June 19, 2000 was a very special day for me ...

While on vacation with my family in Orlando, Florida (doing the Disney-thing), Piers graciously allowed me to visit his home to meet and talk with him.

Finding where the ogre lives is next to impossible! Kids, don't try this on your own. First you must make the crossover from Mundania into Xanth proper. From there you must trek through the deep forests of Xanth (remember to stay on the magic paths) and avoid the Tangle Trees along the way. (They appear as large Cyprus Trees with Spanish Moss hanging down ... but don't let them fool you!)

I forded across the With A Cookie River, and traveled up Ogre Drive (no fooling!) around Lake TSoda Popka. Stanley Steamer, who guards the Ogre, was conveniently distracted and allowed my access into the Ogre's demesnes.

The picture of the gate (with the sign "Ogre Drive") is actually part of the fencing that used to hold Piers' horses, including the legendary Blue, the inspiration for Neysa the Unicorn in Split Infinity. Ogre Drive runs along the fence a short distance.

Piers lives on a truly wonderful tree farm out on a peninsula on Lake Tsoda Popka. The drive up Ogre Drive was literally a miles-long one-lane winding road through dense forest. It was absolutely breath-taking! Arriving at his home, I was greeted at the door by Cam, Piers' lovely wife, and their large black dog, Obsidian.

A very friendly dog, Obsidian's attention was diverted elsewhere as I entered their foyer to be greeted by the Grand Ogre himself. The first thing I noticed was Piers' easy grin and his piercing blue eyes. The day was hot already (almost 100 degrees) and Piers was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt with a cartoon of a man punching keys on a keyboard with the computer asking him, "How would you like it if I did that to you?"

Here I was facing the man who has entertained, enthralled, and challenged me with his writings for the past twenty-some years. It is hard not to stand there stupidly tongue-tied when you meet a legend, but Piers' friendly manner put me at ease right away.

Piers and Cam invited me into their living room and the three of us proceeded to have a conversation about his books, the publishing industry, his fans, future plans, medical maladies, using computers, and all sorts of things in general. I found Piers and Cam both to be very witty, intelligent, and engaging conversationalists. Their down-to-earth manner made me feel quite welcomed.

How Piers got the Ogre reputation is a mystery to me. All you have to do to dispel the myth is to talk to the man just once. He is a truly genuine person, honest and forthright. I would agree with Piers when he says that he "does not suffer fools gladly." I feel the same way. I can readily imagine all the demands he must get from some ill-mannered fans and others in the publishing empire. Not to mention said empire's nasty habit of cheating its writers ... also something Piers will not put up with.

In fact, the whole Ogre persona came about because someone (a fan supposedly) accused Piers of being mean and short with him, acting like an Ogre, when this fan met him at a convention. The trouble is; Piers was never AT that convention. He is rather perplexed how this person came to his conclusion. I chalk it up to an uncouth, uneducated ignoramus just trying to have his few minutes of fame by degrading someone else's character who is legitimately famous. This was about the time that Ogre, Ogre has been published in paperback and appeared on the New York Times' best-seller list. The title must have been an omen of good and Piers decided that he like the "Ogre Persona" after all. Of course, this makes for a wonderful title for his autobiography, Bio of an Ogre.

I thought perhaps Piers might be a rather shy person, living a secluded life while writing his wonderful stories, but he is anything but shy. I would love to see him do a presentation or a reading at a convention sometime. He can speak so intelligently and fluently on any number of topics and I was delighted with the fountain of information that poured forth. Cam, too, added much to the conversation and it became very obvious that Piers' life partner is a treasured inspiration to him.

We talked for over two hours after which Piers signed some of my rarer books I had brought along (I know I am so shameless :-), and he gave me a quick tour of his house. Quite a few books were stacked around, those being author's copies sent to him by the publishers, and the remains of HiPiers' stock. I got to see the famous right-handed and left-handed bows that Piers practices with a few times a week.

His reference library room is absolutely incredible. A large room filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves with almost every imaginable volume dealing with human history, animals, and a variety of other subjects. This is where Piers gets some of his background material for his novels. He has all the volumes labeled with the standard library Dewey Decimal numbering system, and all the books are cataloged into his computer so he can readily find the book he needs.

Gorgeous paintings of many of his book covers, and other fantasy artwork adorned the walls throughout the house (sorry if I'm drooling here). A trip up the winding stairs brought us to Piers' writing den. His room is filled with his various published editions as well as the multitude of gifts sent to him by his many fans over the years.

It was an almost religious experience to see the very computer that churns out so much imaginative work. Piers showed me the new Chthon and Phthor hardcover books that will be coming out from XLibris sometime later this year. Very nice covers!

[Additional note: Chthon and Phthor are now both out in hardcover and trade paperback from Xlibris.com. Check them out!]

Piers is currently working on the second book in the Chromagic series, Key to Chroma, and is about 90,000 words into it. In fact, he mentioned that he had done a thousand words or so before I got there that day. The first book, Key to Havoc, has not sold yet. If he is unable to get it placed with a publisher he may just put the series up on XLibris.

After the tour, I was delighted to take Piers and Cam out to lunch. We went up to a local Applebee's, and Cam and I had the Veggie Pizza (artichokes, spinach, etc., [my favorites]) and iced tea, while Piers had the Veggie Quesadilla (with some pretty hot salsa) and milk. The service was good, the food was great, and the conversation was superb.

We talked about how Cam is doing a lot of the scanning of the older books for re-publishing on XLibris.com. She is currently working on Mute right now. When that novel was published, it was cut from 190,000 words to 165,000. Cam is scanning from the original manuscript carbon so it can be re-published completely restored to its original length. The type is not very clear on those older copies and they must spend a large amount of time proof-reading and making corrections. In one case Piers had only a British version of Phthor to scan. This edition contains a lot of British spellings (flavour versus flavor) and single quotes for dialog. Piers believes it is better to have single quotes for dialog and the double quotes used for emphasis inside the single quotes.

Eventually, Piers hopes to have all of his out-of-print books available on XLibris (well over 100). It is a daunting task, but will be well worth it to his fans as the new editions will sometimes contain original material that was deleted or heavily edited when first published. I would urge everyone to frequent the XLibris website and if you are going to purchase Piers' books that are being re-printed there, buy them directly from XLibris as they have to take a big cut to offer the same book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. XLibris ships on time and packages everything expertly.

Sadly my time with Piers came to an end. Being a workaholic, he needed to get back to writing, and I heartily agreed. I left Xanth a much happier person with memories that will last a lifetime. Xanth indeed is a magical place.

I want to personally thank Piers and Cam for their incredible hospitality, and also wish them a very happy 44th Anniversary this past June.