Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Aon Pendant Sizes

A lot of people have been asking about the sizing for the Aon pendants, so I finally got off my duff and took some pictures as a guide.  It took a lot of work to get Pemberly to model for us, since she doesn't like how she looks in pictures.  (I think she looks great, though.)  Anyway, after much tribulation, here are some action shots of the pendants!

jewlerykiss

A palladium finish Aon Ien and a ruby Aon Daa beside a Hershey's Kiss

Em8

A pearl Aon Eon and a ruby Aon Ehe next to a quarter.  (Sorry it's so blurry.)

EM7

Pemberly wearing Aon Eon with the silver chain that comes with the pendants.

EM3

A close of up of Aon Daa around Pemberly's neck, with the silver chain.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Annotation + Mistborn Three on Sale

One of my New Years resolutions is going to be getting the Annotations posted more regularly.  I have to give the nice folks on my forums something to talk about, after all.  In the light of that, here's a new one for you:  Mistborn Two: Chapter Fifty-Two

In other big news, Barnes and Noble has decided to put Mistborn Three on its after-holiday sale.  They're selling the book at a ridiculous 50% off.  If you are a Barnes and Noble member, the book is an extra 10% off, bringing the price down to $12.50.  (It's $14 if you don't have one of their club cards.)  If you've been waiting for the paperback...well, this is only about four bucks more than the paperback would be.  And BN.com now offers free shipping on orders of $25 or more.

This is an insanely low price.  It's cheaper than Amazon; it's even cheaper than I can get the books from the publisher.  I think that the same discount is being offered in-store as well.  If they don't have the book stickered, I think you can ask and they'll tell you, but my agent says it should be in all stores.  This will probably only last for a short time, though.  (I couldn't find an end date to the sale.)  So if you've been waiting, this is your chance to get the hardcover at a trade paperback price.

In AMOL news, you may have noticed a new progress bar on my website.  I'm doing a revision of the sections I wrote during October, November, and December, so that I can send them to Harriet.  I've had some requests from readers to talk a little bit more about what is going on with AMoL.  They want to know which characters I'm working on or which plot sections. 

Part of me would like to say more, but there are two things holding me back.  First off, I really don't want to give spoilers.  Even mentioning which characters I'm writing on could be too much of a spoiler for some readers, as it would imply who has larger sequences in the book and who might have a smaller part.  Some of you would like to hear this, but I have to err on the side of those who don't want to know.  That's how Robert Jordan did it himself; he was very secretive about the upcoming books, only giving out a tidbit here and there.

I don't even feel comfortable doing that much, as this book isn't my own.  I've given my word to Harriet that I won't reveal things about the final book, and I feel I need to be extra careful.  It's her decision what gets released and what doesn't, not mine.  (Just like it's her decision about whether to cut the book or not.  I thank those who have emailed me expressing their opinions, but know that I don't have a choice in the matter.  I've made my suggestions to Harriet, and I've pointed out to the Tor CEO that Robert Jordan wished the book to be one volume.  They will make the decision, not me.) 

And so you'll probably see me being very careful about what I say on the blog.  I'm afraid that in most cases, the progress bars are the best I can offer you.  Expect to see several lengthy revisions over the next few months, however.  I'll still be sneaking in some writing time to do new chapters here and there, but most of my efforts right now are focused on the revision process.  Once this new progress bar is finished, I'll probably launch directly into another revision, and probably a third one after that. 

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Sanderson Family Christmas Card

 Christmas Card 2008

A digital copy of the 2008 Sanderson Christmas Card for you all.  Ah, the joys of trying to get a one year old to sit still and smile for a camera.  Yes, these were taken in a photo booth in the mall (Pemberly's idea) then composed and touched up in Photoshop by yours truly. 

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

I'd just like to stop and thank everyone for making this year such an awesome one.  Despite the tough economic times, I ended up with a New York Times bestselling novel, and that still kind of blows my mind.  You can actually see that they've put it on the paperback cover of Mistborn: The Hero of Ages.  (Or, at least, you'd be able to see it if it weren't so small.  The fine folks at Tor haven't sent me an official image of this yet, so I had to steal this one from Amazon.)

HOA 

And, since I'm in a picture posting mood, you may be curious to see these below.  You see, Drew delivered my copies of the Mistborn minis the other day.  And, of course, Pemberly promptly took them and had them invade the snow village she has up on the top of our cabinets.  This is why it's great to be married to a gal like her.

