Date: 2016-02-25
Location: Austin, TX
I just wanted to say thank you. I’m in the last two months of my Emergency Medicine residency, so it was eight years of medical training, and you’re the only fiction author I’ve read.
Wow. I feel impressed.
I don’t have time for fiction really.
When I was in grad school I didn’t get much reading done either. I wasn’t in your style of grad school, I was in easy grad school, but I still understand.
Yeah, every time you release something, I make time for it. I’m very appreciative of being able to participate in your world.
Brandon on reading
Thank you for writing Secret History. That was a definite love letter to Cosmere fans.
That was the point of it, yes.
Are the Shardblade practice guards… Are they made of aluminum?
U-huh! *laughs* Good question! RAFO! But you have an excellent question, you’re the first to ask that, and I think you’re a very smart person.
When you’re writing, do you hear Michael Kramer in your head?
I do now. I asked for him by name because I liked how he and Kate Reading did the Wheel of Time books. Yeah, I get a big kick out of doing Wayne’s voices and trying to figure out how Michael’s going to try to read those.
What were your inspiration when you wrote the [Mistborn] series, or for particular characters…?
Well, Mistborn– I passed, honestly, through a fog bank at 70 mph driving from my mom’s house, and I’m like, “This looks cool, I’ve got to use this.” That’s the first thought I can think of. Feruchemy goes back to being in high school and being an insomniac, being really tired and wishing I could store up my sleep, so I’d be sleepy when I wanted to be sleepy. Kelsier’s inspiration was a guy who had been only out for himself, who realized the greater import of doing something.
What is your favorite Harry Potter book?
My favorite Harry Potter book is the Patronus one. Is that three? Yeah, that’s three, isn’t it.
Can you share any abilities that Hoid has accrued so far in the books, has he– I can’t even pronounce the L-word…
Yes, lerasium, he is indeed an Allomancer. That has happened. I haven’t confirmed much else, but he does have that.
confirmed
How involved are you in that [audiobook] process?
So, I pick the reader, and then I read all the names in the book and send them an audio file of that, and they listen to it and they sometimes follow what I say.
You’ve said that Shardblades can be made in other magic systems. So if it’s not like a Shardblade from Roshar, what makes it a Shardblade?
The “shard” refers to the heavy investiture of a Shard of Adonalsium. Most of what you’ll see will be the Roshar ones, but it is technically possible to make them out of the other magic systems. It’s going to be a heavily invested magical weapon is kind of how I would define it.
So are the Bands one?
Ummm… I would not call them one, but they are close, they’re not Invested enough.
shardblades ,
shards ,
investiture ,
Bands of Mourning
I think the UK covers are really cool.
Yeah, the UK has this thing - the US likes to have different cover artists for different series, the UK likes to have a single cover artist for an author. So there’s kind of a different style and philosophy.
Is there any plan to revisit [Legion]?
I plan to do one more.
In Words of Radiance, there is a character named Iyatil… Is she a member of the race that we see in Bands of Mourning in the–
She is related to them in the same way that I am Danish.
Okay, so not.
Well, I am, my heritage is Danish.
Iyatil ,
Scadrial
How many words do you think you average a day?
I average about 2,000.
[Laughing] That’s actually a goal I could hit!
Yeah, not too many - I’m just incredibly consistent.
Brandon on writing
What is your favorite Beatle?
Ringo Starr, because he lucked out. […] I have never had anybody ask me my favorite Beatle, particularly not someone who looked like he was seven.
I want you to know that our third graders think that our librarian is evil now.
Oh good, good, good. I’m very pleased to be corrupting your third graders.
And they’re very suspicious of anyone in horn-rimmed glasses.
Mmm. I need to get myself some, because it would be like, cognitive dissonance to the kids. […] You tell them they’re not allowed to have as bad handwriting as me. MY third-grade teacher thinks it’s atrocious that I never learned how to have good handwriting. She’ll never forgive me.
Brandon on influences ,
Alcatraz
That one right there [pointing to a book?] - he named his son Kelsier.
Wow.
He was having a really tough time when he first came out, so he named him after the Survivor.
