Brandon Sanderson

ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE SHATTERED LENS has now been released in the UK (and presumably also in Australia and New Zealand). That means all four books are now out, and since they all came out this year, it should be relatively easy to find them on shelves and in ebook form. (Note that all four books are still out of print in the US, though the audiobooks ARE currently available in the US.). The most recent Writing Excuses episode is a microcasting episode touching on the following questions. Give it a listen! What's your first step in the rewriting process? How do you write Artificial Intelligences as characters? Tactful promotion: how do you get nominated for a Hugo or Nebula? How do you decide whether or not to take an offer from a publisher? Do you use a writing notebook? How, and for what? What methods do you use to test the "coolness" and/or viability of a story idea? What genre or style do you read that is outside of the one(s) in which you write? Tor.com's reread of THE WAY OF KINGS continues with chapters 13 and 14, the battle with the chasmfiend and Kaladin's first attempt to change Bridge Four. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/06/alcatraz-in-uk-updates.html">Source</a>

Tor made a book trailer for THE RITHMATIST (which is out now). Enjoy! There's also a cool Kickstarter campaign (well past its goal, ending in two days) from Cryptozoic Entertainment for a digital TCG/MMO called HEX. The developers of the (targeted for fall 2014) MISTBORN: BIRTHRIGHT video game, Little Orbit, are working on this game with Cryptozoic. My congratulations to all of them for such a successful Kickstarter! <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/06/book-trailer-for-rithmatist-kickstarter.html">Source</a>

This week's Writing Excuses episode talks about prewriting with our guest E.J. Patten, author of RETURN TO EXILE and THE LEGEND THIEF. Check it out. The Tor.com reread of THE WAY OF KINGS has reached chapter 12, covering the introduction of Dalinar and Adolin. I'm signing tonight at the Provo Library, with books sold by the King's English. Space in the room is limited to 500 people, and the library has already given out 500 free tickets. If you show up without a ticket you'll be in the standby line, but I plan to stay as late as necessary for everyone to get their books signed. (I'm also signing on June 22nd at the Spanish Fork Costco, if you're a Costco member and don't want to deal with the enormous crowd tonight.) Date: Monday, June 3rd, 2013 Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m. Place: The Kings English Bookshop Hosted at the Provo Library at Academy Square 550 N University Ave Provo, UT 84601 Phone: (801) 852-6661 <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/06/signing-tonight-at-provo-library-updates.html">Source</a>

The newest Writing Excuses podcast episode is called "What The Avengers Did Right." It has a bunch of spoilers for that movie and talks about it from the point of view of a writer. I've uploaded all of Ben McSweeney's awesome illustrations for THE RITHMATIST. This includes the map (which isn't in the ebook right now) and a couple of doodles that didn't make it into the final book. If you have the audiobook, we prepared a script for Michael Kramer that included the text from the diagrams so you shouldn't be missing anything essential, but it will probably still help quite a bit to be able to see these illustrations. If you haven't seen them, I also have interior illustration galleries for THE WAY OF KINGS and THE ALLOY OF LAW. Tor.com's reread of THE WAY OF KINGS has reached the end of part one. The most recent post covers the first set of interludes and talks about the search for Hoid. This week I will be at Book Expo America in New York. Here's my schedule: Date: May 30–31, 2013 Place: Book Expo America Address: Jacob K. Javits Convention Center 655 W 34th St New York, NY 10001 THURSDAY, May 30th 2:00–3:00 p.m. Author Signing at Meeting Room MR 3211 (Tor Table #17) The Way of Kings, The Rithmatist (Note: This event is ticketed.) 4:00–5:00 p.m. RHCB Booth Signing Booth #3940, Table #1 Steelheart FRIDAY, May 31st 3:00–4:00 p.m. Signing at Tor Booth 1557 The Way of Kings, The Rithmatist 4:00–5:00 p.m. Audio Publishers Association Author Tea Janis Ian, Bill Bryson, Louise Penny, Brandon Sanderson (Note: This event is ticketed.) <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-rithmatist-illustrations-book-expo.html">Source</a>

