Brandon Sanderson

I'm heading to Indianapolis for Gen Con today, and my full schedule is below. This con runs quite a bit differently from other conventions I've been to. For one thing, each event or panel is individually ticketed (though the book signings are not ticketed). And since the panels I am on are popular ones, tickets for most of them have been sold out for weeks (not that those tickets actually cost anything). Right now, there are 29 ($0—free) tickets still available for the Passing the Torch panel, but I expect they'll sell out before the panel starts. I'm not sure if they turn people away at the doors if they don't have a ticket, or if there are a few extra seats in the room, or what. You don't need an individual ticket (you just need to buy your registration to the con as a whole) if you want to go to one of my signings, of which there are three. See below. There is also a special "Play the Mistborn Adventure Game with Brandon" session on Sunday that five lucky people will have their names drawn to get into. To enter the drawing, pick up specific items at the Crafty Games booth (419 in the Exhibit Hall, with Studio 2). Mistborn Premium Dice Set ($16.99, limited to 200 sets): Cast in a custom steel color, these beautiful 10-die sets replace each 6 face with a unique Allomantic symbol (Tin, Pewter, Iron, Steel, Copper, Bronze, Zinc, Brass, Gold, and Atium) Mistborn Elite Dice Set ($29.99, limited to 50 sets): All 10 Premium dice plus a handsome dice bag large enough to hold all but the biggest gaming hoard The Crafty Work of Ben McSweeney ($14.99, limited to 100 copies): This beautiful 64-page art book features the work of Mistborn Adventure Game and Fantasy Craft cover and interior illustrator Ben McSweeney, and includes development and behind-the-scenes pieces from many of Crafty Games' books, including the forthcoming Spellbound Ben (who also did the illustrations for the Shallan's Sketchbook pages in THE WAY OF KINGS and the broadsheet in THE ALLOY OF LAW) will be there signing as well, Friday at noon (but I'll try to get him to come to my booth signing too). For more details on how the drawing works, see Crafty's site. Gen Con Indy 2012 Dates: August 16–19, 2012<br/>Place: Gen Con Indy 2012<br/>Address: Indiana Convention Center<br/>100 S Capitol Ave<br/>Indianapolis, IN 46225<br/>Phone: (800) 529-EXPO<br/>Schedule: THURSDAY 3:00–4:00 p.m., Exhibit Hall : Authors' Avenue<br/>Brandon Sanderson Signing<br/>Brandon will sign any book you bring that he wrote. If there's a very long line, personalizations may be limited to three books per time through the line. FRIDAY 11:00 a.m.–noon, Exhibit Hall : Authors' Avenue<br/>Brandon Sanderson Signing 1:00–2:00 p.m., SEM1233549, ICC : 244 (SOLD OUT)<br/>Reading: Brandon Sanderson and Michael A. Stackpole<br/>Join us as New York Times Bestselling authors Brandon Sanderson and Michael A. Stackpole offer an unprecedented hour of entertainment as they read from their latest works. 2:00–3:00 p.m., SEM1233555, ICC : 244 (SOLD OUT)<br/>Worldbuilding 101<br/>Elizabeth Vaughan, Brandon Sanderson, James Sutter<br/>When you create a world to set your story in, you have to do more than draw a map. Crafting a world that feels real is a tricky task. In this panel, we give you a crash course in world building. 9:00 p.m.–3:00 a.m., TCG1237843, ICC : VIG Lounge (SOLD OUT)<br/>Magic the Gathering Draft with Author Guest of Honor Brandon Sanderson—VIG only<br/>Come play MTG Avacyn Restored with the Gen Con Author of Honor Brandon Sanderson! This event is for VIGs and VIG Companions only. SATURDAY 1:00–2:00 p.m., SEM1233609, ICC : 244 (29 tickets available as of this posting)<br/>Passing the Torch<br/>Matt Forbeck, Dave Gross, John Helfers, Brandon Sanderson<br/>Every author has her own voice, but what happens when you need to write in someone else's? From ghost writing to co-authoring to inheriting an series, learn how to write with another writer's voice. 2:00–4:00 p.m., SEM1233612, ICC : 244 (SOLD OUT)<br/>Writing Excuses Recorded Live<br/>Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, Jordan Sanderson & Guests<br/>Join us for a live recording of Writing Excuses, the Hugo-nominated, Parsec-award-winning podcast. The hosts will take your questions and cover everything from world-building to character conflicts. 4:30–6:00 p.m., Exhibit Hall : Crafty Games booth 419 with Studio 2<br/>Brandon Sanderson Signing 9:00 p.m.–1:00 a.m., TCG1238412, ICC : Hall F : Green : 31–36 (SOLD OUT)<br/>Multiplayer Magic: The Gathering with Brandon Sanderson<br/>Bring your own deck. Brandon will organize the format of the games at the time the event starts, based on the number of participants. Game possibilities include Commander, Archenemy, or anything else. SUNDAY 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., RPG1233547, JW Marriott : 304 : 1<br/>Celebrity Session of the Mistborn Adventure Game<br/>Play the game with the author himself! Stop by our booth in the Exhibit Hall (419, with Studio 2) to learn how you could win a seat at this exclusive event. Source

Isaac and Kara at InkWing have news about the Feruchemical Table prints and Szeth shirts. I'll just quote from their blog post here. First, and most important: The Feruchemical Fine Art Print will be available for Pre-order WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2012 AT NOON (MST). Things to be aware of and excited about: This is a limited run of 300 prints MINUS what was sold at Comic-Con (many of the numbers between 101 and 200). A smaller version fine art print and/or 4-color offset poster will be made available at a later date along with desktop wallpaper images. Each is numbered and signed by Brandon and Isaac. Numbers are given in the order they're sold. The first order on Wednesday will get #1, and so on. Printed with archival inks on archival Ultrasmooth fine art paper. If framed correctly, it might outlast your great-grandkids! Each print has been inspected and approved by the artist. Measurements: 24"H x 26"W paper size, 18"H x 24.5"W print size (this is larger than the Allomantic Table). Prints will be sent out mid to late September (some possibly sooner); this gives us time to prepare, package, and post each print. Cost $75 plus shipping. Prints can be ordered here. Second, Szeth shirts are now available! Check it out here. Third, August Contest details: This month we will be giving away ONE Feruchemical Fine Art Print Prototype. This one is not numbered, but it is still signed. Same paper and ink as the other prints. To be entered in the drawing just comment [at this link] with a suggestion of another art print you would like to see us produce from existing interior art in Brandon's books. We are excited to do more! The winner will be picked randomly. We will announce the winner a 1/2 hour before the Pre-Sale starts!!! Good Luck! Source

