Brandon Sanderson's Blog, page 59

Want to join Bridge Four? The Altered Perceptions anthology final week drive

Last month I talked about Altered Perceptions, the anthology to benefit my friend Robison Wells who’s suffering from mental illness. Well, the IndieGoGo campaign is in its final week, and I’ve added a few perks to the campaign. More on those farther down.

The anthology will have five chapters of the original 2003 draft of The Way of Kings that was very different from the published version, and on Twitter and Facebook last week I promised that when the campaign hit 60% funded, I’d post a teaser snippet of the moment when Kaladin made an opposite choice to the one he made in the final published version of the book. Well, the campaign just hit 60% funded, so the snippet is hereby included at the bottom of this post. There’s a lot more that will be the anthology—these are long chapters, and the five together are about 27,000 words. Included in those chapters are scenes of Merin (as Kaladin was named at that point) training with a certain sword master (under his original name).

I really want to help Rob out. So the perks that I’ve added today are these:

Phone call from me. I’ll call you and chat for 15 minutes or so about books, life, cats, mac&cheese, or whatever. Already sold out while I was writing the blog post, sorry!
Advance reading copy of Stormlight 3, as soon as one of these exists. Or if they decide not to make ARCs like they didn’t with Words of Radiance, then I’ll send you an early electronic copy. Already sold out, sorry again!
Join Bridge Four! (If that’s what you choose.) I’ll put you in one of my upcoming books. This one is not sold out yet, but it also would help Rob Wells a lot more than the other campaign perks.

Now, I realize each of those are beyond many of your budgets. That’s why there’s also the $28 hardcover book option and the $10 ebook option. And I know I haven’t said much about it, but the anthology includes contributions from 30 other authors. You’re getting a lot of material for $10 or $28 (or you can contribute more than that, and choose either of those as your perk). Please consider making a contribution.

Elhokar cursed. “That move exposes our entire central line! Who is in charge back there?”

“My son,” Dalenar said.

“Renarin? The boy couldn’t duel a blind woman.”

“He’s well-practiced at tactics,” Dalenar said stiffly. “If you’d wanted to appoint someone else, you should have done it before you went dashing off to try and get yourself killed.”

Elhokar turned, his eyes dark at the lack of respect.

Be careful, Dalenar warned himself. This is not your brother. Elhokar is a different man. “We should return, your majesty,” Dalenar said, wrestling down his anger. “It is not safe.”

Elhokar waved his hand dismissively at the word ‘safe.’ His honor guard had finally managed to catch up, pushing through a widening gap that was dividing the Prallan army into two separate forces. In the distance, several more Prallan towers were rolling forward into the fray—a final, desperate attempt to turn the battle. However, with the Aleth central line threatened, they could actually make a difference.

Dalenar felt a sudden stab of worry. The battle had nearly been theirs. However, if the Prallans pressed the west, and if those towers held . . .

Renarin, what in the name of the Thoughtgiver are you doing?

The honor guard approached, accompanied by a large group of spearmen and one mounted man. Meridas regarded the corpses and fallen tower with his usual indifference. Dalenar, however, was impressed to see the man approach. Meridas was no Shardbearer—his armor was a simple breastplate of normal steel, and he wore a regular sword at his side. Venturing away from the relative safety of the tower was a brave feat, even if he was accompanied by several hundred soldiers.

“Meridas,” the king said as the councilor bowed differentially. “Good. I need your horse.”

“Your majesty?” the merchant asked with concern as Elhokar dismissed his Blade—the weapon disappearing back into smoke—and clinked forward, waving for the tall merchant to dismount.

“Elhokar . . .” Dalenar said warningly.

The king, however, simply raise a forestalling hand. “I’m just going back to the tower, uncle. I need to find out how much of a mess your son has made of our battle.”

“The scouts discovered an army of Prallans far to the west,” Meridas explained as he dismounted. “I told him to send a messenger for you, but he withdrew the line instead, fearing that we would be flanked.”

Dalenar frowned, finally understanding Meridas’s willingness to enter the field. This wasn’t the loyal vassal braving the battle to seek his king, it was the petulant underling seeking an ear to tell his tale.

“Your majesty,” Dalenar said, stepping forward. “Wait for Aredor to—”

The king mounted Meridas’ horse, then kicked it into a gallop without a word. Dalenar tried to summon his frustration, but it was growing increasingly difficult. He had sworn his life to defend the son of the brother he had loved. Spears he could block, Shardbearers he could duel, but the boy’s own stubbornness made for an impossible battle.

