Thousandarms97

To find a list of updates on this blog post: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/through-mind-darkly.html, you can check out my other thread below: Thanks! Warmest Regards Sharon

Here is the fourth scroll: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/two-men-manuscript-how-i-got-moshe-to.html which documents a conversation I had with Moshe on why he decided to acquire Elantris. It touches on other topics as well, but I have kept those in because some readers might be interested in them. If you are not, you can always skip around to just the Elantris parts. =D

@Toaster Retribution Thank you so much for your patience. Here is the fourth scroll: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/two-men-manuscript-how-i-got-moshe-to.html which documents a conversation I had with Moshe on why he decided to acquire Elantris. It touches on other topics as well, but I have kept those in because some readers might be interested in them. If you are not, you can always skip around to just the Elantris parts. =D @Toaster Retribution Yet another update to the second scroll: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/through-mind-darkly.html Added two videos to the post: Hope you enjoy listening and watching them! =D Warmest Regards Sharon

@Toaster Retribution Thank you for that. I am taking a short break from writing any more scrolls, but the next one would most likely be the story of how Moshe came to acquire Elantris; we will be seeing it from Moshe's POV instead of Brandon's; it is a lovely story bound up with luck, serendipity and layered with such kindness and goodness on the parts of everyone involved. I think I'll name this scroll Two Men and a Manuscript. =D

Now for something more light-hearted. Here's the "You Think You Can Moshe?" Quiz: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/so-you-think-you-can-moshe.html which is a fun quiz to test how well you know Moshe having read about him in the last two scrolls. =P

@Toaster Retribution Once again thank you so much for your kind words. Your lovely comments make me feel that this is very worth all the time and effort spent. =D @Toaster Retribution More updates to the article as Moshe has just gone into more detail about what an "up" episode of bipolar disorder feels like: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/through-mind-darkly.html Feder knew it could have been a lot worse. "Fortunately for me, as someone with Bipolar II, I never experienced full blown mania, which is just as scary and dangerous as extreme psychosis, which causes delusions and hallucinations. Rather, the 'up' part of my cycles was characterized by hypomania which, if you're careful and sufficiently self-conscious, can be productively harnessed. Unfortunately, 'up' periods are becoming less frequent as I age." When I'm hypomanic, I just generally feel more positive and energetic, not at all euphoric, which for me would be a danger sign, but just pain free and content, the way I imagine 'normal' people feel most of the time. But in addition, one of the delights is the sudden realization that the oppressive sense of impossibility is gone. What prodigies I might accomplish if that were always true!" "I'm grateful to have mostly had hypomania, which can be fun. Well, fun while it lasts, until it’s over and you crash.” “And now you know why it’s taken me so long to get my roof fixed, and also why I'm not too hard on myself about it, much though I regret the attendant damage,” said Feder, referring to his still leaking roof. Plans have been made to have it fully fixed by the end of September. “It’s like having cats; you just accept that sometimes stuff is going to get knocked over.” Feder lives with Flushing, New York with his two cats, Destry and Nemo. If you are interested to know about his still-leaking roof, you can read about it here: and here: Now for something more light-hearted. Here's the "You Think You Can Moshe?" Quiz: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/so-you-think-you-can-moshe.html which is a fun quiz to test how well you think you know Moshe having read about him in the last two scrolls. =P

@Toaster Retribution For those who have already read the article: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/through-mind-darkly.html, here is just an update by Moshe: I have gone ahead and added it in my post under Feder's recommended further reading: This Woman’s Viral Thread Notes A Never-Discussed Symptom Of Depression And Absolutely Everyone Needs To Read This @Toaster Retribution I've also added links that readers can use to seek help if they think they, or someone they know, might need it: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/through-mind-darkly.html "For California residents, Feder offered this resource as an alternate option. “I don't know the regulations, but chances are you should qualify for help. Improving your mental state is a key step toward solving other problems. You are smart and will find a way.” (Interviewer's note: For residents living in the other 49 states, you can look up the link to the Health Department websites of your respective states here. For residents outside of the U.S.A., you can use this Google search query to find the department of public health services closest to you.)"

@Wyndlerunner I don't see it as just "another library": https://www.theroadhome.org/blog/?p=964 "One of the biggest projects at our downtown Salt Lake Community Resource Center was the opening of our new women’s library! Brandon Sanderson and his Lightweaver Foundation completely renovated the former children’s playroom – and made it into a calming and user-friendly library for the single adults who are experiencing homelessness downtown. The women have reported increasing their literacy, giving them something fun to do during the day, and having a good, quiet space to relax. It is heartwarming to see lives having been positively impacted by this project, and we are incredibly grateful for this new space!"

