Brandon Sanderson

I arrived home from Australia yesterday to find that yet another surprise home makeover had taken place. (The previous one was after my New York Comic-Con trip.) In this week's Writing Excuses podcast episode, Larry Correia joins Mary, Howard, Dan, and me in front of a live audience at Life, the Universe & Everything to talk about guns in fiction. If you don't know much about guns and want to use them in your writing, give it a listen. While I was in Australia, I did an interview for ABC Radio. You can find it here. My assistant has also uploaded a new Twitter posts archive. The most recent ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers chapter ten, where I torture the reader some more by interrupting cliffhangers. One of my students has started releasing my creative writing class lectures from this year online. Eventually you'll be able to find them all on this page. Source

Supanova Gold Coast 2012 Date: April 20–22, 2012<br/>Address: Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre<br/>2684 Gold Coast Highway<br/>Broadbeach<br/>QLD 4218, Australia FRIDAY<br/>6:00 p.m.: Opening Ceremony SATURDAY<br/>10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.: Signing at Dymocks booth #67<br/>1:50–2:35 p.m.: Panel in Filmink Features room B<br/>3:10–5:30 p.m.: Signing at Dymocks booth #67 SUNDAY<br/>11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.: Signing at Dymocks booth #67<br/>1:30–2:15 p.m.: Panel in Filmink Features room B<br/>2:50–5:30 p.m.: Signing at Dymocks booth #67 The official schedule lists my panel topics as "Wheel of Time" on Saturday and "Warbreaker!" on Sunday. Since I'm the only one on each panel, I will probably switch things up and do a reading, Q&A, or something else. See you there! Note that JordanCon in Atlanta is also this weekend, and I'm unfortunately not attending due to being on the wrong continent. But I'm sending my assistant Peter in my place, and all of Team Jordan will be there, as well as Author Guest of Honor Mary Robinette Kowal and Artist Guest of Honor Sam Weber, among other luminaries. You can see their schedules here. And a reminder that I will be in Las Vegas for the Superstars Writing Seminar on April 30th through May 2nd. You can see all of my upcoming events on my events page. Source

This week's Writing Excuses continues our discussion of Mary Robinette Kowal's outline of a middle-grade novel she planned back in 2003. At twenty-five minutes it's a lot longer than our typical episode, but if you're wondering about outlining, a listen will be worth your while. My assistant has put up another of my annotations for ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS. This one covers chapter nine, when the talking dinosaurs show up. He also put up another Twitter posts collection. If you're in Sydney and aren't following me on Twitter or Facebook, you missed my announcement about a Tuesday night Magic draft at my hotel. Should be fun. A reminder that I'll be signing in Sydney on Wednesday night. Details are below. I'll also be in Gold Coast for Supanova this weekend; I'll post my schedule later this week. Dendy Opera Quays, Sydney, Australia Date: 04.18.12 Time: 6:30 pm-9:30 pm<br/>Place: Dendy Cinemas Opera Quays<br/>Address: Shop 9<br/> 2 East Circular Quay<br/> Sydney NSW 2000 Australia<br/>Phone: (02) 9956 6771<br/>Type: Presentation/Signing<br/>Notes: Event organized by Dymocks North Sydney. Includes a talk, reading, and Q&A. There is a $20 entry fee; call Dymocks at the number above for more details. Source

Supanova Melbourne 2012 Date: April 13–15, 2012<br/>Address: Melbourne Showgrounds<br/>Epsom Road<br/>Ascot Vale<br/>Victoria 3032 Australia FRIDAY<br/>6:00 p.m.: Opening Ceremony SATURDAY<br/>10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.: Signing<br/>1:30–3:30 p.m.: Signing<br/>4:10–5:00 p.m.: Panel in the Supanova Seminar Room SUNDAY<br/>10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.: Signing<br/>1:30–2:00 p.m.: Signing<br/>2:20–3:05 p.m.: Panel in the Supanova Seminar Room<br/>3:45–5:30 p.m.: Signing Now, you may ask what the panel topic is on both days. It looks like each will be a solo panel, so I may do a reading, Q&A, or something else. See you there! And a reminder that I will be in Sydney and Gold Coast next week. You can get details on my events page. Source

Today marks the release of Writing Excuses cohost Mary Robinette Kowal's novel GLAMOUR IN GLASS, which you should read. On this week's podcast episode, Mary offers up an outline from 2003 (of a middle-grade fantasy Mary was planning) for us to dissect, and it's an educational process. The most recent ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers chapter eight. It explains why elevators are more primitive than stairs, and talks about the hidden continents that the Librarians don't want you to know about. In the Suvudu Cage Match, you voted Moiraine into the final match, against Kylar Stern from Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy. If you're interested, vote for who you think would win. Source