Today through Sunday I'm in Phoenix for Phoenix Comicon. Here's my schedule. Thu, 6:00-7:00PM (Room 104B) Books & Authors Phoenix Comicon Kickoff Kick of Phoenix Comicon 2013's Books and Authors programming with a brief look at what all is going on this weekend and a group interview with several of our author guests conducted by Peter Orullian. Brandon Sanderson, Cherie Priest, Peter Orullian, Terry Brooks, Timothy Zahn Fri, 1:30-2:30PM (Room 132) Brandon Sanderson and The Wheel of Time Join Brandon Sanderson and some Wheel of Time fans for a discussion of the series and its completion. Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Young, Phoenix Comicon Staff Fri, 2:30-3:30PM (Brandon's booth #896) Brandon Sanderson Signing The "Firstborn"/"Defending Elysium" convention exclusive hardcover will be available. Sat, 4:30-5:30PM (Room 132) The Unfettered Panel: New Tales By Masters of Fantasy Join the editor and four contributors to Unfettered, a new anthology. Learn about its creation from the editor, Shawn Speakman, while contributors Terry Brooks, Brandon Sanderson, Kevin Hearne and Peter Orullian talk about their stories. Brandon Sanderson, Kevin Hearne, Peter Orullian, Shawn Speakman, Terry Brooks Sat, 5:30-6:30PM (Author's Alley table 2411) Signing with the Unfettered authors The Phoenix Comicon Exclusive Edition of Unfettered will be available in a limited quantity. Brandon Sanderson, Kevin Hearne, Peter Orullian, Shawn Speakman, Terry Brooks Sat, 12:00-1:00PM (Room West105B) Magic Methods Magic systems and fantasy go hand in hand. Join some of our author guests as they talk about how they make it work and how they make it believable. Brandon Sanderson, Melanie Rawn, Peter Orullian, Sam Sykes, Sharon Skinner Sat, 3:00-4:00PM (Room 132) Brandon Sanderson Spotlight Join New York Times Bestelling Author Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn series, The Stormlight Archive, Alcatraz, The Wheel of Time (with Robert Jordan), and others including the new novel The Rithmatist, for a talk and Q & A about his work past, present, and future. Brandon Sanderson Sat, 4:00-5:00PM (Brandon's booth #896) Brandon Sanderson Signing The "Firstborn"/"Defending Elysium" convention exclusive hardcover will be available. Sat, 9:00PM-3:00AM (Moran Room, Hyatt) Magic Draft with Brandon Cost is $10 and slots are limited. Sign up at Game Central. Sun, 12:00-1:00PM (Room 132) The Epic Fantasy Panel Some of today's most popular epic fantasy writers talk about what epic means to them and how they write it. Brandon Sanderson, James A Owen, Melanie Rawn, Peter Orullian, Sam Sykes, Terry Brooks Sun, 3:00-4:00PM (Room 132) Worldbuilding in Science Fiction and Fantasy How do writers create worlds for their stories anyway? Join our panelists and find out. Brandon Sanderson, Michael A. Stackpole, Peter Orullian, Terry Brooks, Timothy Zahn <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-phoenix-comicon-schedule.html">Source</a>

A few weeks ago I talked about the Hugo Voter Packet and how for a $60 supporting membership to Worldcon you could get copies of most of the Hugo Award-nominated works. Well, the packet was finally released today, so if you're already a member go download it now! If you're not a Worldcon member already, check out the cover art of the nominated works (it looks like pretty much everything except for the Dramatic Presentations are included in the packet) and consider joining so you can vote for the Hugo Awards by the July 31st deadline. My Hugo Award-nominated novella THE EMPEROR'S SOUL is in the packet alongside the other Best Novella nominees, and it's an honor to be in such a group. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode talks about short story writing with Mary Robinette Kowal. Mary has published more short stories than the rest of us combined, and she has a lot of good helpful things to say about the process. I sent out a newsletter last week. Here it is. If you're interested in getting these three or four times per year, and getting an email reminder when I'm signing near your city, sign up here. Tonight I'm signing in San Jose and tomorrow I'll be in Albuquerque. Details on my events page. I've also left quite a few signed books at my previous tour stops, so give the following stores a call! Maple Street Book Shop, New Orleans They have signed copies of THE RITHMATIST and A MEMORY OF LIGHT in hardcover, and some of each paperback of all of my books that are in print. They also have a few of the special Rithmatic chalk bags that Tor made—ask about getting one when you call. (504) 866-4916 Murder by the Book, Houston Murder by the Book has signed copies of all of my books, and they're going to bring them to Comicpalooza in Houston this weekend, unless you call and buy all the books before the weekend arrives. (888) 424-2842 (I will be at Phoenix Comicon this weekend.) Other Stores All of the following stores have some of my books signed. Call them up to find out what they can ship to you. Books of Wonder, New York Phone: (212) 989-3270 Email: [email protected] Children's Book World, Philadelphia Phone: (610) 642-6274 Email: [email protected] Tattered Cover, Denver (Highlands Ranch) Phone: (303) 470-7050 Barnes & Noble, Omaha (Oakview Mall) Phone: (402) 691-4557 Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston Phone: (281) 497-8675 <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/05/hugo-voter-packet-out-now-signed.html">Source</a>

Tor.com's reread of THE WAY OF KINGS reaches chapter 11 today, which is Kaladin's low point. My YA dystopia STEELHEART comes out in September. Today the Onion AV Club put up the prologue of the book. Check it out! I'm in the middle of the tour for my YA fantasy THE RITHMATIST right now; I'll be in Denver tonight. If you're not near the cities I'm signing in, you can still grab a signed copy by ordering it from one of the bookstores I've already stopped at. They have quite a few copies and will be happy to ship one to you. Books of Wonder 18 West 18th St. New York, NY 10011 Phone: (212) 989-3270 Email: [email protected] Children's Book World 17 Haverford Station Rd Haverford, PA 19041 Phone: (610) 642-6274 Email: [email protected] <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/05/steelheart-prologue-signed-rithmatist.html">Source</a>

