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Goodreads Winners and Photobomb Winner!

First, congratulations to the winners of the Goodreads Contest: to both Theresa and Irwin in California, Carola in the Netherlands, Tyler in Ontario, and Maria in South Australia  — congratulations! Your signed copies of The Black Prism are on their way.

Now about the photobomb contest: we had some spectacular entries. Here are some of the best:

Fans of the infamous “chicken nuggets” scene.*

from Isabelle D.

Abe? I’m one of your favorites?! No way. You’re one of mine, too!

from Kathlyn H.

 

This is totally how the boxed set should have come:

from Sasuke U.

Assassins-in-training also use my books as training manuals!

from Alexia A.


Want texts that will engage college freshmen? μολὼν λαβέ!

 

from Dr. J. Klein

Assassins particularly like working (and reading) at twilight:

from Libbie & Addi L.

 

Not so easily killed:

 

from Katie H.

It was a hard decision. But since I gave my “muhaha, there can only be one!” Highlander vow, there could only be one:

from Gloria N.

 

Congratulations to Gloria N.! We’ll do our best to get you your copy of the sold-out, limited edition Perfect Shadow from Subterranean Press in time for Christmas.

*No, there’s not really a chicken nuggets scene. But now that you mention it, maybe in the 10th anniversary edition…

TWO Contests for the Price of One!

It’s not even Thanksgiving, and Brent’s already breaking out a Christmas tree?

I recently passed the 1,000 fans mark on Goodreads, and I thought I should do something cool to celebrate that.

First, a contest just for those of you who are following me on the book sharing/reviewing site Goodreads. So if you’re a member of Goodreads, simply go to this page on Goodreads, and put in your info, and you will be entered into a drawing to win one of five signed, lined, and personalized paperback copies of The Black Prism. This contest will be open to readers worldwide.

We’re hoping that we’re doing this early enough so that you could give these books as a Christmas present if you so chose, and have them even arrive on time. (No promises, but we will push them out the door as soon as we can.)

That contest got me so excited for Christmas that I didn’t want to leave anyone out! Although, I suppose it is the nature of contests to leave someone out. Therefore, perhaps, I’m not being nice. I’m just hoping to expand the pool of losers! Muhahaha!

So, a second contest: the Brent’s Funtastic Photobomb Contest.  Take a picture of any one of my books (must be identifiable) in any exciting, interesting, exotic, or funny locale. Sadly, I’m going to have to ask you to keep it appropriate. I will post the very best photos on my website, but winners? There can only be one.

Yay, more losers! Why can there be only one winner? Because the prize is so stinking cool. (To clarify: the picture does not have to be an actual photobomb. And, although I appreciate a good photoshop job as well as anyone, photoshopped pictures will not be eligible for The Grand Prize. Obviously, touching up a real photo is fine. You know what I mean.)

The Grand Prize winner will receive a signed, numbered copy of the sweet, sold-out, limited edition of Perfect Shadow. (I’m at the mercy of when I get my own copies of this, but if you win, I will ship it immediately, so you might be able to get it in time for Christmas.)

To enter, submit your photo to funtastic@brentweeks.com by December 5 at 5PM Pacific Standard Time.

World Fantasy & Halloween Contest 2012

For those of you who are in San Diego and/or attending the World FantasyConvention this week, please come say hi! First, I’ll be at the Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in San Diego for an informal gathering of fantasy authors tonight at 6:00 pm. Some restrictions do apply due to the nature of the event, so please contact the staff. More details here.

I’ll also be on a panel on Thursday at World Fantasy Convention (details below), and I hope to see you there. If you want more info on other panels and authors at World Fantasy 2011, check the schedule out here.

Last but not least, though we’re not hosting a Halloween costume contest this year, we are planning one for next year. That way we’ll be able to celebrate the launch of The Blinding Knife, and give you all lots of time to come up with awesome costumes from the worlds of the The Lightbringer Trilogy  or The Night Angel Trilogy — and of course we’ll have some fun prizes for the best designs! More details will be posted as we get closer to the date.

World Fantasy Convention Panel

October 27, 4:00 PM

Pacific 2/3: You’ve Got Science in My Fantasy!

In Operation Chaos, Poul Anderson’s shapeshifters’ abilities were limited by the law of conservation of mass. Do such considerations enhance the narrative?

