The upcoming Superstars Writing Seminar in Las Vegas that I'll be an instructor for at the end of April/beginning of May is having a drawing. For details, I'll just quote their press release below. The first time I taught at this seminar, I was blown away by how awesome an experience it was. It was an all-around incredible mixing of creativity, information, and fun. I think it was not only worthwhile, but a bargain. Dave, Kevin, Rebecca, and Eric know a ton about this business. And having only b
Peter here filling in for Brandon since he's on a flight to Taiwan for the book expo. Below you'll find most of Brandon's convention schedule for 2012. There might be a couple more one-day stop-ins with Utah conferences, and we're waiting to hear back about an invitation to an autumn convention somewhere in Canada.
April will be Brandon's first visit to Australia. Swancon and Supanova have pooled resources to fly him out, so we hope Australian readers can send them the message that this was a g
Ah, the bitter taste of shame, defeat, and betrayal.
Part Four
Chapter 43
Vin stands over Elend's sleeping form with Oreseur at her side. She has been informed of what he did, and she is not pleased, to say the least. In fact, she seems to on the brink of a full on anxiety attack. Her hands shake uncontrolably, and her mind races at the speed of...thought...
Erm. It has become clear to Vin that she is incapable of protecting Elend from every infinitsimal threat that comes near him. She under
In these next two chapters are completely Elend centered. Resolutions are come to, friendships are broken, and a man is made... sort of.
Part Four
Chapter 41
Sazed's doing what he's been doing all day every day for the past week; Studying with Tindwyl. While reading one of Kwaan's notes, they discover a rather shocking fact. Kwaan was Rashek's uncle. That's right, Kwaan sent his nephew with instructions to mislead and kill the supposed Hero of Ages. He succeeded. Hhe
It's pretty clear that s
In this week's Writing Excuses podcast episode, Dan, Mary, Howard, and I talk about brevity.
Since all the chapters of my abandoned novel MYTHWALKER have now been uploaded, it's time to start dishing out something else for your weekly bonus content. So my assistant has put up the first annotation for ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS. This one talks about the process of coming up with the title for the book, with the various (and often ridiculously long) options that were considered.
If you'
Hey, all. The new Magic the Gathering set is coming out in a little while, and the prerelease is this weekend. Dan and I had a lot of fun at the prerelease last time, so we’re going to be doing it again—with a twist.
Like for Innistrad, we’ll be going to Epic Puzzles & Games in West Valley at midnight on Friday. However, to shake things up, instead of drafting we’ll be doing a sealed deck tournament. (If you aren’t familiar with this, you get six packs and build a deck out of those packs.)
Finally starting the fourth Part. It begins with one short chapter, followed by a really long one. I'm not complaining, though.
Part Four
Chapter 39
Tis chapter commences with Straff riding in carriage, and Zane walking alongside him. Straff is not at all pleased with the results of his sons' assassination attempt. Yes, I imagine that he was seething with impotent rage when he heard the news of their colossal failure.
Apparently those six allomancers were one third of his secret misting pro
Every year for the past several years, NAME OF THE WIND and THE WISE MAN'S FEAR author (and good buddy of mine) Patrick Rothfuss has run a charity drive where he matches at 50% donations to Heifer International through his Worldbuilders team page. Everyone who enters the general drawing gets a chance at a huge number of prizes. There are also individual auctions on several of the most desirable items. Pat explains it best.
I've donated various books to the prize pool before, and this year I and
This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode covers more on fauna and flora. Check it out.
My assistant Peter has uploaded a new Twitter posts archive and the final chapter of my abandoned 2001 novel MYTHWALKER. He's also put up my Sanderson's Second Law article, which was first printed in the June 2011 issue of LEADING EDGE SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY. The failure of MYTHWALKER was a contributing factor that led me to develop the Second Law.
A few years back, I wrote an essay on creating ma
Two more chapters down.
Part Three
Chapter 37
Sazed has been studying all night with Tindwyl, who seems to have become quite dedicated to expanding his research now that she's finally taken a look at it. Good for her.
They've apparently spent some time studying together before. I guess this is to be expected, with them both being keepers. Sazed actually used to be member of synod before his rebellious phase, so the responsibility fell on him to share with Tindwyl the thirty-or so years worth
Greetings, and happy belated New Years! It's been... Wow. It has been too long since my last post. How typical. I say I'll read more often, and then hardly get to read at all. Oh well, I'm sure you all don't mind. Right?
Right?
Part Three
Chapter 36
This one's a Sazed chapter. He and Breeze are visiting with the Skaa refugees from one of Jastes's Koloss raids. These skaa are being housed in a large warehouse. It's the very building that armed the first successful Skaa rebellion. I would've t
My assistant put up another chapter of my abandoned 2001 novel MYTHWALKER. This one is exciting. There's just one chapter left.
In this week's Writing Excuses episode, Dan, Mary, Howard and I talk about worldbuilding flora and fauna. Check it out.