This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode with Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells, and me focuses on writing authentic emotion. Give it a listen. Since the ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotations are all posted now, I'm running out of bonus content to show you. If you aren't aware, my website also has chapter-by-chapter annotations of ELANTRIS, the Mistborn trilogy, WARBREAKER, and "Defending Elysium." Additionally, the Library page has lots of sample chapters, the entire text of WARBREAKER, and deleted scenes from ELANTRIS, MISTBORN 1 and 2, WARBREAKER, and ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS. It's this last category that I'd like to add to today. This isn't so much a deleted scene from THE WAY OF KINGS as it is two scenes from the version of the book that I wrote in 2003, which feature Szeth's introduction--before I decided to call him Szeth. One of the big differences between the 2003 version of THE WAY OF KINGS and the published version was a massive restructuring of timelines. With Szeth, where he began in the old version is a combination of what became the prologue and the epilogue of his storyline in the new version. This happened across the board—for instance, Taln showing up in the epilogue of the book used to happen in the prologue. What happens at the end of Kaladin's flashback sequences in the published version was right near the beginning of where his story began in the old version. For many reasons, I felt the book needed to be restructured so that I could dig into the character personalities in a different way. So in these scenes you will see things that are reminiscent of the ending of THE WAY OF KINGS as it's published. I suggest perhaps staying away from this until you've read the book. Source

A reminder about the conventions I'll be attending this month. I'll be in Indianapolis for Gen Con August 16th through 19th, Albuquerque for Bubonicon the 24th through 26th, and Atlanta for Dragon*Con the 31st through September 3rd. I'll put up more details and my full schedule as each convention approaches. My novella LEGION comes out from Subterranean Press at the end of this month. I've talked about this before, but if you want to have one of the leatherbound limited editions when the book comes out, now's a good time to order. I will also have a sample chapter up sometime later in August. The final ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation is up, and it covers the epilogue and everything else at the end of the book. This will be the last annotation posted for a while. I've written some for THE ALLOY OF LAW—but only for the middle chapters of the book, so my assistant can't start posting any until I get around to writing the others. It's also possible that I will write annotations for THE WAY OF KINGS as I gear up to write the second book...but that takes time, and I'm raring to just start writing the book, so I'm not sure annotations will happen soon. We'll see. The most recent Writing Excuses podcast episode features Eric James Stone joining Dan, Howard, Mary, and me to talk about basic astronomy for writers. There are lots of things that writers can potentially get wrong about astronomy, so give this episode a listen. The Galley Table Podcast from Flying Island Press did an interview with me while I was at BayCon back in May. I'm pretty sure I forgot to link to this episode before, but you can listen to it here. Source

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Game Den in Provo is going to throw a release event on August 4th (tomorrow) for the Mistborn Adventure Game from Crafty Games, and I will be there signing. Hopefully you called them to preorder a copy—they will only have a handful of extras for sale at the event. Date: Saturday, August 4, 2012<br/>Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m.<br/>Place: Game Den<br/>2255 N. University Parkway #43<br/>Provo Utah 84604<br/>Phone: 801-852-4123 I hope to see many of you at the release. Source

I finished the final revision on A Memory of Light early in the morning Saturday, then sent it off to Team Jordan. And I was done. Team Jordan will handle the copyedits and proofreads; I might have a chime-in now and then on how a passage should be tweaked or how a continuity issue should be addressed, but essentially, my involvement as a writer in the Wheel of Time has come to an end. Now, that doesn't mean my involvement with Wheel of Time fandom is over. I'll have my appearance at Dragon*Con this year, as well as the tour in January for A Memory of Light. Beyond that, I intend to frequently attend JordanCon and be available to WoT fans for years, even decades, to come. I intend to talk a great deal about the experience of writing these books, perhaps even post some blog entries about the subject. But the writing is done. I'm still a little in shock about that. Just about five years ago, I got that fateful call from Harriet. Since that time, I have always had a Wheel of Time book that I needed to be working on. Occasionally I would take breaks, as I did to write The Alloy of Law a couple years ago. However, the knowledge that I soon needed to be back to work on the Wheel of Time was always there. That work has been my constant companion. For reference, when I got that call, I had only released a couple of books: the second Mistborn novel had come out the month before. I had written others that were awaiting publication—including several Alcatraz books, the last Mistborn book, and Warbreaker. I also had a draft done of The Way of Kings, another done of The Rithmatist, and some preliminary work done on a book called Steelheart. Yes, I'd written a lot. I still had only a handful of books out in stores. It had been two years since Elantris was released. I was brand new at this. I still feel brand new. Yet, oddly, I also feel weathered. Finishing the Wheel of Time has been a wonderful experience, but it has also been grueling. I have always respected Robert Jordan, but now I respect him even more—and for a multitude of reasons. One of those is the fact that during most of his career, he was able to release a Wheel of Time book every year or two. That's an awesome amount of work. Doing three books has worn me out. For five years, whatever I've been doing—whether it be going out to dinner, sitting down to write, or checking my email—I've known that there was more to do on the Wheel of Time. I've known that I gave my word to Harriet and to the fans that I would work hard to get those books out quickly, and I carried a weight of responsibility for the book being split and people being forced to wait years beyond when they expected to get the ending. For five years, I have worked long hours because of those reasons. All the time I could find, I dedicated to the Wheel of Time in one way or another. And then, today, I did not have a Wheel of Time book to work on. I've reached the end of the journey and set down my burdens. It's wonderful, relaxing, and solemn all at once. I love the Wheel of Time. It's also great to be done. And so, today, I officially take a step toward a line. I step away from being pilot of this series, and toward once again being just a fan. I will never cross back over that line—whatever else happens, I will have written three books in this series. I will continue to support and engage with Wheel of Time fandom. However, an ending has arrived for me, and it is time for my attention to be turned elsewhere. Now I stroll back into my workshop and find that a little bit of dust has gathered. Out of necessity, the Stormlight Archive has been neglected. I am pleased I made the choice to work on A Memory of Light instead of Stormlight 2. However, it is time to pick up that story again and make this series all of the awesome things I've dreamed of it being for some twenty years. The stories of Mat, Rand, Egwene, and Perrin are now done. Returning to the stories of Kaladin, Shallan, Jasnah, and Dalinar will be my next major project. You'll also see me doing revisions on both The Rithmatist and Steelheart this fall—as I've made arrangements for both to be published next year or the year after. You'll probably hear more about them in the days to come. And yes, I WILL be doing a sequel to The Alloy of Law. It has been an incredible experience finishing the Wheel of Time. I hope that some of you who were with me on that journey will join me for the Stormlight books, but I want to note that I don't automatically assume that if someone reads the Wheel of Time they will read my other work. I occasionally have someone come through one of my signing lines who feels guilty for "only" having a Wheel of Time book. There is no need to feel guilty for this; I love the Wheel of Time as you do, and we share that. I'm glad you've enjoyed some of my writing, and I feel as close to those books as I do to any I've written. Yes, the Wheel of Time is not mine. But those three books are mine. I love them just as much as any I've worked on. I look forward to continuing to meet many of you at conventions and signings as the years move forward. Thank you, Wheel of Time fandom, for accepting me in and putting up with my mistakes. (There have been many.) Thank you, Brandon Sanderson fandom, for putting up with my deviations in the Wheel of Time universe. I know it has slowed down you getting your books, but this was something very important for me to do. Robert Jordan was a great man, and was the single greatest influence on my development as a writer. What I have done these last five years has been an attempt—a sometimes flawed but always earnest attempt—to show my appreciation. This entire genre owes him an enormous debt. My debt to him, and to Harriet, is greatest of all. Mr. Jordan, may you rest in the Light. Everyone else, take a breath and get ready for the end. May you find his final words as satisfying to read as I did when I first picked them up five years ago. The very last scene is his, touched very little by me, as are significant chunks of the ending at large. I have achieved my goal in writing the books so that they pointed toward this ending he wrote, allowing us to include his words with as little alteration as possible. Once again, thank you. May you always find water and shade. Brandon Sanderson<br/>Written July 30th, 2012<br/>Posted August 1st, 2012 Source

