Crem and the Purelake on Roshar. Do they have any connection to Cultivation?
Both existed on the planet before Cultivation arrived.
But both are influenced by her now?
Yes, she influences both.
If you pull a campfire soul out of your pocket in the Cognitive Realm near Threnody, will shades get mad?
RAFO!
Will you ever do any more in the Reckoners' world after Calamity? Both [Megan Tarash] and I hope you will.
Leave the man alone, Knees. He's answering the fans' questions, not yours.
How do we win? That's my question.
I'll be releasing a little instructional manual on this in a few weeks called Calamity. :)
Come on. That answer was about as helpful as a dryer full of water balloons.
(I'm only teasing. Please don't kill me in the next book. Please.)
Are either the blue-skinned Natans or blue-veined Babatharnams human-Aimian hybrids?
Yes.
Has one world's magic systems been used in battles/wars on another worlds? Such as Allomancy used on Roshar?
Not in anything large scale.
Which of your characters required the most research beforehand in order to write?
Kaladin took some research into field medicine and depression. He probably took the most.
I know they are not a part of the Cosmere, but does the Reckonersverse follow the rules of Realmatic theory?
No. Instead, it follows quantum multiverse theory.
Radiant vs. Mistborn: who wins?
Depends on the situation and the Radiant order.
Did Nazh fall in with Khriss before or after the Forests of Hell were colonized by Patience's people?
RAFO. (Sorry. I am toying with a book on Threnody, and don't want to lock myself into anything yet.)
Your characters often gain confidence from beg to end of a book. What inspired that trend of personal growth?
My own life! :)
Do you always know the ending of the stories when you begin them?
Almost always. I'm a planner. Once in a while, I do a short story where I don't. Even that is rare, though.
if you could have any of the powers from your books which one would you choose?
Windrunning, probably.
In Stormlight Archive what inspired you to come up with the idea of bridges & how they carry them across chasms?
I wanted a form of siege warfare that was different from anything that readers had seen before, but had the same despair to it.
Who provoked the confrontation, Tanavast or Rayse?
RAFO.
Is it known to most people in Elandel that Ranette has a girlfriend? Or are they hiding?
They don't need to hide in particular in Elendel.
Do you watch Doctor Who? And if so, would you like to write an episode?
I have watched some Doctor Who and liked it a lot--but I don't do screenplays, so I might not be a good choice.
When you write.do you see the characters as real people or cartoons or comics?
Real people.
Will there be a sequel to the secret project? (are we allowed to use it's name yet?)
Yes, you can use the name now. And yes, I plan a sequence of these.
You've mentioned several times that traveling to Shadesmar [the Cognitive Realm] on Sel is incredibly dangerous. Would reassembling Devotion and Dominion solve this problem?
Yes, I suppose that could work, yes.
The Butler
If you watch in these scenes, I'm trying very hard to set up the butler's eventual betrayal. This one must be done very carefully, however, for a couple of reasons. First off, Tillaume is actually a pretty good person. Loyal to Wax's uncle, true, but a good man. He doesn't want to kill Wax, but he sees it as important and understands what must be done.
What he is doing here in discouraging Wax is an attempt to keep him from drawing the old Lord Ladrian's attention. Tillaume knows that if it goes too far, Wax will have to be removed. But Tillaume is fond of him, and doesn't want that to happen. Hence his disapproval. He doesn't actually know he''ll be ordered to kill Wax; in fact, if he had known that he'd be responsible, he probably would have tried harder to sabotage what Wax is doing in these chapters. It takes him a little by surprise that Wax does all this, however, as Tillaume thought he'd sufficiently discouraged such behavior.
Where did the Cosmere come from? What inspired you?
Lots of things. Isaac Asimov connecting his Robot books and Foundation books was a partial inspiration to be certain.
Have you ever completely lost motivation or inspiration to write? When?
Closest I've come was about two years before I got published. I'd been rejected so much, and had worked for 8 years.
Parshendi/Parshmen/Gemhearts vs ISIS/Non-radical Muslims/Oil - A comparison you've considered while writing?
The Parshendi aren't the radicals, though. In that conflict, I'd argue that the humans are.
Is there a plan for a book focusing on Hoid or will he always remain an enigma?
The final Mistborn sequence will have him as a main character, as will the Dragonsteel prequel novels.
With the White Sand graphic novels, do you intend to continue the sequence past the first MS of White Sand?
Yes, if they are popular enough, I do.
If a large group of Windrunners lashed enough mass towards a single point, could they create a black hole?
Offhand, I think that would be theoretically possible, though in practicality impossible. We'd need [Peter Ahlstrom] to do some math.
Chapter Three
Wax investigates
If you've read the book, then you probably won't be surprised to find that a partial inspiration for it was the Sherlock Holmes stories. Of course, you'd have to search pretty far to find any kind of detective story that isn't somehow influenced by good Mister Holmes. This story, however, is more consciously inspired along those lines. I purposely developed a mysterious (almost even magical) series of robberies along the lines of what you see in the Holmes stories. The technological era is similar as well.
Of course, the characters are much different—even down to the character roles and dynamics. I wanted Wax to be a thinker, but more of a lawman than an eccentric. Wayne has enough eccentricity for three characters. I wanted the way that Wax approached solving a problem like this to be more methodical, more like a lawman who has grown accustomed to doing things on his own—but who has procedures he follows.
