chewypow

Bob,

As a 30 year old man, I have been reading your novels for most of my life, and they have been a great inspiration to me. They got me interested in martial arts when I was young and it has continued to be a lifelong commitment for me, and the books are just badass as well. I loved The Companions and am ready to see where the Realms and these characters go next.

My questions then.

1) You have written combat with such detail, specifically in the Forgotten Realms and Demonwars books.. do you or have you trained in any form of combat sport/martial art or do you have consultants who help you script the fighting? This may have been answered somewhere before, but I figured you're here, so I'd ask.

2) Favorite authors to read, both in Realms and out? I am looking for new books. Seems like a lot of series are wrapping up (Raymond Feist's Riftwars, WoT), so I'm always looking for good new books.

Thanks for the awesome reads!

Excellent, a lot of authors I've never read and some of my favorites. My wife will not thank you for giving me more authors I need to buy, but I do. Also, it's a sadly thrilling thing that one of my two favorite authors (sorry, Feist has you tied up) responded to me, so thanks much! You're awesome.

Do you think laws will ever be retroactively enforced to allow people sentenced to life (or multiple life setnces) for non-violent drug offenses a chance at release? We spend a huge amount on holding these people for life while people who commit murder, rape and other crimes are out after a relatively short period. I know a lot of new cases are challenging these types of draconian laws, but what about people sentenced years ago?