Somehow I missed announcing that Writing Excuses Season Six was nominated for a Hugo Award in the Best Related Work category. The voting deadline is tomorrow (Tuesday the 31st), and you can vote if you are a supporting or attending member of this year's World Science Fiction convention in Chicago. Other nominations from the Writing Excuses crew in the various categories are Mary Robinette Kowal's novella "Kiss Me Twice" and Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary graphic story volume Force Multiplication. Last week the Writing Excuses podcast had a microcasting episode touching on these topics: How do you deal with bad reviews? How do you apply Brandon's magic system rules to science fiction? Dan, will you do the marshmallow voice for us again? How do you keep tension high without exhausting the reader? You've made your manuscript as good as you know how to. Now you need to make it even better, based on feedback. What do you do? Any tips on creating suspension of disbelief? How do you deal with annoying fans? This week's episode is another one of our "project in depth" episodes; this time we cover Dan Wells's latest novel, The Hollow City. (Earlier we did the same thing with my novel The Way of Kings, Mary's novel Glamour in Glass, and Howard's graphic novel volume Force Multiplication.) Please note that all of these in-depth episodes necessarily contain SPOILERS, so it's best if you read the work in question ahead of time! The most recent ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers the final chapter. Just one annotation left to go. Inside Mac Games has an interview with me on the subject of the upcoming Mistborn: Birthright video game. I also did a phone interview for the Chattanooga Times Free Press a couple weeks ago while my assistant was driving me to the airport for my flight to LibertyCon (which was a blast, and it was great seeing so many of you!). The transcript of that interview is here. My assistant also uploaded another Twitter posts archive. If you haven't been paying attention to my Twitter or Facebook feeds, you may have missed the announcement that I've turned in the final draft of A MEMORY OF LIGHT to Harriet. Copyedits and the rest of the production process remain to be done after this. I'll have more of my thoughts in a longer post sometime this week, maybe tomorrow. Source

Today I'm flying out to Chattanooga to be Literary Guest of Honor for LibertyCon this weekend. Below is my schedule. See you there! And remember that I'll be at Gen Con, Bubonicon, and Dragon*Con in August. Date: July 20–22, 2012<br/>Place: LibertyCon 25<br/>Address: The Chattanooga Choo-Choo<br/>1400 Market Street<br/>Chattanooga, TN 37402<br/>Phone: (800) 872-2529 FRIDAY 3:00–4:00 p.m., Dealer's Room<br/>Autograph Session, Brandon Sanderson 5:00–6:00 p.m., Centennial Theater<br/>Opening Ceremonies<br/>Eric Flint, Les Johnson, Don Maitz, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Brandon Sanderson, Janny Wurts, Tim Zahn 6:00–7:00 p.m., Centennial Theater<br/>Meet our LC25 Literary Guest, Brandon Sanderson<br/>Q&A with our LibertyCon 25 Literary Guest SATURDAY 11:00 a.m.–noon, Norfolk Room<br/>Kaffeklatsch: Brandon Sanderson<br/>This is the first year LibertyCon will have these with the Guests of Honor—each klatch will have 15 slots to sit and talk with the Guest of your choice. We are limiting attendance to one klatch per person, on a first come, first serve basis, so choose wisely. The sign-up sheets will be at registration, so sign up when you pick up your badge. If you sign up for more than one—you will lose all your slots—so pay attention. 12:00 noon–1:00 p.m., Finley Room<br/>Plot/Characterization with Brandon Sanderson<br/>The Professor expounds on literary technique—learn from the Master! 2:00–3:00 p.m., Dealer's Room<br/>Autograph Session, Brandon Sanderson 4:00–6:00 p.m., Centennial Theater<br/>Guest of Honor Speeches<br/>Tim Bolgeo, Eric Flint, Les Johnson, Don Maitz, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Brandon Sanderson, Janny Wurts, Tim Zahn SUNDAY 11:00 a.m.–noon, Dealer's Room<br/>Autograph Session, Brandon Sanderson 12:00 noon–1:00 p.m., Centennial Theater<br/>Wheel of Time—A Memory of Light<br/>Brandon Sanderson and Jennifer Liang on the next installment of the series. 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m., Gallery A&B<br/>Reading, Brandon Sanderson Source