Behind him, several attendants stripped the Shardplate off of the young man Dalenar had killed. He had been no older than Renarin, a boy forced into the role of a man by circumstances and title. Once, hatred and fury had lent Dalenar their power. Now, pity was sapping his strength as steadily as age.

He was so distracted by his unpleasant emotions that it took him a moment to register Aredor’s yell. Dalenar’s head snapped up, turning toward his son, who was leaping atop his horse and summoning his Shardblade.

Dalenar followed his son’s gaze, looking past the frantic honor guard, past the confused Meridas. The king had been unhorsed somehow, and stood, looking dazed, his Shardblade still unsummoned. Above him a mounted figure raised its weapon to strike again. A fourth enemy Shardbearer. Where had he come from?

They were too far away. Aredor couldn’t get to him, and the honor guard had been left behind. Blue-uniformed corpses lay scattered around the two figures—men cut down while Dalenar hadn’t been looking. Other spearmen were running away, or standing stunned. The king . . .

One, solitary spearman in blue suddenly dashed across the rocks and jumped at the unnamed Shardbearer. Only one man.

But it was enough. The spearman jumped up with a heroic bound, tossing aside his spear and grabbing ahold of the enemy Shardbearer’s waist. The weight threw off the surprised Prallan’s strike, and he missed the king. Unbalanced, the Shardbearer reached desperately for his reins, but missed. He tumbled backward, the brave Aleth spearman hanging stubbornly to the man’s waist.

The king recovered his wits, summoning his Shardblade and backing away. Tensets of footmen, realizing their opportunity, jumped for the fallen Shardbearer, spears raised.

Mistborn Adventure Game Terris Supplement & Giveaway Contest

The first supplement to the Mistborn Adventure Game pen-and-paper RPG has been released. Called Terris: Wrought of Copper, Crafty Games describes it as providing a detailed look at the history of the Terris Dominance and its people. Inside you’ll find a guide to the city of Tathingdwen, the heart of Terris society, as well as an exploration of both the secretive Terris Synod and the nascent Terris Resistance, plus all-new insights into the awesome power of Feruchemy.

For players of the Mistborn Adventure Game, there’s a bevy of new rules for creating and playing your own Terris Hero, including new Stunts, equipment, metalminds, and a new ability: Networks!

Also included is an epic adventure, “Justice, like Ash,” which sweeps your Crew into events that shake the Final Empire to its very foundations! A powerful Obligator has been murdered, a Terrisman stands accused as the killer, and it’s up to you to uncover the truth. Your hunt will take you from the paved streets of Luthadel to the ancient cobblestones of Tathingdwen and the farthest reaches of the Terris Dominance. Can you catch the culprit before the Lord Ruler’s wrath is unleashed across Terris? The fate of an entire people rests on your shoulders…

Tor.com is also doing a giveaway (US/Canada only) of two copies of the Terris supplement and one prize pack that includes the Terris supplement, the full Mistborn Adventure Game, and audiobooks of The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance. The contest ends today at noon Eastern time, so enter ASAP.

Video Chat Today, Paste Magazine Article + Updates

Today I’ll be doing a Google+ video chat hangout with fellow fantasy author Brian McClellan. The event description says: Join these two writers as they talk about their newest books, the epic fantasy genre, and writing as a career in a live, online event on May 1st! We’ll be taking audience questions via Google Hangout and Twitter.

The hangout starts today at 1:00 p.m. Mountain time (19:00 GMT). We’ll send a link out on the social media networks right before it starts, so you can watch it live. There will also be a recorded version later.

Audible has started a “What We’re Listening To” author campaign that I’m participating in. You can go here to see the list of all the participating authors and what audiobook each of us is currently listening to, and what we have to say about that book.

Paste Magazine did an article on me, and it ended up the cover story! Check out the cover illustration too.

My assistant Peter has now uploaded all of my tweets for April.

I appeared on the Authors Think Tank Podcast talking about my laws of magic. Check it out!

Writing Excuses has two new episodes. Both of them are “microcasting” episodes where we briefly touch on several questions submitted by listeners.

