Back when I was trying to break in, I spent many years writing books and not getting published. Do you have a reason or story behind this habit? I think that Warbreaker was one of the most unique I've ever read. You seem to purposefully invent a system of magic for each book/series you create. (Their personalities arose out of what I wanted to do with their story, which was my take on the classic tale of sisters whose roles get reversed.) It's very gratifying to hear that readers like my female characters and that the time I spent learning to write them has paid off. In WARBREAKER, Siri and Vivenna don't really have specific influences but are the result of so much time working at writing female characters that it's something I'm now comfortable with.

I would say specifically that Sarene from ELANTRIS has a lot of Annie in her, and Vin from MISTBORN has a lot of Janci in her. Annie Gorringe (who was a good friend when I was an undergraduate-and still is) and Janci Patterson were people I sat down to interview and talk to in my quest to be able to write female characters who didn't suck. I also have two younger sisters who were a lot of help, but there were several friends in particular who gave me direct assistance.

She has always been a strong influence on me. I took inspiration from women I know, starting with my mother, who graduated top of her class in accounting in an era where she was the only woman in her accounting program. Even beyond that you want every character you write to be believable, and it's been a habitual problem of men writing women and women writing men that we just can't quite get it right, so I knew it was going to be something I'd have to work hard at. I don't know how common that viewpoint is, but because those were the people whose books I read-writers like Anne McCaffrey, Melanie Rawn, and Barbara Hambly-I wanted to be able to do that in my own fiction. So there was a piece of my mind that said having strong female protagonists is a big part of fantasy. This is partially due to the fact that so many of my favorite fantasy novels growing up, when I first discovered fantasy, were from female writers with really strong female protagonists. That disconcerted me because it was something I wanted to make a strength in my writing. In fact, in the first few books I wrote before ELANTRIS I was terrible at it.

Writing believable female heroines-I should probably back up and point out that I wasn't always good at this.

You write such wonderful, believable female heroines, who are your role models and influences?

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