The printed version of the Mistborn Adventure Game from Crafty Games has finally shipped, and everyone who preordered should have received their copy by now or should receive it very soon. Gam Den in Provo is going to throw a release event on August 4th for the book, and I will be there signing copies. If you didn't already order the hardcover, this is your last chance to order one, because only the trade paperback will be available in gaming stores. PREORDERS REQUIRED! See below for details. Date: Saturday, August 4, 2012<br/>Time: 7:00–9:00 p.m.<br/>Place: Game Den<br/>2255 N. University Ave. #43<br/>Provo Utah 84604<br/>Phone: 801-852-4123 Price:<br/>Softcover: $34.99<br/>Hardcover: $44.99<br/>Preorder Deadline: July 21st (this Saturday!) For everyone who preorders a hardcover from Game Den for this event, we will also throw in a Table of Allomantic Metals poster, normally $10 in our store: Again, Game Den is basing how many copies of the Adventure Game they order for this event on how many of you call in with preorders, so it's very important to get your order in now if you want a copy! I hope to see many of you at the release. Source

The most recent ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers the penultimate chapter, including the meaning of the name "Rashid" as in the Sands of Rashid. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode with Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Howard Tayler, and me talks about the villain problem. By that we mean when the hero is less active than the villain and spends most of the book reacting to the cool things the villain does. We discuss what a writer can do about this issue. There have been a number of interviews posted recently. First off, Suvudu put up a video where Christopher Paolini and I interviewed each other this past weekend at Comic-Con International in San Diego. (With a cameo by Robin Hobb.) The Fictorian Era has a short interview where I talk mostly about the modern ebook market. A Feast of Fantasy has another interview with me here, mostly about THE ALLOY OF LAW. Invisible Vanguard has an interview where I discuss a few aspects of the writing process, such as the desire for each book to be better than the last. Dark Matter has a 45-minute audio interview with me that I did with them when I was in Australia. The printed version is on page 49 of issue 9, which you can download here. Source

(NOTE: Scroll all the way down for my booth schedule.) This is the first year I've been a Special Guest at SDCC. On top of that, Gen Con has me as their Author Guest of Honor and Dragon*Con is bringing me in (for the third time) as an invited guest. With this conflux of awesome conventions happening, I wanted to do some special things. For years, I've wanted to do con exclusives—something to make it worth the effort for people to go out of their way to come see me. And so, this year, we have some awesome things going on. Read below for an expanded list of my SDCC activities. I do realize that not everyone can make conventions like this, and I'll do my best to make some of these items available to those of you who can't come. However, I'd like to make the con experience a great one for all involved. In addition to simply attending SDCC this year, I have a booth (for the first time) provided for me in Artist's Alley (#II-10). Isaac, who does much of my artwork, and his wife have decided to come and run the booth. I'm hoping this will prove lucrative enough for them that we can do things like this in the future. So please, do come stop by and see us. We will have freebies every day and awesome merchandise. If you know someone who is going to SDCC, send them by to pick something up for you! EXCLUSIVE ONE: Feruchemical Table Fine Art Print Price: $75 As a complement to the Allomantic Table we offered a few years back, we are bringing 100 signed, numbered copies of the matching Feruchemical Table. This wonderful artwork by Isaac Stewart is printed using archival ink and paper. There will be a limited edition of 300 fine art prints, all signed by both me and Isaac. They're absolutely gorgeous. We'll be selling numbers 101–200 at SDCC. The other two hundred are going to be for different cons and, most likely, for a small internet sale after the cons are over. Once these are gone, they're gone—though Isaac may do a smaller, unsigned poster-style print afterward. (Like we did with the Allomantic Table.) EXCLUSIVE TWO: Infinity Blade: Awakening Hardcover Price: $20 This novella, which I wrote for the Infinity Blade iOS game, never had an official print release. We've done a limited edition hardcover, signed and numbered, of 200 copies. These are signed by myself, Donald Mustard, and Geremy Mustard. (The founders of ChAIR Entertainment, developers of Infinity Blade.) Working on this story was a blast—it was something I did with friends, as opposed to something done for a buck. The response to it has been stellar. If you're a fan of the game, or you enjoyed the novella, this is a very unique item. Once these are gone, they're gone. We will be bringing numbers 1-100 to sell at SDCC. (Others will go to Gen Con and Dragon*Con.) EXCLUSIVE THREE: The Way of Kings Taiwanese Notebooks Price: Free at my solo panel! During my trip to Taiwan earlier this year, I was blown away by the awesomeness of my publisher there (Fantasy Foundation). They released The Way of Kings in a cool boxed set with the novel in two parts and one of these nifty notebooks as a promo. They're mostly blank inside, with some planner-like notations on some of the pages. I was so in love with these, I asked if I could have a few to give away on my website. They gave me a whole box! So I flew them back as one of my pieces of luggage, and I've saved them for SDCC. As these were given to me for free, I'm going to pass them on to you for free. I'll be giving them away at my solo panel at SDCC to the people who arrive first. My plan is to arrive a little early and distribute them to the people in line. If I am late (as I sometime am) I'll give them out to the first rows of people seated at the panel, starting at the person in the left front seat (if you're facing the stage) and working my way right. Then I'll move to row two, and keep giving them away until I run out. I believe I have around fifty of these, but Isaac has the box and is driving to San Diego as we speak. So I can't guarantee numbers. I suggest that if you want one of these guys, you come get in line for my panel early. (This panel will include me doing a Q&A and a reading. Including, hopefully, a short reading from A Memory of Light!) EXCLUSIVE FOUR: Wheel of Time and Mistborn Temporary Tattoos Price: Free at my booth! Each day on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Isaac and Kara have a promotional temporary tattoo to give away. (A different one each day, while supplies last.) Two are Allomantic symbols, and one is the Snake Wheel logo from the Wheel of Time. (They also have the dragon symbol from the Wheel of Time, but that one misprinted to be tiny. They'll give those away too, but they look a little silly printed as small as they are. Be sure to ask for one anyway—and I believe they'll give those away on any day.) Isaac and Kara paid for these themselves as promotion, so I'm hoping that when you guys stop by the booth, you have a look at the T-shirts they've brought. (A Wheel of Time shirt and a brand new Way of Kings shirt that I'll talk about next.) Isaac is an awesome artist, and he's put a lot of work into the Feruchemical posters and the shirts. EXCLUSIVE FIVE: Szeth Shirt (from The Way of Kings) Price: $20 Launching at SDCC will be the new Szeth shirt from The Way of Kings. Wear the Assassin in White proudly on your torso. This shirt is based off of the concept art Ben (Inkthinker) McSweeney did for Szeth when I pitched the series to Tor. I loved his rendition of Szeth so much, we ended up using Ben's image for the Szeth chapter icon in the books. These will be for sale eventually on InkWing's website. But for now, the place to get them is SDCC! OTHER THINGS FOR SALE We will have copies of almost all of my books for sale at the booth, along with another T-shirt (the Matrim Cauthon by Seamas shirt from Ta'veren Tees). Prices for those will be the same as online. In addition, we've packed up a few foreign language editions. There are only a few of these, but I believe there is at least one book each in French, Japanese, Chinese (complex), and Spanish. So if you've been wanting an edition of my books in a different language, come early and snatch your copy up! There's also one set of the GraphicAudio version of Elantris. WHERE TO FIND BRANDON<br/>I will be at my booth (#II-10) from 1:00 to 3:00 Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. In addition, I will do an extra hour some of the days. Thursday: 1–3, and back from 4–5. Friday: 1–3, no extra hours. (I have a two panels after this, then a signing in the signing area.) Saturday: 1–4 Sunday: 1–3. No extra hours at the booth, but I might be playing magic in the evening at my hotel. Watch my twitter and facebook for confirmation. It's possible that I will be hanging around the booth at other times, such as Wednesday Preview Night. (I will tweet to say when I am.) When I'm not there, Isaac and Kara WILL be, so if you want the exclusive items, show up earlier in the day. (I will leave signed books behind when I leave.) Also, feel free to tweet me to get something signed. Once again, we're hoping this will be a successful experiment. I've avoided bringing merchandise to conventions like this because of the hassle. If people enjoy these exclusives, and the booth makes enough money to compensate Isaac and Kara for their time, there's a good chance we'll continue doing this in the future. Thanks! Brandon Complete Schedule WEDNESDAY, JULY 11 6:00–9:00 p.m., Artist's Alley Booth #II-10 I may go to my booth sometime during these hours; Isaac and Kara will be there. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook to see if I will make it. THURSDAY, JULY 12 1:00–3:00 p.m., Artist's Alley Booth #II-10 3:00–4:00 p.m., Tor Booth #2707 Tor says I'll be signing copies of The Way of Kings, but I'll also sign anything else I've written. 4:00–5:00 p.m., Artist's Alley Booth #II-10 FRIDAY, JULY 13 12:00–1:00 p.m., Room 25ABC Spotlight on Brandon Sanderson Author, educator, and Comic-Con Special Guest BRANDON SANDERSON talks about his growth from a nonreader in his youth to becoming one of the most popular fantasy writers working today. Sanderson's books include his own Mistborn trilogy and his continuation of the late Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, which wraps up this year. That's the official description; I will most likely read from a forthcoming book and take some audience questions. 1:00–3:00 p.m., Artist's Alley Booth #II-10 3:30–4:30 p.m., Room 6A Epic Fantasy War We've all seen the signs: war is coming; and this winter, hobbits will learn that one should never laugh at live dragons. Join the top names in fantasy fiction as they discuss how the key to writing a real epic fantasy novel lies in the word "epic"—which doesn't just mean ambitious in scale, scope, and size. Epic fantasy helps us decipher the bigger mysteries of life. Even though there might be dragons (and magicians; horselords and warlords), every word, and every detail of the world, must resonate on a fully human plane. Legendary editor Betsy Mitchell gets epic with panelists Brandon Sanderson (The Alloy of Law); Raymond E. Feist (A Crown Imperiled); Robin Hobb (City of Dragons); N.K. Jemisin (The Inheritance Trilogy); Christopher Paolini (The Inheritance Cycle); Rachel Hartman (Seraphina); Patrick Rothfuss (The Kingkiller Chronicle); Heather Brewer (The Legacy of Tril) and Lynn Flewelling (Casket of Souls).5:00–6:00 p.m., Sails Pavilion AA09 Signing with all of the Epic Fantasy War panelists SATURDAY, JULY 14 1:00–4:00 p.m., Artist's Alley Booth #II-10 4:30–5:30 p.m., Sails Pavilion AA18 Brandon Sanderson Signing SUNDAY, JULY 15 1:00–3:00 p.m., Artist's Alley Booth #II-10 Evening: Maybe a Magic draft in my hotel somewhere, if this is possible. Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for details. Source