Gregory Benford, Yves Meynard, Brent Weeks,L. E. Modesitt, Edward Willett (M)

Nibbling Around the Edges of Respectability

Long, long ago, in ages immemorial, when Brent was a young lad, he told his wife (ok, maybe he wasn’t that young of a lad): “Darling, three things I know to be true:

“Antipenultimately, when Brent Weeks starts speaking of himself in the third person, trouble is afoot.

“Penultimately, there are 10 kinds of people in this world. Those who know binary and those who do not.

“And ultimately, even if I get these ninja-assassin-kick-ass novels published, I will probably never get the respect I don’t deserve!”

Yet here I stand, doing an awkward plié, at the border of the mainstream… I’m not flexible enough to do a plié, so sometimes I have stumbled gracelessly, fouling my tutu on The Onion‘s A.V. blog. And now, once again, I find myself at the edge of the limelight, trying to go en pointe, when everything within me screams, “Allemande left!” In plain speech, The Night Angel Trilogy was mentioned in The Christian Science Monitor’s culture blog, as being one of the ten fantasy novels that would make great TV shows.

And now, as a special peek behind the curtain, for those of you who tolerated the previous paragraphs, I will show you exactly how book marketing works. The Christian Science Monitor says, “Cable viewers… couldn’t hope for better source material”!

[Pause for effect. Listen to the appreciate oooh’s from the audience.]

A slightly more honest rendition would be: “A blog that is in some obscure way connected to The Christian Science Monitor says, ‘Cable viewers who want blood and sleaze in equal amounts (I know you’re reading, True Blood fans) couldn’t hope for better source material.'”

Boy, honesty sucks.

And, speaking of the respect I don’t deserve: I recently found out that I am a finalist for the Endeavor Award, which is awarded to a distinguished Science Fiction or Fantasy novel published by a Pacific Northwest author announced every year at OryCon in November. See, I even have a logo:

 

The other contenders for the award are Cherie Priest, Patricia Briggs, Patricia McKillip, and Devon Monk, so even though I’m going to lose, at least I’ll lose in excellent company! Maybe someone can show me how to do a plié?

FOUR IVAN DRAGOS AND ROCKY IV / THE DAVID GEMMELL LEGEND AWARD

Baby Snaga. Baaaaaabyyyyyyy Snaga. I got you in my sights. I see you. Over there. Looking sharp. And beautiful. And shiny. And…. Miniature.

Baby Snaga is the award for the also-rans. It’s a reward for the writers who are good enough to get into the finalist circle, but not brawny enough to take Papa Snaga from the hands of an unwitting world audience. This is what happens when a man destined for a Baby Snaga tries to touch Papa Snaga:

Do you see the crazed gleam in his eye? That’s the look of a man who knows that Snaga will never be his. He can pet Papa Snaga’s curves, but if he ever tries to wield the big man himself, he’ll probably chop off a toe in a tragic woodcutting accident.

Warning to readers: that crazed, sad, pathetic little man above, there, THAT could be me. This is why I need your help. Desperately. Desperately. Need. Your. Help.

The David Gemmell Legend Award is given to the best heroic fantasy of the year as voted on by people like you. That’s right, every award has its foibles, and the David Gemmell Legend Award’s foible is this: THEY’RE TRUSTING YOU.

This year, the finals of the DGLA include a very talented pool: first, the Frenchman, Pierre Pevel, author of The Cardinal’s Blades. Pierre may or may not have been involved in ruthlessly mocking my pronunciation of “Cardinal Richeliu.” Oh, you think you can do better? Just try: Cardinal RI. SHEH. LYOOO. Doubtless Pierre will have the Francophile vote locked down. Anglophiles, consider this a direct challenge to your manhood. Or. Womanhood…

Besides, what have the French ever given us except extremely good clothes…  and great wine… and great cheese… and great architecture…  and charming waiters… and Lilu Dallas clothed in a bandage?

Secondly comes Peter V. Brett. Who, to my eternal envy, has upon at least one occasion, hugged the aforementioned Milla Jovovich (although it is believed at this time that she was not wearing the bandage at the time of said hug).  Peter Brett is the talented author of The Painted Man and The Desert Spear. He is also a noted hugger.

Thirdly, Markus Heitz has burst upon my consciousness like dawn after a night of too much fun. Markus, despite having infiltrated my own exquisite publisher in the US and UK, is carrying the honor (and zillions of votes) of yet another great Old World country: Germany. Dah Dah Dah. And besides, what have the Germans given us? Except music. Philosophy. Poetry. Clocks that run on time. Cars that actually look good.  18-hour Opera. And kick-ass fantasy stories. Oh wait, forget that last part. Don’t vote for him! Look over here! Me! Over Here! The American. Ah, crap.

