R.A. Salvatore Biography
As one of the fantasy genre's most successful authors, R.A. Salvatore enjoys
an ever-expanding and tremendously loyal following. His books regularly
appear on The New York Times bestseller lists and have sold more than
10,000,000 copies. The Two
Swords, Book III of The Hunter's Blade Trilogy (October 2004) debuted at # 1
on The Wall Street Journal best-seller list and at # 4 on The New York Times
best-seller list. His books have been translated into numerous foreign
languages including German, Italian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Turkish,
Croatian, Bulgarian, Yiddish, Spanish, Russian, Polish, Czech, and French.
Salvatore's first published novel, The Crystal Shard from TSR in
1988, became the first volume of the acclaimed Icewind Dale Trilogy and
introduced an enormously popular character, the dark elf Drizzt Do'Urden.
Since that time, Salvatore has published numerous novels for each of his
signature multi-volume series including The Dark Elf Trilogy, Paths of
Darkness, The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, and The Cleric Quintet.
His love affair with fantasy, and with literature in general, began during
his sophomore year of college when he was given a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien's
The Lord of the Rings as a Christmas gift. He promptly changed his
major from computer science to journalism. He received a Bachelor of Science
Degree in Communications from Fitchburg State College in 1981, then returned
for the degree he always cherished, the Bachelor of Arts in English. He
began writing seriously in 1982, penning the manuscript that would become
Echoes of the Fourth Magic. Salvatore held many jobs during those first
years as a writer, finally settling in to write full
time in 1990.
The R.A. Salvatore Collection has been established at his alma mater,
Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, containing the writer's
letters, manuscripts, and other professional papers. He is in good company,
as The Salvatore Collection is situated alongside The Robert Cormier
Library, which celebrates the writing career of the co-alum and esteemed
author of young adult books.
Salvatore is an active member of his community and is on the board of
trustees at the local library in Leominster, Massachusetts. He has
participated in several American Library Association regional conferences,
giving talks on themes including "Adventure fantasy" and "Why young adults
read fantasy." Salvatore himself enjoys a broad range of literary writers
including James Joyce, Mark Twain, Geoffrey Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dante, and
Sartre. He counts among his favorite genre literary influences Ian Fleming,
Arthur Conan Doyle, Fritz Leiber, and of course, J.R.R. Tolkien.
Born in 1959, Salvatore is a native of Massachusetts and resides there with
his wife Diane, and their three children, Bryan, Geno, and Caitlin. The
family pets include three Japanese Chins, Oliver, Artemis and Ivan, and four
cats including Guenhwyvar.
This biography was last updated on 08/09/2011.
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