The first episode, with guest Eric James Stone, covers:

Should you submit your prologue along with the first chapters?
What do you do when you’ve got some professional sales under your belt, but can’t seem to get more?
How do you manage scene/sequel format in a multi-POV novel?
Is passive voice really that bad? How do you tell if you’re using it too much?
What is the threshold for deus ex machina?
How do you maximize the emotional impact of a character death?
If you’re a discovery writer, how do you go about becoming an outliner?
When someone asks what you do for a living, how do you answer them?
How do you get out of the beat-by-beat, this-then-that blocking of action?

The second episode covers:

Can I have a rule-based magic system and a mystical system in the same universe?
What are your pre-writing methods? (Can of worms — it’s going to get its own episode)
What’s the first thing you do once the first draft is done?
When approaching real-world issues, how do you avoid being preachy?
What’s the best advice you can offer to someone who’s just starting to write?
Does it help you to experiment with weird narrative styles?
What are your least favorite tropes?
Should you fully edit your first few “practice” books?
How do you know if you’re writing too quickly?
How do you tell the difference between a weakness in your craft, and a story that requires stylistic rule-breaking?

Chapters from the original draft of THE WAY OF KINGS available in anthology to benefit Robison Wells

A lot has been happening this week for me, including Hugo nominations and cover reveals. While all of this is awesome, I’ve been worried about the Altered Perceptions anthology getting lost, and I’d like to take a moment to speak about it. First, I’ll talk about what it is, and then I’ll talk about why we’re doing it.

What Is Altered Perceptions?

This anthology will collect “altered” versions of published stories—deleted scenes, alternate endings, original concept chapters, and that sort of thing.

For it, I’m letting people see—for the first time—a large chunk of the original version of The Way of Kings, which I wrote in 2002–2003. This version is very different, and involves a different course in life for Kaladin as a character—all due to a simple decision he makes one way in this book, but a completely different way in the published novel.

These chapters are quite fun, as I consider what happened in The Way of Kings Prime (as I now call it) to be an “alternate reality” version of the events in the published books. The characters are almost all exactly the same people, but their backstories are different, and that has transformed who they are and how they react to the world around them. Roshar is similar, yet wildly different, as this was before I brought in the spren as a major world element.

If you’re a fan of the Stormlight Archive, I think you’ll find these chapters quite interesting. The anthology also includes a lot of very cool scenes, chapters, and stories from awesome authors, so please check it out.

Why Are We Doing It?

This anthology was my idea, conceived to benefit my friend Robison Wells, a writer who has nearly been crushed by the weight of severe and unexpected mental illness. The money will help him pay his debts, which came upon him as a result of losing his job following the advent of his difficulties. They came upon him quite unexpectedly, and his story serves as a reminder to all of us that mental illness—though something we speak about far less often—can come upon a person as unexpectedly as cancer or heart disease.

Rob is a great guy, and a great member of my local writing community. He has published several novels nationally, all of which are quite good, and was the primary force behind the founding of the Whitney Awards, created to honor LDS writers. He’s also the brother of Dan Wells, my podcasting buddy.

The anthology is being launched via an IndieGoGo campaign, which you can read more about here. There’s also a video with a bit more from Rob on his condition, and I talk about the idea for the anthology at around the 3:09 mark. As for what you get for contributing to the campaign, a simple ten bucks will get you the ebook of every contribution to the anthology, DRM-free, to be used on any platform you desire. However, there are also other cool things up for grabs. (Critiques, dinners, signed editions, and Larry Correia blowing things up with a big gun.)

Rob has been spectacular at getting a handle on his illness and learning to manage it. He has written new books and has them on submission. We’re confident that if we can help him dig out from underneath some of this debt, he will be able to cope long-term. We hope that you’ll be interested enough in this project to lend a hand and get something cool in return.

FIREFIGHT Cover Reveal and Giveaway Contest

Firefight has a cover! And I think it’s awesome. It was revealed yesterday at Entertainment Weekly Shelf Life, which has a short interview with me explaining the new direction for the covers.

The book turned out really, really well and we want to get a copy into your hands! Because of this, we’re running contests on Facebook and Twitter, giving away an advance copy (once it’s printed in a few months) along with a Steelheart poster. The contest is open to anyone in the US and Canada, and here’s how you can participate: Just share this post on Facebook (and mark your shared post “public”) or retweet this tweet. Five Twitter winners will be chosen randomly, and three Facebook winners will be chosen randomly. Two more Facebook winners will be the people who get the most “like”s on their shared posts. The contest ends Tuesday, April 29, at 12:00 noon Mountain time.

