In addition to being a ridiculously prolific fantasy author, one of Brandon Sanderson's great charms is that he loves to chat at length about the profession of being a writer. Last week, an interview dropped between The Stormlight Archive author and Tim Ferriss, the entrepreneur and writer behind The 4-Hour Workweek. This three-hour interview is chock full of great anecdotes and bits of wisdom; for example, Sanderson revealed that A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin was almost chosen to finish writing The Wheel of Time book series instead of him after its creator, Robert Jordan, passed away in 2007.
And here's another: Sanderson shared a story about a time when Joe Abercrombie, the author behind the grimdark fantasy series The First Law, made Sanderson deface one of Abercrombie's own books at an airport, and nearly caused him to miss his flight to a convention. It's a funny story that hearkens back to earlier days in both of these beloved fantasy authors' careers.
Brandon Sanderson nearly missed a flight to "Brandalize" a Joe Abercrombie book at an airport
The discussion about Joe Abrcrombie kicks in around the 1 hour and 14 minute mark, when Sanderson and Ferriss are discussing several different fantasy subgenres, including grimdark, which Abercrombie is known for writing. This led Sanderson down a rabbit hole for his "Joe Abercrombie story."
"I am flying to Spain, and Joe is going to meet me there because we're both doing a con together," Sanderson said. "It's called Celsius, I'm actually going back this year. So I'm passing through Amsterdam, and I did a thing back then...I signed my books in airports. I would see a book of mine in an airport bookstore, I would sign it, and I would post on Twitter, and I'd say 'I signed my book. First one gets there gets to get the book.' This was a thing of mine, my fans loved it. I don't travel that way as much anymore, and there's fewer airport bookstores, they've all died off, so I don't really do it anymore. But for a while I did that. They named it 'Brandalizing.'"
I remember fondly the days of seeing Sanderson "Brandalize" his books on Twitter. The fans did indeed love it, and it was always fun to see readers post about it if they were lucky enough to nab the book he'd signed. But here's where the story takes a fun turn, as Joe Abercrombie responded to Sanderson's social media post with an odd request.
"I did this thing in the airport, I left my book, I took a picture of it in the spot...and I'm getting in the line to get on the plane, right? And I get a tweet, and it's from Joe and he says 'Sanderson. My book's next to yours and you didn't sign it.' And I tweet back and I'm like 'Well, it's not my book.' He's like 'SIGN MY BOOK SANDERSON!!'"
Sanderson couldn't resist following through on Abercrombie's request. "And so I have to leave the line — they're calling the line — run to the bookstore, sign Joe Abercrombie's book, take a picture of it, post and say 'Your book is signed by me.' And I did make my flight, but I almost missed my flight signing Joe's book," he said. "So someone out there went and bought Joe's book signed by me."
All of this is even more fun because Sanderson and Abercrombie weren't even that close at the time. But say one thing for Joe Abercrombie, say he knows how to bring the funniest side out of people.
"We had met at conventions and been on panels together, and Joe is a riot," Sanderson continued. "Like if you get a chance, if he's anywhere that you can go see him, Joe has this magic to turn any panel into an enjoyable panel no matter who's on it with him. And so I won't say that I'm best buds with Joe, I don't know Joe really well, but we're professional colleagues and I love being on a panel with him. He makes me look intelligent and funny, which I love."
If you're a fan of Brandon Sanderson and haven't checked out Joe Abercrombie's work, this is a great year to give his books a shot. His most famous series is The First Law, which begins with The Blade Itself; currently there are three trilogies set in that universe, as well as some shorter works. Abercrombie also has a new comedic dark fantasy novel coming out this May called The Devils, which starts a whole new series and is an excellent jumping-off point for his catalog.
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