IMG_1401 IMG_1409 IMG_1403

As a reminder, Drew sells the minis alone or in sets.  They are of pewter, and come either with a display patina or hand painted.  My personal favorites are the painted koloss or the pewter patina finished Vin.  (And, she should probably be on TOP of the library in the photos above...)  Grab yourself a set with holiday money so that next year, you can invade your friends and family's snow villages with your own Mistborn or koloss infiltrators. ;) 

In other news, progress on the Wheel of Time continues at a good clip.  It's been a surreal, incredible year working on one of my favorite book series of all time.  It still feels odd to think of myself as a fifteen year old boy, reading the beginning of Rand's story and wondering how it would end.  And now I get to write that ending, or at least part of it.  You may have noticed that I hit my 400,000 word goal for A Memory of Light.  So, for you wheel of time fans, here is an updated relative lengths chart. Think of it as my Christmas present to you.  AMoL is now officially the longest book in the Wheel of Time Series. 

AMOL Relative Length Chart: 12/24/2008
Alcatraz/Evil Librarians 60,400
New Spring 121,815
Elantris 202,765
The Final Empire 214,752
The Path of Daggers 226,687
Warbreaker 236,301
Winter's Heart 238,789
Hero of Ages 244,201
The Dragon Reborn 251,392
The Well of Ascension 252,739
The Great Hunt 267,078
Crossroads of Twilight 271,632
A Crown of Swords 295,028
The Eye of the World 305,902
Knife of Dreams 315,163
The Fires of Heaven 354,109
Lord of Chaos 389,264
The Shadow Rising 393,823
---A MEMORY OF LIGHT 408k So Far!---

Looks like that chart needs some more goals on it, eh?  How about this:

Alcatraz/Evil Librarians 60,400
New Spring 121,815
Elantris 202,765
The Final Empire 214,752
The Path of Daggers 226,687
Warbreaker 236,301
Winter's Heart 238,789
Hero of Ages 244,201
The Dragon Reborn 251,392
The Well of Ascension 252,739
The Great Hunt 267,078
Crossroads of Twilight 271,632
A Crown of Swords 295,028
The Eye of the World 305,902
Knife of Dreams 315,163
The Fires of Heaven 354,109
Lord of Chaos 389,264
The Shadow Rising 393,823
---A MEMORY OF LIGHT 408k So Far!---
The Stand: 464,218
Lord of the Rings: 470,000
Les Miserables (French): 513,000
War and Peace (English): 560,000
Ten copies of Alcatraz: 604,000
Atlas Shrugged:  645,000
Entire Mistborn Trilogy:  711,692

We're going to have to face facts, though.  The longer the book grows, the greater the chances of it being split.  The choice isn't mine on this one, I'm afraid.  I feel I need to write the book at the length it deserves to be, even if that leaves it needing to be divided up by Tor and published in sections.  We're nearing the time where we'll have to turn something in if we want it out by November, and while we'd like this to be one book, it might make more sense for all parties to give you some now, rather than make you wait another year to get the whole thing.  (Though Orbit in the UK has decided, inexplicably, to make a new Amazon posting for AMoL.  Uh, that's very optimistic, folks.  But we haven't even turned anything in to Tor yet.  How do you know the page count?  How do you even know what the title will be?  If the book gets split, Harriet will have to decide what to call it.  it could be AMOL part one, or it could just have its own title, with AMOL going to the final book after the split.  The UK publisher for the WoT seems to know the answers already. There's only one conclusion I can draw from this.  Orbit UK is populated with TIME TRAVELERS.)

Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you happen to prefer to celebrate this season! 

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Final Signing of the Year Today

I'll be doing my last signing of the year tomorrow.  I might have another in late January, but from here out appearances are going to be a lot less frequent.  I took down the main book signings link, but the details--in case you forgot--are:

Saturday, December 20th: Orem, UT
4:00-6:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
University Crossings Plaza
330 East 1300 South
Orem, UT 84058
801.229.1611

I've confirmed that they will have copies of Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones, as well as all of my epics, for sale.  This is your last chance to get some of my books signed for holiday gifts!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Happy Koloss Head-Munching Day!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes; I had a flood of emails and Facebook posts, and they are appreciated greatly.  It has been a great day so far.  (Spent the afternoon playing Magic with a group of friends, and am watching a movie tonight with Pemberly after eating a nice big bowl of Mac and Cheese.)  HoTay even gave me four packs of cards as a gift, and I got a foil rare, so life is great.  ;)

A few things to point out.  First off, we are at 99% (!) on AMoL as of last night.  We'll see if I can get some more writing done tomorrow and bring us up to the 400k mark.  However, THIS IS NOT THE END.  We will soon see what happens in the system when I type in 101%.  I'm honestly not sure how the code will regard that.

I'm expecting to go to 150% or so on this book, maybe 175%.  It won't go to 800k, I don't think, but 600-700 seems likely.  I might just keep the same progress bar and have it inch higher, since if you're following the blog, you know what that means.  And if someone sees the bar for the first time, there's a chance they'll interpret it right if it shows 110% or so.  Once I'm into revisions, I'll have a separate progress bar for those.