There's a new ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation on the site. There are only three left after this one, which mentions that the end of a book is the best and worst part, among other things. My assistant has also uploaded another Twitter posts archive. Two more Writing Excuses podcast episodes are up. The first covers what we call the problem of originality: Is it possible to be too original? Do we overvalue originality? Then the second episode is another one of our "project in depth" episodes; this time we cover Mary Robinette Kowal's latest novel, Glamour in Glass. (Earlier we did the same thing with my novel The Way of Kings and Howard's graphic novel volume Force Multiplication.) Scott Ashton uploaded my final creative writing class lecture of this year. This one mostly covers revision, plus touching on a few other topics. Source

I'm a Special Guest at Comic-Con International in San Diego next week. My schedule is below. I'll also have a table in Artist's Alley (#II-10) where I will often hang out (and maybe play some Magic if it's feasible) when I don't have a scheduled event. Kara and Isaac from InkWing will be manning my table even when I'm not there, selling books and T-shirts. We're also going to have a convention exclusive hardcover (details to be announced later), so be sure to stop by. Comic-Con International, San Diego<br/>San Diego Convention Center, 111 W. Harbor Dr., San Diego, CA 92101 THURSDAY, JULY 12 3:00–4:00 p.m., Tor Booth #2707<br/>Tor says I'll be signing copies of The Way of Kings, but I'll also sign anything else I've written. FRIDAY, JULY 13 12:00–1:00 p.m., Room 25ABC<br/>Spotlight on Brandon Sanderson<br/>Author, educator, and Comic-Con Special Guest BRANDON SANDERSON talks about his growth from a nonreader in his youth to becoming one of the most popular fantasy writers working today. Sanderson’s books include his own Mistborn trilogy and his continuation of the late Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, which wraps up this year.<br/>That's the official description; I will most likely read from a forthcoming book and take some audience questions. 3:30–4:30 p.m., Room 6A<br/>Epic Fantasy War<br/>We’ve all seen the signs: war is coming; and this winter, hobbits will learn that one should never laugh at live dragons. Join the top names in fantasy fiction as they discuss how the key to writing a real epic fantasy novel lies in the word "epic"—which doesn’t just mean ambitious in scale, scope, and size. Epic fantasy helps us decipher the bigger mysteries of life. Even though there might be dragons (and magicians; horselords and warlords), every word, and every detail of the world, must resonate on a fully human plane. Legendary editor Betsy Mitchell gets epic with panelists Brandon Sanderson (The Alloy of Law); Raymond E. Feist (A Crown Imperiled); Robin Hobb (City of Dragons); N.K. Jemisin (The Inheritance Trilogy); Christopher Paolini (The Inheritance Cycle); Rachel Hartman (Seraphina); Patrick Rothfuss (The Kingkiller Chronicle); Heather Brewer (The Legacy of Tril) and Lynn Flewelling (Casket of Souls).5:00–6:00 p.m., Sails Pavilion AA09<br/>Signing with all of the Epic Fantasy War panelists SATURDAY, JULY 14 4:30–5:30 p.m., Sails Pavilion AA18<br/>Brandon Sanderson Signing Source

