Who is your favorite cradle character, as a writer?
I have a lot of favorite characters, I don't know, I mean I like the characters. I don't know what to say. It's hard for me to pick a favorite. People say it's like picking your favorite kid, but not really, 'cause if I did have a favorite I would definitely just pick it, but I don't know.
What chinese or korean novels were the most inspirational towards the Cradle series?
It's hard to pick out just one. 'Against the Gods', 'Coiling Dragon', people always assume 'I Shall Seal the Heavens', I did not like 'I Shall Seal the Heavens', I just didn't enjoy it very much. So that was not the best to me but 'A Will Eternal' is really good but it wasn't really an inspiration, 'cause it came out after I started writing 'Cradle', but that was one of them. There were some korean novels, some korean cultivation stuff, too, like 'Gosu'. So, 'Gosu' is a big deal, 'Veritas' was an influence on the magic system, 'The Breaker' that was a big one. 'The Turorial Is Too Hard' was not an influence on 'Cradle', I didn't start reading that until after I had started writing 'Cradle'. It's good, I like it. I wish 'Veritas' had gotten a sequel or continuation, 'cause I thought it was really great. I thought 'The Breaker' had a lot of potential and some of it it lived up to and some of it it didn't, but I didn't really like it and then it didn't conclude, so, I hope the artist is doing great. These are korean kind of martial arts comics that had some impact and influence on 'Cradle'.
Is there a post somewhere on books you recommend?
Not really, I find that the books I usually - I like to know people before I recommend books to them. The only books I usually universally recommend are typically the one's that everbody else universally recommends, so, there's nothing new, like if it was written by Brandon Sanderson, you can't go wrong. Just go ahead and read that. I don't have a whole lot of pocket picks. People ask me for my recommendations a lot and I don't know.
Can you give us any hints into the traveler's blade trilogy?
I don't like giving a lot of information on upcoming things mainly because I change my mind a lot. I don't wanna walk myself in and then have people disappointed 'cause what I say doesn't match what they wanted or what they eventually get but I can illustrate my thought process for Traveler's Blade. Traveler's Blade, the problem with it in my mind is I'm not quite sure how to strike the right balance between I want it to be a continuation of the story for people who have read the trilogy. I want it to be like a book 4, not like a complete new triology, but at the same time I want new readers to be able to pick it up without having to read 1 - 3. So, it's hard to strike that right balance. So that's the problem, I got a lot of ideas, I got a lot of things I want to explore but I don't want to leave Simon, 'cause I don't think I'm done with his character, yet and I don't want to isolate people, I don't want people to have to go back and read the original trilogy. I can if I want but I don't want that to be necessary. One of the things I really have considered is starting it off with Simon as an older adult.
When are we getting a harem @willwight
I mean if you wanna go back in time as like a pharaoh of some kind. That's probably I think your best bet.
What do you think is the coolest thing you have been able to do due to the success of your books?
There's a couple answers to that. What is the coolest thing I have been able to do due to the success of my books? There's, because I have money now, because I actually make money, because I didn't make any money before I wrote any books. So, I am single and I have a good income so, I can do things, which is pretty cool, so, therefore I get to write on cruise ships. Now I get cheap cruises, 'cause there's a cruise port near my house. So that's the coolest thing I can do, because I can afford it. So, I get to write on cruise ships, which is a great environment for writing, to be honest. So that's pretty cool, but the coolest thing honestly that I do about the job is interacting with fans that's really cool and getting to make up stories, which is just the best.
Are there different sacred beast Goldsigns besides the eye change?
Actually, see, the eye color thing is one of the hallmarks of being contracted to a sacred beast. To take on the eyes of a sacred beast. So, that's kind of the general shorthand for 'this person has a beast contract'. That is normally how it works. I'm sure there are some exceptions, but generally, that is the rule.
Mercy gets her harem when?
I mean, when she succeeds her mother - you know, if she wants one, she can have one.
I would love to see any notes you might have on RPGs
I think it'd be a lot easier to do Traveler's Gate as a TTRPG. The problem is balance of course, 'cause half the classes are garbage.
Will's EE swag
So I keep this hat, I got a ninja painting when I did Elder Empire, and I hang this pirate hat up next to it. And, fun fact, somebody asked me about maximum nerd level - fun fact, I'm hanging them up on iron hooks I forged myself at a smithy. That's actually true. I took a weekend-long blacksmithing course and so you forge a mound of railroad spikes - it wasn't hard at all, it was pretty cool.
Lil' Blue, please speak in only angry bell noises.
You can speak in bell noises of any emotional range you would like, Blue. As long as they're all bell noises, it's consistent.
Have you ever tried to figure out how the Cradle/Cultivation system would work in a tabletop game?
Yes, I have. Usually, the funny thing is what I've been doing recently is I've just been running through a bunch of new concepts for new stuff and I've all been working it out like a tabletop game and tabletop setting. So, I've thought of that about Cradle. The problem is you kinda want the customizability of paths and I don't really see how to do that except unless it's extremely granular, like a GURPS kinda thing, which I don't particularly like. I don't like there being 25 books for all the abilities you can have. So, I don't see any real way to get the customizability of paths in so, you would have to be choosing between set paths with set progression abilities as you progress and I don't know how the progression would work. I would love to write a book that worked perfectly as a TTRPG that would be a lot of fun. It would also help me to keep track of everybody's stuff, 'cause I would actually make character sheets more.
Which character would like Subnautica most?
Lindon, 'cause you build stuff and progress.
Is it possible for you to sell signed books on the will wight store?
At some point I'm gonna be selling signed books, yeah.
If Orthos was in Subnautica would he have sea turtle legs?
Yes.
Will we see Eithan x Lindon's mom?
Probably not, I mean, you know, I could twist myself, I guess.
Any creatures on Cradle inspired by creatures from Subnautica or other games?
Yes. Ghostwater's whole aesthetic was, you know 'cause I love the underwater theme in general. The leviathans he went out and fought in the water were 100% modeled on Subnautica characters.
Who has the biggest butt in the entire Willverse?
The Wandering Titan, the humanoid Dreadgod. He's kinda got a shell. So, I think that's probably my answer.
When is Cradle book 8?
Book 8 is after Elder Empire. So my current plan, and I want to emphasize that this is my current plan and is all subject to change, is that I am going to do Elder Empire, well I'm definitely doing Elder Empire, I'm already working on Elder Empire. Then after that, my intention is to do Cradle 8 and 9 and then something different. I'm not changing my mind on Elder Empire, that one's happening. After that one I can do 8 and 9.
Are any there any characters whose personality is based off of a real person, in your life or otherwise?
Cash for Gold now! So, I don't really do that. That's a common question I get and I understand why, but I actually don't really base characters off of the personalities of people I know. I don't find that to be helpful. For one thing, and I know this sounds bad, I find it difficult to reduce people I know's personality to a character that I am comfortable working with. So, it would be a caricature of them and I don't feel very comfortable...I know a lot of people get a lot of inspiration from that and they are cool with that. Also, all of my friends and family reads my books, so they would immediately know who this was. So, I guess I can take mannerisms from people sometimes, I can take character details and cool names from people, but I don't really do that.