My fourth and fourth-and-a-halfth opponent is the ubiquitous (and also American) Brandon Sanderson. Brandon is the author of approximately 417 novels. Who is also known as the man who has lost the David Gemmell Legend award more times than anyone else has even been nominated.  However:  DO NOT PITY THIS MAN.  He is also the only man in the world known to proficiently dual-wield Baby Snagas (having had more practice than anyone alive). And of course, the other halfth of his team is the utterly inimitable Robert Jordan who is, indeed, a legend. And if you vote for Robert Jordan (a personal hero of mine), I might someday– after a long and bitter time of personal sorrow–forgive you.

Ok, fine. So the field’s crowded. And the other guys… They’re not half bad. Not even those guys who are splitting a Snaga in half. So, here’s the reason you should vote for me…

Ok, well gosh darn it, I’m just pretty psyched that I get a Baby Snaga! So thanks all you guys for getting me this far in the David Gemmell Legend Award. And, if you’re a glutton for punishment, you can throw in a vote on the losing side. It’s only a couple clicks of your mouse, and maybe you’ll help me sacrifice some dignity by coming in a distant fourth rather than a distant fifth-and-a-half (I hate it when the write-in votes for Mickey Mouse beat me)! Go here to vote.

Thank you so much for the honor, and I hope I entertained you with this brief fight preview! (raw-KEY, raw-KEY, raw-KEY, ROCKY!) C’mon, even the Russians voted for the underdog, and that was during the Cold War!

 

I’m Back! I’m Back! I’m…. Back?

Last time around, I was nominated and shortlisted for the David Gemmell Legend Award for The Night Angel Trilogy. I’ve now been nominated again for the David Gemmell Legend Award for The Black Prism, and I’d like to say that I’m glad to be back:

All joking aside, it’s an honor to be nominated again. To be listed alongside old heroes and new greats is still mind-blowing when I think that just a few years ago I was looking up their agents’ names in the acknowledgements section of their books! Brandon, Nora, Peter… I really look forward to losing to you!

If, of course, you want to fight for the underdog, the poll is open until March 2011. You can go here to see a complete list of nominees and here to vote for yours truly… I mean, the most deserving!

And if I win, I promise to have a slap fight with this guy:

2010 Goodreads Choice Award

— is now open for voting! And some strange guy snuck onto the final ballot.

Here’s the most important question you can ask yourself this holiday: what can I do to help Brent Weeks?

Well, I’m glad you asked.  First, egg nog. Second, put The Black Prism at the top of the list as readers’ favorite fantasy book of 2010! Nominations close on December 30, so there are only days left to put in your two cents!

You can go here to vote for your favorite book in the Fantasy category. I’ll be super grateful if you click on The Black Prism. Heck, if I win, I might even write a sequel. If I don’t? Welp, it looks iffy.*

Vote for this book!

P.S. Yes, you do have to be a member of Goodreads — so get your Goodreads buddies to vote if you’re already a member, and get your not-Goodreads buddies to sign up with you and vote if you’re not!

*just kidding, guy who reads internet posts and takes them literally (and my editor)
**secondly, please don’t send me egg nog in the mail. Last time I drank a month-old gallon, the gastrointestinal fireworks were incredible.

This Post is Not Endorsed by Joss Whedon*

Is Joss Whedon your master? Do you believe in goats? Have you ever thought, “This capitalistic society has put far too much money in my pockets!”? Have you ever, once, just once, wanted to Do The Right Thing?

Even if he isn’t, you don’t, you haven’t, you can’t imagine such a thing (respectively), you should be like me–no, not immensely charming and smug–you should donate to Worldbuilders!

Seriously, Worldbuilders is a charity devoted to raising money for Heifer International, which doesn’t just help poor people, but gives them the chance to provide for themselves (and their kids) with livestock like goats and chickens, education on sustainable farming and more. It’s a good thing, and if you enter, you can get awesome loot.

And everyone believes in loot, right?

Check HERE for more details; to donate directly to “Team Heifer” (Pat Rothfuss’ Worldbuilders team) go here – but be warned, time’s up at NOON tomorrow, December 17th. So donate now! There is signed Night Angel and Black Prism loot available: check it out here.

It’s for the children.

*but it oughta be