Brandon Pre-Jordan or The Man Behind the Mask

[fireflyz he/him]

Lately I've been reading through Brandon's early blog posts on his website. They begin after he signed the book deal for Elantris, but before it came out. The reason I'm reading it (fan boy issues aside) is that I'm an aspiring writer and it's very interesting to see his journey. I've been surprised by how open he is early on. There's a definite progression from the release of Elantris through the first two Mistborn books and the first Alcatraz release. It really proves that he is the ten year *over night* success.

As a quick aside, there's a blog post about Alcatraz being mentioned on NPR and Brandon compliments Pat Rothfuss on being mentioned as well. After this, Brandon will go on to release Mistborn 2 and 3, Warbreaker, some Alcatraz books, The Way of Kings, and two WOT books. Pat, whom I like, but I think moves very slowly, will release one. That's another reason why I'm reading his blog from the beginning. Success leaves markers and I admire any epic fantasy writer that can consistently put out voluminous books.

I've reached the point in the blog where Brandon is asked to take over the WOT series. This is where I first met Brandon. I remember quite vividly hearing the news and immediately going over to his website. At the time I thought it was over bold for such a seemingly new author to take over one of the most revered series's in fantasy. Obviously I've changed my opinion since then, but reading his blog I can see why he was so confident. Still, this time around I found myself reading his post about WOT with regret. It was the death of the innocent, newly minted author and the beginning of a fantasy rock star. I'm sure Brandon wouldn't change things if he could. As a WOT fan I think he's done an amazing job with the books. But it's bittersweet, because after the initial post the next few are about him being inundated with fanmail and not being able to keep up. Soon the forum roaming will disappear and the hands on author will be forced to remain increasingly aloof. This isn't a criticism of Brandon, he's still incredibly close to the fans and does a credible job of maintaining connections. But there's no denying that something had to change with the loss of anonymity.

I'm not sure if I had a point with this post other than to share my recent revelation about what Brandon sacrificed to take on WOT. I think the other purpose is to let other would-be authors know that there's a wealth of information in his early posts on what it's like when you first break into the market.

Thoughts, comments, opinions, always appreciated.

[Adrienne she/her]

But it's bittersweet, because after the initial post the next few are about him being inundated with fanmail and not being able to keep up. Soon the forum roaming will disappear and the hands on author will be forced to remain increasingly aloof. This isn't a criticism of Brandon

I think Brandon's interaction with the fans is what kept me interested. It's disappointing to see that he has not posted here and abandoned TWG long ago.

I don't understand the interaction with fans on other sites like reddit. My only thought is that he wanted main stream readers opinions. Hopefully after this next book release we'll see him answering questions on the forums like he used to do.

Edited September 21, 2011 by Adrienne

[darniil he/him]

I'll preface this by saying I haven't read anywhere near as much of the blog posts as you have, so my assessment may be way off. That said, I wouldn't say he's being aloof; rather, he just doesn't have as much free time as he used to.

My first encounter with Brandon was at Dragon*Con 2010 in the Wheel of Time track's room. Was it for an official Q&A? Was he explaining writing styles? No, he was there to play Magic: The Gathering with people.

Now, I haven't played M:TG since high school, but I thought it was cool that an author would just hang out with his fans like that, and that made me want to hang out, too. So I did.

Brandon wanted to do a draft, which I'd never heard of. Apparently a few of the other players hadn't, either, so he explained it for everyone. (Essentially, everyone brings an unopened new box, and a systematic randomness is used to build your decks for the tourney.) But since not everyone knew this was going to be a draft, Brandon bought all the boxes himself. (All he asked for was a little reimbursement from the players, since buying that many boxes is kind of expensive, y'know?) During the draft, he chatted with people about different things, and even signed some books that people had brought. It was just a very chill, relaxed time.

The year before that (or was it two?), he was also at Dragon*Con. The WoT track folks have a game they'll play called Darkfriends, which is essentially a WoT-themed version of Mafia. The way the story was recounted to me by a friend of mine, it was getting closer to the end of a match that Brandon was in, and people started wondering if he was a darkfriend, since he hadn't been hit. He told the townsfolk that if they killed him, he'd kill them all off in the last WoT book. (This was before he realized it would have to be three, IIRC.) Naturally, the townsfolk couldn't resist, and they lynched him. (He wasn't a darkfriend.)

This, to me, doesn't feel like an author who's being aloof. It seems like he still enjoys interacting with his fans. Consequently, if there was a decrease in his "public appearances", I'd probably chalk it up to lack of time more than anything else.

You bring up an interesting angle, the evolution of a writer. I'll have to make sure to check out all the blog posts. That sounds like an interesting read.

(Edit: Put a paragraph in the wrong spot. >.< )

Edited September 21, 2011 by darniil

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

I don't understand the interaction with fans on other sites like reddit. My only thought is that he wanted main stream readers opinions.

Twitter and Reddit are relaxing to Brandon. He can answer easy questions quickly. And on Reddit he posts quite a number of things in threads about people wanting to be writers or getting into self-publishing ebooks. Brandon is interested in furthering the growth of the field (he teaches that creative writing class and does the podcast, you know).