The Rithmatist is out! Buy it from the links to the right or visit your local bookstore. (In the UK/Australia, the release date is May 23rd.) My book tour starts tonight in New York and continues in Philadelphia, Denver, Omaha, New Orleans, Houston, San Jose, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Provo, and Spanish Fork. For details see my events page. (And note, as always I'm happy to sign any books you bring to a signing. Don't feel bad showing up to a signing for The Rithmatist carrying your copy of A Memory of Light. I'll sign it gladly. And if you want me to send you an email when I'll be signing near you, tell me your city here.) Buy the hardcover here: Amazon Barnes & Noble IndieBound Books-a-Million Powell's Buy the ebook here: Kindle (US)(CA) Nook iBooks (US)(CA) Kobo Google Play Dragonmount Buy the audiobook here: Audible iTunes (US)(CA) I'm super excited about The Rithmatist. Imagine a world where people duel using a magical, StarCraft-like system where one draws units and structures in chalk. Those come to life once you complete them, though they remain two dimensional, and you can use any drawing surface as a dueling platform. The main character, Joel, gets to go to a school specializing in this magic, though he can't actually use it himself. (He is the son of the cleaning lady, so he gets free tuition.) Students start disappearing, and he gets mixed up in the mystery. This book is a favorite among my beta readers. (The Rithmatist has been around in draft form for some six years now, so many of the inner circle of my fans have read it already.) It's a fun, quick read that (hopefully) will tide you over while I'm finishing up Stormlight 2, Words of Radiance. (About 80% done with that right now.) While I love my Alcatraz series for younger readers, that series is very bizarre and quite different from the style of my adult books. I've found that many of my readers wish I had something more "Brandonesque" to hand to their younger siblings, children, nieces and nephews, etc. Well, this is the book for you. Deep worldbuilding, a complex magic system, and a sharp plot. Hopefully you'll all be willing to give it a look. The sample chapters are here and you can hear the beginning of the audiobook here. Read onward on this blog post if you want to hear some of the background of The Rithmatist and how it came to be. Otherwise, check out those sample chapters, and come see me on tour! The origin of The Rithmatist Six years ago, I was writing a book that I hated. Now, that's both rare and common for me at the same time. I tire of pretty much every book I work on at some point, usually during the revision process. I push through and get over it. That's what you do as a writer. By the time I'm done with the process, I'm tired of the book—but it's the good kind of tired. The "I worked hard, and now have something awesome to show for it" tired. Unfortunately, that wasn't happening for this book. Called The Liar of Partinel, every chapter was a chore to write. Though it had started very well, it continued to spiral farther and farther down the drain. I was familiar enough with my own writing by this point to realize the problems with Liar wouldn't work themselves out. The characters were boring, the plot forced. The worldbuilding elements never quite clicked together. It had been years since I'd had such a bad feeling about a novel. (The last time, in fact, was Mythwalker—my sixth unpublished book—which I abandoned halfway through.) Part of the problem, I suspect, had to do with my expectations. Liar, set in the same world as Dragonsteel, was to be the origin story of Hoid, the character who has appeared in all of my Cosmere novels. (Information here—warning, big spoilers.) I needed Hoid's story to be epic and awesome. It just wasn't. And so, I ended up "hiding" from that novel and working on something else instead. The Rithmatist. It started with some drawings and a purely creative week sketching out a world, characters, and magic. That week is the exact sort that turned me into a writer in the first place, and was a distinct contrast to the grind that had been Liar. I abandoned the book and dove into The Rithmatist (then called Scribbler), and wrote a book where everything just came together. It happens sometimes. It just works, and I can't always explain—even to myself—why. I finished the first draft of the book in the summer of 2007. In the fall, I got the call regarding the Wheel of Time, and my world transformed forever. The Rithmatist, though an awesome book, languished for years because I didn't have the time to devote to it. Doing a tour or contract for another teen book was impossible at that time, and beyond that I couldn't commit to writing any sequels or even doing any revision for the novel. I did tell Tor about it, though, and they started to get excited. The publisher tried at several times to get me to release it, but I didn't feel the time was right. I couldn't let my attention be divided that far. I was already stretched too thin, and I wanted my attention (and that of my readers) to be on the Wheel of Time. The month A Memory of Light was done and turned in, however, I called Tor and told them it was time to move forward. I'm pleased to be releasing the book now, when I can give it the attention it deserves. And hopefully someday I'll be able to fix The Liar of Partinel. (At this point, I'm feeling I need to rewrite it as a first-person narrative, though making that switch is going to cause an entire host of problems.) Anyway, thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoy The Rithmatist. Brandon <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-rithmatist-out-now.html">Source</a>

Just a quick update today. I'm on my way to New York for the release of THE RITHMATIST on Tuesday. More about that in another post tomorrow, but The Book Smugglers have an interview with me where I talk about it and about writing YA, among other things. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode talks about the culture that surrounds the writing community and the conventions we attend. Tor.com's reread of THE WAY OF KINGS has reached chapters 9 and 10, including Kaladin's first flashback chapter. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/05/quick-update.html">Source</a>

My YA fantasy novel THE RITHMATIST comes out next week. Read the first 5 chapters here and check out my signing tour schedule here. Tor.com also put up an article today talking about the book's magic system. I'm also pleased to report that Michael Kramer is narrating the audiobook for THE RITHMATIST. You can listen to the prologue and the first part of chapter 1 below. It will be available from Macmillan Audio via Audible and preloaded digital audio, and I assume via iTunes as usual though the listing isn't up yet. In non-Rithmatist news, my Hugo Award-nominated novella THE EMPEROR'S SOUL has its ebook currently at a $2.99 special price on Amazon for the month of May, and that's matched at other ebook vendors. The most recent Writing Excuses podcast episode covers blocking. If you're aware of blocking in the context of theater and wonder how it translates over to fiction—or if you have no idea what blocking is—check out the episode! I've missed linking to a couple of Tor.com's reread posts for THE WAY OF KINGS. The first one covers chapters 5 and 6, and the second covers chapters 7 and 8. They will put up another post tomorrow. I'm busily writing the sequel, WORDS OF RADIANCE, and you can see that the progress bar on my site is up to 70%, though that may be a bit out of date. My assistant has also put up another Twitter posts archive covering the last eight weeks. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-rithmatist-audiobook-emperors-soul.html">Source</a>

