State of the Sanderson 2017
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Alcatraz Blogs
Alcatraz Blogs
Oathbringer Art Roundup Part 1
Oathbringer Art Roundup Part 1 Brandon’s art director Isaac here with some insights on the art process for Oathbringer. We add a lot of illustrations to most of Brandon’s books, but the Stormlight Archive gets a special amount of attention. We fill each volume with sketches from Shallan and Navani, maps of cities and other locations,…
Awards season is here! Mistborn and the Best Series award.
Awards season is here! Mistborn and the Best Series award. Hello, everyone! I’ve had my nose to the grindstone working on Oathbringer. However, as awards season is upon us again, I’m pausing to do my yearly roundup of what I have that is eligible. I know that to many of you, the science fiction awards (and…
Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians Black Friday Sale
Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians Black Friday Sale Adam here. Awesome news everyone! The Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians ebook is on sale (at least in the U.S.) TODAY ONLY at $2.99 for Kindle users. It may be discounted in a few other regions as well (check your local region for pricing using the links to the…
Alcatraz: The Big Reveal
Alcatraz: The Big Reveal Any of you who haven’t read the Evil Librarians series might want to duck out here, because I’m going to talk about the big reveal at the end of the fifth novel. This is a post that’s been brewing since 2006, so I’m eager to talk about it—but anyone who has read stories…
Alcatraz is Back!
Alcatraz is Back! I’ve been touring around so much lately, I haven’t had a chance to do write about something very important to me. My middle grade fantasy series, Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, is finally back in print. Huzzah! These goofy books have quite the devoted following, and over the years one of the number…
Calamity is Out!
Calamity is Out! The Calamity Release Party at the Orem Barnes & Noble is just a few hours from now. This is the final book of the Reckoners trilogy that began with Steelheart, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you think of the end. You can see my brief schedule below; check my events calendar for full details on…
Kansas City this weekend + Updates
Kansas City this weekend + Updates Tomorrow I’m off to Kansas City for the ConQuesT convention that starts on Friday. My complete schedule (including a “Play Magic with Brandon” game) down below. Also, copies of the Perfect State/Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell con exclusive double hardcover will be available at the Basement Books booth in the…
Two More Mistborn Novels
Two More Mistborn Novels Hey, all. I’m neck-deep in Stormlight revisions, but wanted to pause and give you a little update on other books I’m working on. On my tour, I frequently read from the first chapter of a new novel in the Mistborn world, a sequel to The Alloy of Law. (In fact, you can…
State of the Sanderson 2013
JTVCcmNibG9jayUyMGlkJTNEJTIyMjU2OSUyMiU1RA==It has been quite a busy time these last six or seven months. Too busy, maybe? A lot of great experiences, but it has cut into my time to be at home writing. Let me give you a little update of what I’m doing writing-wise.
Alcatraz in the UK & Updates
Alcatraz in the UK & Updates ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE SHATTERED LENS has now been released in the UK (and presumably also in Australia and New Zealand). That means all four books are now out, and since they all came out this year, it should be relatively easy to find them on shelves and in ebook…
Hugo Voting Deadline Tomorrow + Updates
Hugo Voting Deadline Tomorrow + Updates 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…
Interviews + Updates
Interviews + Updates 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…
June is Audiobook Month
June is Audiobook Month 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…
Szeth T-Shirt Contest, Lecture Video + Updates
Szeth T-Shirt Contest, Lecture Video + Updates 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…
I Hate Dragons Speech Competition + Updates
I Hate Dragons Speech Competition + Updates 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…
Lloyd Alexander Documentary Kickstarter, Creative Writing Lectures + Updates
Lloyd Alexander Documentary Kickstarter, Creative Writing Lectures + Updates 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…
Updates + Reader Mail
Updates + Reader Mail 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…
Play the Mistborn Adventure Game with Me at Gen Con + Updates
Play the Mistborn Adventure Game with Me at Gen Con + Updates 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…
More Creative Writing Lectures + Updates
More Creative Writing Lectures + Updates 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…
Class Lecture on Characterization + Updates
Class Lecture on Characterization + Updates 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…
Creative Writing Class Lectures + Updates
