of the Fourth Magic. He created the setting of Ynis Aielle for the novel, writing it in longhand by candlelight. In an interview with comic book website Project Fanboy, Salvatore said he landed the deal for his first book when, after finishing the script for Echoes of the Fourth Magic in early 1987, he sent the work to TSR and several other publishers. TSR was looking for an author to write the second book in the Forgotten Realms line and asked Salvatore to audition. In July 1987, Salvatore won the spot to write the book. His first published novel was The Crystal Shard from TSR in 1988. The first hardcover novel from TSR was Salvatore's The Legacy (1992). After Passage to Dawn (1996), TSR's management picked a new author to write stories about Drizzt; Mark Anthony's Drizzt novel The Shores of Dusk was completed by the time Wizards of the Coast acquired TSR, but Wizards opted not to publish that one and instead brought Salvatore back to write about Drizzt, beginning with The Silent Blade (1998).The Silent Blade won the Origins Award that year. Salvatore went on to publish several series of books in the Forgotten Realms campaign world, while lately his popularity surged due to his Demon Wars sagas and his two Star Wars books.
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