But you don’t need to gamble on that. Instead, you can totally preorder the book right now at your favorite vendor! Our handy widget up to the right will take you to the store of your choice in your region, and let you jump on to get the book sent to you as soon as it comes out in January.

Below you can find a blurb for the book, but if you haven’t read Steelheart, I suggest you not read any farther due to spoilers. Instead, go pick up a copy of that book, since it’s awesome too.

Brandon

They told David it was impossible—that even the Reckoners had never killed a High Epic. Yet, Steelheart—invincible, immortal, unconquerable—is dead. And he died by David’s hand.

Eliminating Steelheart was supposed to make life more simple. Instead, it only made David realize he has questions. Big ones. And there’s no one in Newcago who can give him the answers he needs.

Babylon Restored, the old borough of Manhattan, has possibilities, though. Ruled by the mysterious High Epic, Regalia, David is sure Babylon Restored will lead him to what he needs to find. And while entering another city oppressed by a High Epic despot is a gamble, David’s willing to risk it. Because killing Steelheart left a hole in David’s heart. A hole where his thirst for vengeance once lived. Somehow, he filled that hole with another Epic—Firefight. And he’s willing to go on a quest darker, and more dangerous even, than the fight against Steelheart to find her, and to get his answers.

The Wheel of Time Nominated for a Hugo Award

The Wheel of Time, as a whole, has been nominated for a Hugo Award for best novel. I am thrilled, honored, and excited—and when Harriet heard the news, she lit up as I’ve never seen her do before. Thank you.

Congratulations to all of the other nominees! I have a few things I’d like to say about this nomination. First, I’d like to speak to Wheel of Time fans themselves. Secondly, I’d like to speak to those who are criticizing the nomination.

To The Wheel of Time Fans

Thank you for your enthusiasm. I’m certain that Robert Jordan is smiling at you right now. However, I do want to reiterate what I said earlier when I got wind that the WoT fandom was considering a campaign to get the Wheel of Time nominated: be careful. Please don’t let the Hugo Awards become a shoving match between fandoms.

“But Brandon,” you might say, “everyone says the Hugo Awards are a popularity contest. Shouldn’t we prove how popular Robert Jordan is?”

Well, yes and no. The Hugo Awards are a popularity contest—but they should be a fiction popularity contest, not an author popularity contest. The Hugo Awards were founded in the 1950s by dedicated sf/f fans who saw mainstream literary awards ignoring science fiction and fantasy. This award was founded to combat that, to show off the brightest and best fiction the genres had to offer. It was done in an era long before the internet, and Worldcon attendees were chosen to be the voters because of their dedication to the genre as a whole.

When I first started voting for the Hugos many years ago, a long-time fan impressed upon me the importance of my responsibility. Each work must be judged independently of its author, and must be judged against the competition in its category. We, as fans, use this award to proclaim to the world the fiction we are proudest of.

I love the Hugo Awards. They tend to run a great balance, consistently recognizing fiction that is both popular and thought-provoking. They have a grand tradition, and are one of the things that make me proud to be a member of science fiction fandom.

We want you to vote. We want you to be part of the process. But let me speak frankly to you: if you don’t intend to read and investigate the other nominees and participate in a wide variety of categories, you are doing the awards a disservice. I would rather have the Wheel of Time not win than have it be given an award as part of a thoughtless shoving match.

In this, I wish to hold up George R. R. Martin as an exemplar. He wants dearly to someday win a Hugo for best novel, a distinction that has eluded him. I’ve heard him speak about it. The thing is, he could win the award in a heartbeat; he has by far the biggest fanbase in our community. If he asked them each to pay for a Worldcon supporting membership and vote only for him, he’d win by a landslide.

He’s never done that because he knows that this award has only as much integrity as we give it. So long as you are willing to vote superior works by other authors above works by your favorite authors, you are doing the award justice.

Now, I firmly believe that the Wheel of Time is worthy of a Hugo Award. Don’t let my strong words suggest otherwise to you. But I can’t say for certain what I will vote for until I read the other nominated works, consider the category with an open mind, and make my decision. I also intend to continue being part of these awards for many, many years, rather than joining only once to vote on a single contest.

I sincerely request you do the same. Join with us, participate, and investigate all of the nominees in all of the categories. Then vote for the works you think are the best of the nominations. It is only by holding ourselves accountable as honest and responsible voters that we will maintain the prestige of this award.