Two big updates today! First off, we at Writing Excuses are proud to be Hugo nominated in the Best Related Work category for our second year in a row. Huzzah! Thank you to all who nominated. (You can see the other nominees in all categories here, and you can also watch recordings of the live announcement here. If you want to vote on the Hugos, buy at least a supporting membership to Worldcon here.) Secondly, I figured I'd give you all an update on the status of the Mistborn film. Years have passed since I mentioned it had been optioned, and those years have not been spent in vain. The producers, Paloppa pictures, have done numerous drafts of a screenplay. They showed me each one, asking for input, and this latest screenplay is just fantastic. I'm very excited. It stays true to the soul of the story, yet at the same time adapts that story in a way that works better on film. I'm extremely excited. Now that we have a great screenplay, we face a greater challenge: pitching the story to studios. I picked a smaller production studio when selling the rights because of their passion and their willingness to let me be part of the process. That means, however, that we face an uphill battle getting the film into production. What can you do to help? Well, right now, the best thing to do is have a look at the "mood trailer" Paloppa has released. Note that this is not a true trailer, but more of a "fan trailer"-style clip. They've cut up different films and stitched them together in an effort to show what kind of film they want to make. It's pretty cool. If you feel like sharing it and showing it off, I'm certainly not going to complain! Otherwise, keep your fingers crossed for me and stay tuned. Paloppa is going to be pitching the film to studios during the next few months. (And, you know, if your uncle happens to be the head of Warner Brothers Pictures or is second cousin to Christopher Nolan and you want to give them the screenplay, feel free to drop me an email . . .) Source

I'll be hanging out on Google+ from the Google offices in Sydney, Australia on Wednesday, April 18th at 1:00 p.m. Australian EST. (In US Eastern Time, that's 11:00 p.m. on April 17th.) If you would like to join the Hangout, post a question in the comments of this post on Google+ and let me know what you'd like to hear about in the Hangout. The best questions win a place in the Hangout, with preference going to my Australian readers. Don’t worry if you miss out—this will be a Hangout on Air, which means you can tune in to watch the discussion. Make sure you’ve added me to a circle, and then watch your stream starting just before 1:00 p.m. on April 18th for details. Source

All! I just wanted to give an extra shout-out for Swancon this weekend, particularly for what's happening this Friday. The convention has been given a grant to run Friday as a "gold coin day" where you get into the convention for the day by paying a single dollar. (I think it's normally $75 for a day pass, or thereabouts. So this is a real discount.) By all accounts, this is an excellent convention full of great things to do. So, if you live near Perth, come by and say hello this weekend. My schedule for the convention is as follows: Opening Ceremony Thursday 19:00 until Thursday 19:30 (30 Minutes) Sanderson's First Law Thursday 20:00 until Thursday 21:00 (60 Minutes) A Sense of Immersion Thursday 21:00 until Thursday 22:00 (60 Minutes) What Do You Owe Your Reader? Friday 09:30 until Friday 10:30 (60 Minutes) Writing in someone else's sandbox Friday 10:30 until Friday 11:30 (60 Minutes) The Wheel of Time Friday 14:30 until Friday 15:30 (60 Minutes) Gender Norms in Fiction Friday 15:30 until Friday 16:30 (60 Minutes) Brandon Sanderson - Guest of Honour Speech Saturday 13:30 until Saturday 14:30 (60 Minutes) Brandon Sanderson - Book Signing Saturday 14:30 until Saturday 15:30 (60 Minutes) "How do I write interesting dialogue?" she asked inquisitively Saturday 16:30 until Saturday 17:30 (60 Minutes) Magic the Gathering Tournament Sunday 10:00 until Sunday 17:00 (420 Minutes) Help! My Story Is Broken! Monday 10:00 until Monday 11:00 (60 Minutes) Building a Post-Apocalyptic World Monday 13:00 until Monday 14:00 (60 Minutes) Closing Ceremony Monday 15:00 until Monday 15:30 (30 Minutes) Best, Brandon Source