@Toaster Retribution: Thank you so much for your very kind words! I have gone ahead and passed your lovely comments on to Moshe and Hannah, as the article would not have existed without their involvement. =D

Hi everyone, I just wrote this article about how Brandon was partly inspired by his editor, Moshe Feder, who has bipolar disorder, to create characters with mental issues like Kaladin, Shallan, Dalinar and Teft for The Stormlight Archive: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/through-mind-darkly.html Moshe wanted to share his story because he felt that it was important to do so: “It’s a duty to help fellow sufferers and to work on reducing stigma. When I was guest of honor at Corflu 19, it was a major part of my speech.” I hope that it provides an insightful read if you decided to check it out. Warmest Regards Sharon

http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/through-mind-darkly.html Here is the scroll that documenting half of Brandon Sanderson's twin inspiration for including characters like Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar, who all suffer from various mental health issues, in his Stormlight Archive series. Moshe Feder himself is one half of this inspiration, and I also interviewed a fan who struggles with depression, who found that reading his Stormlight Archive books help her cope with her depression.

http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/09/through-mind-darkly.html Here is the scroll that documented half of Brandon's twin inspiration for including characters like Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar, who all suffer from various mental health issues, in his Stormlight Archive series. Moshe himself is one half of this inspiration, and I also interviewed a fan who struggles with depression, who found that reading his Stormlight Archive books help her cope with her depression.

Not sure if there can be a best, but if I were to choose, it would be after the Hugo Awards, where Moshe actually spent about 40 minutes circulating the ballroom trying to help me find Brandon so I can give the latter something before I left for home. We never did find Brandon because apparently he immediately headed over to the parties right after the ceremony and was nowhere to be found. But Moshe introduced me to people like Brandon's agent Joshua Blines, saw Scott Edelman approach Moshe to chat and was basically struck dumb because of course previously his name was something I would only see on the front of a book cover (then Moshe tells me of his friendship with Scott), see Lois's representative approach Moshe and ask him who she should ask about the logistics of getting Lois's Hugo back to her, see how delighted Nora Jemisin look when Moshe congratulated her on her Hugo (I was able to chime in immediately after him to offer my own congratulations and she remembered me from earlier in the day). Nora's speech was also awesome. I think I did the human version of a pop tart in a malfunctioning toaster and gave her like three standing ovations throughout the course of her speech. I also chatted with someone Moshe introduced me to, who told me that she copy edited the paperback version of Warbreaker as a favor. Other highlights: 1. Had tea with Sharon Shinn Saturday morning of the con for 90 minutes. Complained to her that I couldn't bring her any books to sign because Brandon's books took up all the real estate in my bag. She expressed interest in reading something of his. 2. Listen to George R. R. Martin and posse talk about Wild Cards 3. Warfare panel. Asked question about whether the placebo effect has been documented to cure wounds of varying severity. Brandon chimed in to say that he has done research on the placebo effect because he was interested and he found an interesting tidbit: a placebo works even when the person is aware about the placebo effect. 4. Listen to reading by Brandon of an excerpt of Skyward. Also interesting reading of a short story by Marie Brennan. I was however quite befuddled by Martha Well's reading because it was a short excerpt from a complicated long-running series. 5. Saw Brandon do a speed mode signing. Found out that I am not the only one who loves Gattaca because when I mentioned Gattaca, 4 people chimed in saying that they love the movie too. Decided there and then I need a bigger circle of friends. 6. Listen to Brandon moderate panel full of famous authors. Robin Hobb was MIA for some reason. 7. Second Brandon signing. Interacted with him for between 10 minutes to 12 minutes because I had to keep going back to the line to get various stuff signed. I decided to get one book set aside for Sharon Shinn, got him to personalize it to her, mentioned that I couldn't bring her any of her books to sign because of his books. Unbeknownst to me, he wrote a cheeky personalization for her which I only saw after I got home. Shared it with Sharon Shinn and we both found it quite funny: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/356-worldcon-76/ 8. 2-hour workshop with Nora Jemisin on Sunday. Made a mention about Tolkien elves and asked question about Handmaid's Tale, which she answered. During break in workshop, reminded her of this when someone else couldn't stop gushing about The Fifth Season. Nora said she couldn't remember because it was years ago. After workshop, went and got The Inheritance Trilogy signed by Nora. Showed her the tweets she said she forgot and also showed her this: Basically wanted her to know that not everyone on Reddit/Twitter is against her. Apparently she got hazed for saying something about epic fantasy that people decided to take the wrong way. She looked tired, having had a parent die on her in the past year and all, I offered her my condolences and told her that the platitude that time heals all wounds isn't true so I won't say that to her, but that I hoped she it would get better with time, even though it is unlikely. Expressed my hope that she will win Hugo for best novel for a third year in a row. 9. Got A Game of Thrones and game card gruffly signed by George R. R. Martin. Asked him if he would sign the card right after signing the book or if I should rejoin the line; he thought about it for a full second, then sighed and then changed to a marker to quickly sign the card. Saved me time in line so I didn't care. 10. Got The Last Unicorn signed by "Sir" Peter Beagle. Told him I was going to be at his panel later on. He said he didn't know when or what it was. I told him it was about killing characters. He turned to someone next to him and expressed bafflement about inclusion to said panel because he isn't known for killing his characters. Honestly, someone like Martin would have been a better panelist for a topic like that. 11. Went to Paths to Publishing panel. Wesley Chu was hilarious. Left 20 minutes early to get to Judaism and Roots of Science Fiction panel. Managed to find seat at front and then also managed to ask a question about where popular Jewish fiction fits into the whole canvas of Jewish literature. 12. Met Moshe, got him to sign my books, he regaled me and another lady with stories and we had a discussion about all sorts of things, from idolatry, to a concept of Alien as God, a small mention of Mistborn and Stormlight (Shattering being inspired by the Kabbalah) etc. I asked if he was meeting Brandon later, but he said no, and I was like I wanted to give Brandon some stuff before I leave, and he told me I could try after Hugo. I told him this was my first con, don't know if there will be security separating nominees from fans, and he tells me to name drop him to get past security if any security was indeed present. I think I blanked out for a second there and told him I wouldn't have the temerity to do that in a million years because who on earth would believe me? 13. Managed to get to end of Urban Fantasy panel and gave Sharon Shinn the personalized Brandon book 14. Listened to fascinating killing characters panel starring Sir Beagle. Everyone hung onto his every word. After the panel, I went up to him and asked him if he figured out why he was on the panel after all. He said it made more sense because the panel was more about death than anything else. Followed him out of room until he said he had to use bathroom. 15. With nothing to do until Hugo, randomly walked around. Spotted Sir Beagle heading to the hotel and basically stalked him while trying to be as uncreepy and unobvious as possible. When he got to the hotel lobby I entered through a different way so I could pretend to have accidentally run into him. He told me a story about him basically acting as the personal chauffeur for the German translator of The Last Unicorn. Basically floated on a cloud of sheer happiness from hotel lobby to the Hugo line. Then this happens on the first day of class after Worldcon:

