I was at, if I remember right, our school's fall band concert near the beginning of the year. Afterward I ran into a friend who had graduated the previous year and he had a friend with him who was a bit older and a film buff. Our mutual friend went off to talk to someone else, and I wound up talking to him about various things. The subject of books came up and he mentioned the WoT, he asked if I'd read it, and I admitted I hadn't. Well, he didn't really tell me about the books, but about how the series was going to be continued after RJ died. I'm not actually sure if he said the name Brandon Sanderson, but that was where I first witnessed his influence. I didn't think about it at all after that.
In December, I was getting a ride home from a friend after one of very many Christmas choir performances, and another choir friend was in the car. The subject of books came up, and he recommended Mistborn to me, spilling out buckets of praise about the books, which I decided to take with a grain of salt (unnecessary, of course). When I was getting out of the car he mentioned how it had three magic systems, which earned a raise eyebrow and a "what the?" when he told me the names of the systems.
So I put a hold on FE at the library and about mid January I got my hands on it. I proceeded to ravenously devour it, reading late into the night. I then got the next two from the library and glutted myself on those, confiding in my friend about different plot twists as I got to them.
I've since read everything that Brandon has put out, save for the WoT, which I'm actually downloading the audiobook for right now. Interesting how life works, isn't it?