Brandon and a small group of friends who were also aspiring writers began to do so. One piece of advice Dave gave Brandon was to attend conventions, such as WorldCon and World Fantasy, in order to connect with industry professionals. He read many submissions, formed some lifelong friendships, and served as Editor in Chief during his senior year.īrandon learned much about the business side of being a writer by taking a class from David Farland, author of the popular Runelords series.

Volunteering for The Leading Edge, BYU’s science fiction/fantasy magazine, was a wonderful experience for Brandon. In spite of this he continued to be a dedicated writer. and accumulated quite a pile of rejection letters. Brandon submitted many manuscripts for publication . . . He says it made for a rather dismal social life, but he finished seven novels during his undergraduate years. During this era he went to school full time during the day, worked nights to pay for his schooling, and wrote as much as he could. Upon his return to BYU, Brandon became an English major, much to the dismay of his mother, who had always hoped he would become a doctor.īrandon began writing in earnest, taking a job as the night desk clerk at a hotel because they allowed him to write while at work. Brandon often says that it was during this time in Seoul, Korea that he realized that he didn’t miss chemistry one bit, but he did miss writing. From 1995 to 1997 he took time away from his studies to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1994 Brandon enrolled at Brigham Young University as a biochemistry major.

Tress of the emerald sea