If you missed the Short Story that Tor.com published of mine yesterday, you might want to check it out!  As several people noticed and emailed me, the audio link to download an MP3 of the story is there on the page at the top left under "Listen."  I can't get the link to work myself right now, but it's not at all hard to find it yourself.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Free Short Story

The blog has been packed with some fun posts lately, so first I thought I'd mention links to each of them, in case those who read my blog on LJ or Facebook missed the posts.  (Also, you Facebook users.  Is there an application out there which changes my status thing whenever I import a note?  That would make it a lot easer to track my blog on Facebook.)  Anyway, on to the links:

Allomantic Vinyl Decals in the Store
Garden Ninja Studios releases Mistborn Figurines
I revisit last year's Interview with Dragonmount

As if that weren't enough to keep you busy, Tor.com posted a couple of Sanderson-relevant items during the last little while.  First off, they posted the cover art for Warbreaker in Desktop Background Sizes.  Warbreaker, it might be noted, is up for preorder on Amazon already.  It's coming out in hardcover this June, and is a self-contained stand alone fantasy epic.  (And note that to get the desktops, you need to sign up for Tor's newsletter.  I can confirm that they don't spam, though.  They send an email every week or so, and it often contains a link to a freebie like this.)

The big news is that Tor.com has published one of my short stories.  As they have noted, this story--called "Firstborn"--was the first sf story I ever published.  Though, 'published' is kind of a loose term here, as the story originally appeared in The Leading Edge, a BYU publication with a very limited print run.  (This was after I'd graduated.  The magazine asked me if I'd donate a story to one of their anneversary issues, and so I sent them this one, which I'd actually just finished writing.)

I've long been looking for a place where the story could reach a larger audience (when I was at BYU, The Leading Edge--despite having some very high quality fiction in it--had a distribution of under a hundred copies.)   So I sent the story over to Tor.com, asking if they'd consider it even though it had appeared before in a small publication.  Patrick enjoyed the story, and said he might be interested in it if we put it through some editorial work.  Moshe, my editor, gave it a very strong edit (something it really, really needed.)  A few months later, here it is!  With an illustration by Donato, no less.  I'm flattered.

I'm very pleased with how the story turned out.  You who visit the blog frequently may have heard me say that I don't think much of my short story writing skills.  I think I'm best suited to long-form fantasy epics, but when I do turn my attention to short stories, they almost always come out as classic-style space operas.  This story, and the one that appeared in Asimov's earlier, are both good examples of this.  (They also happen to be the only two good short stories I've written to date.)

I did an audio reading of "Firstborn" for Tor.com as well, though I don't know  when they'll be posting that.  If any of you see links to it, let me know.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story.  It's completely free to read, courtesy of Tor.  I don't even think you have to register for the newsletter.  (Though you may want to do so, as you'll get emails with other short story links in them.)  Just as an aside, I think that the staff over at Tor.com have really pulled out the stops to create an excellent website filled with serious goodies.  They're still releasing free ebooks regularly, as well as high-quality short stories.  Give them a little pat on the back by signing up for the newsletter and maybe posting a comment or two on stories/posts you like.  I think they'd appreciate knowing that they are on the right track.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Big Wheel of Time Interview Retrospective

As the one year anniversary of my official involvement in the Wheel of Time series came and passed last week, I thought it might be interesting to do an update of the original interview I did with Dragonmount last December. Now that I’ve had a chance to re-read the series and write a good chunk of the last book, have my thoughts changed? I was as curious about this as anyone, so I decided to do a quick revisit to the interview, answering the questions again in order.

Note that I wrote this rather quickly. I assume you would all rather have me working on Book Twelve, as opposed to spending hours on blog posts. So when I had a few moments in the evening, I ran through the questions again. There are bound to be typos; please forgive them. (I hope I didn’t spell any character names wrong, but where my ability to spell is involved, you never can be too certain. I live and die by my spellchecker.)

This is intended to be lighthearted and informal. As always when I wrote blog posts, I did it in a conversational style. That’s part of what allows me to do posts as often as I do; they don’t require the same ‘piece’ of my writing mind that crafting novels does. I can relax, so to speak, and not worry about the lyricism of my words. Or even if I spelled them correctly. . . . ;)

Enjoy!

Q: Congratulations on receiving this landmark opportunity. How are you feeling?

A: One year later, how am I feeling? Well, still a little stunned at times. It’s odd. It’s been a year. But even just earlier today, while at the gym, I had a moment where I stopped and thought. “Wait, how in the world did this happen? Out of all of the people who could have been chosen, did this really happen to me?”

It’s like winning the lottery, only better. First off, this isn’t the kind of opportunity you can buy with money. I’d trade a winning lottery ticket for the chance to work on this book. (Sounds like hyperbole, but it’s true.) Secondly, I didn’t get chosen at random. I was chosen, in part, because of my skill. Not to say that there aren’t others with a lot of skill in the field. But I wasn’t just picked out of a hat, either. I was picked because of my work. That feels great.