When editor John Joseph Adams invited me to contribute a story to his ARMORED anthology focused on power armor, I naturally thought of Ethan Skarstedt, a friend in my writing group who specializes in military science fiction and has the combat experience to back it up—he's served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, among others. So we collaborated on a short story that appears in the anthology, which is out now. An excerpt is below. You can buy the print version from the usual places; the ebook is available directly from the publisher, Baen. Amazon Barnes & Noble IndieBound Kindle/Nook/iBooks/other ebook formats (DRM-free) Heuristic Algorithm and Reasoning Response Engine by Ethan Skarstedt and Brandon Sanderson A lone dropship passed across the face of Milacria's gibbous bulk, a pinhead orbiting a beachball. From its launch portals streamed a hundred black motes—each one a mechanized infantry unit clinging tightly to the underside of its air support craft, whose broad armored back served as a heatshield. They torched down through the hazy cloud-speckled atmosphere in precise formation, trailing thick ropes of smoke and steam, a forest of uncertain fingers pointing back up to the ship, the MarsFree. Within his mech's cockpit on the western edge of the formation, Karith Marvudi hunkered in a loose cocoon of straps. He caught himself watching the grip indicators. If those failed, his mech come unhooked from the underside of Nicolette's airship. He'd burn in from too high and Nicolette's agile but flimsy airship—deprived of the thickly armored protection of his five meter tall mech—would tear apart and burn up in the atmosphere. He stretched, spread-eagled, suspended by the feedback straps. His fingers and does just brushed the edges of his movement space within the torso cavity. Perfect. The faint scent of his own body, mingled with that of plastic, electronics, and faux leather, swirled in the canned air. He was surprised at the trepidation he felt. He felt a certain amount of fear every time he dropped, but this time was different. This was like . . . No, not as bad as his first drop. Maybe his fifth or sixth. He hadn't felt this jittery in more than two hundred planetfalls. He wondered if Nicolette felt the same way. He pushed at the fear, shoving it down where it could be ignored. It pushed back. Maragette's face flashed into his mind, smiling next to the squinting white bundle they'd named Karri, after her grandmother. "You about ready to shunt some of that heat up to me, Karith?" Nicolette's voice was as buttery as ever, not a hint of tension. "Maybe if you ask me politely." Karith overrode the mic on the common circuit. "Harry, we about full?" The baritone voice of his mech's AI filled the cabin. "Ninety-three point seven percent, sir. Shall I route fifty percent of the sink product to Captain Shepard's power banks?" "Make it seventy-five; Nic needs it. Show me what it looks like out there: focus on the D-Z." Nic's voice came again from the cockpit speakers. "Politely? Oh, it's manners you want now, is it? We'll see how you like it when all my lasers can deal out is a bit of a sunburn. I—Ah, there we are." She had seen the power surging into her ship. Her voice changed to a purr. "Karith, you shouldn't have." Karith let out a loud patient sigh over the mic. She giggled. HARRE said on the private circuit, "Is Captain Shepard displeased, sir?" "Nope. That's sarcasm, Harry." "Noted. I must point out, sir, doctrine states that the mechanized infantry unit in an entry pair has priority on power collection." "It does say that, doesn't it." Karith frowned at the 3D representation of the area around his drop zone that HARRE was feeding into his HUD. Nicolette's voice slipped into the cockpit again. "I can't believe I let you and Maragette talk me into transferring out of RGK with you. I'm about ready to fall asleep up here with no anti-air fire." HARRE spoke, his deep voice mechanically precise. "Captain Shepard, had the Self-Replicating Machine Infestation evolved to a stage with anti-aircraft weaponry on this planet, your former comrades in the Recon Group-Kinetique would have been inserted, not a line infantry unit with you for advisors." Silence filled the circuits for a moment, until Karith chuckled. "That's right, HARRE, Captain Shepard has obviously forgotten . . ." "Well, well, don't we have a fine grasp of the obvious," Nicolette interrupted, voice dripping honeyed acid. "I don't remember him talking this much, Karith. You screw up his settings?" "No. He lost a lot in the reset." "Hmmph. I suppose I owe him some slack since he was wounded." "Especially since we were saving your chull, Nick." "That was a hairy mess, wasn't it?" That's just the beginning, and the anthology features stories from over twenty other prominent authors as well. Check it out. This is only the first of my short fiction releases this year. Here's what you can expect at various times throughout the year: LEGION, a novella coming this summer/fall from Subterranean Press (available for preorder now) "Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell," a novella appearing in the anthology DANGEROUS WOMEN, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois (release date not set) THE EMPEROR'S SOUL, a Cosmere novella coming out from Tachyon Publications, currently scheduled for December (preorder not yet available) And two novelettes that I'm still deciding what to do with. Since A MEMORY OF LIGHT is set for January 8, 2013, it looks like I don't have any novels coming out this year, but it's a bumper year for short fiction. Source

Just a quick update for today. I'm currently flying to Australia. Yesterday's Writing Excuses episode is all about writing excuses—all those handy tricks that the great authors use to prevent themselves from finishing any book before its time. There are a couple of quotes from me in an article on CNN's Geek Out about media adaptations of fantasy. The most recent ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers chapter seven. I discuss crossbreeding Summa Theologica with Little Women, and Alcatraz making a girl's shirt fall off. Source

