AN INTERVIEW WITH TERRY GOODKIND

Sci-Fi Writer Terry Goodkind Wants His Stories to Ring True

By Kathryn Ritchie

ELLSWORTH—With a long reddish-brown pony tail and an affinity for black clothing, fantasy writer Terry Goodkind enjoys his dark persona. Spend more than a minute with him, however, and he breaks his own image, quick to laugh, with a sparkle in his eye.

After finishing "Temple of the Winds," the fourth book in his Sword of Truth series, Goodkind, who lives in Mount Desert, met with approximately 20 fans at the Ellsworth Public Library on July 17 to discuss the world he writes about, and how his characters aren’t really that different from any of us.

He prides himself on the idea that his stories are based on reality and not "cliched crud." For instance, children die in his books. His wizard hates beards. And as his heroine contemplates knocking a man out by hitting him on the head with a weighty object (a ploy that commonly works on television) she gets caught.

"This book is not about things you don’t understand," Goodkind said. "These are about people that just happened to be in a troubled world."

He also writes about the real face of war.

"I think it’s wrong to glorify violence and war by making it a grand epic thing," he said. "When real people fight, you’re not fighting for God and country. You’re protecting your buddy."

Goodkind’s first book, "Wizard’s First Rule," came out in 1994, followed by "Stone of Tears" one year later. "Blood of the Fold," his next book, remained the number one best seller in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category for four months. The newly released paperback of that book is currently the 20th best-selling book in the nation according to USA Today. Goodkind said he finds that significant because the book is being read by people other than the traditional sci-fi fans.

He said he was turned off from reading and writing as a teen because the only books available in school were written by "300-year-old dead guys." He’d read adventure stories in the library, such as "Tarzan," but was too embarrassed to check them out.

"But when I would read I would say to myself ‘I can write better than this,’" Goodkind said. "One of the reasons I started writing was because I hated what everyone else did."

Goodkind delivered his latest book to the publisher two weeks ago, and isn’t looking forward to the long editing process. He complained about editors, who change things to justify their own existence, and copy editors who must spend a lot of their time in windowless rooms.

His book was actually due to the publisher last December, but a 36-city promotional tour in the fall slowed his writing down. His fifth book is due this December, but he already knows he won’t finish until next summer. He said he hopes to continue his Sword Of Truth series indefinitely.

"This is my bliss," Goodkind said.

Goodkind wakes in the afternoon, settles into his soundproof writing studio and doesn’t stop writing until 5 a.m. He sleeps with a lap top computer next to him in case an idea grabs him while he’s sleeping. And he doesn’t give himself a day off.

Goodkind said he gets ideas for his next story by dropping himself unanswered questions as he writes. In "Blood of the Fold" he referred to the Temple of the Winds, though he had no idea what it was. So he spent his latest book answering "What the heck is the Temple of the Winds and where’d it go?"

Prior to starting his writing career in 1993, Goodkind worked in his family’s direct-mail business in Nebraska. He moved to Maine in 1983, built his own house, and worked as a cabinet and violin maker.

He admits that the truth he bases his books on is only the truth as he perceives it.

"If you really want to get somebody angry, you tell them the truth," he said. "People believe it’s true because they want to."

The actual sword of truth hangs in his Gothic-style living room in Mount Desert. His brother had it made for him from drawings that appear in Goodkind’s books.

"Temple of the Winds," published by Tor Books of New York City, is due to hit bookstores this September.

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