Q: The Big Question most fans probably have is:  "Why Brandon Sanderson?"  What are your thoughts on this?

A: I’ve thought a lot about this over the last year. I’ve spoken to Harriet and considered. I’ve come to discover a little more about the process behind how I was chosen.

Why me? I think foremost, because Harriet liked my work. But she’d also read the thoughts I’d written on Mr. Jordan’s passing. She knew I had been heavily influenced by the series that is The Wheel of Time. These aren’t just books. There’s something about them, something endearing and enduring. Something that draws people into fan communities and makes friends talk with friends about them. There are a lot of bestselling series out there, but there isn’t a single one in my knowledge that has prompted the level of passion from the readers that these have.

The fans have been waiting for a long, long time to get this book. I’ve been waiting a long, long time. I was a fan from the get-go; I read Eye of the World when it was first released. I think that in order to get this book done in a reasonable amount of time, they needed to pick someone who was already familiar with the series. Someone who knew their Aelfinn from their Eelfinn and who could explain Rand’s family tree. (At least on a good day. It still makes my brain get in a knot when I think about who Slayer is and how he relates to the various characters. . . .)

Q: How did you first get involved in this project? Were you approached by Tor and/or Harriet, or did you dust off your resume and send it to them for consideration?

A: I don’t have much to add that I didn’t answer last year. No resumes. I was caught completely off guard. I will say that when I first spoke to Harriet the day she called to ask me, I was so befuddled that I couldn’t speak straight. I actually sent her an email the next day which said, essentially, “Dear Harriet. I’m not an idiot. I promise. Sorry I sounded like one. . . .”

Q: What was your initial reaction when you read the outline Harriet put together for A MEMORY OF LIGHT?

This is a good one to answer now, since I HAVE read the outline (obviously.) Actually, there’s a good story here. When I first went to visit Harriet, I recall walking in the door and--even before eating--asking if I could have two things. The ending Jim wrote (he finished the last part of the book himself) and the answer to who killed Asmodean.

I wish it were possible for me to express just how much I enjoyed reading those final written words that Mr. Jordan left behind. I was satisfied. I think that’s the perfect word for it. Satisfied. It ends the way it should. Not, perhaps, the way I would have guessed--or even the way you have guessed. But it’s the RIGHT ending. I was very pleased.

And it made me sleep a lot more easily once I got to see that the ending was there, and that I wouldn’t have to do that part myself. I’m a ‘goal driven’ writer. I develop an outline for myself that generally focuses on my ending, and then my writing pushes me toward that goal. Already having the ending makes this book possible.

I guess the only other thing I’d like to note that I was feeling was this: Reverence. This is the last work of the master. It’s like holding a play penned by Shakespeare himself--one that nobody else has read, and that you get to perform for the first time.

Q: You've inherited a world that is on the verge of destruction, and a main character who is now crippled, partially insane, and probably now blind.

(Brandon’s interjection: Yup indeed! Lots of conflict. Just the way I like it. This is the stuff that great epics are made of. It looks like Jason cut this part of the question when he did the original post. Probably for space issues.)

Q Continued: You've said before in other interviews that your fantasy noels (Elantris, and the Mistborn series) were born in part by the notion of taking a typical fantasy concept and turning it  on its head.  For example, you said that while The Wheel of Time is about "peasants becoming kings", your Elantris book is about "Kings who become peasants."  And one of the fundamental ideas behind the Mistborn series is the question: "What if the Dark One won?"  Having explored those interesting ideas, what's it like to suddenly find yourself writing the ending of a massive series which in large part defined the fantasy genre that many readers are familiar with?

I think I covered this one last year as well as I could. I’ll add to my response that I think, in our hearts, every one of us fantasy authors wants to write this classic story. There’s a piece of us who wants to emulate our masters, to do as they did, because they brought us such delight and emotion at reading. That’s why many authors, when they first begin, tend to write works that feel heavily derivative.

Most of us never publish those novels. We move on, like a tottering child, searching for our own voice. Trying to find a way to bring those same emotions to people, but by telling our own stories. Our own way. It’s the correct way of things. Telling the exact same story over and over again is an exercise in futility.

But I get the chance to actually do that, to be part of this thing that nurtured me through those years when I was a quiet fantasy reader who spent more time in his room with his books than outside with living people. I get to write on this story, I get to be part of the master’s work. That’s very humbling.

Q: How would you describe your writing style?

With words, hopefully. I’m terrible at charades.

Ha ha. (Sorry.)

See last year’s response on this one.

Q: In what ways do you think you'll have to shift your writing style to match Robert Jordan's? Will you be trying to write in his "voice", or will you approach the novel with your own?