On Sunday my flight leaves for Australia, and I arrive on Tuesday. It's a long flight. My schedule is below. I hope to see many of you there! Doom-Con, Swancon 37, Perth, Australia Date: April 5–9, 2012 (Easter weekend)<br/>Place: Doom-Con, Swancon 37<br/>Address: 207 Adelaide Terrace<br/>Perth, Western Australia 6000<br/>Australia<br/>Type: Convention<br/>Schedule: Specific events are located here, but are subject to change. Supanova Melbourne 2012, Australia Date: April 13–15, 2012<br/>Place: Supanova Melbourne 2012<br/>Address: Melbourne Showgrounds<br/>Epsom Road<br/>Ascot Vale<br/>Victoria 3032 Australia<br/>Type: Convention Dendy Opera Quays, Sydney, Australia Date: April 18, 2012 Time: 6:30–9:30 p.m.<br/>Place: Dendy Cinemas Opera Quays<br/>Address: Shop 9<br/>2 East Circular Quay<br/>Sydney NSW 2000 Australia<br/>Event organized by Dymocks North Sydney<br/>Phone: (02) 9956 6771<br/>Type: Signing Supanova Gold Coast 2012, Australia Date: April 20–22, 2012<br/>Place: Supanova Gold Coast 2012<br/>Address: Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre<br/>2684 Gold Coast Highway, Broadbeach<br/>QLD 4218, Australia<br/>Type: Convention Source

If you missed it on Twitter or Facebook, here's the link to my Suvudu Cage Match writeup of Moiraine vs. Kelsier. Don't expect an epic battle. I don't have the time to spare to write something like that in this case. Instead, I played it very tongue-in-cheek. I flipped a coin to decide who won, then wrote something that made it seem logical. Warning: it not only contains huge spoilers for both series, but a lot of Wheel of Time and Mistborn in-jokes. If you disagree with the results of my coin flip, feel free to vote however you wish in the cage match poll. This week's episode of Writing Excuses features Mary, Howard, and I talking about Man vs. Nature. If you're as confused about that as Howard was, it's one of the basic narrative conflict archetypes (along with Man vs. Man and Man vs. Self). Check it out. There's also a new ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation up. This one covers chapter six. Samuel Montgomery-Blinn of Bull Spec interviewed me for Audible SF/F about audiobooks. Gen Con Indy has announced that I'm their Author Guest of Honor this August. For my full convention schedule this year, see here. This is the last week to vote on the long list for the David Gemmell Legend Award (the poll closes March 31st). THE ALLOY OF LAW has been nominated, but you should vote for the book you want to win, of course. Source

