I Get To Eat With Big-Time Fantasy Authors!

2/2/2014

So you guys have heard of the Worldbuilders charity drive, right? If you haven't, check it out over at Pat Rothfuss's blog.

Anyway, they did this Worldbuilders auction over on eBay, where people could bid for a dinner with Peter Orullian, Brent Weeks, Robin Hobb, Greg Bear, and (maybe) Steven Erickson.

I won.

So not only does the money go to a good cause, Heifer International, but now I get to fly to Seattle and get to meet some of my epic fantasy idols over dinner!

Assuming I don't have a heart attack from sheer nerves first.

-Will

54 Comments

Elder III

2/2/2014 02:37:01 pm

Hot diggity, but that's some dinner party. Come back and tell us which one is nicest in person.... don't be nervous, you're good too.

Will Wight link

2/8/2014 07:22:42 am

Brent Weeks has assured me, via Twitter, that everyone else is nice but he's a huge jerk. I have no choice but to accept that as fact.

Quayle

2/2/2014 04:54:15 pm

Very nice! I had a dream that I went to that, but I knew that in meeting people like Brent Weeks would be lost on me as I am no writer. I hope you have a great time there. I've bought every single one of your books and am looking forward to your next series.

Will Wight link

2/8/2014 07:23:56 am

Thanks, Quayle! I highly doubt meeting Brent Weeks would be lost on you, though; I'm sure you'd find something to talk about. You have just as much chance as I do, anyway. I'll be lucky if I don't drool on his shoes.

All of their shoes. Lots of drool.

Jeremiah

2/2/2014 08:35:04 pm

Ohh... Greg Bear, love his SciFi

Will Wight link

2/8/2014 07:24:34 am

It's funny, because Greg Bear was the only one of the authors I haven't read. I'll need to read something of his now, of course--any suggestions?

Xiane

4/1/2014 05:13:11 pm

Blood Music. And then Blood Music. And note when it was written.

Alex

2/3/2014 07:14:30 am

Holy crap that's quite a line up. Just finished Crimson Vault and all I have to say is you definitely belong in company like that

Will Wight link

2/8/2014 07:25:16 am

Thanks for the encouragement, Alex! I certainly don't feel like it, but I'll do my best not to embarrass myself.

Jack S

2/3/2014 09:31:24 am

That's sweet. I think people should be bidding to have dinner with you but good luck.

Mordin

2/3/2014 12:03:27 pm

Seconded!

Will Wight link

2/8/2014 07:26:26 am

Nah, it's easy to arrange a dinner with me. No bidding required. I don't have a big-time publishing company arranging my schedule, so I can basically do what I want.

Saul

2/3/2014 12:26:19 pm

AHHHH YES I AM HAPPY FOR YOU!!

Will Wight link

2/8/2014 07:26:48 am

I can see that your enthusiasm matches my own.

Rohanist

2/4/2014 06:31:05 am

Wow... thats just really awesome, and I think you definitely deserve it, being the amazing writer that you are.

Will Wight link

2/8/2014 07:27:19 am

Thanks! Honestly, I'm just glad for the opportunity to learn.

drew t

2/4/2014 07:43:18 am

You are a member of their ranks, you just haven't sold as many books yet...

Will Wight link

2/8/2014 07:28:39 am

I hope to get there someday, Drew. Not necessarily in terms of book sales (though I'm not turning those down, mind you), but I'd love to write books that capture the imagination as well as Terry Brooks does, for instance. That would be an amazing feeling.

Jessica

2/4/2014 07:55:55 am

So when is the auction for other authors and/or fans to have dinner with you?

Will Wight link

2/8/2014 07:30:51 am

You'd arrange a dinner with me in the same way that you would arrange a dinner with anybody else, I guess.

"Hey, I'm in town. Are you free for dinner?"

Liam

2/5/2014 02:45:55 am

That must have been going for a lot... How much did you bid!
Good luck and enjoy. Say hi to them from all their/your fans

Will Wight link

2/8/2014 07:33:31 am

I will convey all of your wishes personally, by name, on behalf of every one of you who has bought my books. It will likely take a while.