My good friend and Writing Excuses cohost Dan Wells' new book THE HOLLOW CITY is out today. The release party is tonight at Weller Book Works (the bookstore formerly known as Sam Weller's, at their new location, which has parking!) in Trolley Square. Mary, Howard, and I are going to be there, and Dan hopes to see many of you there as well to get the new book (or any other book of his) signed. This is also one of the last chances to see Dan before he and his family move to Germany for a year. Details are below. If you want a preview of the book, Tor.com posted a couple of chapters. Check it out! Dan also introduces the book on his site here, and talks about what's in store at the signing. Location: Weller Book Works<br/>607 Trolley Square<br/>Salt Lake City, UT<br/>801.328.2586<br/>7:00 p.m. July 3, 2012 Source

Readers have been asking if my forthcoming novellas LEGION and THE EMPEROR'S SOUL will be released in audio versions. The answer is that they will be—we have deals made for these, but I'm not sure how quickly the audiobooks will be released compared to the book versions. I'll let you know when I have more details. Another question commonly asked is whether Michael Kramer and Kate Reading will return to voice the audiobook for A MEMORY OF LIGHT. The answer is yes, and the audiobook will definitely be released the same day as the hardcover. All of my books are now out in audio editions, including the last three Alcatraz books that were missing audiobooks for a few years. There are two different kinds of audiobooks of mine that have come out: standard unabridged readings (from Macmillan Audio and Recorded Books) and full-cast dramatizations (from GraphicAudio). Which type each book has depends on how contracts were negotiated. Recorded Books has unabridged readings of Elantris, Warbreaker, and all four Alcatraz books. GraphicAudio has full-cast dramatizations of Elantris and Warbreaker. Macmillan Audio has unabridged readings of Mistborn 1, 2, 3 and The Alloy of Law; The Way of Kings; and The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight. Amazon has most of the above for sale. Audible has everything except for the GraphicAudio editions. iTunes also has many of the books. Tor.com has a free unabridged reading of the novelette "Firstborn." Source

InkWing has another T-shirt contest going on at their blog, for a shirt that will be available at Comic-Con in San Diego. They don't have a picture of the shirt yet, but it's going to use Ben McSweeney's image of Szeth from THE WAY OF KINGS. InkWing has also taken over the Allomantic symbol decals that we have in our store. If you want to get one of these to put on your car, laptop, or whatever, go over to InkWing. The newest ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers chapter seventeen. This one talks about losing sleep because you can't stop reading. The Writing Excuses podcast I run with Dan Wells, Mary Robinette Kowal, and Howard Tayler has another two episodes up. The first one talks about writing capers/heists, and the second one is another life Q&A from Life, the Universe & Everything on these questions: What was Brandon's plan with MISTBORN and the themes regarding establishment? Why does Kelsier shrug so much? (This leads into a fun discussion of "tells.") How do you know when to stop a chapter? What about expanding it? How do you make your prose more transparent? How do you decide who and what to cut? What do you do to filter out the extraneous ideas that come while you're writing? What can collaborators do in order to create a single "voice" for the book? What's the best way to tackle a long backstory? Tor.com's science blogger Dr. Lee Falin has another article on possible scientific explanations for the magic in the Mistborn series. This article covers pewter. Scott Ashton has uploaded another one of my creative writing class lectures. This one talks a lot about agents and publishing contract terms. Source

My assistant uploaded a new ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation. This one covers chapter sixteen, which has various obscure references including a dinosaur eating the "C" section of science fiction books. There are two new episodes of the Writing Excuses podcast up. First Mary, Howard, Dan, and I talk about writing time travel. Then we talk about THE WAY OF KINGS in depth. Do keep in mind that this contains huge spoilers! Benjamin Carlson used a condensed version of my short story I Hate Dragons in the Hawaii Forensic League's State Speech Competition in the storytelling category. He took second place in the regional competition. Check it out. Scott Ashton uploaded a couple more of my creative writing lectures. In the first one I talk about prose and self-publishing, and in the second I talk about scenes and a few other topics. Source

When Lloyd Alexander (author of many novels including the Chronicles of Prydain) passed away, he left his papers to the BYU library, which has an exhibit that is a recreation of Alexander's home office. BYU student Jared Crossley is making a documentary on Lloyd Alexander, the short version of which will accompany the exhibit and the long version of which will be used by various literary organizations and libraries. To finance the documentary, he is running a Kickstarter campaign. If you're a Lloyd Alexander fan, check it out. Supanova put up a recording of my panel and reading that I did in Melbourne. At the beginning I read for fifteen minutes from my forthcoming novella LEGION from Subterranean Press. It's followed by some Q&A. The most recent Writing Excuses podcast episode is a microcasting one where we cover a bunch of topics quickly. This one touches on: Prologues and epilogues Using drawings to get across settings Simple tricks for naming things Would you self-publish if you had a do-over? How do you keep a powerful character interesting? Foreshadowing Trimming Flashbacks This week's ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers the very beginning of the Brandon Avalanche. My assistant has also uploaded another Twitter posts archive. Tor.com's science blogger Dr. Lee Falin has another post on the science of Allomancy. This one discusses how zinc and brass might work. (Also see tin and copper.) Scott Ashton uploaded a couple more of my creative writing class lectures. You can see them below. Source

