Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Sanderson, born December of 1975 in Lincoln, Nebraska, was an avid reader as a child, though he lost interest in reading by middle school. When a teacher reintroduced him to reading with the novel Dragonsbane, by Barbara Hambly, he fell in love with the Epic fantasy genre and once again became an avid reader. He eventually tried his hand at writing them himself, but did not have much success at first. In 1994 Brandon enrolled in college as a biochemistry major, then took a break from his studies in 1995-1997 to go on mission to Seoul, Korea with his church. During his time in Korea, Brandon realized that he did not want to be a biochemist any longer, so he switched majors to English and began studying to become a writer.
He wrote many manuscripts while working the night shift as a clerk at a hotel, and submitted them, receiving many rejection letters, but continued writing regardless. After several years, some advice from established fantasy authors, and attending conventions to meet people in the business, one of his books, Elantris, was eventually purchased by TOR books and published in May of 2005. In 2004, after graduating with a master’s degree in creative writing, Brandon was asked to teach the creative writing course he took as an undergrad. Currently he teaches the Sci-Fi and fantasy section of the class because he enjoys helping future writers, and it gets him out of the house. In 2006 Brandon married Emily Bushman, after a year of dating. Their first child was born in October 2007.
In December 2007, Brandon was chosen to complete Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, and his additions to the series were very well received. Other books he has published in recent years are as follows; The Way of Kings which is the first book in the Stormlight Archive series, The Alloy of Law, a sequel to the Mistborn series, and several other books besides. He has also won several awards, including the David Gemmell Legend Award, and the New York Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. He has also been nominated for several other awards besides, and been on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestsellers list six times. In other news, his writing is awesome, you should read it!
