Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

RJ replied that they probably thought I was reading soft porn, and that some of those cheesy romance novels I was talking about are some of the best soft porn he knows of. Later someone asked to have his picture taken with RJ and he replied, "What kind of picture are we talking about? I'll only do it if I get to keep my clothes on." Oh, and RJ said that the woman on the cover of Lord of Chaos is an Aes Sedai of the Red Ajah, but he doesn't know which Aes Sedai because it was changed a number of times.

Regarding today's signing at Olsson's in DC:

Fairly small crowd, as expected. Very few questions asked (that I overheard), though RJ did repeat the "I've known the last scene since..." bit at least four or five times.

He also told one fellow who wanted a photograph that he didn't mind having his picture taken, but he insisted on keeping his clothes on. Someone in the line said "Damn!" rather loudly, and RJ looked back and said that he hears that a lot. Well...

Regarding this evening's signing at Tower Books in Richmond:

The crowd was not very large, perhaps 50-75 people.

He then retired to his signing table and began autographing away. I took up a position about 15 feet away so I could listen to some of his discourse with the audience. When signing the first book his ink ran out. At this point he seemed to panic somewhat. His host scrambled to find a solution, but Jordan stated repeatedly that he needed "his case", a black attaché-style pouch that apparently had ink replacements. Several fans quickly offered their own pens, but Jordan replied that he greatly preferred the "Census" pen as it had a cushioned section that made it much easier to hold the pen for hours at a time. Apparently growing somewhat uncomfortable, Mr. Jordan summoned his wife loudly by bellowing "Harriet!" into the crowd—disquieting some of the fans. Soon she appeared to soothe him and search for the case. Apparently they had brought the wrong style of replacements. The issue was soon resolved and signing resumed.

Signing was limited to two hard-covers per person, though they were permitted to return to the end of the line for more signatures as time permitted. Personalizations were discouraged. Mr. Jordan allowed photos, though he called out that he had one rule: "Men must keep their clothes on."

One fan brought a British edition of Crossroads of Twilight to the signing table. Jordan happily signed, but became agitated as he described to the immediate audience that the British publishers had lied to him. "They told me that under no circumstance would they release the book before the American release date." Despite this pledge, however, his novel was released in late December rather than in January. He further commented "you only get one chance to lie to me." I suppose we will have to wait and see the ramifications of this British publishing error at the time of the next book's release. Jordan commented that "perhaps I will not even send them my manuscript until after the American audience already has their novels in print."

Now, I am going to take a very...Oh, I have one announcement. Later on, during the signing here, some of you are going to want to take pictures of me. That's fine. Some of you are hoping to get pictures taken with me. That's fine. I have only one rule for photographs: Guys have to keep their clothes on. [crowd laughs loudly] Okay? Okay? Okay. Now, I will take a few questions. I'm going to start on this side [his right] and work around, and just a very few questions so we can get to the signing cause I think this store closes at ten o'clock.

Um, anybody, come on, aren't there any curious women out there at all? You women never ask questions here? [RJ laughs slightly]

Bradley Staples

[editor's note—RJ repeated the first several questions on the mic so everyone can hear, so I'm going to deviate somewhat and just present the info in a Q&A format.]

At this point Robert Jordan went into Waldenbooks and was about to sit down, but came back out again and said, "A lot of people ask when will the next book be released. I promise on my mother's grave the next book will be on the shelves in stores." At this point some punk kid walking by screamed, "YEAH! I DON'T EVEN READ YOUR DAMN BOOKS! YEAH!" So I could not hear the conclusion to Jordan's statement. But one of the employees walked over from where Jordan was standing towards my end of the line, so I called her over and asked her what the last part was. She said he finished by saying "when I have finished writing it."

Once again Jordan left to go sign books, but came back out soon after saying that it was okay to take pictures of him, to have your picture taken with him, but under one rule, men can't take their clothes off. After this he really did begin the signing.

It took me about 30 minutes to get near to where Jordan was signing (the line moved really fast). I saw two people get their books signed before me. The first young man made a rude comment to Jordan as he walked off, saying, "See you in two years at the next book signing, if the book is out by then." But Jordan took it in stride and without comment turned his attention to the next person who asked him a question in a whisper, and he received a RAFO. The man seemed upset and asked, "What does that mean?" to which Jordan calmly answered, "It means I don't want to give away too much of the story." I handed my two books to his assistant, who got them ready to sign. I was a bit nervous, since the last two guys had been rather curt with Jordan, I wasn't sure if his mood would have soured. But he wasn't, in fact one of the things that impressed me the most, was that he was still in a jovial mood. I ended up asking two questions, but they are not story related, but his answers are interesting anyway.

Before he started signing, he said that we could take as many pictures as we liked under two conditions: 1) NO male nudity and 2) Don’t show too much of his bald spot. (That worked for me as I had no intention of the first and I have a bald spot, too.) My wife and I got our books signed and took pictures with Mr. Jordan. He talked to us for about three minutes as our teenage daughter was with us and hasn’t gotten into the series. He told her that she might like to try it because of the strong female characters. He said all the men in his family are very strong because if they weren’t the women would eat them up.

The store employee told RJ that time was running out, so he had to end the Q&A session. He then got up and began walking to the signing table, where he stumbled down the stairs. Thank you, whomever it was that caught him!

I then snapped a picture, and RJ stood up to make a comment. I truly feared I had bothered him. He said that if we would like to take photos, please let him know so that he could look up, so you would get more than just the top of his head. He then said he only has one rule, "No male nudity!"

You’ve seen him in the back of the books. He’s got a scragglier gray beard and longer hair now. He walks with a cane. Hmm… Ah yes, and he still has the infamous hat, of course.

RJ’s Intro: Basic rules, such as no personalizing until after everyone’s through, pictures are fine, NO full frontal male nudity (when asked about back nudity, he gave an equally hearty no). Female nudity was not commented on.