The kinds of discussions you get into here are beyond what he wants to tackle in short snippets of time, and the depth you get into is daunting. When Brandon reads long threads like some you have here he wants to participate...which would be bad on multiple levels. So he feels it's better to just stay away.

But I do read the forums and pass on to him anything I think he should be aware of.

[darniil he/him]

But I do read the forums and pass on to him anything I think he should be aware of.

That's greatly appreciated.

Does he ever ask you to give some feedback on his behalf?

[firstRainbowRose she/her]

I actually once asked him about why he changed so much in his blog posts, such as dropping the amphagory elevens and such, and he said that since he was now the public face of WoT he felt he should present a more professional apperence. It's been interesting to see the changes that have come over him over the years, and the way he sometimes seems like his old self as well. (See the reddit thread troll comment.)

[Thucydides he/him]

He made the necessary adjustments that came with the increased notoriety and workload brought on by the Wheel of Time. It is sad, but the change was not a bad thing, it was something that had to happen. He has handled it quite gracefully from what I have seen.

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

Does he ever ask you to give some feedback on his behalf?

He asks me to do and say all kinds of stuff.

[fireflyz he/him]

@darniil

I agree that it's due to time constraints rather than some desire of Brandon's to have less interaction with fans. That's why I said forced to remain increasingly aloof. Perhaps that wasn't the best word choice, but it was in the morning before work

@Adrienne

I enjoyed his recent reddit. I think he chooses that form of interaction over the forums because he can reach a broader base and make more connections in a short, intense burst as opposed to answering a specific thread with a few, specific participants on the forums. There aren't a whole lot of authors that do as much interaction as Brandon does. It's just less than it was before and he's definitely more guarded in his responses. I think that's normal and to be expected, but I commented on it because I am seeing it from a different perspective and realizing that there was a price to pay for his rise in fame.

Also, I hope I'm not coming off as acting like Brandon's wide spread fame in the sf&f community is due to WOT alone. He was already a rising star before it and I have no doubts that Way of Kings would have shot him into the lime light. That work is in the top three works of this century in the fantasy genre IMHO. WOT just put him there a few years before he would have otherwise been there.

[Zas678 he/him]

If I remember right, Brandon originally wasn't going to write the Way of Kings until much later, because he felt like he wasn't ready to take on such a monstrous work. He didn't think he was ready for a 10 book series. After working on WoT, he felt much more qualified to work on the SA, so that's what he did next, instead of White Sand, Scribbler, or a sequel.

[firstRainbowRose she/her]

This is true. Originally the plan was to write a new version of Liar (thus the reason we have the preview chapters everyone is so fond of.)

[fireflyz he/him]

I know that early on Brandon didn't feel that he was ready for Way of Kings. IIRC he originally sold Elantris and WOK to TOR but switched it to Mistborn instead. I'm trying to remember, but I think on the blog he says a few months before the WOT announcement that instead of doing a Warbreaker sequel right away he's going to begin another, long running series. I don't believe he expliciitly said it was WOK but he didn't say it was Dragonsteel either. Then WOT happened. Regardless, you're right of course. There's no way that writing several hundred thousand words for WOT didn't improve his writing for WOK.

[KChan she/her]

He asks me to do and say all kinds of stuff.

That wasn't cryptic at all.

[Zas678 he/him]

He's Ookla. What do you expect?

[Silus - Shard of Flame he/him]

Peter, you are such a troll. *shakes fist*

I found Brandon after WoT, but not through WoT, and I haven't gone that far back in the blog. But I can see what you mean and I find it sad, but it led to getting SA earlier, so that's good.

[KChan she/her]

It also led to Brandon growing as a writer, and of course the publicity. I know I wouldn't have found his books - and as a result, some of my closest friends - if it hadn't been for WoT, so I'm extremely grateful that it happened this way.

[fireflyz he/him]

I saw on twitter yesterday that Brandon invited any interested readers to play MAGIC with him at a midnight pre-release party. That's pretty awesome. If you live in Utah, I'm jealous. On the other hand I'm not a very good MAGIC player so maybe that's for the best. I think once WOT is done his fan interaction is likely to improve as well. I can't imagine the pressure he's under with that.

[CrazyRioter she/her]

I think he'll be busy with WoTstuff for quite some time even after he finishes AMol, there'll be oodles of people grabbing for his attention for years to come. WoT is a big deal and it has a lot of fans.

[KChan she/her]

Yeah, but interacting with fans is a whole different critter from the insane pressure of finishing the books. I think fireflyz definitely has a point with that. So even though Brandon will always be a vital part of the WoT fandom - and who wouldn't want him to be? - I'm sure actually finishing the books themselves will have a big impact.

[Silus - Shard of Flame he/him]

The Magic night was fun, even though I didn't actually play. XP

I'm very much looking forward to WoT being done, simply so certain elements of the WoT community get off his back.

[firstRainbowRose she/her]

I'm very much looking forward to WoT being done, simply so certain elements of the WoT community get off his back.

I think I know what you're going after, but you might want to clarify that statement so you don't get people ticked off without meaning to.