Creative Writing Class Lectures + Updates 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 &…
Sydney Signing + Updates
Sydney Signing + Updates 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…
GLAMOUR IN GLASS, Suvudu Cage Match Finals, ALCATRAZ Annotation
GLAMOUR IN GLASS, Suvudu Cage Match Finals, ALCATRAZ Annotation 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…
Writing Excuses, ALCATRAZ annotation, CNN’s Geek Out
Writing Excuses, ALCATRAZ annotation, CNN’s Geek Out 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…
Moiraine vs. Kelsier, Gen Con Indy, Interview + Updates
Moiraine vs. Kelsier, Gen Con Indy, Interview + Updates 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…
ALCATRAZ 2 Audiobook, Trailers + Updates
ALCATRAZ 2 Audiobook, Trailers + Updates 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…
Hugo Nominations Deadline, Suvudu Cage Match & Updates
Hugo Nominations Deadline, Suvudu Cage Match & Updates 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…
Updates + More T-Shirts
Updates + More T-Shirts 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…
Updates + Bridge Four Shirts
Updates + Bridge Four Shirts 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…
Alternate ALCATRAZ Chapters + Updates
Alternate ALCATRAZ Chapters + Updates 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…
Newsletter + Updates
Newsletter + Updates This is just a quick update as I recover from my Taiwan trip and get back into the swing of the second draft of A MEMORY OF LIGHT. First off, this week’s ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS annotation talks about the dedication page. The most recent Writing Excuses episode draws back the curtain…
2012 Conventions
2012 Conventions 2012 Conventions: Taiwan, Orem, Australia Australia Australia, Las Vegas, BayCon, SDCC, Chattanooga, Gen Con Indy, Albuquerque, Dragon*Con Peter here filling in for Brandon since he’s on a flight to Taiwan for the book expo. Below you’ll find most of Brandon’s convention schedule for 2012. There might be a couple more one-day stop-ins with…
Alcatraz Annotations + Updates
Alcatraz Annotations + Updates In this week’s Writing Excuses podcast episode, Dan, Mary, Howard, and I talk about brevity. Since all the chapters of my abandoned novel MYTHWALKER have now been uploaded, it’s time to start dishing out something else for your weekly bonus content. So my assistant has put up the first annotation for ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS.…
Updates + ALCATRAZ ebooks in French
Updates + ALCATRAZ ebooks in French At the World Science Fiction Convention in Reno a couple of weeks ago, we recorded a few Writing Excuses podcast episodes. The first one features Patrick Rothfuss, and we discussed suspension of disbelief. Check it out. I’ve put up the third chapter of my unfinished novel MYTHWALKER from ten…
Updates, Tor.com Q&A, and Tweets January 6-10
Updates, Tor.com Q&A, and Tweets January 6-10 In this week’s Writing Excuses episode, we talk about fulfilling promises to your readers, and we give specific examples from our own stories and others’. The most recent WARBREAKER annotation covers Vivenna’s character arc hitting rock bottom. I also talk about how to give your Breath away one…
ELANTRIS Back in Stock + Sanderson 5-Pack Sale
ELANTRIS Back in Stock + Sanderson 5-Pack Sale On the heels of signed copies of WARBREAKER coming to my online store a couple of weeks ago, signed copies of ELANTRIS are now finally back in stock. I think it’s been over a year—maybe over two—since we ran out of copies and had to pull it…
June Is (was) Audiobook Month
June Is (was) Audiobook Month Well, here it is the last day of June and I haven’t mentioned audiobooks at all like I was supposed to, and we all know whose fault that was . . . that’s right, my assistant Peter. June is audiobook month! There are lots of audiobook-related posts on Twitter with…
Signing Tonight in LA, ALCATRAZ Audiobook Sale + Updates
Signing Tonight in LA, ALCATRAZ Audiobook Sale + Updates I’m signing tonight at the Woodland Hills Barnes & Noble on Topanga Canyon at 7:00. Details are on my events page. See you there! A reader of mine, Chuck Doyle, mentioned on my Facebook page the other day that Audible is selling my middle-grade fantasy ALCATRAZ…
ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS Reader Mail
ALCATRAZ VERSUS THE EVIL LIBRARIANS Reader Mail Alcatraz let me know about the following library infiltration report. We led a successful infiltration of our local library on Saturday, March 6, 2010 and wanted to share this good news with you. Our team consists of seven fifth-grade students, one seventh-grade assistant coach and two grownups—NO, strike…
Brandon Sanderson Newsletter for February 2006
Brandon Sanderson Newsletter for February 2006 —Breaking News: Brandon will be appearing as a guest on the “Wakin’ Up With Rebecca and Kurt” radio show Wednesday, the 22nd at around 8:30 am. The station is AM 820, and should be available in Utah County and Salt Lake.— INTRODUCTION Howdy all! You’re getting this because you…