While I was thrilled to hear the excellent, excellent intro to Alloy of Law, I was a little sad that we didn’t get to the Q&A part of the session. So I headed over to the Harvard Bookstore, where he would be signing and answering questions. Now, this bit was a little strange for me. I’ve met Brandon before (probably a dozen times or so between ‘06 and ‘09), all at varying levels of fame, I listen to writing excuses every week, and I follow his blag, so it wasn’t “oh my gosh, I get to meet him” jitters. I feel like, in all the ways that I want to, I already know Brandon.
The jitters were probably a combination of a couple of things: (1) I had no desire to have him sign anything, I just wanted to ask Brandon a couple of questions. I’ve never a big “sign things” person, especially when the signer is a person to me, and not a Figure (if that makes any sense). And (2) this was the first time that I had one-on-one interaction with Brandon while considering myself an agent for a higher group (namely, the 17th Shard). It was a bit nerve-wracking in a way that was completely new to me. Anyway, ending my indulgent self-psychoanalysis…
I figured out the way to overcome (1). Instead of having him personalize it to me, I asked him to write a clue about the Cosmere in my worn copy of Elantris (it’s my first Sanderson, and is literally falling apart; the cover is scotch taped on ).
He wrote “Do not go to Shadesmar on this world (really, I’m not kidding)” on the title page, then said to me “You guys can chew on that for a little while.”
I like that. I think that I’ll bring in all of my books to his next New York/Boston signing and ask him for Cosmere clues instead of signatures.
Brandon has since asked that we not ask for Cosmere hints. He would prefer us to come with specific questions in mind.
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