I got back from JordanCon a few days ago. Often times at cons and signings, my readers bring me small gifts. I'm deeply grateful for the time and thought put into these, and I try to post pictures of some of them from time to time. JordanCon was no exception. Here are some of the cool things you all gave me. A highlight of the con for me was going to lunch with one of my idols, Michael Whelan. (For more on how much I love his work, see here.) He gave me one of the signed limited editions of The Art of Michael Whelan, which includes a beautiful original illustration (below). The book and the illustration are absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to see what Michael comes up with for the cover of Words of Radiance. Together Jennifer and Jimmy Liang head up JordanCon each year and do a smashing job of it. This year Jimmy wanted to get me Magic cards in Korean. Instead, his search turned up these cards in Chinese: Of course, readers brought me all sorts of other goodies: mac and cheese, more Magic cards (vintage!), books, an awesome wooden baby rattle, traditional songs rewritten with Wheel of Time-inspired lyrics, and a book of letters from the Black Tower Social Group from Dragonmount. Matt Hatch from Theoryland brought me a shirt and art print with a symbol based on the Dusty Wheel from Towers of Midnight. As a cool side note, the pipe drawing is based on one of Robert Jordan's actual pipes. If you're interested in buying one of these shirts, they're available at InkWing. (Also note that Ta'veren Tees has many types of Wheel of Time shirts.) One reader, a student of various languages—including American Sign Language—is working on putting together a sign language based on Aiel maiden handtalk. Check out her blog to follow her research. I should also mention that two of my readers, Kalyani and Rahul, cooked me a wonderful meal of traditional southern Indian food. Seriously, the food was better than what you might find in a restaurant. Again, I had a wonderful time at JordanCon. It's really the people and the hospitality that makes this a great convention every time I've gone. Brandon <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/05/jordancon-swag.html">Source</a>

On Saturday Tor.com posted an essay of mine entitled "Terry Pratchett's Discworld Might Be The Highest Form of Literature on the Planet." I've mentioned my love of Terry Pratchett a few times on the blog before, but in this essay I lay out my whole case. Michael Whelan has signed prints of the A MEMORY OF LIGHT cover painting, that Harriet and I also signed at JordanCon. They look great! This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode is another microcasting episode where we cover a bunch of questions: How do you prepare to write? How do you write stories that are important without being heavy-handed? Magical realism vs. Fantasy—what's the difference? Do you have recommendations or techniques for serving as a beta reader? Is it possible to do a serial with short stories and novellas all in the same setting? Why do publishers say they want crossed-genre books, but they're not publishing crossed-genre books? Picture books and books for beginning readers: can you 'cast on this for us? Can you do a 'cast on reading aloud? What is the primary thing you've learned from reading Literary Fiction that has informed your Genre Fiction writing? My YA fantasy THE RITHMATIST is coming out in two weeks (three weeks in the UK). Tor is doing a Goodreads giveaway of 15 copies of the final book. You can sign up here–but only if you're in the US. For those of you outside the US, I apologize—hopefully there will be something you can participate in soon. And if you missed the announcement of my book tour, you can find the list of tour cities here. Included on the tour is Phoenix Comicon, and I will bring my convention-exclusive "Firstborn"/"Defending Elysium" hardcover to the con. Also attending will be Shawn Speakman, whose anthology UNFETTERED will include the story "River of Souls," a deleted sequence from A MEMORY OF LIGHT. UNFETTERED doesn't come out until June, but there is a four-story preview (including "River of Souls") that will be available at Phoenix Comicon. Shawn is also auctioning off several signed books, including a signed limited edition of LEGION, to benefit Duane Wilkins of the University Book Store in Seattle. Duane is a very cool guy who has supported my career from the very beginning. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-essay-on-terry-pratchett-updates.html">Source</a>