Today we're officially announcing Mistborn: Birthright, an action-RPG set in the Mistborn world. To those who have been paying close attention, much of this may not be surprising. The MB:B website went live earlier in the month, and I have tweeted several times about the impending game. In short, we're hoping to do a fun, fast-paced, action game with some RPG elements, cool Allomancy effects, and some (hopefully) killer dialogue. That last part is my job, as I'll be writing the story and most (if not all) of the game's dialogue. The game will take place hundreds of years before the events of the books, during the early days of the Final Empire. People have often asked me if I will do prequels to Mistborn, and my response has frequently been that I won't likely write them as novels—but I might consider them for other mediums. We're going to try it here, and this will let us do some very cool things to expand the world. And yes, you get to play as a Mistborn. The game is scheduled for fall of next year, and we're still very much in the preliminary stages of game design. That means that I don't have much to tell you other than what I wrote above. (Though the game's website will be posting screenshots and the like as they become available.) So, since I can't tell you terribly much about the game quite yet, instead I'll tell you how it came to be. I've been keeping my eyes open for the chance to do a Mistborn game for some time; several chances arose, but they always fell through for one reason or another. I didn't want to give the rights to just anybody. I've been a gamer since my first Atari, and I wanted to do it right. When Little Orbit first approached me, I was skeptical. I didn't recognize the company, and though they had worked on some professional projects, I didn't see anything in their pedigree that screamed Mistborn at me. However, I like to at least talk to people who are making offers on my work. And so, I chatted with them. I met with them. And I was impressed. Not only did they have a love for Mistborn, they had more experience at this sort of thing than I'd originally assumed. The company is made up of people who have been in the business for a long time, and they had worked on a variety of games I really love. (They even have guys who were involved in the original Fallout and Baldur's Gate games.) Their pitch materials were good and very persuasive. But the final thing that convinced me they were right came when we sat down and talked about the type of game we would make. Not only were they eager for me to be involved in the story, our discussions of what would make an awesome Mistborn game were synergistic and exciting. They envisioned the game the same way I always had. The longer I've worked with them, the more impressed I've been. They keep their promises; they aren't just willing to let me be involved—they seem dedicated to making certain I'm pleased every step of the way. They don't need to go so far—I've said before that I feel an author shouldn't usually have control of game design, but leave that to people who know how to make fun games—but they have gone well beyond what is required of them. These guys really, really want to make a great Mistborn game. I'm thrilled by what is coming your way when this thing is done. There's always another secret. Brandon The press release follows: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Best-selling Fantasy Writer Brandon Sanderson and Little Orbit team up to bring Mistborn Saga to Video games in 2013 Sanderson to pen original prequel to Mistborn Series for all-new RPG franchise March 26, 2012 – Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – Little Orbit revealed today that they will be bringing bestselling author Brandon Sanderson's epic fantasy series Mistborn to games late next year for PlayStation® computer entertainment system, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Windows PC and Mac. Mistborn is set in a dark world of ash, mist, and gothic fantasy creatures, dominated by a seemingly immortal villain known as the Lord Ruler. It also follows individuals who use a powerful rule-based magic system known as Allomancy that allows them to temporarily enhance their physical and mental abilities by ingesting and "burning" flakes of metal. Those who have the ability to burn a single metal are called Mistings, and those who can burn all metals are known as Mistborn. The upcoming RPG video game will feature an original storyline created by Sanderson, set several hundreds of years before the first Mistborn novel, and will focus on a unique combat system that puts Allomancy into the hands of gamers. Players will suit up as Fendin "Fiddle" Fathvell, an arrogant young nobleman who must quickly master his newfound Allomantic abilities before forces at work can destroy his entire family. "I'm a huge fan of the series, and I cannot wait to get this into the hands of gamers," said Matthew Scott, CEO of Little Orbit. "Between the distinctive magic system, the story twists Brandon has planned for the game, and the rich depth of character skills, we're creating something very unique for players to enjoy." Sanderson is no stranger to video games. He recently completed story development on the Infinity Blade II video game including the accompanying Infinity Blade: Awakening novella. In between writing his popular Mistborn and Stormlight novels, he is also finishing work on the final novel in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Sanderson has been labeled "one of the most popular new fantasy writers to emerge in the last ten years." "As an avid gamer, I'm extremely excited by this opportunity," said Sanderson. "The chance to write the story for a Mistborn game while working with a team of talented developers is, quite literally, living a dream." For more information visit www.mistborngame.com<br/>And be sure to follow us on Facebook to receieve updates www.facebook.com/mistborngame About Little Orbit Little Orbit is a worldwide video game publisher formed in January 2010 with a focus on licensed-based entertainment products. The company's emphasis is on working with popular creators to extend their vision into games through transmedia storytelling and engaging content for all gaming platforms. Little Orbit has a unique history assisting major entertainment companies to leverage their brands through emerging game channels to help grow and engage consumers. Founded by industry veterans and key development, sales and marketing personnel, Little Orbit is focused on three primary channels of distribution including traditional game retail, non-traditional retail channels, and digital download over the various platform networks.<br/>www.littleorbit.com About Brandon Sanderson Brandon Sanderson is the coauthor with Robert Jordan of the #1 NY Times bestselling Wheel of Time novels The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight, and a top 10 NY Times and international bestselling author for his novels The Way of Kings and Mistborn: The Alloy of Law, all published by Tor Books in the US. An award-winning author, he is published in 25 languages, with global sales in the millions of copies. His Mistborn saga has become a multi-faceted brand, with a film in development from Paloppa Pictures, and a classic tabletop RPG released by Crafty Games in 2011.<br/>www.brandonsanderson.com Source

Hey, there's a gaming convention in SLC this weekend, and the friendly folks at Epic Games have invited me to play some Magic during it! This will be at a downtown Salt Lake convention center called The Complex, and it looks like there will be a lot of fun things happening other than just Magic. I'll be bringing EDH and some casual decks, but it does look like a lot of my time will be spent drafting. Either way, please consider coming! I'll be starting up drafting at 2:30 at the Epic Puzzles and Games tables. Just ask where the Magic is being played. There's a small door charge to get into the event (ten bucks or so), which should have plenty of fun nerdy things like comic books and gaming. Then there will also be a small charge to draft (which includes the packs to play with). I will have some books for sale, and as always at events like this, am happy to sign books you bring along. Hopefully I'll see some of you there! Best, Brandon Date: 03.24.12 Time: 2:30–7:30 p.m. Place: SLC Nerd Address: The Complex (just west of the Gateway Mall) 536 West 100 South Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Source