Well, give him the best. That means a lot to me.
compliments
What is your favorite female A name, and it cannot be [?].
Uh, uhhh…Anastasia? I think it’s a very pretty name. Arwen is good too. Very nerdy, so…
On the scale of not-very to extremely… how confused should I still be about Investiture?
Pretty confused, it’s not– I mean, I haven’t even dug into really what it is.
You mentioned that the flakes of metal are catalysts to access the powers of Preservation. What do the birds from Patji use as catalysts?
You don’t always have to have the exact same thing for catalysts, for that it’s kind of more of an innate connection, in the same way that the metals have an innate connection. They ARE the catalyst if that makes sense.
If Hoid was on Scadrial during the original Mistborn trilogy, and had a bead of lerasium, and took it and gained Allomantic powers, could he go to Roshar during Stormlight and still have those Allomantic powers?
Yes… Most of the magics are not re– area centric, though a few are.
Lady taking photos: Best baby photo ever, huh?
I’m just glad you didn’t ask me to sign the baby, since that’s happened to me before. I feel very weird signing babies.
You’re definitely our favorite author. You’re the first author [we recommended to each other?].
Wow, that’s great. The first one I recommended to my wife was Robert Jordan.
what’s my favorite?
Because I’m an accountant, I’m curious - ebook vs. regular book: which do you make more off of?
So, when a hardcover is out, I make more off a hardcover. When the paperback is out, I make more off an ebook.
As you were constructing the Allomantic powers revealed in the Wax and Wayne books, I was just curious why you chose cadmium and chromium to be metals.
Well I picked them way back when I designed the magic system, and I wanted metals that would be easily recognizable but which wouldn’t be commonly available in a medieval society, so that as society progressed it would make sense, they would have access to these new metals, if that makes sense. Aluminum was a little in that as well, but I like aluminum because they had it anciently, but very rarely. So it could be a more mythical metal.
The magic system you wrote in the Wheel of Time, that seems like a non-constrained system, and then most of your worlds have a constrained system of magic. Which one was harder to write?
The Wheel of Time was harder to write, because just my natural inclination is the other way.
Which of your books do you think would be the best to adapt into a musical?
A musical? Uhh…I have not given that a whole lot of thought…um…Alcatraz, because it’s silly, it’s kind of a silly idea.
Okay. I thought I might ask you one you haven’t heard before.
You win a prize. That’s one I haven’t heard before.
Brandon on adaptations
I heard somewhere that you were trying to find time to play Bloodborne?
I did play Bloodborne. I liked it.
It was hard for me, man. [… just with the patch?]
Get the axe, the big axe, take it to its big thing, learn to use the [charge?] attack, spin around and hit things before they get to you. And then you’ll be fine.
Right on. I’ll get back to it.
Brandon on video games
How’s that Lift novella?
It has not been written yet but I’ve got good plans for it.
I really admire how [prolifically?] you write, just like things that I’d be terrified to write, so I haven’t [?]…
Did you hear my speech?
I did! But whenever I write something it sounds really hollow…
That’s okay, it happens to all of us. Everyone kind of starts that way. It doesn’t have to be good until you’ve done revisions. Give yourself the permission to do a crappy first draft.
The writing defies me if it’s really crappy…
Yeah, yeah, but everybody fixes it, don’t stress. You’ve got to learn how to do the crappy first draft. You’ve gotta trust me on this one!
Brandon on writing
A lot of your books deal with dealing with mortality. Do you have a contingency author lined up?
I don’t have one lined up, I just have good notes. And my assistant knows what authors I like and things like that, it would really just depend on how long I last. Like right now I’d probably ask Brian McClellan to do it, but who knows, he might be too big by…but hopefully I’d last until I’m like 90 and we just need someone to finish like one book.
Oo, I’m signing a Magic box. Is this…
It’s a peasant cube.
A peasant cube! So it includes uncommons, right? Pauper is common only, right?
Yeah, yeah, it’s not enough diversity with just commons.
Yeah, I made a common-only cube and it just felt like 4/4’s hitting each other in the face.
