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SparkVGX

When you wrote that he resides in Lindons core, is he actually in the pure core, or the area where lindons two cores are

Will Wight

Dross was inside the core. Chillin’ like a villain.

Questioner

What is your favorite path, not necessarily the path you would want? What path would you want to practice, assuming you gain madra channels?

Will Wight

So, the path that I have set up that I would practice, is probably Cloudhammer, from the Blackflame Empire.  Even though I never went into it, it is the one I would probably take, because it's good for combat, it's good for not combat.  You can walk in the air on it, you can repel people, you can do a lot of things with it.  And it feels like its the kind of, you can also cultivate it anywhere, like that aura is all over the place.  So, yeah.  Felt like the most convenient and the one I would most like in a real world scenario.

Questioner

Northstrider vs. Sha Miara

Will Wight

Sha Miara wins due to a mismatch of powers. If she knows what his powers are like and how they work, she can shut them down directly.In a contest of pure force, she would get annihilated.

AdmrlHellNinja

Is it possible to cultivate "Sex aura", if so what would this look like? What kind of remnant would you bond to get to gold? What kind of Iron body would be best suited for this path?

Will Wight

Sex aura: no, that's not possible. If anything, you'd generate some form of interaction between dream and blood aura, but it probably wouldn't be anything unique.

Questioner

Students in the Sect of Twin Stars who will split their cores, what two Paths will they follow?

Will Wight

I plan on getting into that if I have time. This is another one of those things that is detailed that could be more fleshed out. Obviously, the Sect of Twin Stars will come into play later in the series even with what little time we have left or at least something that Lindon could sponsor later. My intention is that they follow different dual Paths and they don't just go like pure and blackflame all of the time like Lindon does. But, there are a few different combinations and dual paths.

Questioner

What would happen if Eithan tried using his Madra dissolving technique on Yerin's Blood Shadow parasite?

Will Wight

I'm not sure if I can answer this.

Questioner

Has anyone ever taken in cradle ever taken a spectre as a remnant to advance to gold. If so what path were they on.

Will Wight

I'm sorry, I don't think I understand the question.

cusecuse315

Why isn't Cradle traditionally published?

Will Wight

From our best estimates, I earn many times more than I would be paid by a traditional publisher.

COULD they offer me a million dollars (or some lesser but still ridiculous sum) per book? Theoretically yes, but they would have to be confident they could sell enough copies to make that worth it.

In practice, they can’t be confident that they’ll sell significantly more than I’m selling now, so I won’t get that kind of an offer.

Will Wight

I like controlling my schedule and that no sane traditional publisher is going to be confident that they can sell 5x what I’m selling now.

In theory they could, of course, but that would require giving me the All-Star promotional treatment, and 99% of authors don’t get that.

Will Wight

I’m right there with you! [Not wanting to work for a boss]. There are so many reasons, and this is a big one.

For one thing, it would most likely be a pay cut to sign with a publisher. Probably a huge pay cut.

But even more than that, I don’t WANT to work for somebody else when I don’t have to. I’d take a pay cut from what I’m making now if that’s what it took to keep my rights.

So why would I accept less money for less control over my work?

Will Wight

There are a LOT of answers to this question.

The two easiest answers are that 1.) I make more now than any traditional publisher would offer me, and 2.) I like having control over my work.

I’ve gone into detail about both of those answers in other comments on this thread, but there’s another, related answer.

Here’s the thing: I have no reason to expect that a traditional publisher would grant me MORE freedom and MORE time to work on my books. Only less.

The freedom traditional publishing grants is the financial freedom to spend time working on a book instead of having to work another job. This comes in the form of an advance.

Well, I already write full time and we save most of the money that the books generate, and we’ve been doing that for seven years now. So I don’t need an advance to keep writing.

As for keeping up momentum in self-publishing, that’s very true and very real, but traditional publishing only makes that harder. Not easier.

The rule of thumb for editorial turnaround is usually about six months, meaning the fastest a traditionally published book will be released is six months from completion.

(If your name is Stephen King you might be able to break these rules, but it’s a good generality.)

So the ABSOLUTE FASTEST you could POSSIBLY release books is twice a year, which is my current rate.

And given that I would have to run it by a network of people, it’s likely to be slower.

But that doesn’t matter because I don’t need the momentum anymore, right? The publisher will take on the burden of marketing so Amazon doesn’t have to.

Well yes, but actually no.

Publishers only put their big promotional guns behind the titles they know are going to be worth it...so basically just their top earners.

Since my last name isn’t Grisham and my first name isn’t “New York Times best-selling author,” I have no reason to expect that treatment.

So what’s likely to happen is slower releases with less attention that sell fewer copies and I make a smaller amount per copy, leading to a slow death spiral that ends in obscurity.

I don’t see a world in which I can happily take more time per book. And that doesn’t even take into account the Golden Reason above all others: most readers don’t want me to spend more time per book.

So I just can’t think of a single benefit to being traditionally published.

...having said all that, I could be persuaded otherwise.

If a publisher is willing to sink a lot of money into a project, that means they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is, and I have every reason to expect good treatment of the property.

But Cradle is no Minecraft. I have no reason to expect Bruce Wayne to shower me in blank checks, and therefore no reason to think I’ll be traditionally published.

Questioner

Do all Abidan have to have used madra? I mean Simon cant become one.

Will Wight

Nope. Simon could become one, if circumstances allowed.

Reality Spasm

What conditions result in the generation of either spacial madra/aura, or what types can effect space? What kinds of limitations would you encounter considering that spacetime isn't really a thing here, as far as I can tell?

