Last week, Brandon Sanderson hosted an interview with Ryan Cahill and special guest Robin Hobb to celebrate Cahill’s novella and accepting a new publishing company! Three generations of authors were able to talk to one another and answer questions from a big crowd. Here is how that went.
It’s that Serious
Brandon did a great job in doing both, serious questions, and comical. Some of the biggest advice given to new authors is to: Do your research!
Do not rely on google when writing, utilize other books and research studies found in libraries and bookstores to understand the topic you would like to write about. Robin Hobb brought up the point: “If you want to write about a beekeeper, I don’t know how to be a bee keeper. Therefore, I am going to go to the library and find an encyclopedia about beekeeping.” She has found very fun facts while doing this.
Ryan Cahill has expressed how he wanted to stick to his own creative ideas and went the route of self-publishing. He was clear that if he were to bring up his idea of publishing: novel, novella, novel, novella, he would have been quickly rejected. However, he was unwilling to release his creative freedom. This was validated by Brandon Sanderson, stating he has done deals for a dollar if it meant he got full creative freedom and made the work free of charge.
Ryan Cahill expressed it is important to suck before you get good at something. That it is an inevitable process and cycle to go down. He brought up some sensitive moments to which he makes clear a good and valuable support system makes the entire world.
The Lighter Side
It is fun to talk about the serious stuff, however it is also fun to bring up some of the funny bits of this interview.
Ryan Cahill is shocked by the amount of pickle options the US has. When asked about his favorite kind of pickle by Brandon, he basically just said “a pickle”. However he said “You need to understand, whatever there is in the world, the US has made it into a variety.” Robin Hobb says she makes her own dill pickles which are different every year based on the dill grown.
“If you were to pass, who would you want to have finished your books?” Robin Hobb stated she is far too territorial of her work, however she does not make promises to how long a series will be so this shouldn’t happen. Brandon Sanderson said Dan Wells. Ryan Cahill said “I’M 34!” However, once he got past the idea of an untimely death, he stated he loves the idea of John Gwynne to finish his work.
Finally, the number of legs on a dragon matters. Ryan Cahill mentioned that he was ridiculed for the idea of dragons to have 2 legs over 4, which would make it more of a wyvern. He stated to circle this back to the “do your research” topic, but also be ready to defend your work.
Overall, this was such a fun event to attend and I am thankful to attend this event. Ryan and Robin were wonderful to meet and very kind.
Conclusion
This was the re-publishing of The Fall event! Originally, Cahill was self published for his creative freedom. Now, he has joined The Broken Binding family and had a new cover release and signing event. Robin Hobb was kind enough to do a signing alongside. Brandon Sanderson has been cutting back on signings due to his focus on the Mistborn screenplay, which, go king. Everyone was wonderful to meet!
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