I think the winning bid is up on eBay. It cost me approximately three thousand dollars, which is cringeworthy and causes me physical pain just to think about, but it was worth it to me. I can't help but think about all the things I could learn from them.

Not to mention the fact that the money goes to such a good cause. That's what pushed me over the edge.

Tim B

2/6/2014 05:24:52 am

You'll be big-time soon too Will, I have no doubt! It is only a matter of time. You shouldn't feel out of place in that crowd at all.

Will Wight link

2/8/2014 07:33:58 am

Thanks, Tim! I definitely have something to work towards.

Steven

2/8/2014 01:50:40 pm

You've definitely proven yourself to be working your way up there! Robin Hobb is one of my all time favorite authors, along with G. Martin, R. Jordan, B. Sanderson, and Rowling. Keep it up and before you know it, someone will be bidding on the chance to eat with you!

Will Wight link

2/20/2014 12:34:02 am

Thanks, Steven! I have a great deal of respect for Robin Hobb, and I've certainly enjoyed several of her books. Of the people attending the dinner, though, I'm probably most excited to talk to Brent Weeks and Terry Brooks.

It's difficult to narrow it down, of course. I'd be thrilled to speak with any of them.

Charles Dupont

2/8/2014 07:16:32 pm

Congratulations! Let us know how dinner goes; I can't imagine it being anything less than epic. Definitely a great crowd!

Will Wight link

2/20/2014 12:34:39 am

Less than epic...FANTASY? BA-DUM-PSCH!

I apologize for that.

Juan Valle de Rosas

2/9/2014 04:36:41 am

I think you need to stop galavanting at fancy parties and get City of light out already. Just kidding have a great time =)

Will Wight link

2/20/2014 12:35:16 am

Honestly, meeting with them might help me write faster. What could be more inspiring?

Tim K.

2/11/2014 12:41:48 am

I'd love to sit at the table next to yours. Writers are generally strange people, which is good and necessary... But put you all at a table over dinner and presumably alcoholic beverages. Bwahaha. No topic is off the docket for this one.
Congrats and be sure to use big words. ;)

Will Wight link

2/20/2014 12:35:40 am

Indubitably!

Reed

2/11/2014 11:35:28 am

Ok I know this doesn't pertain to the subject of this blog but I'm suffering from a mental breakdown because I haven't had an amazing book to read (full length) since the crimson vault!!! Please my fellow fans of the Wight Mage! Tell me of the best books you have ever read! I'm begging here!!!!!!

steven

2/12/2014 01:55:23 am

Hope this helps!

Blood Song - Anthony Ryan
Timebound - Rysa Walker
Atlantis Gene/plague - AG Riddle
Gentlemen Bastards Series - Scott Lynch
Farseer Trilogy - Robin Hobb
Mistborn Trilogy - Brandon Sanderson
Wheel of Time Series - Robert Jordan

Will Wight link

2/20/2014 12:37:56 am

Also, Steven, awesome list. I would underline Scott Lynch and Anthony Ryan (I assume Brandon Sanderson underlines himself).

Will Wight link

2/20/2014 12:37:07 am

Since you referred to me as The Wight Mage, did I play League of Legends with you?

Reed

2/22/2014 01:05:04 pm

i friended you but i have always had the misfortune of being busy when i see you on

Tim K.

2/12/2014 12:36:38 am

A good Sci fi series that is finished on amazon kindle is by Evan Currie Warriors Wings.
Also recommend Fledgling by Nicole Conway and if you haven't read the Broken Empire series from Mark Lawrence it is very good and scratches your evil itch. If you get that... From time to time.

Reed

2/12/2014 03:49:47 am

Thank you both so much!
you have saved me from the deepest depths of hell. And i assure you sir, we all get that itch

Jack S

2/13/2014 02:29:28 am

Hey Will, this is completely off topic. I decided to re-read the first two books and I was thinking it be pretty excellent if you made a map of your world. It would be much appreciated. Just a suggestion. Thanks.