My YA fantasy novel THE RITHMATIST comes out on May 14th in the US/Canada, and May 23rd in UK/Commonwealth countries. (Read the prologue and first five chapters here.) This book tour's stops are listed at the bottom of this post, and included are a bunch of cities I haven't visited on any recent tour. Also, I'm not doing a midnight release at BYU this year. Instead, the release will be Tuesday evening in New York at Books of Wonder (see below). I will number copies at the New York release. But since I can't visit every city where my readers live, I like to set up a signing-by-mail so you can still get a signed book. For this release Weller Book Works is limiting the amount of copies to 200, which I will number (starting at 101). Due to a bit of a delay in organizing things this time, the books might arrive at your door a couple of days after the release date. Details from Weller Book Works are as follows: Customers need to order the books via email sent to [email protected] (no telephone orders)Email should include name, billing address, shipping address if different, phone number, how the book should be signed. WBW will reply with a paypal invoice that can be paid with a paypal account or credit card #. We will respond to orders in the order they were received. Numbers will be assigned when payments are made and will likewise be the order in which they were received. Price is 20% off for prepaid orders. Book total is $14.39 plus tax (if applicable) and shipping/handling charges (if you don't pick it up in the store). Books will be shipped in a USPS Priority Mail padded envelope. Shipping costs:US: $6.50 (3–5 days) Canada & Mexico: $22.00 (6–10 days) All other international: $25.00 (6–10 days) Orders must be made and prepaid by May 3 to qualify for discount. Offer good while supplies last (200 copies available) or until May 3. Limit 1 copy per customer Due to the short timeline for this promotion, we can't guarantee the book's arrival by its release date. Once Weller Book Works runs out of copies, the next best way to get a signed copy of the book is to contact one of the tour stores and ask them if they can get a copy signed and ship it to you. Many of them will be able to do so. THE RITHMATIST Tour Books of Wonder, New York Date: Tuesday, May 14th, 2013 Time: 6:00–8:00 p.m. Place: Books of Wonder Address: 18 West 18th St. New York, NY 10011 Phone: (212) 989-3270 Notes: Please check back later for information on whether this event is ticketed. Preordering your copy of THE RITHMATIST at this store is a safe bet. Children's Book World, Philadelphia Date: Wednesday, May 15th, 2013 Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m. Place: Childrens Book World Address: 17 Haverford Station Rd. Haverford, PA 19041 Phone: (610) 642-6274 Notes: Please check back later for information on whether this event is ticketed. Preordering your copy of THE RITHMATIST at this store is a safe bet. Tattered Cover, Denver Date: Thursday, May 16th, 2013 Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m. Place: Tattered Cover (Highlands Ranch) Address: 9315 Dorchester St. Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 Phone: (303) 470-7050 Notes: Free numbered tickets for a place in the signing line will be handed out at 6:00 p.m. Seating for the presentation prior to the signing is limited, and available on a first-come, first-served basis to ticketed customers only. Barnes & Noble, Omaha Date: Friday, May 17th, 2013 Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m. Place: Barnes & Noble Booksellers – Oakview Mall Address: 3333 Oakview Dr. Omaha, NE 68144 Phone: (402) 691-4557 Notes: Please check back later for information on whether this event is ticketed. Preordering your copy of THE RITHMATIST at this store is a safe bet. Maple Street Book Shop, New Orleans Date: Saturday, May 18th, 2013 Time: 1:00–3:00 p.m. Place: Maple Street Book Shop Address: 7529 Maple St. New Orleans, LA 70118 Phone: (504) 866-4916 Type: Signing Notes: Please check back later for information on whether this event is ticketed. Preordering your copy of THE RITHMATIST at this store is a safe bet. Blue Willow, Houston Date: Monday, May 20th, 2013 Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m. Place: Blue Willow Bookshop Address: 14532 Memorial Drive Houston, TX 77079 Phone: (281) 497-8675 Notes: In order to go through the signing line and meet Brandon Sanderson for book personalization, please purchase THE RITHMATIST from Blue Willow Bookshop. At the time of your purchase, you will receive a signing line ticket that indicates your place in line. Hicklebees, San Jose Date: Tuesday, May 21st, 2013 Time: To be determined Place: Hicklebees Address: 1378 Lincoln Ave. San Jose, CA 95125 Phone: (408) 292-8880 Notes: This event may be moved off-site. Check back for updates closer to the event date. Please check back later for information on whether this event is ticketed. Preordering your copy of THE RITHMATIST at this store is a safe bet. Alamosa Books @ UNM, Albuquerque Date: Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m. Place: Alamosa Books hosted at the UNM Continuing Education Conference Center Address: 1634 University Blvd NE Albuquerque, NM 87102 Phone: (505) 797-7101 Type: Signing Notes: We have two ticket options: $20 for a copy of The Rithmatist, two tickets, and entry to the signing line $8 for an individual ticket (no signing line entry) Phoenix Comicon Dates: May 23rd–26th, 2013 Place: Phoenix Comicon Address: Phoenix Convention Center, Hyatt Regency, Renaissance Phoenix, AZ 85004 Type: Convention Notes: Brandon is a guest. There is a registration cost for entry into the convention. The King's English @ Provo Library Date: Monday, June 3rd, 2013 Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m. Place: The King's English Bookshop Address: Hosted at the Provo Library 550 N University Ave Provo, UT 84601 Phone: (801) 484-9100 Notes: Check back later for information on whether this event is ticketed. Preordering your copy of THE RITHMATIST at The King's English is a safe bet. Costco, Spanish Fork, UT Date: Saturday, June 22nd, 2013 Time: 12:00 noon–2:00 p.m. Place: Costco Address: 273 E 1000 N Spanish Fork, UT Phone: (801) 504-9530 Notes: Costco members ONLY! <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-get-signed-copies-of-rithmatist.html">Source</a>