Here's my schedule as Writer Guest of Honor of this weekend's BayCon. There's not a signing on the schedule, which means that I'll sign books whenever you catch me somewhere at the con, unless I'm running to get somewhere else. I'm also doing a Magic: The Gathering draft, probably Avacyn Restored or something in the Innistrad block, Saturday night. See below for details. BayCon 2012, Santa Clara, CA Dates: May 25–28, 2012<br/>Place: BayCon 2012<br/>Address: Santa Clara Hyatt<br/>5101 Great America Parkway<br/>Santa Clara, CA 95054<br/>Schedule: The complete listing is here. FRIDAY Opening Ceremonies 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Ballroom A<br/>(Brandon Sanderson, Cathy Beckstead, Cruz Arellanes III (M), Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin, Scott Beckstead, Stephan Martiniere)<br/>Time for the cruise to set sail. Join the BayCon Chairman and our Honored Guests as they get the convention started. Ghostwriting—Literally! What's it Like to Pick Up a Deceased Writer's Pen? 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Ballroom A<br/>(Brandon Sanderson (M), Kevin Andrew Murphy, Deborah J. Ross, Diana L. Paxson)<br/>Many of our favorite authors were in the middle of writing something when they passed away. What's it like to pick up a deceased author's pen? Is it more important to create the author's intent, or is it ok to add your own style when you're now the one doing the work. Meet the Guests 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in Ballroom B-C-D<br/>(Brandon Sanderson, Cathy Beckstead, Cruz Arellanes III (M), Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin, Scott Beckstead, Stephan Martiniere)<br/>Come meet the Cruise Captain, BayCon 2012 Chairman Cruz Arellanes. Mingle with our guests as our Toastmasters regale us with interesting anecdotes and introduce our Guests of Honor. SATURDAY How the Style of Writing Can Make a Book Readable 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Winchester<br/>(Brandon Sanderson, Norm Sperling, Chaz Brenchley (M), Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, Diana L. Paxson)<br/>First person? Omniscient? First-person smart aleck? A discussion of how and why the point of view changes our liking or disliking of a storyline. How does the way authors convey their story, film noir, western, fairytale, tall tale, all come together or fall apart for the reader? Writer Guest of Honor Interview 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Ballroom B-C-D<br/>(Brandon Sanderson, Dani Kollin (M))<br/>Our Writer Guest of Honor Brandon Sanderson spills his secrets during an interview with Toastmaster Dani Kollin. Aspiring Writers Toolkit 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Winchester<br/>(Brandon Sanderson, Todd McCaffrey, Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff (M))<br/>What kinds of workshops are there for writers? When might they help you? When might they not help you? Panelists discuss their workshop experiences and help you avoid some of the pitfalls. Magic the Gathering Tournament with the Writer GoH 9:00 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. (or later) in Magnolia<br/>Brandon will be hosting (and playing in) a celebrity Magic draft (a type of tournament). There will be room for fifteen players, with sign-ups in the Gaming Room. There will be a fee, which will include fresh card decks. SUNDAY Evolution of Female Characters in SF and Fantasy 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Ballroom A<br/>(Brandon Sanderson, Juliette Wade (M), Veronica Belmont, Deborah J. Ross, Daryl G. Frazetti, Diana L. Paxson)<br/>From damsels in distress to sword-wielding, gun-toting, and military masterminds, have women found their place, or are they "feminized" men? Do the women truly reflect changing attitudes about the roles of women? World Building Basics 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Ballroom B-C-D<br/>(Brandon Sanderson, Pat MacEwen, Juliette Wade, Paula Butler, David J. Peterson (M), Eytan Kollin)<br/>Panelists discuss the basics of world-building. If you are going to set your fantasy or science fiction piece is an alien place, what kinds of things should you think of, prior to doing so? MONDAY Top 10 Rookie Author Gaffes 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in Ballroom A<br/>(Brandon Sanderson, Leslie Ann Moore, Berry Kercheval, Marty Halpern (M), Eytan Kollin)<br/>What are the most common ways to prevent your first sale, and how can you avoid them? Why do so many of them involve teenage vampires? Authors: Stop Blocking Your Own Potential! 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Ballroom A<br/>(Brandon Sanderson, Tony N. Todaro, Deborah J. Ross (M))<br/>For years the publishing industry has pushed and pulled authors into "marketable" categories that they can quantify, but today's readers are looking for something different. As long as you believe in your work and the enjoyment that it brings to you and those like you, give it to the masses. Figure out who you are, what you want the world to see, and commit to it! Then figure out how to reach people like you and go out and sell books! Closing Ceremonies 4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Winchester<br/>(Brandon Sanderson, Cathy Beckstead, Cruz Arellanes III (M), Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin, Scott Beckstead, Stephan Martiniere)<br/>Join our Guests of Honor and Toastmasters as we return to port and bid a fond farewell to BayCon 2012! Source

The most recent Writing Excuses podcast episode starts a new "Project in Depth" series where Mary, Howard, Dan, and I take a project that one of us has completed and grill the creator about it. These episodes necessarily contain spoilers. The first one covers Howard's Hugo-nominated Schlock Mercenary volume Force Multiplication. In future episodes (not all in a row) we'll do THE WAY OF KINGS, GLAMOUR IN GLASS, and THE HOLLOW CITY. Check the first one out here. This week's ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers the Alivened attack. Those are the big monsters made from bad romance novels. Today I'm highlighting two pieces of fan mail I received recently, the first related to ALCATRAZ and second to ELANTRIS. Here's the first one, from the dinosaurs. Declaration of the library We the people of the Hushlands worldwide have grown to see the evil the library imposes on kids. The taxation, limitation, and selectiveness coupled with such high requirements to check out books is outrageous. First there is taxation, where if the book is one day late it costs a whole 25¢ which is a lot for kids. I mean that's like 10 hours of work and then it adds an extra 25¢ per day which can add up until buying the book would be cheaper. This was made to keep kids working forever to pay off their fines. And then we only are allowed to choose some books and can be turned down for books at your whim. We have tried to turn them in on time but sometimes there's no way to get there in time, because of natural disasters or if we're delayed by parents whom we are scheming against. We have tried to explain this but you don't understand it's not always possible. To protect our freedom and avoid taxation we must find a way out of this through talk. If not, more drastic moves may be needed, such as boycotting or abandoning the library altogether. Then your plot to take over the Free Kingdoms would be over. The Smedrys would win, and you would be shown that knowledge wins only when it is free. Before we are forced to leave due to lack of freedom I would like to explain that knowledge should be free no matter how stoopid you are, with no limitations, and nothing that needs to be kept or taxed. Sincerely, The dinosaurs Here's the second one, from a teacher. (Last names have been removed for privacy.) My ninth grade English students read Elantris this year. I only had four major questions for them that spanned the length of the text, but we did do some other activities. One of them was called Found Poetry. We used lines from Elantris to make poems. Some of them are quite good. Here is a sampling. I thought you might be interested. Relief by Sarah My rage was like a river<br/>The pain swelling with each passing day<br/>I stared absently with morose eyes<br/>At the trees that sparkled like jewels<br/>In the winter daylight. My forlorn voice rose and fell<br/>Like a well written symphony<br/>As leaves floated slowly<br/>Spinning in a hazy circle<br/>Around a column of narrow-dust filled light. Something within my heart healed<br/>As I remembered to be my own master,<br/>Finally discovering the simple explanations<br/>For what I had sought for so long. Dilaf's Rant by Emma I hate them<br/>Beasts made of Gods<br/>Foul, loathsome creatures<br/>Thinking of them makes my heart sick<br/>My mind feels tainted<br/>Chaos, killing, riots, and panic<br/>They used people as slaves<br/>They lied to us<br/>They are unholy<br/>We listened to them for centuries<br/>But we were rewarded with impotence<br/>Vile cripples<br/>I hate them Awe by Stacy They gasped in wonder at its beauty<br/>The creature growled at it<br/>It was lined with delicate spiraled arches<br/>And crafted of pale, white marble<br/>It was something large<br/>Something impossibly immense<br/>The air bled at its light<br/>Dissolving into pure whiteness<br/>It brought bumps to her arms;<br/>And a sent a shiver through her body.<br/>It's a chapel. City (A Haiku) by Alexander The city of the Gods;<br/>Elantris was beautiful.<br/>Then the earth shattered. Source

