Brandon Sanderson, the friend I mentioned who is a published author, had an article written about him in the daily paper. I thought I would link to it and copy the contents: http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,660202512,00.html
Wee-hour musings paying off for author
PROVO — For five years, Brandon Sanderson spent the quiet midnight hours weaving tales of fantastical worlds filled with magic, intrigue and secrecy.
A graveyard shift at Provo's Best Western CottonTree Inn yielded a total of nine books for the budding writer, a student at the time, who pounded out page after page until 5 a.m. each morning while working at the hotel desk.
Two published novels and 12 book deals later, the 31-year-old author can afford to devote daylight hours to his work — although his wife, Emily, tells stories of late-night writing binges.
Sanderson recently received a six-figure advance from Scholastic, the "Harry Potter"-series publisher, for a children's fantasy series about a boy named Alcatraz who does battle with a cult of evil librarians.
These recent writing successes, though, resulted from years of hard work — a fact Sanderson likes to point out to students in his class, Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, at Brigham Young University.
"A lot of people say my 'debut' novel doesn't feel like a first novel," Sanderson said. "Well, that's because it's not. It's my sixth novel."
The day Sanderson received an offer for "Elantris" from an editor at Tor Books, a publisher of science fiction and fantasy, made all the late hours worth it, he said.
"I just about fainted when I got this news," Sanderson said. "Finally somebody bought one."
"Elantris," which hit bookshelves in May 2005, was one of 13 "practice" novels he wrote while attending undergraduate and graduate school at BYU.
"A lot of people give up after writing a book and not selling it," Sanderson said. "My opinion is, just keep at it."
And keep at it he has. Sanderson currently has 80,000 copies of his books in print. The first of a trilogy called "Mistborn" appeared in bookstores in July 2006, and the second is slated for publication on Aug. 21.
Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News
Brandon Sanderson recently received a six-figure advance for a children's fantasy series about a boy named Alcatraz.
Two published novels and 12 book deals later, the 31-year-old author can afford to devote daylight hours to his work — although his wife, Emily, tells stories of late-night writing binges.
Sanderson recently received a six-figure advance from Scholastic, the "Harry Potter"-series publisher, for a children's fantasy series about a boy named Alcatraz who does battle with a cult of evil librarians.
These recent writing successes, though, resulted from years of hard work — a fact Sanderson likes to point out to students in his class, Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, at Brigham Young University.
"A lot of people say my 'debut' novel doesn't feel like a first novel," Sanderson said. "Well, that's because it's not. It's my sixth novel."
The day Sanderson received an offer for "Elantris" from an editor at Tor Books, a publisher of science fiction and fantasy, made all the late hours worth it, he said.
"I just about fainted when I got this news," Sanderson said. "Finally somebody bought one."
"Elantris," which hit bookshelves in May 2005, was one of 13 "practice" novels he wrote while attending undergraduate and graduate school at BYU.
"A lot of people give up after writing a book and not selling it," Sanderson said. "My opinion is, just keep at it."
And keep at it he has. Sanderson currently has 80,000 copies of his books in print. The first of a trilogy called "Mistborn" appeared in bookstores in July 2006, and the second is slated for publication on Aug. 21.
The first of the Alcatraz series, "Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians," will come out Oct. 1 and other books are planned for May 2008 and early 2009.
Unique plots characterize much of Sanderson's writing, said his literary agent, Joshua Bilmes.
"It was clear looking at his work that Brandon had more ideas in one book than a lot of fantasy writers have in their entire career," said Bilmes, of JABberwocky Literary Agency. "This was just stunning to me because it was so beyond what other writers I was reading were capable of doing."
Both of Sanderson's published novels include maps to help readers orient themselves in the kingdoms he has created, and "Mistborn" even has its own alphabet, designed by Isaac Stewart, who also drew each of the maps.
Stewart, a close friend of Sanderson's and a prolific fantasy reader, said he likes Sanderson's fresh take on the genre.
"My favorite thing about them is that they haven't been done before," he said. "Brandon's books aren't the derivative Tolkien."
The complex magical systems and mysterious characters of "Elantris" and "Mistborn" seem worlds away from Sanderson's neat townhome in south Provo, his casual jeans or innocuous hairstyle.
But fantasy appears to take up a large chunk of Sanderson's mind, and random thoughts often lead to the next project, he said. The entire "Alcatraz" series, for example, resulted from a line that just popped into his mind one day.
"And that line was: 'So there I was, tied to an altar made from outdated encyclopedias about to be sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil librarians,"' Sanderson said.
After a mere 16 days of writing, that line turned into a 50,000-word novel — that's about 300 pages.
The series, Sanderson's first attempt at children's fiction, tells the story of a boy who discovers he's part of a secret group of freedom fighters who battle librarians, an evil cult that controls the world by restricting information. Each of the freedom fighters has an unusual but surprisingly powerful magical skill, such as the ability to arrive late to appointments.
By focusing on less-obvious talents, Sanderson said he hopes young readers will realize their hidden abilities.
"I think everybody has talents that don't immediately come out ... and sometimes those can be more important," he said. "One of my talents was daydreaming, and I've turned that into a career."
Unique plots characterize much of Sanderson's writing, said his literary agent, Joshua Bilmes.
"It was clear looking at his work that Brandon had more ideas in one book than a lot of fantasy writers have in their entire career," said Bilmes, of JABberwocky Literary Agency. "This was just stunning to me because it was so beyond what other writers I was reading were capable of doing."
Both of Sanderson's published novels include maps to help readers orient themselves in the kingdoms he has created, and "Mistborn" even has its own alphabet, designed by Isaac Stewart, who also drew each of the maps.
Stewart, a close friend of Sanderson's and a prolific fantasy reader, said he likes Sanderson's fresh take on the genre.
"My favorite thing about them is that they haven't been done before," he said. "Brandon's books aren't the derivative Tolkien."
The complex magical systems and mysterious characters of "Elantris" and "Mistborn" seem worlds away from Sanderson's neat townhome in south Provo, his casual jeans or innocuous hairstyle.
But fantasy appears to take up a large chunk of Sanderson's mind, and random thoughts often lead to the next project, he said. The entire "Alcatraz" series, for example, resulted from a line that just popped into his mind one day.
"And that line was: 'So there I was, tied to an altar made from outdated encyclopedias about to be sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil librarians,"' Sanderson said.
After a mere 16 days of writing, that line turned into a 50,000-word novel — that's about 300 pages.
Stuart Johnson, Deseret Morning News
"Allomantic Table of Elements" is one of many illustrations by Isaac Stewart in Sanderson's books.
By focusing on less-obvious talents, Sanderson said he hopes young readers will realize their hidden abilities.
"I think everybody has talents that don't immediately come out ... and sometimes those can be more important," he said. "One of my talents was daydreaming, and I've turned that into a career."
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