Hi, This is Sharon. I kind of joined the fandom when I realized that Brandon Sanderson would be at Worldcon 76. I joined 17th Shard to find people to go with, was asked to record signing sessions, which I did: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/356-worldcon-76/ I then started doing research into The Lightweaver Foundation. Findings here: I also met Moshe Feder, Brandon's Tor editor at the con. He has graciously agreed to be interviewed in a series of "scrolls". There will be Brandon-related stuff of course, but everything will be from Moshe's POV and of course there will be non-Brandon related stuff too. Here is the first scroll: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/08/moshe-man-behind-copper-mind-scroll-1.html A future planned "scroll" will document half of Brandon's twin inspiration for including characters like Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar, who all suffer from various mental health issues, in his Stormlight Archive series. Moshe himself is one half of this inspiration, and I will be documenting Moshe's bout against bipolar disorder that he wants to share in order to help raise awareness about mental health issues. When I asked him if it would be a painful thing for him to share, he had this to say: "Not painful to share. It’s a duty to help fellow sufferers and to work on reducing stigma. When I was Corflu (fanzine fan con) GoH, it was a major part of my speech." Hope you do enjoy the series if you decide to check it out! Warmest Regards Sharon Hooper

@Wyndlerunner Yes he is, isn't he just! =D

Hi Sanderfans/Sharders, I will be posting a series of "scrolls" about Moshe Feder, Brandon's Tor editor, on my blog. Moshe was the person who "discovered" Brandon and acquired Brandon's sixth novel Elantris in 2003. In 2005, Elantris became Brandon's first published novel. Moshe has kindly agreed to be interviewed for this series. Here is the first "scroll" in case any of you are interested to check it out: http://shazarose.blogspot.com/2018/08/moshe-man-behind-copper-mind-scroll-1.html This is the first scroll in what is expected to be a multi-short scroll series on Moshe. A future planned "scroll" will document half of Brandon's twin inspiration for including characters like Kaladin, Shallan and Dalinar, who all suffer from various mental health issues, in his Stormlight Archive series. Moshe himself is one half of this inspiration, and I will be documenting Moshe's bout of bipolar that he wants to share in order to help raise awareness about mental health issues. When I asked him if it would be a painful thing for him to share, he had this to say: "Not painful to share. It’s a duty to help fellow sufferers and to work on reducing stigma. When I was Corflu (fanzine fan con) GoH, it was a major part of my speech." Hope you do enjoy the series if you decide to check it out! Warmest Regards Sharon Hooper

@Mestiv Yes it is indeed that awesome; have a look at the statement given to me by one of the Lightweaver Foundation's Directors yesterday morning and this is what she had to add in addition to the initial statement she had given me: "At some point Brandon will ask for fans to partner with him to donate for a certain cause but he wants to make sure the money is actually funneled to the charity or project intended by the donation."