It’s aggro, that’s the thing. But with this you can get combo, you can get control, red range…
What’s the combo? Is there like a storm deck in peasant?
You can play [?] storm deck in peasant, all the pieces are common and uncommon, but what I most like is to draft [crystal shards?] and [? drifters]…
Okay, that’s a combo after my own heart.
And then I had a [Sphinx’s Tutelage] in place, so I mill my opponents out, and they’re like, Are you seriously going to do this? And I’m like, I seriously am.
[Laughing] Oh, that’s brilliant. That’s brilliant. No, you can’t [scoop?], no.
Brandon on MtG
Favorite Magic card?
Doppelganger. It’s one of the first rares that I pulled when I was young.
That’s the old-school one with the two girls like - yeah, such good art.
It’s one of the original art pieces that’s just really good.
Brandon on MtG ,
what’s my favorite?
Do we get to find out eventually where Calamity comes from?
Eventually, like the next trilogy I do will dig into that… You’ve got to remember, in the teen books I’m not going to dig into lore as much, they’re written as action novels. So in the next series I’ll get you some of your answers, but that’s not what the point of these books– like The Stormlight Archive, the point is the lore. In these books, the point is “have fun”. So you will, but it’s going to take a little bit longer.
What were some of first [Epic] powers you thought about but didn’t do?
A lot of the early powers I thought of were ones that big superheroes already have and use too much, like electricity or some of these things. So I’m like, I want powers that I can do something new with, not something that I’ll just repeat what Marvel and DC have done.
Are you friends with James Dashner?
Yes, Dashner and I go way, way back. I read Maze Runner before it was published, which was pretty cool, and then I gave him this cool quote about how good it is and he didn’t even put it on the book when it was published. I was like, “Aw, come on, James!” But yeah, I met him in a middle school, when we were both brand-new writers. He was going in to talk to students, and I went in right after him.
How long did it take you to come up with the bad metaphors in the Reckoners?
It was really hard. I thought it’d be easy, cause writing bad stuff you usually do on accident, and then it took me forever to come up with them. It was the hardest part of the books.
Yeah, it wasn’t that they were bad, they were just a different way of thinking…
That’s right.
Brandon on writing
What is your favorite power that the Epics have?
Like not for myself, just my favorite power?
Yeah.
Hmm…I think the vaporizing metal, the tensors, is pretty cool and kind of different.
what’s my favorite?
What was your inspiration for Wit, or who?
Hmm. The closest thing I’ve been able to say is the court jester from King Lear, he’s one of my favorite literary characters. But I’m not sure if I can point to anyone specific other than that.
WOT pronunciation.
Finding out [how Robert Jordan pronounced things] is kind of hard sometimes, because his wife and his assistant disagree.
Do you wish you had [?] any of your stories based on fan feedback?
No, with the exception of a few things in the Wheel of Time, where there a few things I don’t think I got quite right. With my books, I’m pretty confident…I mean, that doesn’t mean everyone will love everything about them, but I’m confident that I told the story I wanted to tell, and sometimes that’s not the story everybody wants, but it is the story I felt was the right story.
You think you’ll ever make a full novel of Legion?
If I could ever get the TV show off the ground, I would, but it depends on whether I can get someone to make a TV show of it.
Have you ever considered writing nonfiction?
I briefly considered writing a writing book, but I don’t think I know enough yet to write one.
Next Reckoners books?
Reckoners semi-sequel will involve a parallel dimension, if there’s a direct sequel trilogy, then Mizzy will be the protag.
Jasnah’s book, would an in world person consider that she is also advocating for gender equality for men?
In-world? Jasnah would, but I don’t think most people who read it would.
Do they have a concept of alcoholism in Roshar?
Yes.
Does Dalinar’s family have it?
Hmmmm… That will be answered in the next book, but you should definitely be asking that question.
Is there an abolitionist movement in Roshar? In any culture there?
In ANY culture? Eh…yeees.
Are we ever going to find out about all of Adolin’s failed relationships?
Probably a little bit more. Not a ton. But a little bit more.
Jasnah ,
Dalinar ,
Adolin ,
culture
Find out more about the caesium, the exploding metal?
