The book I'm most grateful for

Crazy thanks to Angela Brown at In a pursuit of publishness for awarding me the Stylish Blogger Award! I love it.

So have you guys heard about this?




Beth Revis is doing an incredible giveaway on her blog. She collected 19 SIGNED BOOKS from the people who really helped her on her journey, along with a whole lotta swag. So what does Beth Revis want?

She wants people to share a book they are grateful for. How awesome is that? During this month of gratitude, sharing a book I'm grateful for sounds pretty much perfect. (Want to share yours? Click on the picture above, and it'll take you to her post.)

Without a doubt, the book I'm most grateful for is MISTBORN by Brandon Sanderson. I don't read a ton of fantasy, but I do love it almost every time. A friend HIGHLY recommended this book, and so I read it.

I can't express how much this book BLEW ME AWAY. I finished reading it, and just sat there, not moving, completely in awe. I couldn't even imagine how many hours... days... years this book had to percolate to become what it was. It was definitely one of those books that stay with you long after you read it. I'm talking LONG after. (Plus: kick-butt female protag, plot where tons of stuff happens. Me=love.)

And the thing is, Brandon Sanderson writes A LOT. It doesn't take him three years to put out a masterpiece like this. He writes a book in like three minutes. Okay, maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration. But the guy is definitely prolific.

Brandon is amazing, and one of the most efficient people I've ever met. Even his thinking process is efficient! Man, I'd love to live in his brain for a day just to see how he does it.

My gratitude for Mistborn started with the book, but it didn't end with it. I read Mistborn about six months after I decided I wanted to pursue writing professionally. I got to the end of the book, and found out that Brandon taught creative writing at a university half an hour from my home. I knew-- knew-- that if I could learn from someone like him, it would make all the difference. The thing about Brandon is, he's a REALLY nice guy. And he likes nothing more than to help aspiring authors on their way. He and a few friends do a weekly podcast called Writing Excuses just to help us out.

I owe Brandon a lot. I owe him for my writing group. I owe him for teaching me more about writing than any other person, by far. And I owe him for writing a darn good book that still makes me wistful whenever I think about it.