To Science Fiction and Fantasy Fandom as a Whole

I have spent some time reading responses to the Hugo nominations, and wanted to reach out to you. I find it unfortunate that some of you, including prominent voices in fandom, are responding with anger or frustration about the Wheel of Time nomination. Some don’t like a series being nominated for the novel Hugo. Some don’t like WoT fandom reaching in and participating in the award. And others downright dislike the Wheel of Time as a work of art.

I would like to address some of these concerns that I see recurring in the discussions.

On the Wheel of Time Being Nominated as a Single Novel

On the first point, I wish to emphasize that the Hugo rules were intentionally designed to allow works like this to be nominated. Serials are such a part of our collective culture in sf fandom, and I promise you that the Wheel of Time is indeed a serial. It focuses on a single group of characters, a single plot and narrative, and the books each pick up exactly where the previous one left off. Yes, it took a long time to complete. Yes, it is large. However, Robert Jordan always considered—and spoke of—the Wheel of Time as a single story. The length of time it took to write that story is irrelevant as far as the Hugos are concerned.

A Game of Thrones season could be nominated collectively as a single entry into the dramatic presentation category. Connie Willis’s Blackout/All Clear could be nominated as a single work, though broken into two volumes. Indeed, this is similar to how Dragonflight and Ender’s Game could both garner short fiction nominations for their original forms, then be nominated for best novel in a later year once the story was expanded.

The Wheel of Time is eligible. These are your awards, however, and if this aspect of them is bothersome to you it’s quite possible to get this changed by participating in Worldcon and the Hugo Awards as a whole, making your voice known and advocating a revision. Your passion, therefore, should be directed at making that happen, rather than against the work that was nominated.

Attend Worldcon. Go to the WSFS Business Meeting. Blog about it. Bring your friends. We need people involved at this level of fandom.

On Wheel of Time Fandom

This brings us to the second two points, which I feel are the more important ones in most of these discussions. In regard to Wheel of Time fans participating, I want to tell wider fandom that I vouch for these fans. I offered words of caution to them above because I think they need reminders as they are new to core sf/f fandom, but I feel that you need to know that Wheel of Time fans are our people.

They have organized much as the fans back in the 1930s did, holding conventions and starting fanzines/websites. They attend Worldcons and their local literary conventions, though many of them have only started doing so in the last four or five years as they’ve realized the richness and scope of established fandom.

I charge you: do not reject their enthusiasm. I spoke honestly with them, and I wish to speak honestly with you. I have yet to attend a Worldcon where someone—either on panels or at the parties—didn’t ask what could be done to bring new blood into our fannish community. For years, we have worried about what to do. Now, as fandoms like that dedicated to the Wheel of Time have begun to discover both Worldcon and the Hugos, I feel we stand at an important confluence.

Welcome the Wheel of Time fans into our community. Welcome the next group of fans in too. Give whatever it is they’re passionate about a try. You might like it, and if not, you’ll still probably like them.

On the Wheel of Time as Literature

I understand that you may not personally enjoy the Wheel of Time. There is nothing wrong with that—it is the nature of art that some will disdain what others love. However, as I’ve read bloggers and fannish personalities speaking of a Wheel of Time nomination, some have unfortunately called it “shameful” or “embarrassing.” Worse, some of them have attacked the fanbase, calling into question its intelligence for daring to nominate the Wheel of Time—in essence, for daring to have different taste from the blogger posting.

You can’t beg people to come and participate in fandom, then tell them not to vote on your awards because you don’t like their preference in books. Indeed, attacking the fans of a work rather than criticizing the work itself is crossing a very big, and important, line.

For many years, we in fandom have had to suffer these kinds of dismissive, hurtful, and destructive attitudes from those who attack us because we like science fiction. Do not side with the bullies. Do not hold your own opinion in such high regard that you dismiss all others.

It is not shameful to like the Wheel of Time. No more than it should be shameful to be the kid who read Dune in middle school while others snickered. We should never have to feel embarrassed for honestly expressing our taste in fiction. No more than we should have to feel embarrassed to be the one at work who attends an sf con, much to the amusement of your co-workers.

If you have said these kinds of things about the Wheel of Time or its fandom in the past few days, I challenge you to take a long, hard look at your tone and what you’re implying. Ask yourself if you really want to belong to a world where only one kind of opinion is valid, where only your taste is acceptable.

