Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBEwas an English author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his Discworld series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971; after the first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983, he wrote two books a year on average. His 2011 Discworld novel Snuff was at the time of its release the third-fastest-selling hardback adult-readership novel since records began in the...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth28 April 1948
CityBeaconsfield, England
I think I would like to go into modelling. Of course, I don't know how to do it, and wouldn't be any good at it if I did, so I'm going to employ someone to walk the catwalks on my behalf. It would still be me, of course.
I think I work much harder on the children's books. I suppose I enjoy that. I find it interesting that although there are more than 30 books in the Discworld series, it is the four that were written for children which have won the awards. I've never been quite certain why this is.
I must have read every issue of 'Punch' published in the 20th century, and I think in the process I picked up the true voice of English humour - that amiable, fairly liberal, laconic voice which you find in something like 'Three Men in a Boat.'
Opera happens because a large number of things amazingly fail to go wrong.
Knowing that you are going to die is, I suspect, the beginning of wisdom.
If it wasn't for the fun and money, I really don't know why I'd bother.
I've got wide tastes, but I don't like jazz.
I was a very keen reader of science fiction.
I mean, I wouldn't pay more than a couple of quid to see me, and I'm me.
I got into science fiction by being interested in astronomy first.
I didn't go to university. Didn't even finish A-levels. But I have sympathy for those who did.
Fantasy is uni-age. You can start it in the creche, and it follows you to death.
The most watched programme on the BBC, after the news, is probably 'Doctor Who.' What has happened is that science fiction has been subsumed into modern literature. There are grandparents out there who speak Klingon, who are quite capable of holding down a job. No one would think twice now about a parallel universe.
I'm glad a genre writer has got a knighthood, but stunned that it was me.