Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the final day to back the Mistborn: House War board game Kickstarter campaign. All stretch goals have been unlocked, including an expansion covering the time period of The Well of Ascension called Mistborn: The Siege of Luthadel, which is now available as a $30 add-on.

The fifth installment of the 2016 Sanderson Lectures, “The Box,” is now live! If you missed last week’s episode, “World Building,” you can catch up on all the videos here. Enjoy!

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Elemental Thriller as a Subgenre, we look at the thriller element as part of a story whose principal driver is one of the other elemental genres. We consider some examples of blended-with-thrill stories, and then drill down a bit into how we can incorporate this in our own work.

Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, our friends began to cope with a changed world in the aftermath of the great clash. This week, in Chapter 88, secrets come creeping out: the Ghostbloods, the Sons of Honor, the Skybreakers, and Shallan’s past.

My assistant Adam has updated the Twitter post archive for July.

Firefight, from the Reckoners series, was selected to be featured in Audible’s Much Loved Listens 2-for-1 sale, which began this Sunday and runs until Monday, August 22nd. You can check the entire selection of titles available for Audible members to get 2 books for only 1 credit here.

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Crossover Fiction, with Victoria Schwab (who also writes as V.E. Schwab), she joined us in Phoenix to talk about books that target a given demographic but which have a much broader appeal, or books which straddle the line between age demographics. We discuss some good crossover examples, and how some of the boundaries work, and then we cover some of the techniques we use when writing crossover works.

With the completion of the Words of Radiance reread, Tor Books is offering readers and Brandon Sanderson fans a free download of The Stormlight Archive Pocket Companion through the Tor/Forge Blog.

My assistant Adam has updated the Twitter post archive for August.

The new Elantris maps poster set is now available in my online store for those who have been asking. These maps were composed by Isaac Stewart for the 10th anniversary and leatherbound edition of Elantris.

The seventh installment of the 2016 Sanderson Lectures, “Character,” is now live! If you missed last week’s episode, “The Business of Writing,” you can catch up on all the videos here. Enjoy!

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Futurism, with Trina Marie Phillips, she joins us at Phoenix Comicon to talk about her work as a futurist. Futurism, for those unfamiliar with our use of the term here, is related to science fiction, but it remains rooted in existing technology and trends, then seeks to be predictive in useful ways.

Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, the secret societies began to reveal their purposes in aftershocks from the climax. This week, in Chapter 87, Adolin gets angry and the Radiants gather in conference.

My assistant Adam has updated the Twitter post archive for July.

For my European readers (or those of you interested in going to Italy this fall!) I will be in Italy at the end of October as the guest of honor at the Lucca Comics & Games Festival. I will announce my exact festival schedule once it is finalized. For more details check out my upcoming events page.

The sixth installment of the 2016 Sanderson Lectures, “The Business of Writing,” is now live! If you missed last week’s episode, “The Box,” you can catch up on all the videos here. Enjoy!

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Elemental Thriller Q&A, we fielded the following questions about the “Thriller” elemental genre from listeners on Facebook and Twitter:

• How do I build tension consistently through my story?
• How do you maintain tension during dialog?
• When do you not use a cliffhanger?
• Do you ever picture your scenes as if they were in a movie?
• How much elemental thriller is too much for a book that isn’t a thriller? What’s the tipping point where you’ve switched genres?
• What do you do when the tension in your story peaks too early?

My assistant Adam has updated the Twitter post archive for July.

The fourth installment of the 2016 Sanderson Lectures, “World Building,” is now live! If you missed last week’s episode, “The Illusionist Writer,” you can catch up on all the videos here. Enjoy!

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Impostor Syndrome, with Alyssa Wong, the Campbell Award nominee and Nebula Award winner joins us. Impostor Syndrome is the frame of mind that many successful writers suffer from, in which they worry that they’re not really good enough at writing to be enjoying their success. Worse, this mindset can prevent us from continuing to create. Many of us suffer from this, and we have some strategies to cope with it.

Update on the Mistborn: House War board game Kickstarter campaign: It’s now at 632% funded, and is working on the final listed stretch goal. Though I hear they have something up their sleeve for another stretch goal after that.

The third installment of the 2016 Sanderson Lectures, “The Illusionist Writer,” is now live! If you missed last week’s episode, “Cook vs. Chef,” you can catch up on all the videos here. Enjoy!