Will Wight

It requires someone of Sage or above, or one of their Remnants/devices, to cause madra to take on space-altering properties. Someone of lower cultivation could get it and cultivate it, but only if someone higher helped them.

Vulcanized-Homeboy

What core technique does yerin have? It's never been mentioned?

Will Wight

That's true, and it's not a spoiler, it just never came up.

I don't remember the name off the top of my head, but her Jade cycling technique focuses on increasing power output and madra control. Like her Iron body, it's made with her future advancement in mind: so that she can use more powerful techniques more easily and they'll hit even harder.

Skeletickles

Do you think Lindon is naturally talented at the Sacred Arts, or "just" an average/below-average person?

Will Wight

I think of him as talented in the sense that he has a base level of capability and a passion for improvement, but not talented in the sense that he has an inborn aptitude for madra control.

Even if he had been born somewhere other than Sacred Valley, nobody would have looked at him and gone “Wow, this kid is amazing at the sacred arts! He’s some kind of genius!”

They might have said “Man, he sure works hard,” or “He really loves the sacred arts.”

Equally, nobody outside Sacred Valley would have called him a dud either. Some people really have zero talent for the sacred arts, and he’s not in that group either.

Questioner

How would someone on a death path use an enforcement technique?

Will Wight

They probably wouldn’t, as you wouldn’t want death madra in your body. However, Enforcing a weapon is still an Enforcer technique.

Questioner

Are there any sacred artists out there focused on conditioning their minds, not their bodies?

Will Wight

Madra flows through the body, so there are no Paths that don't affect the body in some way.

However, not every sacred artist lives by his fists.

The Path of the Diamond Sky focuses on polishing the power of the mind, until its practitioners have perfect memory, utter control over their emotions, and imaginations so vivid that some of them die inside self-created dreams.

AbnormalAverage

There are stories that abound within Dragoncon as well as those who state, having met you, that you’re one of the nicest authors they’ve met. What kind of reaction does this bring from you, and have you met any authors that inspire a similar reaction? 

Will Wight

That’s actually just part of the contract I make everyone sign. You’ll notice that when people talk about how nice I am, their jaws are clenched and they’re intensely sweating.

The penalties for violating the contract are…severe.

Questioner

What is Ziel's path/madra?

Will Wight

It's primarily force madra.

Daniel

Last question for now. Would a powerful enough remnant be able to operate like a human since it would retain most of its memories? Or asked another way, will we ever just see a remnant wandering around just minding its own business and interacting with other humans like it was still alive?(albite less powerful)

Will Wight

Yes, to both.

Remnants can cultivate, and as they do, they become more intelligent...and also more human.

That's why they crave human madra just as much as they do vital aura.

Sufficiently advanced Remnants are effectively weird-looking people. However, they are DIFFERENT people than the ones who died and left them behind.

We'll get into it.

Questioner

What is the best fanfic you ever read?

Will Wight

I don't remember, this title is going to be a little off okay? Because I don't remember exactly but it's uh "Dio's Bizarre Summer Break"? I don't.. I don't.. something like that. I really hope that title is not accurate for some sort of smut or something but it's uh.. it's something like that. It's a series of comics for uh a JoJo Bizarre Adventure fanfic comic. ... So uh it was a JoJo Bizarre Adventure fanfic comic basically from Dio's perspective like Dio's the good guy from part one. Instead of being the bad guy which he actually is and so they kind of portray Jonathan, the original JoJo, as overpowered and unstoppable and Dio's like the reasonable one trying to hold them back. ... But they keep creating their own like sort of, they keep going with the story and so they go all the way through part three with, where stands show up, that's the new magic system of part three, and Jonathan awakens his stand and it's the most powerful stand in the world. I honestly really liked it. It had a lot of great emotional moments. It started off as pure comedy but it ended up getting funny and actually emotional. It had some really cool magic system ideas. I really liked it. So in the actual story, JoJo's Bizarre adventure, Dio the bad guy becomes a vampire and he ends up surviving and developing this incredibly overpowered stand. And in this world the fanfic it's nothing compared to Jonathan's. I wish I remembered what it was called. I really.. it's something like "Dio's Bizarre Summer Break" or something I don't... Something like that. Maybe it's just "Dio's Bizarre Adventure" I could be wrong. I don't remember. ... It is called "Dio's [inaudible] the Bizarre Adventure" Okay great. I thought it.. I thought it had some other difference. Maybe I'm just getting it confused. Yeah I really hope Dio's Bizarre Summer Break isn't some kind of beach themed smut. But uh yeah "Dio's Bizarre Adventure" is the.. Oh part two is "JoJo's Bizarre Summer Break" Okay that's what I am getting confused.

SapphireSuniver

Is it possible to eat a remnant before or after Jade? If so, does one get a goldsign?

Will Wight

It is possible to absorb the power of a remnant before or after Jade, but not in the same way. So no, it is not a goldsign. It is a different relationship between you and the remnant so it's less of a part of your advancement going forward. But you can use it for power, there are other ways to bond with remnants, some people do do that. Other people who don't get a goldsign can get a goldsign later, that's a thing that you can sorta do kinda, but it's never quite the same as if you did it as a gold.

TheWanderingBeard

Does the Arelius bloodline power become obsolete after monarch?

Or will Eithan be able to see/hear even further than other monarchs if/when he makes it that far?

Will Wight

Spiritual perception and the Arelius bloodline power work differently. Spiritual perception is able to feel spirits, madra, and aura; basically spiritual powers. The Arelius bloodline power extends your physical senses.