I'm one of the instructors at the upcoming Superstars Writing Seminar in Las Vegas (April 30–May 2). Since the writing and publishing world has changed a lot over the past few years, when planning this year's seminar we looked carefully at the past lectures and panel discussions, giving the curriculum a thorough update and overhaul. Below is the schedule for this year's Superstars—with some brand new talks and fresh takes on previous topics. We want to make this seminar relevant and important for returning alumni as well as new attendees. Check it out. MONDAY From Newbie to #1 Bestseller in 4 Years (Brandon Sanderson) It's Business: How Publishing Economics Works (Eric Flint) Building Your Network (panel) Indie-Publishing & Ebooks: Free For All (panel) Getting Noticed: Self-Promotion for Authors (panel) One Thing Leads to Another (Kevin J. Anderson) Open Q&A session Evening: Welcome mixer/reception TUESDAY Myths of Publishing (Rebecca Moesta) How Copyright Works (Dean Wesley Smith) Climbing the Slushpile: How editors look at manuscripts (panel) Dissecting a Contract (Eric Flint) Tough Negotiating (Kristine Kathryn Rusch) Agents: the "A" word (panel) "Dirty Secrets": Being a professional author (Kevin and Rebecca) Drawing out the Dragons (James A. Owen) Open session: Q&A VIP Dinner: Fogo de Chao Brazilian steakhouse WEDNESDAY Ergonomics: When Writing Gets to Be a Pain (Rebecca) Selling Before You Write: Keys to Understanding What Readers Want (David Farland) Windup and the Pitch—pitches, queries, proposals, treatments (panel) Young Adult (panel) It's More than a Story: Developing a Whole Intellectual Property (panel) Eleven Tips to Increase Your Writing Productivity (Kevin) Being a Writer and a Real Person at the Same Time (panel) Open session: Q&A NOTE: Prices go up April 1. Register here. Hope to see you there! Source

In the most recent Writing Excuses podcast episode, Howard, Mary, and I talk about writing the omniscient viewpoint. (Dan wasn't there; he was off saving his son from ninjas or something like that.) The newest ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation discusses my use of prison names, the setting, and Bastille. And I'm very pleased to announce that the audiobook for ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE SCRIVENER'S BONES is finally available. The other two audiobooks will follow within a few months. Rutabaga. This week's Suvudu Cage Match features Moiraine versus Jardir and Kelsier versus Ray Lilly. If both Moiraine and Kelsier win, they will be up against each other next week, which would mean that (barring fires to put out) I would be inclined to do a writeup of my own. They have to survive this week before you get to see that though, and both have worthy opponents. Voting ends on Thursday. Next month I'll be traveling to Australia for SwanCon (a.k.a. Doom-Con) in Perth and Supanova in Melbourne and Gold Coast. Below is a trailer for Doom-Con. Details are on my events page. Also, was shared with me on Facebook: ninth-grader Morgan Nielsen created the following trailer for THE WAY OF KINGS for a book report in her English class. Pretty cool. Source

This Saturday I'll be participating in the Writing for Charity conference at the Provo Library. For more information and how to register, check out their site. My schedule is below. There's a book signing at the end of the day that's open to the public. Writing for Charity<br/>Venue: Historic Provo Library<br/>550 North University Avenue<br/>Provo, Utah<br/>84601 Schedule: Saturday, March 17th 9:30–10:30 a.m.<br/>Welcome & Author Panel<br/>Brodi Ashton, Ken Baker, Kristen Chandler, Kristyn Crow, Bree Despain, Sharlee Glenn, Dean Hale, Shannon Hale, Becky Hall, Mette Ivie Harrison, Laura Hickman, Tracy Hickman, Tess Hilmo, Clint Johnson, Matthew Kirby, Kristen Landon, Dene Low (Laura Card), Lisa Mangum, Jennifer Nielsen, Sheila A. Nielson, Julie Olson, E.J. Patten, Janette Rallison, Brandon Sanderson, Jeff Savage, Emily Wing Smith, Eric James Stone 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.<br/>Question & answer session with critique groups<br/>Rather than critiquing, Brandon will be answering your specific questions about writing. Spots are very limited. You can email to try to reserve a spot, but it's not guaranteed. 2:20–3:05 p.m.<br/>Fantasy Panel Discussion<br/>Mette Ivie Harrison, Dene Low, Laura & Tracy Hickman, Brandon Sanderson 3:10–3:55 p.m.<br/>Plot Development<br/>Brandon Sanderson 3:55–5:45 p.m.<br/>Author Signing, Book Sale<br/>Most if not all of the authors mentioned above will be there. Notes:<br/>Registration is $45 for the full day or $25 for the second half of the day. 100% of the proceeds will go to charity.<br/>The signing is free and open to the public. 10% of the book sale proceeds will go to charity. Source