Jeremiah Halstead

2/13/2014 05:47:07 am

http://www.willwight.com/1/post/2013/10/i-think-i-dropped-my-map.html

for your betterment

Jack S

2/13/2014 12:00:42 pm

Oh boy I feel ignorant. My bad.

Chris Johnson

2/14/2014 09:15:15 pm

I enjoy your work just as much as I enjoy the works of the other leading fantasy authors (sanderson, rothfuss, ryan, brett, morgan, Abercrombie, etc. The reason I like you the most out of all those guys is that you put out monthly content. MONTHLY CONTENT, that's what I like. I'm a central Florida native, so I like you for that too.

Don't sell out and do the thing where you only publish once every 4 years. Keep up the monthly content and guys like me will keep buying your work.

Will Wight link

2/20/2014 12:32:34 am

You know, Chris, I haven't responded for a few days, but I actually read this comment when it came up, and I called my family and told them about it. Thanks for the encouragement!

One of my major goals when I started doing this was to provide regular, consistent releases instead of unpredictable long-term content. I'm convinced that's what most people want, and I know that's what I like. I'd rather have Jim Butcher release a new Dresden Files every year than take two years, even if the book ends up being slightly better.

(If it's, for instance, 14 months instead of 12 months because he needed the extra time to make it better, great! But two years instead of one year...I'd rather just read what he had ready after one year.)

So when you left this comment, I was encouraged. Thanks!

jaywill

2/15/2014 08:27:49 am

So, I wonder if "City of Light" will be available before Sanderson's "Words of Radiance" is released.

Will Wight link

2/20/2014 12:28:52 am

Barring a direct act of divine intervention, no. Mine will be available after Sanderson's.

Though I won't be spending March 4th writing. That's all reading Words of Radiance. Fantasy novel releases are holidays in my house.

Joel

2/15/2014 02:04:32 pm

Will where do you live? I'll totally buy you a taco.

Will Wight link

2/20/2014 12:26:34 am

I'M BEHIND YOU!

...assuming you live in Orlando (like me) and are, in fact, this guy right in front of me.

Tim K.

2/18/2014 03:25:18 am

Will has been quiet for a while now. Only a little bit longer methinks. Or he has shredded the whole plan and aliens invade and kill everyone. Except Otoku. Who becomes a space explorer. With a wild-eyebrowed logical sidekick. Named Spork. His versatility is unmatched.

Jack S

2/19/2014 12:19:02 pm

Otoku is my favorite. Where did the name come from?

Will Wight link

2/20/2014 12:25:17 am

I've always wanted to write a space explorer named Otoku. It's my childhood dream.

For real, though, I wanted one of the dolls to have a Japanese-sounding name that isn't actually Japanese. So I just started throwing Japanese syllables together until I found one that sounded cool. It didn't take me that long, actually.

Not nearly as long as it took me to come up with the name "Valinhall." That took forever.

Caleb S

2/22/2014 06:02:54 am

Dear Master Wight,
You should stop by Portland after Seattle. Let me buy you dinner. It will be great.
Also I am sending mental encouragement to write faster for City Of Light, as I am currently in a literature purgatory where I have to wait for all three of my favorite authors to release the finale to the series. You are one of those three by the way.

Will Wight link

2/22/2014 06:18:36 am

Honored to be on that list, Caleb! I'll be flying into and out of Seattle, so I probably won't make it to Portland. To make it up to you, I'll write City of Light even faster. Just for you.

Xiane

4/1/2014 05:17:28 pm

So if you meet Steven Erikson, would you suggest he turn his hand to writing an epic fantasy that envisions an actual whole world involved in a globe shattering fantasy conflict, rather than a small region of one continent?

Also suggest that he pack it with enough cultural anthropology to weary even Ursula LeGuin, as well as rather thinly veiled critiques of various modern cultures.

In which we ramble on.
And by we, I mean me.