The super caesium? Well, the last Wax and Wayne book is called “The Lost Metal” so….you kinda got it…yeah.
Do you have a background in biology or medicine, because you come up with so many creative worlds that seem like there’s the…
I started as a biochemistry major. And then I jumped ship to English after the math kind of drove me out. Math is fun, but I didn’t enjoy the busywork of math, I felt like I was jumping through too many hoops, once I got it I’m like, “I’m done.” I mean, I got A’s in Calculus, so I did do my math…but it’s like, I didn’t want to sit and solve equations for Avogadro’s number every day all day. I felt like I was doing too much of that and not enough blowing stuff up, which is what I had learned chemistry really was when I was in high school.
I have never signed any shark socks before. I can try to sign the stick, but my signature’s kind of…not stick like.
It’s better than an ice cube.
And it’s better than a baby. Someone at a signing asked me to sign a baby once. And a sword - it actually worked really well. I’ve signed a sword, I’ve signed license plates, I’ve refused to sign inappropriate body parts.
Where’d you get the idea for burning metals getting different powers?
Metabolism. Researching metabolism. When I wrote it out, it works. It’s weird, but it works.
Wax and Wayne. Who did you base them on?
Wax is like a mix between Clint Eastwood and Sherlock Holmes in my head. Wayne - I’m not even sure. He just kinda came out of nowhere at me.
What does a mistcloak/coat look like?
Mistcoat: Duster that’s been shredded into strips. But remember, there’s not like an industry that makes these. Each person commissions their own, and so they vary quite widely.
Are they at the waist, or…?
It’s a little above the waist.
Brandon on cosplay
How do you get to sleep until noon with three children?
I have a very, very patient, loving and wonderful wife. And in recompense, we make sure that the company has an assistant for her who comes in at 9 o’clock and helps get the kids off to school and then watches the 3-year-old for a few hours so she can do work. She has some sanity lent in that way. She was a schoolteacher for years, so she can get up, right? It’s a schoolteacher thing.
Where do you go when you come home after your 105 days on tour, where do you go with your family to just like be quiet…?
Just my house. Basically - my kids are still little, so it’s come home and let them climb on me. That’s what we do. Play whatever video game they’re into at the moment.
How do you make cultures so vibrant?
Dig deep rather than go wide. One or two cultures that play off of each other in an interesting way, where you’ve considered a lot of the ramifications, are going to be better than trying to create 30 different cultures. Try to keep focused on what’s going to be important to the characters and the books, and try to spend your worldbuilding there. So like if the characters are going to have conflict over religion, spend time on religion. But if instead they’re going to have different linguistics and that’s a source of conflict, spend time on the linguistics.
So in the Stormlight Archive, they have the two Surges, and they have a third power effect, right?
They have kind of effects on each other, like a reverberation. Yes. I wouldn’t call it expressly a third power, I’d call it interactions.
So, it seems like…you don’t have to confirm anything, but it seems like Kaladin is able to transfer his powers to his men following him…
The Windrunners are known for having lots of squires.
And the Skybreakers seem like they’re really good at hunting people down.
I’m not going to answer any of those! But good questions!
surgebinding ,
windrunners ,
skybreakers ,
investiture interactions
When Wax changes his weight, is that weight or mass?
He is…he is changing…so he is actually changing his mass, in a weird…It’s kind of halfway in between, is really what it is. But it follows the laws of conservation of momentum, so it’s not just weight. It’s timidly half-stepping in between.
What is the thing with Adolin’s serial dating? Is it just…?
He is bad with relationships, and that’s just it. He’s a little bit scared of being good at relationships, and so there’s some kind of unconscious sabotaging going on. But yeah, he’s young and he’s bad at relationships.
Do the Radiants have only one gender per [order], or you can have…?
You have - yeah. There can be different genders.
Why is Dalinar very restrictive of Adolin but not with Renarin and Elhokar?
It is a little bit - I would say a slight flaw on Dalinar’s part, he’s too hard on Adolin. But that’s because Adolin is in line for the throne, and he’s the eldest son, and the heir, and all of that stuff. I would say that Dalinar’s a little too lax in some ways, a little too strict in others.