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, The Elemental Thriller, we discuss the difference between the drivers in thrillers, horror stories, and mysteries, and use the elemental genre tools to assist in the differentiation. We also cover the tools we use to develop and maintain the tension that is so critical in a thriller.

Update on the Mistborn: House War board game Kickstarter campaign: It’s now at 530% funded, and is working on the 12th stretch goal.

Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, Shallan evacuated the armies while Kaladin battled. This week, in Chapter 87, in the aftermath, they face rearrangement of the world as they knew it.

My assistant Adam has updated the Twitter post archive for June.

If you were unable to get your hands on a signed and numbered copy of The Bands of Mourning, now is your chance! Weller Book Works has announced that they have some available to purchase, and they ship worldwide. Click here to see more details and order your copy. They also have a few copies of The Stormlight Archive Pocket Companion available for free—all you have to pay for is shipping. For more information on the pocket companion, email books@wellerbookworks.com.

Also, Audible just released their “Best of the Year (so far!)” list, and The Bands of Mourning is included in the Sci-Fi & Fantasy category. Check out The Bands of Mourning and all the other customer favorites and editor picks.

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Stakes!, we talk a lot about “raising the stakes” in our writing. When we say “stakes,” we’re referring to the things that keep our characters involved in the conflict, rather than just walking away and doing something else. We dig into what this really means, and how everyone in the story must be driven by things that they have at stake.

Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, Shallan located a gate, Adolin made good use of a slain rock, and Kaladin struggled to stand between Elhokar and Moash. This week, in Chapter 84, Shallan begins to figure out the gate, Adolin proves his dueling prowess, and Kaladin stands.

My assistant Adam has updated the Twitter post archive for June.

As I shared on Twitter and Facebook yesterday, one of my readers from Australia, David Fonti, for his visual effects class made a cool video of himself in Shardplate. Great work, David. I’ve embedded the video below.

As a quick reminder, today is the last day to get your copy of the Elantris ebook for $2.99. And now through June 16th, The Rithmatist ebook will be only $1.99. My Hugo Award-nominated novella Perfect State is also still priced at 99¢, worldwide!

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Examining Unconscious Biases,
mystery may well be the most common element in use, at least in some form or another, across the many bookshelf genres comprising fiction. We discuss the driving force of elemental mystery, how to evoke those feelings in the reader, and the importance of being able to write mystery effectively.

Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, Navani’s fabrials aided in the battle for the Plains, while Kaladin made a difficult choice back in the warcamp. This week, in Chapter 83, Shallan searches for the Oathgate while the battle rages, and Kaladin stands firm.

As I mentioned last week, the Elantris ebook is on sale for $2.99 until June 7th, and then from June 6th to the 16th The Rithmatist will be only $1.99. My Hugo Award-nominated novella Perfect State is also still priced at 99¢, worldwide! If you have not done so already, consider checking these out.

In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Examining Unconscious Biases,
Shannon Hale joins us at LTUE for a live-audience session in which we explore gender biases, and extrapolate from there to our many other unconscious biases.

Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread posts for Words of Radiance, Dalinar’s forces finally joined battle against the Parshendi at the center of the Shattered Plains. This week, in Chapter 82, Kaladin reaches a difficult decision, while Dalinar and Adolin continue to press the battle.

My assistant Adam has updated the Twitter post archive for May.

I haven’t mentioned this year’s Writing Excuses retreat (September 17th–24th) very much, but I thought I’d drop a note about the impending price rise. Due the the cruise line’s requirements, May 31st is the last day to register at the current rate, and we hear it will go up quite significantly in June.

A few years ago, the Writing Excuses cohosts and I started holding the week-long Out of Excuses Writing Workshop and Retreat, which includes workshop and instruction time from Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Howard Tayler, and me, as well as time to just sit down and write with (hopefully) few distractions. The retreat had a couple successful years in Chattanooga, and then last year’s retreat was moved to a cruise ship in the Caribbean.

The cruise version of the retreat proved to be very popular, and we arranged for additional writing instructors to come along. This year we’ll be joined as instructors by writers and publishing professionals Claudia Gray, DongWon Song, Tananarive Due, Steven Barnes, Desiree Burch, Lynne M. Thomas, Michael Damian Thomoas, and Navah Wolfe—in addition to Mary, Dan, Howard, and me. You can see a lot more details about the retreat cruise here.

For all the writers out there interested in attending, I look forward to seeing you in September!