Last year I explained the theory; now I can talk about what it’s actually like. I think the blend I discussed is going very well. I’m writing through this draft as I would normally, with a focus on making the characters sound right. That’s most important to me right now, followed closely by making certain the plot flows well.

In revisions I’m being careful to enhance my descriptiveness and write the book in a way that feels correct for the Wheel of Time. This is going to take a lot of drafting--let me warn you readers, when you see that progress bar hit 100%, we’re still nowhere close to being finished.

However, I’m extremely pleased with how the book is going. I think the blend of my style with that of Mr. Jordan is proceeding very nicely. It’s going to be a fantastic book.

We know that Robert Jordan left extensive notes, as well as some audio tapes and actual written parts for this novel. We know your intent is to tell his story.  Having seen the outline, how much of the actual plot (the plot points, character arcs, intrigue, etc) do you think you'll have to come up with on your own?
Another one I can answer now that I couldn’t before, as I hadn’t seen the notes.

However, it’s still a tough one to answer. How much do I have to make up? A lot in some places, very little in others. The interview mentioned an ‘outline’ above. That’s a little bit of an understatement regarding what was left. The things mentioned in this question itself are more accurate.

My goal is to retain as much of his own writing as possible, and then fill in the blanks myself. As I’ve promised Harriet not to talk about these things until the book is out, I feel I can’t give specifics right now. Know that there are large swaths of writing to do on my own, and yet even then I feel his hand on my shoulder. Every hole has an entry point and an exit point. I know where the characters are, and I know where they have to go. Sometimes it’s my choice on how to get them there. Sometimes there are notes, sometimes there are actual chunks of writing. Sometimes there isn’t anything but a quick notation in that character’s file explaining their final state at the end of the book.

But this is Robert Jordan’s book, not my own. I keep saying that, and I don’t want the readers to think I’m approaching it any other way. It’s his story, his writing, and his vision.

Which characters or plot threads are you most looking forward to writing?

I said Perrin last year. This year, I’m not sure I can claim that anymore. Not that my affection for Perrin has waned. I’ve simply spent too much time writing through the characters’ eyes.

One of the spectacular things about the Wheel of Time was the depth of characterization. No matter who’s eyes you were seeing through, they felt real and lively. To each character, they are the most important person in their own story.

As a writer, you can’t play favorites. At least not when you’re actually writing. When I sit down to write Egwene, she’s my favorite. When I sit down to write Rand, he’s my favorite. And when I sit down to write Perrin, he’s my favorite.

Through different points in the books, different characters are my ‘favorite’ to read about. Rand dominates my interest in books one and two, but I find myself leaning toward Perrin and then Aviendha in the next few books. Nynaeve’s story in the middle end, with the rescue by Lan, is a personal favorite. Matt takes center stage after that, and Egwene is my favorite to read in KNIFE OF DREAMS.

Are there any particular aspects of the book that you think will be especially challenging for you?

Last year I mentioned the depth of the worldbuilding, and this really has been a challenge. I know there are some of you out there who can name every single Aes Sedai, their Ajah and relative strength in the Power. But I’ve never been that kind of reader. I’ve loved these books, and I’ve been through them a number of times (currently, I’ve read EoTW nine times.) I know these characters--I know how to write them and how to think as them. But the side characters are a challenge to keep track of. I don’t have a trivia mind. I forget the names of my OWN side characters sometimes. I know who they are, but I can’t name them.

(Fortunately, I now know that Mr. Jordan himself had trouble sometimes keeping track of them all, which is why he had assistants to help him.)

Other than that, there have been a few characters that have been more difficult to get ‘right’ than other characters. The Aiel, for instance, are a challenge to make sound right. They’re such an interesting people, and they see the way in such a peculiar way. I’ve had to spend a lot of time working on making them sound right.

Q: What are some of your favorite scenes in the Wheel of Time series?

Last year, when I did this, I just listed a few off of the top of my head without turning to any reference websites. (Actually, that’s how I did the whole interview--I felt that readers need to see the real me, not the coached and scripted me.) That may have been the wrong choice, since there were those who seemed aghast that I couldn’t remember if Lan rescuing Nynaeve happened in book six or book seven. (Reference my general absent mindedness from the previous question.)

Well, you can rest assured that I’m now very aware that it happened in book six, right after the cleansing of Saidar and right before Perrin blew the Horn of Valere. Sorry for getting that wrong.

Anyway, I also mentioned the prologue to book one, some of the Perrin scenes in the later books (before the wife-vanishing incident), and the climax to the third book. (Though I think that last year I might have said Be'lal in a place where I meant Ba'alzamon. Surprisingly, I didn’t see any indignation over this slip up. Perhaps I didn’t look closely enough at the message boards--or, perhaps they never realized I made a mistake, since Be'lal was there at the end of Book Three. His scene just wasn’t the one I was thinking about. In truth, I was just trying to get across that I’ve always found the entire end of the third book--with the Stone, and Mat, and Rand, and the Aiel--to be a blast. Literally, in Mat’s case.)