It's award nomination season again, so here's a quick reminder of what I've released that's eligible this year.
Eligible in the category Best Related Work:
Writing Excuses Season Six Eligible in the category Best Novel:
The Alloy of Law Eligib
Forum member FeatherWriter posted this image of the Soulcaster that her mother made her for Christmas. Cool!
Season 7 of the writing advice podcast Writing Excuses that I do with Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, and Dan Wells has just kicked off. In the first episode, we talk about when good characters go bad.
My assistant also uploaded another chapter of my abandoned 2001 novel MYTHWALKER. There are three chapters left.
Source
Part 3
Chapter 34
This chapter starts from Elend's perspective. He is with most of the Crew and Sazed, pointing out to Ham how utterly stupendous his suggestion to vote all of the merchants off of the assembly is. When I was a kid, I used to think "stupendous" meant "really, really stupid".
Tindwyl is here too, but, as keepers aren't allowed to take sides, she isn't lifting another finger to help Elend regain his throne. Not that she needs to; it's clear as rain on a sunny day what Elend nee
This week's Writing Excuses episode is titled "Help, I Can't End My Book!" This is the final podcast of this season for Howard, Mary, Dan, and me. Check it out.
There's a new chapter of my abandoned 2001 novel MYTHWALKER up.
My assistant has put up a new Twitter posts collection that includes my live-Tweeting of finishing the first draft of A MEMORY OF LIGHT. If you want to cut to the chase, the part you really want to read is here below. I'll post more details later.
BrandSanderson Wed Dec 2
Part 3
Chapter 31
Meet Master Philen: Wealthy merchant, respected member of the Luthadel Assembly, former master peddler of illegal goods, and, most importantly, orchestrator of the first deposition in Luthadel's short history. He is, regrettably, still looked down on by the nobles, but he himself does not, and never did, see himself as skaa like the noblemen do. In fact, he looks down on the skaa workers and thinks that they need to be put in their place. He's already coming across as a bit o
Part 3
Chapter 28
After that little shocker at the end of the previous chapter, Elend and the Crew--Tindwyl included--have decided to have a meting. Tindwyl seems to be having a bit of trouble grasping how they've gotten themselves into the position they're in right now. Yes, I know. It's hilarious. The assembly deposed him with the power HE vested in them. Is that ironic, or is there another, more fitting, word for this situation?
Despite Elend's excellent reasoning behind giving the Assemb
My assistant has uploaded another chapter of my abandoned 2001 novel MYTHWALKER. He also put up a new Twitter posts archive.
This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode features Mary, Dan, Howard, and I talking about character foils. Give it a listen.
The biggest news for this week is that the long-awaited Mistborn Adventure Game tabletop RPG from Crafty Games is now available in ebook form. The hardcover and paperback copies will come next month or so, and we are planning a local release part
Part 2
Chapter 27
Elend decides not to make a strike, and Straff's having trouble finding any reason not to put him to death right now. The ruler that takes his place will probably be much more accommodating, and he claims that he and Cett have already made a treaty anyway. Elend thinks he's bluffing, but, try as he may, he still cannot get Straff to budge. Why is the being so stubborn? Straff says he won't let Elend have the city because home is where the heart is, and his home is in Luthade
Three more chapters into my leisurely read through of the book.
Part 2
Chapter 24
The chapter opens with Vin sitting atop keep venture, pondering the relationship between the Misty Doom and the deaths Sazed spoke of. Pondering alone what they all should have pondered together. If any lives are lost thanks to her bloody secrecy... Was there any good reason not to bring it up back then? Goodness, man!
She can still hear can also hear that thumping coming from the mountains. I'm guessing this i
I'll be signing twice in Utah this week in the run-up to Christmas. Details are below. Sorry, Idaho Falls folks, but I don't currently plan to go there as I usually would this time of year. I need to keep buckling down here and finish writing A MEMORY OF LIGHT. As always, you can tell me your city and I'll email you when I'm visiting nearby. And check my events calendar to see my current schedule for next year.
Barnes & Noble, West Jordan, UT
Date: Thursday, 12.15.11 Time: 6:30 pm–8:30 pm&
First some updates. The naming rights auction for a Stormlight (or other) character that I talked about last week ends in 38 hours, as do most of Orion's other auctions benefiting the UK charity Samaritans.
My assistant Peter has put up another chapter of my abandoned 2001 novel MYTHWALKER. Quite a bit happens in this one. And he also put together another Twitter posts archive.
This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode features Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman talking with Mary and Dan at the
To more chapters into the book. Thanks to my laptop's treachery and my own incompetence, I was forced to write this blog twice, so I'm sorry if this one's even more poorly written that usual. Heh.
Part 2
Chapter 22
It is a dark and misty night. Ham finds himself leaving the the Venture keep. Walking out into the darkness without so much as a torch to light his way. His duty this evening is to check up on the guard towers surrounding the keep. Mere moments after he leaves the protective illumi