This past weekend I had a great time at JordanCon. Next year's Author Guest of Honor will be Patrick Rothfuss, with Artist Guest of Honor Larry Elmore. It should be awesome. While I was there I signed a number of books for two booksellers, The Missing Volume and Basement Books. They each also have a handful of copies of my Firstborn/Defending Elysium convention exclusive—but I forgot to sign those. Whoops. Still, if you're not at a con, this is the only way to get your hands on that hardcover until much later this year. Both booksellers will ship to you. The Missing Volume Raleigh, NC Email: [email protected] Phone: 321-297-6635 Plenty of signed copies of The Emperor's Soul and one signed copy of a number of other hardcovers and paperbacks such as The Alloy of Law, Wheel of Time books, and The Way of Kings. Inquire for details. Basement Books Email: [email protected] Phone: 770-849-9659 20 signed copies of Legion (very hard to find elsewhere!), a few signed 1st editions of Warbreaker, copies of The Alloy of Law triple-signed by Brandon, Ben, & Isaac, signed copies of The Emperor's Soul. The latest Writing Excuses podcast is another brainstorming episode, where Mary, Howard, and Dan help me come up with ideas for a story about psychic birds. Enjoy. And yes, I did end up writing this story (a novelette) after doing the podcast. More on that in the future. Tor.com has put up another two chapters of their reread of THE WAY OF KINGS: chapters 3 and 4. This covers Shallan's introduction and Kaladin's arrival at the Shattered Plains. If you missed my AMA at Reddit, you can find my answers here. I've finished uploading the videos of me writing one of the interludes from WORDS OF RADIANCE, the sequel to THE WAY OF KINGS. I've also made a of all of the writing, which you can see below, if the real-time version was too slow for you. There's a playlist of all of the real-time videos , and the final video (if you were keeping up already) is .This has been a bit of an experiment, to show my writing process. Now that it's all done, what have you thought about the experiment? <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/04/stormlight-videos-updates.html">Source</a>

This weekend I'll be at JordanCon in Atlanta. My schedule is below, and the full schedule is here. Guests of Honor this year are Seanan McGuire (a.k.a. Mira Grant) and Michael Whelan. Team Jordan will also be participating. Stormlight/Mistborn/Rithmatist artists Isaac Stewart and Ben McSweeney will also be there. They have a panel with Michael Whelan called Art of the Stormlight Archive that you might want to check out. JordanCon will mark the release of my hardcover edition of FIRSTBORN and DEFENDING ELYSIUM. I will also bring it to other conventions this summer, and then it will be available on my signed books page in the late fall. FRIDAY April 19th 1:00–2:00 p.m., Great Oaks A JordanCon Opening Ceremonies Leigh Butler 4:00–5:00 p.m., Boardroom Signing Brandon Sanderson 5:30–6:30 p.m., Great Oaks A Religion in Your World Brandon Sanderson, Delilah S. Dawson, Stuart Jaffe, Seanan McGuire, Anthony Taylor, Alex Bledsoe What roles can and should religion and spirituality play in your world, whether secondary or Earth? SATURDAY April 20th 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., Goulding A–B Reading Brandon Sanderson 1:00–2:00 p.m., Boardroom Team Jordan Signing Brandon Sanderson, Harriet McDougal, Maria Simons, Alan Romanczuk The final Wheel of Time book. 4:00–5:00 p.m., Great Oaks A–B A Memory of Light Harriet McDougal, Maria Simons, Alan Romanczuk, Peter Ahlstrom, Brandon Sanderson, Leigh Butler 7:00–8:00 p.m., Great Oaks A–B Costume Contest Leigh Butler, Brandon Sanderson, Maria Simons, Harriet McDougal 9:00–10:00 p.m., Goulding A–B Magic the Gathering Draft with Brandon Brandon Sanderson Details on this are still being worked out. Check back later. SUNDAY April 21st 1:00–2:00 p.m., Great Oaks B Steampunk Hour Emilie P. Bush, Brandon Sanderson, Jana Oliver, Delilah S. Dawson An Hour of STEAM by the folks who write it best! 2:30–3:30 p.m., Boardroom Kaffeeklatsch Brandon Sanderson Sign up for this ahead of time. Ask at Registration. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-jordancon-schedule.html">Source</a>

I'm doing a Reddit AMA (ask me anything) right now at /r/fantasy. Ask away. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode talks about narrative rhythm. Here's the penultimate video of me from WORDS OF RADIANCE, the next Stormlight book. Next week I'll put up the conclusion and the sped-up version with everything in one video. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/04/reddit-ama-updates.html">Source</a>

A few random pieces of catch-up news for today. The ebook for A MEMORY OF LIGHT came out this week, if you didn't notice. You can find it at the usual vendors. This week the Writing Excuses podcast has another brainstorming episode, where I come up with a concept for a short story and Mary, Howard, and Dan help me toss ideas around for it. The annual Locus poll is live. Anyone can vote for what you consider to be 2012's best SF novel (among many other categories), but Locus subscribers' votes count double. The deadline is April 15th. My agent Joshua Bilmes put up a blog post about how THE EMPEROR'S SOUL went from concept to Hugo nomination in 13 months. Tor.com is continuing its reread of THE WAY OF KINGS. This week's article covers chapters 1 and 2, which include Kaladin's introduction. And here's the of me writing a chapter from WORDS OF RADIANCE. This is the climax, but there are two short videos after this. I'll upload the sped-up version of the chapter the same day I upload the final video. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-memory-of-light-ebook-updates.html">Source</a>

Many of you know that a certain author, Dave Wolverton (who also writes as David Farland), was an important mentor to me early in my career. Well, Dave has run into some difficult times recently, as his son Ben had a longboarding accident and is now in a coma. Dave, like many artists and authors in our country, doesn't have health insurance. The burden of this debt could crush him. Some friends and family of his have organized a few campaigns to help out. Since many people who read this blog know Dave or have been influenced by him, I thought you might like to know about these. The primary link of note is to where one can donate to Ben's medical fund. Also, if you're interested in YA paranormal novels, you might want to check out Dave's book Nightingale. I've read it, and I quite enjoyed it. It's about a young man who discovers he's a changeling, and it takes place in southern Utah in some fun, familiar locations. Here's where you can buy it. Either way, if you are the religious sort, Ben and his family could use your prayers. Brandon <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/04/helping-ben-wolverton.html">Source</a>

