First off, a note about the David Gemmell Legend Award. Named after the late, great UK writer of heroic fantasy, the award is in its second year and seeks to showcase novels "in the spirit or tradition of David Gemmell's own work" (for what that means, see here). Titles are nominated by publishers and then whittled down by online voting from fans. This year Tor has nominated both WARBREAKER and THE GATHERING STORM along with 11 other deserving books, making for a long list of 60 titles from all nominating publishers. Online voting on the long list of nominees has just begun and will continue through the end of March. At that point they'll tally up the top five vote-getters and start a new vote (vote totals don't carry over from the first round). I made the short list last year with HERO OF AGES (which wasn't even out in the UK at the time) and expected to get soundly beaten by Joe Abercrombie's LAST ARGUMENT OF KINGS, but instead the final nod went to BLOOD OF ELVES by Andrzej Sapkowski. Anyway, if you'd like to vote on the 2009 book you feel best fits the criteria, you can do that here. The committee has also started two new awards this year, the Morningstar for best newcomer and the Ravenheart for best cover art.

In the most recent MISTBORN 3 annotations I discuss the Lord Ruler's final message as well as Sazed's memorization skills and Breeze's nobleman status. New annotations go up every Tuesday and Thursday. If you haven't checked out the annotations before, they're like the director's commentary on a DVD—I discuss my books chapter by chapter, and so far I've talked about ELANTRIS, MISTBORN: THE FINAL EMPIRE, and MISTBORN 2: THE WELL OF ASCENSION. I'll also start posting WARBREAKER annotations sometime in the next few months, possibly before I'm done posting the MISTBORN 3: THE HERO OF AGES annotations. I figure that the dedicated fans who come to my website deserve some good bonus content, so here you go!

In this week's Writing Excuses episode I discuss tragedy with Dan Wells and Howard Tayler. Why write tragedy, and how to do it well? Give the podcast a listen.

By the way, my agent, Joshua Bilmes, also represents the talented Elizabeth Moon, and he wants help tracking down a mystery. Elizabeth's book THE SPEED OF DARK sells far more copies in trade paperback in the Salt Lake City area than anywhere else in North America. Why is that? What Salt Lake-area fans/booksellers have been recommending the book to all their friends and customers? Joshua is dying to know.

There's an old man who comes to the gym in the mornings. He has a walker with an oxygen bottle, and bears visible scars from open heart surgery and a pacemaker implant. Monday morning I loosened up in the hot tub, and the two of us talked.

I learned that he had his first surgery in early December of 1999. I was reminded of my bout with myocarditis that same month, and how, as I lay in the Intensive Care Unit at UVRMC, the rooms around me were full of what I have come to call "gray people." Their skin was literally deathly pale, and I assumed that the majority of them were going to die there.

I asked where this man had gone for treatment back in '99, and he told me he was at UVRMC, and spent most of December in the Intensive Care Unit.

One of those gray people not only survived, but did so for a full decade at current count.

The last decade has been huge for me. I started a new job, rose to prominence, and then quit to do the same thing again. I created Schlock Mercenary, and Sandra and I had two more kids.

All of this in a decade.

I don't know what my elderly friend at the gym has done with the ten years the doctors, God, and/or the Fates gave back to him, but I'm sure they are precious.

Whine about the "aughts" if you must, but as we begin the second decade of the twenty-first century, know that at least two of us are really thankful for the last ten years.

Over at the Book Smugglers they've posted a guest spot from me on my favorite reads of 2009. As I've said before, I was sad that unlike a lot of you I didn't get to rush out and read a new Wheel of Time book this October. On that blog I share a list of what I did get to read instead.

There's been a lot of love for WARBREAKER recently. It's the December discussion topic for GoodReads' fantasy book club, and I'll be participating in the discussion there in January. The book also got the #4 slot on Barnes & Noble's book clubs Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Novels of 2009 list. (They discussed it back in July; see my Q&A thread there). But the biggest news is probably that WARBREAKER has garnered a nomination from the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards for Best Epic Fantasy of 2009. (See the full list of nominees here.) So far that's five fantasy novels out from Tor, five Romantic Times award nominations, and two wins (ELANTRIS and HERO OF AGES). Wow! If you don't know what all the fuss is about, I hear that Borders is a good place to buy WARBREAKER right now—they are the most likely chain to have copies in stock. (You can check your local store's inventory at the link.) Or of course check the list of stores that have signed copies.

In this week's episode of the Writing Excuses podcast, Dan, Howard, and I talk about antiheroes. Familiar with The Talented Mr. Ripley? Howard isn't.

In the most recent annotations for MISTBORN 3, I talk about Sazed putting on his metalminds and Spook's romance with Beldre as well as the death of Bilg. Don't remember Bilg? Umm . . . Oh, and I also put up an annotation for "Defending Elysium" (but be sure you read the story first).

For the holidays this year, I thought I’d post a short story for you all. In fact, I’m posting “Defending Elysium,” which I generally regard as the best short story I’ve ever written. Now, that’s not saying a whole lot, as I’m a novelist. That’s the form I’ve practiced, and writing short stories is a very different art. I’m constantly in awe of what great short story writers (like my friend Eric James Stone) can do with just a few pages.

You’ll note that even this “short” story is actually more of a novelette. It even has several different character viewpoints and two or three sub-plots to go along with the main storyline and the main thematic elements. (I can’t compress my thoughts any farther. I guess I’m just a novelist at heart.) Also, note that if you’ve already read “Defending Elysium,” I’ve also added an annotation for you to give an explanation of the history of the story.

Anyway, thank you all for making this such a wonderful year. The tour was amazing, and the response to THE GATHERING STORM was incredible. I’m humbled by your response—including the responses of those who had complaints about the book. (Often legitimate ones.) There weren’t many of those, and the bulk of the ones I read were presented in a thoughtful, non-combative way. You are a classy bunch. Thank you for that.

Tomorrow is the long-celebrated, and often disturbing, Koloss Head-Munching Day. Munch a head and read the short story. Or, if you’re not into that, I believe there are a few other holidays coming up. . . .

Next year, I will be spending a lot of the early months blogging about THE WAY OF KINGS. A lot of people have been asking about it, and Tor has nudged me to begin speaking about it more. There WILL be more info about TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT too, but I’ll probably be holding off on that for a while. I know you’re hungry for more information. I’ll give you what I can, but I’ve been asked to be more secretive about these books than I normally am, and (as I have said before) I feel it is respectful to keep to Harriet’s wishes.

(Progress on TofM is going well, but this is—in many ways—a much BIGGER book than TGS. There are a lot more viewpoints and plots to wrangle, including many people who were not seen in TGS. TGS was very focused by intention and design. TofM is going to feel very different, as we’re going to be expanding the scope a little to include all of the things we need to see to get ready for the Last Battle. That’s making the editing and revision process of what I’ve done go more slowly than I would have liked.)

Merry Christmas! Happy Chanukah! Happy Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, or New Year! May you get books as presents.

Brandon