Because in my experience, these are the sorts of attitudes that science fiction and fantasy fiction have spent their history combatting. So if you don’t think the Wheel of Time should win, vote for something else. But while you’re doing it, be kind. Treat these fans the way you want to be treated as a fan—and as a human being.

Brandon Sanderson

4/21/2014

Salt Lake FanXperience This Weekend + Jewelry & Updates

The Salt Lake City Comic Con FanXperience starts on Thursday, and I’ll be there this Saturday only. My schedule is at the bottom of the post, but first some updates!

The Brandon Sanderson Store has some new jewelry. One item is the Bondsmith Glyph and another is the Oathbringer Shardblade Pendant.

The most recent episode of the Writing Excuses writing advice show that I do with Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Howard Tayler is on the self-descriptive topic “Coming up with a New Ending Halfway Through.”

Last week I did a live video chat with BookTalk Nation. The recording is below.

Date: Sat, Apr 19, 2014

Time: 12:00 noon–5:00 p.m.

Place: Salt Lake City Comic Con FanXPerience

Address: Salt Palace Convention Center

100 South West Temple

Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Phone Number: (385) 468-2222

Schedule:

Brandon will be attending on Saturday only, though the convention begins on Thursday.

SATURDAY

12:00 noon–12:45 p.m., North Ballroom Stage

The Brandon & Brandon Show

Brandon Sanderson and Brandon Mull on Fantasy, Writing, and Whatever Else Comes to Mind

1:00–1:45 p.m., North Ballroom Stage

On Writing Fantasy: The Realms of Brandon Sanderson

This will probably include a reading and Q&A.

2:30–4:30 p.m., Deseret Book/Shadow Mountain Booth: #1821 in the Expo Hall

Brandon Sanderson Signing

Books will be available for purchase, and you can also bring your own books.

Notes:

See the FanXPerience website for details on the large number of other guests in attendance. Event registration required.

My JordanCon Schedule

Tonight I’m flying to Atlanta (along with my assistants Isaac and Peter) for JordanCon. This year’s author guest of honor is Patrick Rothfuss, and there are many other great guests as well. I hope to see a lot of you there! My schedule is below, including the live writing session that will be streamed Friday night, and the Magic draft on Saturday night. JordanCon also has an iOS app and Android app with the full schedule, or you can see it on their website here.

Friday April 11

4:00 p.m., Great Oaks C

Brandon Answers All Your WoT Questions!

But only if you ask them properly. Intrigued?

Brandon Sanderson, Jason Denzel

5:30 p.m., Boardroom

Signing, Brandon Sanderson

8:30 p.m., Goulding C

Brandon Sanderson Write-a-thon

Continuing from the event on January 17th, find the story so far at WaygateFoundation.org

Saturday April 12

11:30 a.m., Boardroom

Signing, Brandon Sanderson

1:00 p.m., Great Oaks A

Brandon Sanderson Lecture: Rules of Magic

We’ve heard “Sanderson’s Rules of Magic” mentioned here and there, but what exactly are they, and what do they mean for writers?

Brandon Sanderson

2:30 p.m., Great Oaks B

Urban Fantasy Hour

What happens when you take the fantasy we love and drop it in the middle of an urban environment?

Delilah S. Dawson, James R. Tuck, John Hartness, Jana Oliver, Brandon Sanderson

5:30 p.m., Great Oaks

Costume Contest

Show off your tailoring skills or just come to watch the parade of Seanchan, Aes Sedai, Asha’man, and more! See the rules.

Brandon Sanderson, Harriet McDougal, Aubree Pham

8:30 p.m., Goulding A&B


Play Magic in a draft format with Brandon Sanderson. For signup details, ask at Registration.

Sunday April 13

11:30 a.m., Goulding C

Reading, Brandon Sanderson

Brandon Sanderson reads from some of his works and probably answers a few questions as well.

1:00 p.m., Great Oaks A

JordanCon Annual Pitch Critique

Give industry professionals your best 30-second pitch, and they will give you feedback on what they thought. No pressure!

Paul Stevens, Idaliz Seymour, Harriet McDougal, Brandon Sanderson

2:30 p.m., Boardroom

Kaffeeklatsch, Brandon Sanderson

We limit our kaffeeklatsches to 10 people, with signups in the Registration area. You can sign up on the day of the kaffeeklatsch, once Registration is open.

