Patrick Rothfuss (center) with judge Hal Clement and actress Denise Duff.

           Pat Rothfuss was born in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1973.  But according to him, “The real story began when my mother gave me my first real book to read.  When she gave me that book, it shaped my mind.  My life.  It was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Pat’s love of reading eventually become a love for writing.

           He began college in 1991 at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Pat walked away from his college experience with a B.A. in English; minors in philosophy, psychology, history, and writing; a teaching assistantship at Washington State University; and a fantasy trilogy called The Song of Flame and Thunder.

           “The Road to Levenshir” is an excerpt from The Song of Flame and Thunder, and Pat’s hopes have risen since it won first place in the second quarter of this year’s contest.  “It’s the first objective confirmation of my skill as a writer, my foot in the door for finding an agent or a publisher.  I guess you could call it a beginning.”