I think a lot of the most memorable points in the books are the climaxes of the stories. Dumai’s Wells, Falme, etc. However as I consider it, probably my favorite sequence of scenes in the entire series is the one with Rand going through the ter’angreal at Rhuidean.

Q: I know you probably can't go too deeply into it, but are there any questions about the story you had as a fan that you will make sure get answered in this final novel?
A: I am still deeply interested in ascertaining the solution to the quandary regarding the character of Asmodean, most specifically the mystery surrounding the circumstances of his demise. ;)

I also mentioned Moiraine’s fate last year as being a big question I had. She’s always been a favorite of mine, and each time I read through the series, I’m left wondering about her. (Well, not anymore, since I’ve read the notes. But you know what I mean.)

I’ve been surprised to discover that a lot of readers take her survival for granted, but I’ve never done so. The letter gives some good clues that she might still be around, but it could also be some kind of trap by the Aelfinn and Eelfinn. The answers and gifts they give are truthful, yet there’s often a twisted logic to them as well, it seems.

I can’t say more here, I’m afraid, since I now know too much.

Q: Robert Jordan has talked many times about how he knew the last chapter of the last book very well.  Are you able to tell us whether or not he wrote that chapter before he died, or will that be something you'll be putting to paper? If so, does that chapter in particular hold any particular challenge or significance for you?

A: I talked about this above. He did write down the last part of the book. I have it. It will appear in the final novel.

And now, just for fun:
Who's nastier:  Moridin, or Padan Fain?

Still Moridin, by a long shot.

Your favorite Old Guy:  Thom, or Noal?

Thom. Noal is nifty, but Thom has had a special place in my heart since the page where he saved Rand and Mat.

Coolest wife:  Tuon, or Faile?

Still Tuon. Faile is fascinating because of her effect on Perrin, and I do enjoy writing about her. (I’m not in the ‘hate Faile’ camp. Come on, guys. It’s not HER fault that she got kidnapped for a couple of books. Besides, she really grows up a lot during her time in captivity.)

But you said coolest, so I have to answer honestly. Tuon.

Bigger trouble-maker:  Mat or Nynaeve?

I’m actually leaning toward contradicting myself from last year on this one. I used to see Nynaeve as a big trouble maker, since I often empathized with the Perrin/Mat/Rand crowd. (I started reading these books as a teenage boy, and saw Nynaeve as a frustrating older sister.) However, on a re-read, I found myself empathizing with her quite often.

I’d still call her a trouble-maker, but not as big a one. Problem is, Mat isn’t much of one lately either. He’s a whole lot of fun--perhaps the character who is the most purely fun to write. I think he’s interesting and well-developed. But what kind of trouble has he been making lately? (Besides kidnapping the Seanchan almost-empress, of course. I guess that was a little bit of trouble. Particularly if you happen to be a Deathwatch Guard.)

I’m going to call it a draw.

Q: Who killed Asmodean?  Come on, just tell us.  Please. I won't tell Harriet you told me.

I answered this last year, but I was just joking. Now I’ve read the notes and I REALLY know who did it. Keep this as a secret between you and me, but it was Narg.

Q: Ok, if you won't tell us, will you tell us in A MEMORY OF LIGHT?

It will be there. I promise.
Q: Do you have a personal message for all the Wheel of Time fans?

Thank you for your support. The response has been fantastic. I get emails each day cheering me on.

Thank you for your understanding. I can’t replace the man you lost. But I’m doing my best to give you the book you’ve been waiting for.

And finally, thank you for your patience. I’m working hard, I promise. But this book is a HUGE undertaking, and will likely be three times the size of previous books I’ve written. Even considering the parts Mr. Jordan finished, there’s just a lot to do, and I don’t want to rush an imperfect product to production. We hope to have something for you in stores by November 2009. But if it takes longer, it takes longer.
Q: How should fans get in touch with you?

Same as before. Through my website. As always, thanks for reading.

And, for fun, an update of the relative lengths chart as of today:

AMOL Relative Length Chart: 12/17/2008
Alcatraz/Evil Librarians 60,400
New Spring 121,815
Elantris 202,765
The Final Empire 214,752
The Path of Daggers 226,687
Warbreaker 236,301
Winter's Heart 238,789
Hero of Ages 244,201
The Dragon Reborn 251,392
The Well of Ascension 252,739
The Great Hunt 267,078
Crossroads of Twilight 271,632
A Crown of Swords 295,028
The Eye of the World 305,902
Knife of Dreams 315,163
The Fires of Heaven 354,109
---A MEMORY OF LIGHT 384k So Far!---
Lord of Chaos 389,264
The Shadow Rising 393,823

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Mistborn Mini Figs

Okay, sorry to post yet another store item in such rapid succession.  We've been working on a number of different items for the store, since it's been pretty bleak since we created it, offering only the signed books.  I was hoping to space out these things a little more, but they all kind of got done around the same time. 