Online Events This Week + Updates

I have two online events to talk about: the Booktalk Nation Video Chat on Wednesday, and the second writing/brainstorming livestream on Friday.

The Wednesday event is hosted by Booktalk Nation, and it will run for half an hour starting at 5:00 p.m. Mountain time (7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 p.m. Pacific, 23:00 GMT). In the first part of the event I’ll be talking about Words of Radiance, and then I’ll take audience questions. I’ll tell everyone to avoid spoilers, so don’t worry about that. The event is free, but you do have to reserve a spot here. You can also order a signed copy of Words of Radiance at that link.

On Friday I’m doing part 2 of the live writing event that I did back in January. You can see the recorded video of that event here, and you can read the text of the story so far here. Part 2 will also be livestreamed, but I’ll also be doing it in front of a live audience at JordanCon. (I’ll post more about JordanCon on Thursday, but if you’re in the Atlanta area, consider coming on down. Registration is required.) The livestream will be hosted on the Waygate Foundation’s Justin.tv channel, and like last time I’ll be taking your brainstorming suggestions for how the story should proceed. It starts at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time Friday (0:30 GMT Saturday) and will run for a few hours. There may be some surprises during the stream; we’ll have to see! And as last time, Waygate will be accepting charity donations during the livestream.

I do have a few more things to update you on today. My assistant Peter has updated the March Twitter posts archive to cover the whole month, and begun the April tweets archive.

Writing Excuses has three new episodes: 3-pronged character development, how to have an opinion as a public figure, and becoming a writer—full disclosure. Check them out.

The Shardhunt is almost over; the most recent unlock is the deleted prologue from The Emperor’s Soul. There’s one more unlockable left, and you should be able to guess what it will be.

Here are a few Shardhunt stores that I haven’t mentioned yet. Give them a call and see if there are still any Szeth cards and signed bookplates (or signatures) left.

San Francisco SFO airport, Compass Books (650) 821-9299
Concord NH, Gibson’s Bookstore (603) 224-0562
Boise ID, Rediscovered Books (208) 376-4229
Salt Lake City UT, Weller Book Works (801) 328-2586
Salt Lake City UT, Barnes & Noble – Sugarhouse, (801) 463-2610

Tweets April 2014

BrandSanderson Tue Apr 01
Here is a deleted interlude that offers new insight into a minor character who is very important to Words of Radiance link

BrandSanderson Tue Apr 01
Bridge 4 patches are on sale today. Really! link pic

BrandSanderson Wed Apr 02
Did anyone record my speech when I was at University Books in Seattle on Saturday, March 8th?

BrandSanderson Thu Apr 03
I have a new short story, “Dreamer,” in the horror anthology Games Creatures Play, out now. See a preview: link

BrandSanderson Thu Apr 03
I need a new @audible_com book to listen to. You guys ready to vote between the two books I present? (Options in the next post.)

BrandSanderson Thu Apr 03
Tell me which you prefer: Acacia by David Anthony Durham (link) or Lamentation by Ken Scholes (link)

PatrickRothfuss Thu Apr 03
@BrandSanderson I really enjoyed Acacia. I read the text though. Didn’t listen to the audio.

BrandSanderson Thu Apr 03
@PatrickRothfuss You know, I’m made curious how your audio books sound.They’re so lyrical, picking a reader must have been difficult.

BrandSanderson Thu Apr 03
All right, all. Acacia it is! Thanks for your votes. I’ll let you know what I think as I listen to it.

RicOsborne Thu Apr 03
@BrandSanderson Will you listen to Lamentation at some point and tell us which you liked better?

BrandSanderson Thu Apr 03
@RicOsborne I will try. I keep meaning to get to that one, and want to find a spot for it.

Songmaker41 Thu Apr 03
@BrandSanderson I am working on my first novel. Do you listen to music as you write? If so what kind?

BrandSanderson Thu Apr 03
@Songmaker41 I do. Pandora station themed with the mood of the chapter.

BrandSanderson Fri Apr 04
I’ll be doing a live video chat with Booktalk Nation next week. Signup is required, but it’s free. link

BrandSanderson Fri Apr 04
I’m happy to announce the 1st draft completion of Legion: Skin Deep, my second story featuring Stephen Leeds. Likely will be a fall release.

BrandSanderson Fri Apr 04
Cool painting of Vin by an artist I met at a signing during the tour. pic