Last week I appeared on the Atomic Array podcast with the Crafty Games folks to talk about the Mistborn Adventure Game tabletop RPG. This week's Writing Excuses podcast episode is another one where Howard, Mary, Dan, and I cover a bunch of questions very quickly: Is it better to include romance, horror, SF, or other genre elements to flesh out a story, or should the story stand alone? Any tips for developing an idea without getting caught in Worldbuilder's Disease? Any NaNo WriMo tips? (yes.) What did you to do build an audience before you got published and famous and stuff? How do you create sub-plots without overshadowing the main plot? What are the most important things you learned as writers during 2011? How do you stay motivated (especially during editing) when it seems like everything you wrote is crap? The newest ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation talks about Smedry Talents and my reaction to books about boys and their dogs. My assistant has also uploaded a new Twitter posts archive. Source

The most recent Writing Excuses episode features David Brin talking with Dan and Mary at the World Fantasy convention about the importance of criticism. The Hugo Awards nomination deadline is the end of this week. If you're already a member of the 2011, 2012, or 2013 Worldcons, be sure to get your nomination form submitted. I talked about this two months ago, but I and my Writing Excuses partners have various works that are eligible, particularly Writing Excuses Season Six in the Best Related Work category. There's a new ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation up. This one covers chapter three. Finally, the 2012 Suvudu Cage Match has started, and this year's bracket features both Moiraine Damodred and Kelsier. In the first round, Kelsier is up against Gale Hawthorne, and Moiraine faces off against Tarzan. Voting runs through Thursday. Source

The newest ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation covers chapter two and talks about how The Simpsons already did everything. In this week's Writing Excuses podcast episode, Dan, Howard, Mary, and I cover these questions from Twitter in a rapid-fire fashion: What do you do if you don't like your characters? How do you keep your plot on track? Is it better to use real locations in an Urban Fantasy? What do you do about plot holes? How do you know if you should abandon a story and move on to something else? How do you ensure the answers to mysteries are satisfying? What are some language-level mistakes that mark writing as amateurish? What should a scene consist of? What kind of bacon is best? Why is Schlock, who looks like a pile of poo, lovable instead of disgusting? InkWing announced the results of their Bridge Four T-shirt contest that I talked about last week. Designs #1 and #3B had the most votes, so both of those are now available for preorder. There's also some Wheel of Time T-shirt news. Ta'veren Tees has a new Aiel by Jeremy shirt available for preorder: The Aiel illustration was created by WoT comic book artist Jeremy Saliba. Anyone who preorders this shirt is entered to win one of three signed pieces of art by Jeremy (see here for details): Also, March marks Ta'veren Tees' one-year anniversary, so they're having a customer-appreciation month. There's a monthlong clearance sale on several of their older tees, as well as a chance for people to win free shirts. Each Friday in March they'll make a Free Shirt Friday post on their Facebook page; "like" them on Facebook and comment on that post to be entered to win. Source

Just a very quick update today. If you didn't read my post about the A MEMORY OF LIGHT release date, it's here. This week's Writing Excuses podcast features Mary and Dan speaking with Sarah Pinborough in an episode entitled The City as a Character. The most recent annotation for ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS covers chapter one. InkWing is having a contest to decide what Bridge Four T-shirt to make. Head over to their blog to vote. Three random commenters on their blog post will get a free shirt. #1 #2 #3A #3B (different back/same front!) Source

Tor and Harriet have set the release date for A MEMORY OF LIGHT. Again. While I've been working on the book, this has happened a half dozen times, with varying levels of publicity surrounding the date. This time we're saying January 8th. How likely is this one? Well, honestly, I don't know. Seems like it's the most firm of the lot. However, you've got to understand a couple of things. First off, I don't set release dates, particularly not on these books. I pick my deadlines, then work to meet them. Tor and Harriet decide when the book is going to come out, judging by editing requirements, market factors, and the workings of the publishing machine. I didn't find out this one had been set as this day until long after the fact. So please, complaining to me . . . well, it's just not going to do anything but distract me from working on the book. Secondly, Harriet is very, VERY worried about getting this book right. It's the last book in the series. There are no chances to change things after this, and revising a book like this takes time. Harriet would probably prefer even more space than this publication date gives us. She also isn't capable of pulling the long hours she might once have pulled. (And she shouldn't be expected to.) It's not all on Harriet, though, not by a mile. I turned in a 360,000-word book. That's 20% longer than what they wanted, and that means each step of editing and production will require 20% more time than they had set aside. In addition, while I've set my own deadlines, I've come right up against them and (in a few cases) tiptoed across. For example, instead of sending a revised book at the end of December, I only had a first draft. That's the length pushing me back and making me revise expectations. I realize that all you care about is getting your book, and this sounds like a lot of excuses. But here's the thing. You'll get the book when Harriet is ready to give it to you. Not before. If this were just me, I could work a big pile of 16-hour days and get it to you in the fall. But it's not just me, and beyond that, the last time I did that (on TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT, which went through eleven drafts) we ended up with a pile of typos and wore Harriet out so much she said she didn't recover for well over six months. I sincerely thought that we'd be releasing the book this fall. January 8th was a surprise to me when they told me. However, Harriet picked the last possible week the book could reasonably come out, because she wants as much time as possible to edit it. I still think it's very possible that all will go smoothly and Harriet will push the book up. It happened with TGS, I believe, though that was only pushed up by a week. However, for now, we just have to assume January 8th is when it's coming out. Best, Brandon Source