Adolin ,
Dalinar ,
knights radiant ,
Renarin ,
Elhokar
If someone goes to every planet and get Invested from every shard, if he was Invested enough would he become a new Shard?
That’s an excellent question that I’m not going to answer.
I guess you will not answer if anyone is trying to do that
Yup, I am not going to answer. Sorry. That’s too deeply related to things that are happening in the cosmere and I don’t want to dig into for a little while yet.
worldhoppers ,
investiture ,
shards
There is a metal used to charge in the last Mistborn book, is that lithium?
Ah, nnnnn… [Sounds like he’s going to say “no” but then changes his mind] I’ll dig into that, that’s another RAFO. But I’m glad you’re thinking along those lines. Let’s just say that.
Did the original Shardbearers know what Shard they were grabbing?
Another RAFO. Sorry. You’re asking really good questions. Really good questions.
There are different kinds of spren that bond with people and it appears they’re based on a concept. Is it possible to have a concept which would make a Nahel bond that gives two Surges that don’t align to one of the Radiant orders?
Um, uh…this is a theoretical possibility that has not happened.
Did something happen to Demoux between Mistborn and Stormlight to turn him into a jerk, or am I misinterpreting his actions?
He is not a jerk, but he is not…
As pure as he is in Mistborn?
Yeah. He’s a little more idealistic than pure, how about that?
Are we going to hear [his] story?
Yes. […] I’m toying with some stuff in Secret History too [two?], it’ll get into some of this.
Is there going to be more Secret History?
They have to go into the cracks between other books, but not…I am planning to do more right now, I’m not opposed to having more like that happen.
Demoux
The Cognitive and the Physical Realms…do they [?] to the Shardworld for the character they’re related to, or can you go back and forth - like in Secret History, when he passes off of Scadrial and to the outskirts, within I guess the Cognitive Realm, is that something they could do with other Shardworlds?
Yes.
the question seems incomplete
What is the raw power of the most powerful [relationship?]?
I would say that there isn’t one.
another incomplete question
I was curious if the world of Sixth of the Dusk was going to make another appearance…?
It will likely make another appearance, I am unlikely to do another story there just because I have too many things to do sequels too, but if you keep your eyes open, you can see…
Is Hoid related?
You will see some more.
Sixth of the Dusk
How long did you work on the signature?
It’s kind of interesting, since it started off being legible, kind of like that, that’s “Brandon” and then a “Sanderson”. And then it just over ten years turned into…This is the B and that’s the rest of my name, and then that’s the S.
Speed, efficiency. Looks cool too.
Yeah, my handwriting’s so sloppy anyway that I figure a symbol is better than trying to write it out.
It makes you look like a doctor, too.
Yeah, that’s right.
Brandon on handwriting
When Wax’s uncle gets blown up and [?] says “you will serve us in another realm”, is that a [truth?]
Wait wait, who says that?
With Suit, the end of Bands of Mourning? He gets blown up…?
Oh right, right…So, yeah, that is not specifically answered on purpose. That is meant to be more ambiguous, it may not even be a true statement.
So their deity doesn’t pick which souls -
I’m not saying yes or no, I’m just saying, don’t take what they say as law, as the actual state of things. It may just be a belief on their part.
Mr. Suit ,
kandra ,
Bands of Mourning
The ten Surges on Roshar, I think you said are basically a different set of laws of physics.
Yeah.
Are those laws of physics consistent throughout the Cosmere?
Um, yes, to an extent. You would consider, like - it’s kind of weird because I based them on the idea of the fundamental forces, but this is kind of like a human construction. Like you could say that physics is pure and natural, but we’re still putting things in boxes. And the scientists on Roshar would for instance consider being able to travel between the Cognitive and Physical Realms as a force, the thing that pulls people back and forth between that, as a fundamental force. I don’t know if it would fit our definition of a fundamental force.
Brandon on terminology
Marvel or DC?
[big sigh] So Marvel makes better movies, generally, I classically am a fan of Batman and Superman, but I feel like Marvel’s been knocking it out of the park and I did not like the Man of Steel movie. And so it’s kind of like half and half. I’m going to say Marvel right now until DC redeems itself.
