Robert Anthony Salvatore (born January 20, 1959, Leominster, Massachusetts), who writes under the name R. A. Salvatore, is an American author best known for The DemonWars Saga, his Forgotten Realms novels, in 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 USA 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 earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Communications and later a Bachelor of Arts in English. Before taking up writing full time he worked as a bouncer.
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 The Forgotten Realms line and asked Salvatore to audition. In July 1987, Salvatore won the spot to write the book. He 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.
One of his most popular characters is Drizzt Do'Urden, a drow, or dark elf, portrayed against the stereotypes of his race, who defied a nation of evil enemies with his swordsmanship and courage. He abandoned the Underdark, a merciless and barren land of unmarked and limitless tunnels where deadly creatures continually lurk. His journey for freedom leads him to the surface where he faces discrimination at every turn because of his dark heritage. Drizzt stumbles along in a harsh world until he finally comes upon friends who understand the kindness of his heart. Together, they fight for justice against sinister enemies who dare to disrupt the peace of Drizzt's newfound homeland.
In addition to his novels, Salvatore wrote the story for the PS2, Xbox and PC video game Demon Stone (2004), working with the design team at Stormfront Studios. The game was published by Atari and was nominated for awards by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and BAFTA. CDS books commissioned him to edit a four book series based on the interactive online Everquest game. He also wrote the bot chat lines for the Quake III bots. Currently, R.A. Salvatore is busy at work as Creative Director for 38 Studios, formerly named Green Monster Games, along with pitcher Curt Schilling and Spawn comic creator Todd McFarlane.
February 2008, Devil's Due Publishing published Spooks, a comic book about a U.S. government anti-paranormal investigator/task force created by Larry Hama and Salvatore. Hama created the military characters and plots, and Salvatore covered the monster characters.
He is noted for his intense and descriptive battle scenes which have been attributed to his history as a bouncer.
In 2000, Salvatore's collected papers, including correspondence and unpublished works, were donated to his alma mater Fitchburg State College to create the 'R.A. Salvatore Collection.'
In 2010, Wizards of the Coast announced a new deal with R.A. Salvatore to write six more Drizzt books, to be released between 2011 and 2016.
He and his wife Diane have three children: Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. They also have three Japanese Chins named Oliver, Artemis, and Ivan as well as four cats, one being named Guenhwyvar.His older brother, Gary Salvatore, died of pancreatic cancer in 2000.
Salvatore is also a frequent contributor to the political blog Daily Kos. He supported Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election.
As the author tasked with writing the first book of the New Jedi Order series, Salvatore was ordered by Lucasfilm to kill off Chewbacca, one of the most popular characters in the franchise. Many fans thought that Salvatore himself had made this decision, but it was actually Randy Stradley, the then-editor at Dark Horse Comics.
THE HIGHWAYMAN: a Novel of Corona Publishers Weekly. 3/1/2004, Vol. 251 Issue 9, p54.
Interviews
Interview with Geno and Bob Salvatore at Flames Rising (November 2009)
R.A. Salvatore Interview with Ashton Gage on ProjectFanboy.com (June 2008)
Interview with R.A. Salvatore at SFFWorld.com
Interview with R. A. Salvatore on wotmania.com
Interview at Flames Rising (May 2006)
Interview at rasalvatore.com
Interview at Lavender Eyes (October 2006)
Interview with CNN, The Man Who Killed Off Chewbacca
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