This is the third and final of the projects we've been working on, along with the vinyl decals and the poster.  (We'll get the revisions made on that and put it up for you to see again later in the week.) 

Anyway, today's offering is very, very cool.

Painted Vin 

One of my friends, Drew Olds, is a professional figure sculptor and painter.  For a while, he's been working on Mistborn figs, and he finally got the figures back from the manufacturer.  I think they look amazing.  These were hand-sculpted by Drew, and he's offering them for sale in pewter or 'ready to paint' plastic.  He even has hand-painted versions for sale that he did himself.  And the prices are very reasonable.  About ten bucks each for the unpainted, about fourteen for the pewter, and around twenty-three for the the hand-painted.  (The prices vary, depending on which fig you want.  There are also full sets sold at a discount.)

Patina Group

These are intended for anyone, not just gamers.  The pewter minis look beautiful, and would look great in a keepsake showcase or on your desk.  The painted ones would work very well as cubicle buddies at work.  And of course, if you're into War Machine or Warhammer, you could always replace your orc army with koloss instead.  ;)  Use them in your D&D campaigns or just as collectibles.

Painted Steel Inquisitor  Painted Koloss

He's done four sculpts.  The painted koloss above is awesome--you have to see it up close to appreciate it.  There's also a Vin fig, a Kelsier fig, and an Inquisitor fig.  These are sold and shipped by Drew's company; I'll put up a store entry linking there soon, but for now click on any of the pictures above to visit their site.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Poster Near Final Version

Ladies and gentlemen, in honor of Koloss Head-Munching day on the 19th, I proudly present to you the poster of the Allomantic Table of Metals!

mb_table_v13

This is the near-final version.  Why 'near' final?  Well, I'm opening it up to you folks to find our typos.  The poster image above should link to a much larger version, though it's still just a little hard to read the text on that one.  The printed poster will be much more crisp.

You'll notice that we made some revisions to the layout.  We decided that the 'arcs' at the sides in the original draft were too distracting from the main metal plate, and we didn't like how they broke the theme of the poster.  We decided to pull them out and give ourselves more space for the text, which I think will create a much better print over all.  We might do different incarnations of the poster in the future, with different layouts, for those who are interested.  But I wanted this one to be informative as well as asthetic, having that scientific feel of the magic system itself.  I'm very pleased with this result.  You really have to see this thing close up to appreciate the level of detail Isaac put into the metal plate at the center.  It's simply amazing. 

And yes, this image includes spoilers on the missing metals, their Misting names, and their powers.  We hope to have this up for sale by the end of next week.  Right now, the plans are for three versions:

Wallpapers of standards sizes for a donation of any amount.  (Including a donation of nothing, for you poor students.  We like the Radiohead philosophy.  If you can't afford to donate anything, we still want you to be able to enjoy the art.) 
$10 for a poster print.
$50 for a high quality limited edition archival print, singed and numbered by both myself and Isaac, the artist.  The numbers will go up to 50, and while we'll probably keep #1 and #2 for ourselves, the rest will go in a first come, first served order.

We hope to do Feruchemy and Hemalurgy prints in different themes and designs, assuming these Allomancy ones are well received.

Let me know on my LJ or on the forums if you spot any errors!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Reader Mail + Annotation

One reader emailed me, noticing that the AMoL progress bar has been zipping up quite quickly lately.  They were wondering if I'd hit a section where Mr. Jordan had done more writing.  (I can't find the actual email right now, it's buried in the inbox.)  The answer, my astute reader, is yes.  I've hit a section where Mr. Jordan did more work before he passed away than he did on other sections.  Much of it here is in outline form or dictation form, and so I'm having to do a lot of the physical construction of the chapters, but having a detailed outline makes the process move much more quickly.  That's part of why I felt I could leave 20% to be done in December and still feel I could meet my self-imposed deadline.

We're getting much, much closer to my goal, by the way.  Over 350k done so far, with less than 50k to go.  Another reason it's going to well is that I was forced to spend much of the last two months doing other things.  I still got some writing done, as you probably saw with the progress bar updates, but with all of the traveling I did, I had to work hard to simply get the 10k minimum goal I set for myself in a week.  Now that I'm back, I'm eager to get back to work. 