Thoughts on Force Awakens?
I liked The Force Awakens. I thought it was a good film. I was a little disappointed in another Death Star, but I understand that the idea is to introduce a new generation to the concept of Star Wars, and in that case it fulfilled its role. I thought the characters were really good, and that’s the most important part.
Who was your favorite?
I’m going to say the Storm Trooper dude, what’s his name, Finn.
I liked Poe, he was precious.
He was, he was. But I really enjoyed Finn as a character.
what’s my favorite?
How do you decide that a magic system you’re working on is done?
When I feel like the stories I’m telling are working, I go with it. That doesn’t mean I have every little thing worked out - I’m a planner, so I have a lot of them, if I don’t have something worked out I like to sort of let people know in the book - here’s a hole that the characters have noticed, if that makes sense. But at some point you just have to write. So it’s a more by instinct thing.
I’ve created a couple magic systems and done worldbuilding, but whenever I think it’s done, I come up with another facet that I think would be interesting.
I say, if you want to tell stories, write the story and write down all the facets in a separate file. Then in a revision, go foreshadow that these things could exist, but don’t deal with them until you get to a future book. If you look at Mistborn, there’s hints about how Feruchemy works, but we don’t really deal with it in Mistborn since there’s so much already piled onto you.
Brandon on magic systems
The guards that are used on the Shardblades, are those made of aluminum?
[After commenting that 17th Shard must be talking about it] This is an excellent question that is well asked, and people are thinking along the right lines. I haven’t answered 100%, but people are thinking the right way.
[on David’s bad metaphors]
It came from me writing a bad metaphor on accident, and then being like, “I’m going to run with this and see where it goes.” I like it [as a character quirk] for David because his personality is that he’s a little overzealous about things, and so trying so hard on the metaphors is a great way to express that.
What era were you reading comics and what…
The first comic I got into was the original Eastman and Larry[?] TMNT, which I really really liked, and after that I read what people gave me, so like Sandman - I mean, I’m the kid of the 90’s, right? The Gaiman stuff, and Watchmen of course, but that’s my era, Kingdom Come. the good graphic novels that have a complete story were always my favorite, anytime I would get into something else, I would get into it and then they’d change writers or something like this and I’d get annoyed. Nowadays my favorite comic is actually a webcomic.
Are you doing any video game work these days? I know you did some work with Infinity Blade stuff.
I’m actually going to LA to hear some pitches on video game stuff on Monday, so yes, but I haven’t yet been able to get anything made. So we shall see if it ever happens. I’ve helped the Infinity Blade guys with their next game also, just as an advisory position thing. That’s been fun. Their next game’s going to be awesome.
If you were a Leecher, could you destroy a Shardblade?
Umm…I’m going to RAFO that for now, let’s just say that it would be incredibly difficult if it were possible, and I’m not going to even say if it is. The Investiture in a Shardblade is much greater than your average Allomancer, but…This type of thing is not unheard of in the cosmere. The larkin, the Leechers, and Nightblood all have a similar sort of thing going on. Destroying a Shardblade would be REALLY hard. And Investiture resists other forms of Investiture, so.
We had a stray cat that we adopted a couple years ago, and we named it Lestibournes.
[Laughing] That’s a great name for a cat.
Can Hoid change how he looks?
He has…various methods of changing how he looks.
Why does Nightblood need to eat Investiture?
So, Nightblood is… leaky, is how would say it.
Does his sheath help with this somehow?
Yes.
Nightblood
How did Regalia establish contact with Calamity?
I think I’ll save that for the next series I am doing.
In Alloy of Law, I noticed that when Marsh is talking to Marasi, he says that Wax is doing his brother’s work, is that referring to Harmony or Kelsier?
That’s referring to Kelsier in that quote, in his opinion at the moment. I don’t know if I agree with it. He feels that Wax is protecting the people, the little people, which was Kelsier’s work. In his opinion, which is kind of lofty.
Are the shadows, are the physical ghosts in Threnody, the same as Cognitive Shades?
They are a very, very similar breeds.
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