This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode is called "Fake It Till You Make It" and in it Mary, Dan, Howard, and I talk about the things we do or have done to feel professional. Also, as I mentioned earlier this week, Writing Excuses has been nominated once again for the Hugo Award for Best Related Work! Our announcement on that is here. And if you missed my announcement of THE EMPEROR'S SOUL being nominated for Best Novella, it is here. Howard's Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia is also nominated for Best Graphic Story. If you want to be able vote for the Hugo Awards, I talk about that in my previous post. Mary's new book WITHOUT A SUMMER is also out this week. The first two books in the series were excellent, so you're sure to enjoy this one too! Tor.com has put up chapter 2 and chapter 3 of my forthcoming YA fantasy THE RITHMATIST. (If you missed them, the prologue and chapter 1 are here.) The book comes out next month. Tor has also announced a mobile campaign involving (at the moment) the Wheel of Time and THE RITHMATIST. On your mobile phone text "EPIC" to 555111 to receive facts, trivia, and more (and no, that's not an April Fools joke, though it was announced on April 1st). Or you can sign up at this link. Irene at Tor also sent me this beautiful poster (the scale may not be obvious in the photo, but the frame is about 22" by 30") with a long quote from chapter 4 of THE EYE OF THE WORLD. Robert Jordan truly was a master at making a story come alive before our eyes. As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Tor.com has also started a reread of THE WAY OF KINGS in preparation for the release of the sequel, WORDS OF RADIANCE, hopefully later this year. Two reread posts have gone up so far, the first one covering the prelude and the second talking about the prologue. And the ebook of KINGS is still $2.99 for the next week or so. This week we received copies of the new German edition of ELANTRIS. We also received copies of WRITING FANTASY HEROES: POWERFUL ADVICE FROM THE PROS. I wrote an essay in this book, about writing cinematic fight scenes. There are also contributions from other SF luminaries including Alex Bledsoe, Jennifer Brozek, Orson Scott Card, Glen Cook, Steven Erikson, Ian C. Esslemont, Cecelia Holland, Howard Andrew Jones, Paul Kearney, Ari Marmell, Janet and Chris Morris, Cat Rambo, and C.L. Werner. And here's the of me writing a chapter from WORDS OF RADIANCE. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/04/without-summer-updates.html">Source</a>

The nominations for the 2013 Hugo Awards were recently released, and I'm elated to announce that The Emperor's Soul has been nominated for Best Novella. This is, quite frankly, awesome. It's my first major award nomination in a fiction category. Alongside it, Writing Excuses has been nominated for Best Related Work for its third year running. I don't know what to say other than thank you. Thank you to those who supported the story, who gave me feedback, and who encouraged me to find time to whip it into shape and release it last year. Also, a big thanks to Tachyon Publications, the book's publisher. The winners will be announced at Worldcon on September 1st. The Hugos are a fan-voted award, but only members of Worldcon can participate. The cool thing is that generally all of the fiction nominees for a given year are offered as free ebooks to anyone who is eligible to vote, and this includes supporting members. (Those are people who don't attend the convention, but still want to participate in things like the Hugo voting.) The Hugo Voter Packet comes as a single download once everything is collected, and should be available on April 14th so you have plenty of time to read the nominees before votes have to be turned in by July 31st. This means that for $60 you can get copies of basically everything on that Hugo list (except for the movies and TV episodes). That's not only an excellent deal, but it gives you the chance to participate in choosing the best works of the year. Every year I've done it, it has been a wonderful experience. A word of warning, however. I strongly suggest that you avoid voting in any categories for which you haven't read the majority of the nominees. Early in my career, my editor impressed upon me the need to treat this award with solemnity. Don't vote for me, or anyone else, just because you like us as authors—I encourage you to read the stories and vote for what you feel is genuinely the strongest one in each category. This will preserve the integrity of the award. Don't treat the Hugos like a popularity contest. That said, I sincerely hope that many of you try out the experience of reading and voting. The addition of the Hugo Voter Packet with its ebooks has, I understand, led to record participation by the community in the awards. If you've ever griped that the books you like never win big awards, this is your chance to become part of the process. Enjoy, and thank you again to everyone who read and nominated The Emperor's Soul! Brandon Best Novella nominees After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall, Nancy Kress (Tachyon Publications) The Emperor's Soul, Brandon Sanderson (Tachyon Publications) On a Red Station, Drifting, Aliette de Bodard (Immersion Press) San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats, Mira Grant (Orbit) "The Stars Do Not Lie," Jay Lake (Asimov's, Oct–Nov 2012) Best Related Work nominees The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature, Edited by Edward James & Farah Mendlesohn (Cambridge University Press) Chicks Dig Comics: A Celebration of Comic Books by the Women Who Love Them, Edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Sigrid Ellis (Mad Norwegian Press) Chicks Unravel Time: Women Journey Through Every Season of Doctor Who, Edited by Deborah Stanish & L.M. Myles (Mad Norwegian Press) I Have an Idea for a Book ... The Bibliography of Martin H. Greenberg, Compiled by Martin H. Greenberg, edited by John Helfers (The Battered Silicon Dispatch Box) Writing Excuses Season Seven, Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler and Jordan Sanderson <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-emperors-soul-nominated-for-hugo.html">Source</a>