Beyond that, I wanted Wax to be solid. Many people are going to prefer Wayne for obvious reasons, but I prefer this story to be about Wax. (I'll talk more about Wayne's origins later.) Wax's solidity helps anchor the story, I feel. Perhaps I find him more interesting than others will, but the different parts of him that are warring inside create for a stronger dynamic than some of the other characters, who are more static.
Wayne shows up
Another aspect of the Mistborn books is the humor. I plan the humor in each of my novels specifically. In Warbreaker, the humor is all about wordplay and lofty back-and-forths. In the Alcatraz books, it's about being audacious, whimsical, and . . . well, a little insane. In The Way of Kings, it's more character-specific, certain characters engaging in different types of humor to fit the scene.
The Mistborn books have always employed a type of humor I'll call grim banter. Friends who know each other making jokes back and forth amid sometimes terrible situations. There's usually an edge to the banter, much how Kelsier would speak in the original trilogy. I wanted to maintain that feel, and so for this series to work, it needed to be founded on at least two characters who knew one another well and who were comfortable with insulting one another in the name of levity.
It was actually hard not to get to Wayne sooner in the book—even though this is only chapter two, he's a big part of the heart and soul of this story. I wanted to get him in quickly, as quickly as possible. This was the right place, I'm confident—he'd have distracted from Lessie in the prologue.
I'm pleased with how he turned out, by the way. He's vibrant enough as a person, with a good soul and a lot of quirks, that he quite often steals the show. That was a balance I had to work on in the book to make sure he didn't steal it too much. (Or, at least, too often.)
Chapter Two
Wax Ties a Cravat
In the original draft, I conceived this scene specifically because of how strong a contrast it would provide to jumping around in the mists in the previous scene. This has always been a theme of the Mistborn books, and I hoped that some familiarity in that regard would provide a connecting tie between this book and the previous trilogy.
Mistborn was about balance—balancing the life of a thief (and then assassin) in Vin's case with the life of a noblewoman. I wanted Wax to be dealing with some of the same concepts, but from another direction. Instead of a young person discovering high society, Wax is returning to it after abandoning it. But, as Vin never truly abandoned her street-thief roots, Wax never abandoned his gentleman's ways.
Been approached by any movie studios or directors about any of your work yet?
We've sold Steelheart to Fox, Emperor's Soul to DMG, and Mistborn to the people who are working on the video game.
Could the spear used to kill Kelsier be used as an Identity spike?
I'm RAFOing most questions about Identity right now. (Sorry.)
Regarding the Ire: did they set out into the Cosmere pre- or post-Reod?
RAFO! :)
Can you tell us the name of factory from which Tia gets her Cola pouches? And perhaps the city?
Factory is one that doesn't exist in our world, but I believe I have it in Chattanooga.
How hard was it for you to get your first manuscript published? Did you send multiple copies?
It took me ten years of work to become an author who wrote books that were of professional quality.
Once I hit that point, my chances improved. Elantris was rejected half a dozen times over four years before selling.
Could you Awaken an Honorblade?
It would take a Looooooot of power. (A near impossible amount.)
Any updates on movie/tv/video game adaptions?
Nothing big. Steelheart has a script. It's the only one so far to hit that stage.
Any new information about the Steelheart movie? So excited about it! Will you be involved in making it?
Last I heard, they had a script they liked, and were sending it out for a polish. I will be as involved as they will allow!
I'm assuming they met in White Sand, if Hoid is who I think he is in that one ;) but more how well does she know his agenda?
I'm not sure if you're thinking this, but Nazh and Hoid are separate people.
Other than Hoid, which character have you had the most fun writing?
Wayne.
Why isn't Alcatraz part of the Cosmere?The lenses seem like they could be investiture-related.
I didn't want Alcatraz to have to follow Cosmere continuity and rules. Yes, the magic could work in the cosmere
Is Edgli going to make an appearance (or be mentioned in) another book? I want to know more about Edgli!
Yes, this will be answered eventually.
Hoid, Wayne, Kelsier and Wax are playing cards. How many aces are there?
Only Wayne and Hoid are likely to cheat, and they'd be in cahoots.
If Kelsier had visited Roshar, what spren would have been attracted to his character?
Gloryspren because he pretty much always feels like he's done something awesome. :)
Was atium truly one of the 16 metals, or can it be used by anyone just like lerasium?
Atium has some screwy things going on. It's not one of the 16, but not just anybody could use it.
What's the book you've enjoyed the most writing?
Hmm.... Probably one of the Alcatraz books.
Do you think pantsers grow up to be planners? Or, are pantsers forever pantsers, & planners forever planners?
I think that both pantsers and planners generally learn to use the tools of the others side on occasion.
And some do swap, particularly for given books. But neither is the other in embryo.
Epigraphs in Mistborn & Stormlight: did you wrote them before, during or after writing the rest of the book?
Almost always after the book is done, with notes before certain chapters of what to include above that one.
Who/what was the inspiration for Wayne's character? He's the best!
Really, it started with the hats and went crazy from there.
Is "Galladon" Galladon's true name ?
It is his birth name, if that's what you're asking.
Yes, I had this crazy idea about "people need to have an Aon in the name to be chosen by the Shaod" and Galladon hasn't it.
Ah, that's an excellent guess. But no, that isn't the case. It's more about Connection.
Are there any characters that were particularly difficult for you to work with?
Cadsuane from the WoT was the one that comes to mind.