Per the wishes of The Lightweaver Foundation, I have removed the donation link. And just to be clear, no, I didn't create the donation page. I only found it online. This is the little I managed to find online about causes that The Lightweaver Foundation has supported in the past: The Lightweaver Foundation has donated to the Ronald McDonald House Charities in the Intermountain Area The Lightweaver Foundation is one of the sponsors of the Provo Girls Summit, an event where girls could meet women from a variety of professions, where they could ask questions, make connections, and see successful models of women in many different lines of work. Also, in 2017, The Lightweaver Foundation completely renovated the former children’s playroom, located at the downtown Salt Lake Community Resource Center, into a women's library for single women who are currently experiencing homelessness in the area. The Lightweaver Foundation has funneled funds to Patrick Rothfuss's Worldbuilders.org, and I believe Worldbuilders.org supports organizations like Heifer International. With regards to higher education, The Lightweaver Foundation has donated between $50,000 to $249,999 to the Utah Valley University Foundation since 2016.

I have finally managed to get a hold of one of the directors of The Lightweaver Foundation to ask if it was alright that I post what information I have on The Lightweaver Foundation. This is her response: Dear Sharon, Thank you for reaching out to me. I am so glad to hear when people are excited about The Lightweaver Foundation. Currently, The Lightweaver Foundation, is not accepting donations. I would ask that you do not promote the foundation or encourage donations to us at this time. There are a couple of reasons for this: 1. Brandon started The Lightweaver Foundation for personal reasons and his vision for the foundation does not involve a lot of promotion. Out of respect for him we have not advertised or done any fundraising. 2. For legal reasons we ask that all donations and write ups are promoted by our in house team as we are still developing all the aspects of The Lightweaver Foundation and its 501c3 status. If you have created any sort of donation page we do ask that this is removed as any donations have to be managed by our team. 3. We are currently working on a website for The Lightweaver Foundation. We are so excited to share more about the foundation and offer a way for fans to donate but again ask that this is done through our in house team. I really appreciate your enthusiasm in regards to making fans more aware of the great things Brandon and The Lightweaver Foundation have contributed since the foundation was organized. We are very excited to be able to grow the foundation and share what we have been doing when it is the right time. Thank you again for taking the time to write me. We will soon be releasing the website for The Lightweaver Foundation and when ready Brandon will do an official announcement.

@Pagerunner The edit you did to the alomancy question I asked is just perfect (adding a link to alomancy). Thanks! =D

@Pagerunner Yes, it was not far off, but what I really wanted to know was if it just purely accidental or intentional and thus sort of like an easter egg bonus for him that allomancy is so close to the word alomancy, since he is personally fond of salty foodstuffs. Of course if you type in alomancy these days, Google will ask you if you actually mean allomancy, since the ancient method of divination using salt is no longer well-known, although some superstitions such as throwing salt over your left shoulder for good luck do persist to this day. I know it's not related, but for some reason this reminded me of when he initially named Elantris Adonis and was initially confused when his writing group asked what his story had to do with the Greeks.

Storms that was fast! I just want to say you guys are incredible; I am kind of in awe and also feel slightly out of place here at the same time? =P

@Pagerunner I have gone ahead and uploaded the audio of both signings onto the link you provided: https://wob.coppermind.net/events/356-worldcon-76/. @Sparkle Hearts also recorded both signings, the reading, which was an excerpt of Skyward which I think he has read before, and the Wound Patterns and Survivability in Preindustrial Warfare - Implications for Classic Fantasy panel. @Sparkle Hearts wasn't able to enter the In For the Long Haul: The Ups and Downs of Writing a Long Series panel because of limited capacity due to really atrociously planning on the part of Worldcon 76, but Brandon Sanderson was moderating, so he didn't speak all that much. In the interest of conserving my phone battery, I didn't record any audio but took some notes I can type up if needed. I'm sure @Sparkle Hearts will upload the audio as soon as she is able. She was really badass in following him around to make sure she caught nearly everything he said, so her audio files will most likely be superior to mine in both quality and material. =D Please let me know if there is anything else I can do on my end. Thanks!