This is how it often happens with me.  I started writing books because...well, I like writing books.  It's what I love to do, and those who know me will tell you that I'd probably spend sixteen hours a day working on my books if life would let me.  October/November is always hard for me, since the touring keeps me from writing.  It's great to tour and meet the readers, and I think it's an important part of the writing buisness.  It helps keep me grounded and in touch with those who read my works.  If I DID spend sixteen hours a day writing, with no contact with the world around me, I think my writing would become more and more insular and less relatable.  (Pemberly and Limebaby's jobs, in part, are to constantly remind me that there are things to write ABOUT by making me get out of my basement and experience them.)

Anyway, here's a pair of updates for you.
For the Mistborn readers, a new annotation.  Chapter Fifty-One
For the WoT fans, an update to the long-languishing relative wordcounts comparison chart.

AMOL Relative Length Chart: 12/10/2008
Alcatraz/Evil Librarians 60,400
New Spring 121,815
Elantris 202,765
The Final Empire 214,752
The Path of Daggers 226,687
Warbreaker 236,301
Winter's Heart 238,789
Hero of Ages 244,201
The Dragon Reborn 251,392
The Well of Ascension 252,739
The Great Hunt 267,078
Crossroads of Twilight 271,632
A Crown of Swords 295,028
The Eye of the World 305,902
Knife of Dreams 315,163
---A MEMORY OF LIGHT 352k So Far!---
The Fires of Heaven 354,109
Lord of Chaos 389,264
The Shadow Rising 393,823

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Allomantic Metal Vinyl Decals!

Just in time for the holidays, we've put together some vinyl decals of the Mistborn Allomantic metals for you!  (Sorry that the poster is taking longer than expected.  We hope to have it for Christmas, but no promises.  These will have to tide you over.)

Enhancement BR

These are very nifty.  They are of a strong vinyl, the type you see people sticking on the backs of their cars and that sort of thing.  They'd look excellent on your laptop computer, writing notebook, or your Koloss Head-Munching Day greeting cards. 

CIMG4684

We're selling them in packs of four for $9.99 each, which I think is a  very good price.  On-line, it seems that decals like these tend to go for about three to four bucks a piece.  (Or more.)  We might eventually sell individual metals, but we wanted to get these out for Christmas, and this streamlines the process.  You can choose to get the Physical, Mental, Enhancement, or Temporal metals.  Note that the package that comes with each group of decals doesn't identify the metals individually--it will just include a card saying "Temporal Metals" or "Physical metals."

I'm posting this image below as a quick on-line reference.  (Note that on this list, we included the sounds for the letters as well as their metal.  Yes, there are a few more symbols and sounds not on this list.  RAFO.)

mistborn_translation2

We're selling the decals with the Temporal Metals including Atium and Malatium, as indicated in the third book, even though they don't quite belong there.  (See the spoiler thread on my forums.)  I figured that people would rather buy those as opposed to metals they haven't read about. 

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

University of Utah Tonight! (Plus other news and an Annotation.)

I'll be stopping by the University of Utah tonight to do a signing at their bookstore from 5-8.  For those of you who wonder how I, a BYU grad, could consent to go sign at the bookstore of BYU's big rival...let me remind you of something far more important.  I'm a Nebraska boy.  Go Huskers. 

The La Times just ran an article about the upcoming end to the Wheel of Time.  Thought you might like to see the link.

Finally, here is a new Annotation.  There are just a couple more for Mistborn Two.  After that, we'll launch into MB3.

Well of Ascension: Chapter Fifty

Monday, December 01, 2008

Shipping for the Holidays

If you're thinking of grabbing signed hardcovers of Mistborn or Elantris for gifts this holiday season, I'm happy to sign specific greetings!  Just remember to put an explanation in the signing instructions telling me who the book is for, and what you want me to write.  (Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Koloss Head-Munching day, whatever.)  I'm hoping to have a few more items in the store here in the next few days, but we'll see if we get them up in time. 

For books, the Christmas shipping deadline is quickly approaching.  International orders will have to be in by Wednesday afternoon at three (U.S. Mountain time--so you've got about 48 hours to get them in.)  That will give me time to sign them and ship them.  For U.S. and Canada, you'll want to get them in by midnight on Friday the 5th.  Anything later than that, and we can't guarantee that they'll arrive in time for Christmas.  (Though you can still order and we'll try.)  If you're ordering after this date and you absolutely must have it by Christmas, contact my assistant Becky (dragonsteel.becky@gmail.com) to arrange express shipping. 

Also, in a side note, I've gotten a few emails about the Mistborn audiobooks.  Yes, Mistborn: The Hero of Ages is out right now un audio.  Books one and two are not.  Tor decided that the best thing to do was do Book Three first, since the newest released books tend to sell the best, even if the older ones aren't out in audio.  But they ARE working on Books One and Two for an audio release too.  Last I heard, they were planning to have them out by the end of the year--but we'll see.  (And I'm not sure what the status is on Alcatraz Two's audio release.)