This year I'll be going to several conventions—JordanCon, Phoenix Comicon, ConnectiCon, and SpoCon (among others not yet announced). Last year I started doing convention exclusives, which I'd been wanting to do for a while—something to make it worth the effort for people to go out of their way to come see me. This year's exclusive is an Ace Double-style hardcover of "Firstborn" and "Defending Elysium." Check out these photos: The technical term for this kind of book layout is tête-bêche meaning "head-to-toe," which indicates that the book has two front covers and no back cover; flip the book upside down to get the other story. When you reach the end of one story, the next page is the last page of the other story, upside-down. Anyway, I've been wanting to get these novelettes out in print form for a while, and due to their length putting them together seemed like the best idea. Plus I've always thought Ace Doubles were cool. (These were classic SF novels put out in tête-bêche paperbacks by the publisher Ace.) The "Firstborn" cover reprises Donato Giancola's excellent illustration that he painted for the Tor.com version, and the "Defending Elysium" cover features an illustration by Dragos Jieanu (check out his website and his DeviantArt profile). (If you like his stuff, consider donating to the Chance for Life Foundation, a Romanian charity he supports.) The cover design is by Isaac Stewart, and the book design is by Peter Ahlstrom. I'll bring these to every convention I can this year, starting at JordanCon. The cover price is $17.99. If there are any left at the end of convention season I'll make them available on my website, but con-goers get first dibs. There are a lot more than we had of the Infinity Blade books last year, so I don't anticipate running out too quickly. See you at the conventions! JordanCon preregistration closes April 1st, and the convention is April 19th through 21st. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/03/2013-convention-exclusive-firstborn.html">Source</a>

A couple new podcast episodes for you. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode is an in-depth discussion of "Deus ex Nauseum," Howard's bonus story at the end of Schlock Mercenary: Emperor Pius Dei. Also, on the Farland's Authors Advisory Conference Calls, artists Isaac Stewart and Ben McSweeney (whose work has appeared in the Mistborn books, THE WAY OF KINGS, and THE RITHMATIST, among many others), joined to talk about how artwork can enhance a novel. You can listen to a recording of the call here. Tor.com has an article on the science of spren in the Stormlight Archive. It's pretty interesting. They're also giving away ten paperback copies of THE WAY OF KINGS on Goodreads (sorry, US only). My YA books for this year now have UK covers in addition to the US covers that have been previously revealed. UK covers on the top row, US covers on the bottom row; click on each for the cover reveal posts. THE RITHMATIST comes out May 14th in the US and May 16th in the UK, and STEELHEART comes out September 24th in the US and September 26th in the UK. (In the US, book releases are traditionally on Tuesdays, and in the UK they're usually on Thursdays.) And yes, the ebooks and audiobooks should be available at the same time too. Here's of me writing the Rysn interlude from WORDS OF RADIANCE, the sequel to THE WAY OF KINGS. This video features one song I listened to while writing this section: "Setting Sail" by 2002. ℗ 2011 Galactic Playground Music. Website, Facebook, Amazon, iTunes. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/03/podcasts-steelheart-rithmatist-covers.html">Source</a>

In this week's Writing Excuses podcast episode, Robison Wells joins us once again to talk about abnormal psychology. There are a lot of depths there to plumb for characterization, so check it out. My assistant has uploaded another Twitter posts archive. And there's a new video up of me , the sequel to THE WAY OF KINGS. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/03/stormlight-2-video-writing-excuses.html">Source</a>

Today Tor.com announced they're doing a reread for THE WAY OF KINGS. You can read the announcement here. Buy the $2.99 ebook here (DRM-free): Kindle (US)(CA) Nook iBooks (US)(CA) Kobo Dragonmount If you're not familiar with Tor.com's rereads, which they've done for The Wheel of Time and other series like the Kingkiller Chronicle, the Dresden Files, and the Malazan Book of the Fallen, it's a regular column focusing on a work in detail, broken down into small chunks of from one to a few chapters. If you like discussing books in depth, the rereads really get down to the nitty-gritty. The reread for THE WAY OF KINGS will be helmed by Michael Pye of Mad Hatter Reviews. Columns will go up on Tor.com each Thursday, starting March 28th, and each will cover one or two chapters. I'm looking forward to seeing what Michael has to say about the book, as well as reading your comments each week. In conjunction with the reread announcement, Tor is putting the ebook on sale for $2.99 for a month, so you can get a chance to read it if you haven't already. They're also giving away 50 copies of the paperback in this comment thread. Unfortunately, the contest is US-only, and the ebook pricing varies depending on country too, though it looks like the price also applies in Canada. <a href="http://mistborn.blogspot.com/2013/03/way-of-kings-ebook-for-299-giveaway.html">Source</a>

Just a quick update today. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode is another brainstorming episode. This time Mary, Dan, and I help Howard brainstorm for a comic. Though apparently the end result was a failure! Check it out. I've also uploaded another , the sequel to THE WAY OF KINGS. Enjoy.Source