An Angry Kind of Hope with Leigh Bardugo

First Draft with Sarah Enni

First Draft Episode #215: Leigh Barudgo

Leigh Barudgo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Shadow and Bone series, the Six of Crows duology, and the King of Scars duology, discusses her first adult novel, Ninth House.

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LINKS AND TOPICS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Please check out Leigh’s two previous First Draft interviews, here and here!

• The Grishaverse has been developed by Netflix as a TV show

• Brandon Sanderson is the author of the Mistborn series, the Stormlight Archive series, and the Elantris series, and Leigh notes that he writes one million books and sees way, way far ahead as a writer

• NPR’s laudatory review for King of Scars had to include a lot of backstory, since technically it’s the sixth book in the Grishaverse

• Leigh could not wait for a friend to catch up on the past seasons of Stranger Things before watching the third season (unlike with Game of Thrones where she gave him time to catch up)

• Leigh loves how The Legend of Korra expanded on the universe established in Avatar: The Last Airbender (speaking of Avatar, have you listened to the First Draft interview with Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of the Avatar universe??)

• I risk a spoiler by mentioning the end of Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer series… Curious readers should definitely pick up Daughter of Smoke and Bone and read Laini’s fantasy books all through - and listen to her First Draft interview here!

• When I was fortunate enough to moderate a panel on worldbuilding at BookCon, NK Jemisin—New York Times bestselling author of the Broken Earth trilogy and The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms series—brought up the Arthur C. Clarke’s third law, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

• Leigh hopes to avoid the George R. R. Martin scenario — referencing the fact that the Game of Thrones TV show caught up, and then surpassed, Martin’s pace of writing A Song of Ice and Fire, the series the show is based on

• Leigh’s editor for Ninth House is Noah Eaker, editorial director at Random House.

• The Princess Bride by William Goldman (also a prolific screenwriter of movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men) was entirely about digressions, and that is what made it so perfect.

• Jodie Foster and Anderson Cooper were both in Manuscript senior society

• Leigh points writers to Robin LaFevers’ Instagram account (and listen to her First Draft interview) and Susan Dennard’s newsletter, Misfits and Dreamers (and listen to her First Draft interview) for amazing craft advice

• Authors like Kelly Link, Lev Grossman, Joe Hill, and Stephen King (!!!), and Charlaine Harris have given Ninth House props. Not a bad list!!!

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