There's a new ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation up. This one talks about chapter thirteen, when Alcatraz breaks out of the Librarians' holding cell. This week's Writing Excuses episode is another one that was recorded at Life, the Universe & Everything in front of a live audience. It's about writing carthartic horror and features Michael R. Collings and Michaelbrent Collings. Richard Allred sent me a recording of a Mistborn Adventure Game session that he did at Epic Puzzles & Games at the end of March. It's almost three hours long, but if you're curious about the gameplay, you might want to give some of it a listen. Hosted by kiwi6.com file hosting. Download mp3 - Free File Hosting.That leads me to today's big announcement. You know that I play Magic: the Gathering with readers a lot, but have you ever wanted to play an RPG with me? At Gen Con in August, Crafty Games will host a special session of the Mistborn Adventure Game with me as a player. This is going to be a five-hour session, and six seats will be raffled off at the Crafty Games booth during the con. For more details, see the Crafty Games site. You can also find out more about the Mistborn Adventure Game there. Scott Ashton has uploaded another of my creative writing class lectures. This one covers plotting, with a short introduction by my former student Peggy Eddleman talking about her experience getting a publishing deal. Her novel THROUGH THE BOMB'S BREATH will be published by Random House next year. (Part 3 of the video is currently not working, but I assume Scott will fix that soon.) Source

The most recent ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers the chapter where Alcatraz gets tortured. Check it out. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode features Q&A with James Dashner at Life, the Universe & Everything. We cover the following audience-supplied questions: Why is the ARC of James's first book so different from the later books? How do you handle paragraph- and sentence-level edits? How do you plot your stories? How do you craft endings that are both satisfying, and leave the reader wanting more? What do you do when your compelling villain threatens to take over the whole book? Scott Ashton put up two more lectures from my creative writing class. The first one, Lecture 5, features Nebula Award-winning writer Eric James Stone talking about writing short stories. (I was away at a convention.) The next one, Lecture 6, covers networking and pitching. Unfortunately there were technical difficulties and the first 20 minutes of the lecture got missed, but the first part of the rest of it is here: Source

Right now I'm in Las Vegas for this year's edition of the Superstars Writing Seminar where I'm an instructor. I posted about this several times over the last few months, so I hope it's not a surprise to anyone! Hal-Con in Halifax, Nova Scotia has been added to my events calendar for October this year. I'm looking forward to meeting lots of Canadian readers! That should be my final convention for 2012, and then will come the book tour in January, which is in the planning stages. For my current schedule as it stands, see the previous link. The most recent Writing Excuses podcast episode is another one that was recorded in front of a live audience at Life, the Universe & Everything. It features James A. Owen talking with Dan, Mary, Howard, and me about discovering your voice. This week's ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers one of my favorite chapters, number eleven. It's the one where Alcatraz talks about how authors like to torture people. But that's not what makes it one of my favorites. Also, in case anyone missed it last week when I mentioned it on Twitter and Facebook, Tor.com has put up the excerpt of the prologue to A MEMORY OF LIGHT that Harriet read recently at JordanCon. As for the rest of the book, we are still hard at work on revisions. My former student Scott Ashton posted another of my class lectures. This one is about characterization. There's also an email group for people who want to recreate the entire class experience online. Source

Hey, all! This weekend is the Avacyn Restored prerelease, and as with the previous two sets, Dan and I are going to head up to Epic Puzzles & Games for their midnight release party. We're hoping you are all interested in playing with us again, because as long as we have a small crowd, Epic will rent us our own room to play in again. We won't be participating in the Helvault promotion, as that is a closed thing that only a certain number of people can join. (And I'm sure it's full already.) As is normal for us, we're kind of deciding this at the last minute. But it will still be fun. We'll probably do a kind of two-headed giant format as we did last time, so feel free to bring a friend! We'll have our own tournament, with prizes. And, like last time, if you beat Dan and me you will be able to steal cards out of our decks. Sweet, eh? Details are below. If you want to be guaranteed a spot, please call Epic Puzzles & Games and sign up, leaving your phone number. This will also let us know how many people we're going to have ahead of time. (We'll want at least sixteen, which is about what we've been getting at these things.) Also, note that it will probably be one of your last chances to see Dan before he moves away to Germany for a year. Day: The night of Friday the 27th of April<br/>Time: Midnight (so technically this starts on Saturday the 28th)<br/>What: 18-person sealed deck two-headed giant tournament, with special games against Brandon and Dan<br/>Where: Epic Puzzles & Games<br/>3612 W 4700 S #4<br/>Salt Lake City, UT 84820<br/>How: Preregister by calling this number: (801) 982-0167 Source

Just a quick note that my good friend and Writing Excuses cohost Mary Robinette Kowal will be appearing tonight in Salt Lake at Weller Book Works. This is Sam Weller's new store in Trolley Square, where there's actually parking unlike at their old location. Go see her and get your copy of GLAMOUR AND GLASS signed! Location: Weller Book Works<br/>607 Trolley Square<br/>Salt Lake City, UT<br/>801.328.2586<br/>Reading, Signing, & Shadow Puppet Show<br/>7:00 p.m. April 25, 2012 Source