Author Guest of Honor

Terry Brooks was born in Illinois in 1944. He spent a great deal of his childhood and early adulthood dreaming up stories in and around Sinnissippi Park, the very same setting for Running with the Demon. He received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and went on to earn his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University.

A writer since high school and heavily influenced by William Faulkner, it took him seven years to finish writing The Sword of Shannara, which was published in 1977. It became the first work of fiction to ever appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, where it remained for over five months. He continued the series with The Elfstones of Shannara in 1982 and The Wishsong of Shannara in 1985.

Since that time, he has written thirty-nine bestselling novels, and was hand-selected by George Lucas to write the novelization of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, which hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In 2003, he released Sometimes the Magic Works, a memoir of his writing life. He has sold over fifty million copies of his books domestically and is published worldwide.  

The Shannara Chronicles, a 10-episode TV series, premiered January 5, 2016 on MTV. It adapts The Elfstones of Shannara and featured the creative talents of Jon Favreau, Al Gough, Miles Millar, Jonathan Liebesman, and Terry Brooks as an Executive Producer. A second season premiered on October 11, 2017 on the Spike network.

His latest novel, The Last Druid, the fourth book of the Fall of Shannara series, and the final book in the thirty book series, will be published in early June 2020.  

Terry Brooks lives with his wife Judine in the Pacific Northwest and on the road meeting his fans.