Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

Well, my first experience meeting Robert Jordan, and it was unique, not what I expected and genuinely fun.

This was at Vroman's bookstore in Pasadena. From reading the reports online from the other fine folks here at Dragonmount, I arrived early. Mr. Jordan was due to begin at 7pm so I strolled into the store at 5pm. Even arriving 2 hours prior to the start, seats up front were filled, and there was standing room only when the actual event began.

Prior to his arrival, people were reading copies of the books they'd brought to be signed, they were chatting on cell phones, listening to iPods and introducing each other to new friends. One mother daughter team sat down next to me. The teenage daughter commented quietly to her mother that the crowd was more "diverse" than she'd thought it would be. Looking around I noticed a wide range of people; men, women, Asian, African American, Caucasian, Latino, older people (a husband and wife in their late 70's if a day), folks in their 50's, 30's, 20's, right on down to some pre-teen boys. The mother asked her daughter what she meant, and her daughter explained she thought "they'd just be a bunch of geeks here but there weren't." Well, it made me chuckle.

The nice Vroman's clerk gave a quick intro to Mr. Jordan, going over his decorations from the wars he’s been in, his career and other distinctions.

Mr. Jordan looked a little tired, but was in good spirits when he took to the podium. He acknowledged those of us who read about this sort of thing on the net by asking us to chant along with him when he gave us his caveats of what not to ask—when the next book is out, who killed Asmodean, how long will the next book be, etc. Even for those of us that knew the answers, we were laughing along with him and his dry delivery.

rj the man

He again confirmed that he's thinking about writing the "outrigger" novels that have been mentioned here before. RJ wants a year or two to poke around the idea to make sure it's a strong idea. Mr. Jordan said it will follow other characters, and some of the characters he's thinking about are major characters from the main novels. However, if after a couple of years the idea isn't seeming as strong as he thinks it is, he won't write them.

outriggers

He confirmed that he's due to start working on "Infinity of Heaven" next. The next series will be set in a different universe, with different rules. He acknowledged that it would still have his main theme: "Men and women misunderstanding each other."

He also stated that he hopes to get better. One day he's sure to make it. To this proclamation a gent up front called out "you're great", to which he replied: "Thank you, thank you, yes, I thank you and my mother thanks you."

rj on writing

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infinity of heaven

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gender

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wot themes

One item I hadn’t heard mentioned before, is that he's "doing lunch" (though he prefers to eat it) with Red Eagle Entertainment tomorrow (11/01/05) in Los Angeles. They've got the outline for The Eye of the World movie, what they want to keep from the book, what they don't want to use, etc., and he needs to give them an ok on it.

wot film

RJ was so amiable, and pleasant. He had a quick word for everyone getting their books signed, and posed for pictures. I was so excited to get them signed I forgot to ask my well planned question, "Who didn't kill Asmodean?".

rj the man