The most recent ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation talks about why I shifted the book from third person to first person. My assistant has also uploaded the third person versions of the first two chapters, which you can compare with the published versions. I've spent all day recording new episodes of the Writing Excuses podcast with Howard, Mary, and Dan. You'll be hearing them in upcoming months. For now, this week's episode covers historical fantasy. Check it out. There's also a new Twitter posts archive covering the last couple of weeks. Source

Life, the Universe & Everything, the local SF convention/symposium, starts tomorrow at Utah Valley University. I'll be attending on Friday and Saturday, and my schedule is below. Venue: Sorensen Student Center<br/>Utah Valley University<br/>800 W University Pkwy<br/>Orem, UT 84058 FRIDAY 1:00–3:00 p.m., Center Stage<br/>Writing Excuses Podcast (2 hours) Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Howard Tayler, James A. Owen (1–1:30), James Dashner (1:30–2:00), Larry Correia (2–2:30), Michael R. Collings & Michaelbrent Collings (2:30–3:00) 4:25–4:55 p.m., SC213A<br/>Reading<br/>Brandon Sanderson 8:00–10:00 p.m., Center Stage<br/>Mass Signing<br/>(UVU Bookstore closes at 6:00. There will be NO books for sale during the signing. There is also no guarantee that the bookstore will have the books available, so check early.)<br/>See here for the list of every author signing at this time. SATURDAY 11:00 a.m.–12:00 noon, Center Stage<br/>Writers on Writing: Four bestselling authors talk about writing.<br/>Dave Wolverton (M), Brandon Sanderson, Tracy Hickman, L. E. Modesitt, Jr. 2:00–3:00 p.m., SC206 ABC<br/>Plots, Subplots, and Foreshadowing<br/>Bree DeSpain (M), J. Scott Savage, Brandon Sanderson, James A. Owen, Stacy Whitman Source

Hey, all! I had a wonderful time in Taiwan, and I thought I'd post some of the things I came home with. I always mean to do this following a tour, and hopefully I'll make a habit of it from here out. First up, I wanted to show a few of the letters I got. We got a lot of these, and I can't show them all, but the thing I loved was how many of them were illustrated in some way. (Note, that's Kaladin and Wit in the first one.) Some of the letters are blurred, since I can't verify they don't say anything personal. This was, I believe, a New Years blessing I'm supposed to hang by my door. This note, etched into metal, was particularly awesome. The reverse side (above) includes a shot of some of the book covers in Taiwan. We've got some more of them below, specifically THE WAY OF KINGS (which launched last week.) With THE ALLOY OF LAW, the publisher gave out little certificates anticipating my visit, each with a signature line. The large numbers of people in each crowd, mixed with the time of interpretation between languages, meant that each person could only get one thing signed. The publisher gave out the cards, if people wanted to get those signed as a keepsake instead of choosing one of the books. These certificates dubbed one a "Knight" of Brandon Sanderson. (And the publisher actually chose me five people to knight, with a sword and everything.) I'm not sure what it all means, or if I should really be going about knighting people, but the whole experience was very cool. Emily was sent some chocolate also. These are only two of the treats people sent her. (She ate some of it before we could get a picture.) My parents and sisters love jewelery, so we stopped by the local jade market. (Which happens under a bridge, and is filled with hundreds of little tables full of people selling various pieces of jade.) Picked up a few nice ones as gifts, though the pictures don't really do them justice. One of the knights gave me several awesome gifts, including a (signed!) CD by her favorite musicians and a stamp book full of stamps from Taiwan. A fantasy novel written by a local author who stopped by one of my signings. I don't know how soon I'll be reading it (as it's in Chinese) but maybe someday... THE WAY OF KINGS was published in two parts, but packaged together in these gift bags. Included was a little notebook thing which was just plain awesome—so awesome, in fact, that I talked the publisher into giving me a box of them to bring home with me. I'm going to give them away on the website and at cons this year, so stay tuned to find how you can win one. THE ALLOY OF LAW came with a pin for the 10th anniversary of the publisher, Fantasy Foundation. The certificate of knighthood was packaged with this, in the back. And one last bit of chocolate. There's more, but I'll post those in another post. We'll also try to get up some pictures of me doing odd things while in the country, like eating an egg that my publisher claimed was 1000 years old. Until then, thanks for reading and happy Chinese New Year! Brandon Source