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Fan Art Tuesday: Salomé Bisson

Motion design student Salomé Bisson (who is studying in France) created this awesome trailer for Way of Shadows:

Here’s a translation of the text:

Pour Azoth survivre est une lutte de tous les instants
For Azoth survival is an every day struggle (battle)

Son seul espoir,
His only hope,

la voie des ombres,
the way of shadows

en devenant l’apprenti
by becoming the apprentice

du maitre assassin
of the master assassin

Durzo Blint

You can see more of Salomé’s work on their YouTube page.

Throwback Thursday: Night Angel Edition III

It’s already Thursday again, mateys! As this is being written, there are 2 weeks, 5 days, 3 hours, and 15 minutes left until the 10th Anniversary NIGHT ANGEL Hardcover Omnibus is released. Not that we’re excited or anything.

This week’s Throwback Thursday post on Brent’s official Facebook page features a rough draft of Brent’s pitch for MORTAL, a version of the story that eventually became WAY OF SHADOWS.


Remember to pre-order your copy of the Omnibus! Also you can enter the BattleWorn Books competition for a chance to win some sweet, sweet Night Angel swag! Also I’ve been told that exclamation points are most effective as triptychs!

Throwback Thursday: Night Angel Edition

Hi everyone!

We’re rolling out more sweet throwback photos to celebrate The Night Angel Trilogy’s tenth birthday! They tell the story of how Night Angel came to be, and how a clever guy named Brent became The Brent Weeks.

This week’s installment can be found on Facebook (and also Instagram).

You can pre-order a copy of the 10th Anniversary Omnibus from one of these fine retailers:

Barnes & Noble

The Signed Page

Amazon

You can also enter to win a copy of the Omnibus, The Way of Shadows graphic novel, and other great prizes by submitting your BattleWorn Books to us by September 12.

Throwback Thursday: An Agent Finds Brent

It’s likely true that Brent Weeks was presented to the world on one balmy summer night in New York in 2006. Legend has it his agent was enjoying a nightcap on a sidewalk patio in Brooklyn that fateful evening and—according to an anonymous friend sitting next to him—wondered aloud when the Next Great Novelist would emerge from the dark recesses of unpublished obscurity. By some accounts, a choir of angelic voices could be heard singing a wistful “Ahhhhh” in C minor when the sky opened up, and Weeks fell from the heavens directly into his agent’s lap.

But we’re not here to discuss legends, per se. We’re here to present a more believable story of writing, revision, research, rewriting, blood, sweat, tears, aphorisms, more revising and rewriting, and landing your dream agent.

First, Brent wrote a novel in college, a sprawling manuscript full of… words. Then he revised it. Then he revised it again. Then he abandoned the book entirely. But one particular character stuck with him, and he decided to take that character and…. Write a screenplay.

Which he then abandoned.

Then he wrote another novel, focusing entirely on this one kid. He called it Reaper of Shadows Mortal. He went through every word to the point where he was changing things back to the way they were before his last editing pass. The manuscript sparkled. The climax shattered expectations, broke hearts, moved mountains.

Brent, being an industrious and intelligent fantasy reader, found some 40-odd authors whose books were similar to his and looked in the acknowledgements. The result of this research was a list of 33 agents who he thought he would be happy to have represent him. Some were longshots that he knew were too big for him. He tried anyway.

Fifteen never wrote back. Fifteen rejected him. Three were interested enough to ask to see more. Two dropped out after seeing the whole MS.

While waiting to hear the wet squish of rejection from those agents, he looked into writing conferences. As luck would have it, two agents from his list were going to the Willamette Writers’ Conference–and they both were accepting pitches! He almost didn’t go. The cost was a huge stretch for him and his wife. He went anyway.

He walked into that conference with a checklist of weapons:

great novel (or so he thought).

extrovert mask–Check.

logline– wait, huh?

one paragraph pitch–what?

two minute pitch–ummmmm…

anti-perspirant. Check.

At this conference, one of the agents was… well, a little too strange for Brent. But the other one gave a talk that blew Brent’s mind. Donald Maass asked, “What is the one thing your main character would never do?” Brent imagined his response, and the agent followed with, “Now what happens to your novel if your main character does that?”

