Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

A tale of two signings

I went out to Huntington and it was a completely different story. Indie book store, helpful friendly people willing to bend a little. I would say there were about 75-100 people at the signing.

He started off with the usual pronunciations and then immediately went to questions. My hand shot up like Hermione Granger.

The comment is in contrast to the NYC signing.

There seem to be some time discrepancies surrounding the incident where Elayne and company Traveled to the Kin farm. Did the gateway Aviendha opened to the countryside near the Kin farm at the beginning of The Path of Daggers allow Elayne's party to travel forward or backward in time?

He chuckled for a brief moment and then said "RAFO."

gateways

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traveling

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aviendha

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the kin

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the path of daggers

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errors

Somebody then asked how he kept up his interest over the long haul.

He answered that he has been writing WoT for over 21 years, and that his work day remains the same: Reads the newspaper at breakfast; goes to his study (which isn't in the house it seems) answers necessary e-mails and phone calls, and then starts writing. He's supposed to take a break for lunch, but sometimes that isn't until 3 or so. Around six he goes back into the house and helps Harriet get dinner together. He does this 7 days a week. Occasionally he'll take a day off for golf or fishing but then mentioned that he's been golfing once and fishing twice. He then said that one of the things that keeps him interested is the growth of the characters.

rj on writing

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rj on life

The next question was, "Over the years you have changed as a person. If you were to write The Eye of the World today, what would you change?"

He said he would not have done much differently, just better as he is a better writer today.

rj on writing

The next question was about women and men characters. The questioner said that the women characters seemed to be written by a different person, and wanted to know if that person was Harriet. It got a big laugh.

NaClH2O

rj on writing

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gender

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harriet

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characterization

The next question was about the mechanics of his writing.

He said that when he first started writing, he wrote longhand on a tablet and transposed it onto a typewriter. Eventually he graduated to an IBM Selectric which he called the "Cadillac of typewriters". His first computer was an Apple III and he then went to a Mac but all the software was incompatible and he swore off Apple products. He doesn't like Apple it was obvious. He then talked about early computers, and waxed prosaically about how much easier computers, even the very old ones, made writing.

rj on writing

The next question was "How do you keep track of all the characters?"

He talked about his files, and said that he doesn't start out with huge files, just the basic outlines, but as the story grew so did the files and now he has a huge file database. He said that he is going to take these files and make an encyclopedia out of them. (He did not mention Harriet as being the author.) He talked a bit about the encyclopedia, saying it will include every invented term, character, place etc. It will also include a 1000 word Old Tongue dictionary. The same questioner then asked about the raw files and RJ said he wouldn't publish those, but he may give them to a university, "maybe my own".

rj's notes

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encyclopedia

The next question was about other writing projects.

He said that he plans to finish the two planned prequels "eventually" (he didn't expound on what that meant) and then he said something very surprising to me.

He said that he is considering TWO OR THREE SIDE NOVELS! Stories that suggested themselves to him. I was thinking, "WAY COOL"!

He then went on to talk about "Infinity of Heaven" a bit. Saying that the society portrayed there would be horizontally and vertically stratified, a la the Seanchan, but even stricter. His writing style will stay the same and he won't change the male vs. female viewpoint expressed in WoT.

prequels

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outriggers

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infinity of heaven

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gender

The next questions were about possible movies, and we got the same answers.

The rights have been granted but that's where it sits now. He speculated that IF (the capitals were heard) it ever gets produced it will be The Eye of the World only and that it will probably be two or three movies or a miniseries.

wot film

The next question I only partially heard. It was something about the infiniteness of the One Power and something something.

RJ replied RAFO, and then said, "Come on son, I write fantasy, only fantasy."

one power

The next question was "Are your characters based on real people?"

RJ's answer, "No" but he then said that there is at least one character trait of Harriet's in each of the main female characters. He gave the joke of Harriet is Semirhage when the garbage doesn't get taken out to the curb.

He then went on to talk about the male characters and himself. When he was growing up he most wanted to be someone like Lan. Rand exhibits many of the feelings he felt growing up. He was big for his age like Perrin, and learned to be careful around others as he might accidentally hurt someone. Most of his fights were with three or more kids.

He said that Harriet insists he's Loial "down to his toenails". He said he had no idea why, he doesn't even have tufted ears. (big laugh) Someone then shouted out "Mat?" "Mat is me as a teenager and into my early twenties". (bigger laugh)

rj on writing

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rj on life

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characterization

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harriet

The Q&A then broke up. I was gathering up my note taking stuff and ended up nearly last in line, so I didn't get to hear what others asked him as he was signing.

When I finally got up to the desk I asked, "After Moghedien was mindtrapped, Moridin said that had she not managed to do some good by accident, she would have been dead. What good was Moridin referring to?"

NaClH2O

moghedien

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mindtrap

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moridin