It was at that moment a small, hard shell in Brent’s brain cracked open with a faint “Ahhh, shit.” Because inside that shell lay the key to making Mortal Then Dies A Hero twice as good. (What would Kylar never do? What would Durzo never do?)

He’d come to the conference thinking his novel was ready to sell. Now, knowing he needed to do a major re-write, he had to pitch it anyway.

Ouch.

The first pitch to Don Maass went something like this: “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon meets Pulp Fiction meets Batman.” Don gave Brent a very puzzled look, like he was really trying to follow and just had no idea where he was going. Weeks had blown it.

But the inimitable Maass knew that the people with whom he met at writing conferences were serious about treating writing as a profession. (Unlike many of the other 300 pitches that cross his desk every week.) So he told Brent to remind him that they had met at the Willamette Writers’ Conference in his next query letter. (Brent didn’t mention Don had already rejected this book.)

Nine months later, Brent was ready. He sent a second query. The blacker-than-black sky parted, and Don heard what may have been bells ringing—the sweet, tinny chime of a cash register. A mere two years later, Don sold the book to Orbit. It became a New York Times bestseller, and continues to sell well to this day. Oh, did you want to see some of this legendary correspondence? Well, I happen to know where you can get an exclusive look.

We’re celebrating Night Angel’s 10th birthday with a special edition Hardcover Omnibus, to be released in the US on September 18, and in the UK on September 20, 2018. (Because 10/10 would read it again.) If you haven’t already, pre-order a copy today!

July Facebook Q&A video is live!

Brent went with a longer Q&A this month, focusing on a couple of writing advice questions. You can watch the video below.

Show Notes:

“How many characters are modeled after real people? What are your favorite hunting spots for random characters?” .34

“How do you keep track of all the clues and foreshadowing from your previous books and tie any new ideas into what you’ve already published?” 3.26

Got any other questions? Ask them in the comments, and he’ll answer a few more next month.

Good News: The Signed Page has copies of the NAT Hardcover Omnibus

Why the long face, friend?

Is it because Barnes and Noble sold out of their signed copies of the Night Angel 10th Anniversary Omnibus MINUTES before you were going to buy one?

Aww, buddy, don’t fret. We have good news…

After a bit of juggling, we’ve been able to arrange to have THE SIGNED PAGE sell signed copies now! They’ll even ship internationally! (See, we didn’t forget you.)

The Signed Page, Night Angel, Brent Weeks

Also, for a very limited time, you can get your copy personalized! (Please note, Brent isn’t able to write extra lines this time–just a name or two.) A link directly to the NAT pre-order page is HERE… But The Signed Page has an impressive collection of other signed titles, so spend a few minutes, and browse a little.

It’s worth noting that the Signed Page does everything possible to get these books to you in pristine condition. As they state:

“[W]e package our books better than anyone with bubblewrap tucked snugly within strong boxes. Damaged books rarely happen with us. We will also work on getting some goodies to include in the packages too. [Also] as a reminder, The Signed Page does not charge extra for shipping. We charge exactly what USPS charges us to ship.”

Happy reading!

Signed Copies of the Night Angel Omnibus Are Nearly SOLD OUT!

In case you were so excited you skipped reading the title of this post: signed copies of the 10th Anniversary Night Angel Hardcover Omnibus are about 75% sold out! You only have a few more days (if that long) to grab yours while they’re still available. So if you’re holding out, start digging between your couch cushions and under your car seats. Check all of your pockets and handbags. Find that $30 and order your copy from Barnes and Noble!

Brent Weeks, Barnes & Noble, Night Angel, pre-orders
Yesterday’s B&N Top 100 list. *chant with me!* Who’s #1? Brent’s #1!

Fan Art Tuesday: Cyndy @reiyeka

Here’s another fantastic illustration from Cyndy, @reiyeka over on Instagram. This time she’s depicted a drafter’s hand with seven types of luxin. She even captured some of the physical characteristics of each color. Pretty awesome stuff!

To see more of Cyndy’s work, check out her Tumblr and Instagram feeds.

Lightbringer, Brent_Weeks, fan_art, @reiyeka