Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

Bob Kluttz

We were fortunate enough to get hold of Teresa Patterson, Co-Author of The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time (commonly referred to as "The Guide"). Teresa keeps a very busy schedule, so we were thrilled when she agreed to sit down with us for a few minutes and answer our questions.

The book is also commonly referred to as the Big White Book (BWB) or the BBoBA (Big Book of Bad Art).
Bob Kluttz is one of the creators of Encyclopaedia WoT.

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Hello Teresa. Thanks for joining us!

Thank you for asking me.

Many Robert Jordan fans only know you as the other name on The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. Could you tell us something about yourself?

I have always wanted to be a writer, but I did not start selling my work until 1994 when I sold my first short story to an anthology edited by Christopher Stasheff. I have always been a fan of Fantasy and SF literature, art, and movies, attending, and eventually running SF conventions and art shows. I earned my Master Class rating as a costumer in only 3 years. Before becoming a writer, I worked as a show horse trainer and riding instructor, competing with Arabians, Quarter Horses, and event Horses. I also worked as an actress, musician, and movie extra. In those years I was also very active with the Society for Creative Anachronisms, the medieval historical recreation group. I used to love putting all my interests together by using my show horses in my jousting and battle show at the local Renaissance fair. Most of my Jousting team was composed of guys from the SCA who already knew how to use a sword and lance. I just had to teach them how to ride.

After becoming a writer, I continued to be involved in conventions and art shows, eventually becoming an officer in the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists. I served two terms as President of that organization, and in 2004 was awarded the Chesley Award for service. Even though it is an artists' organization, I spent a lot of time writing for, editing, and managing their publication, the "ASFA Quarterly".

When I'm not writing, I work as an artist of sorts. I build balloon sculptures to decorate major events and parties. While balloon sculptures hardly seem like normal art, it can be quite challenging. We have done work for several U.S. Presidents as well as major corporations, hotel chains, and international designers. Of course, unlike books that last for many years, balloon sculptures usually only last one day—or at most a week.

My current hobbies include scuba diving, Tai Chi, archery, and collecting edged weapons. I currently live in Texas with my roommate Morgana and an ever-changing family of cats and raccoons.

Do you consider yourself more as an artist or a writer?

I am a writer who does balloon art to make my living. Writing pays, but not well enough to support my household without help. My eventual hope is to give up sculpting to write full time. I have always considered myself to be a writer who is an art advocate. I love art. I used to paint, but discovered there are lots of people who can paint and draw better than I can. I am a good art director, and I love hanging with the artists, but I am a better writer. And the pay is better once you get to a certain level. The best artists in our genre cannot come close to making the money the top writers can make.

Besides Wheel of Time and Shannara, what other writing have you done?

Besides the Wheel book, I also co-authored The World of Shannara with Terry Brooks, a number of fantasy stories including "To Kill A Dragon", in Dragon's Eye and "What Price Magic", in The Day the Magic Stopped, both anthologies edited by Cristopher Stasheff from Baen Books; "The Gift", in Time of the Vampires edited by P.N. Elrod and Martin Greenburg from DAW Books and other. I have also written a number of non-fiction articles about art, conventions, or horses.

What projects do you have going now or in the near future?

Last fall I finished working on an expansion for the World of Shannara book that will bring that world book up to date with the 6 books in the series since the first version of the world book was released. The new expansion section features illustrations by Rob Alexander. I am not sure when the new version is set to be released—probably in early 2006.

Outside of the SF world I recently finished ghost writing a real-life military adventure that is due out later this year. Of course, since it is a ghost project, I can't tell you more about it, other that it involves a Navy Seal. If I told you more—I'd have to kill you. (grin). I am also working on some short stories for various anthologies.

How does a project like the Wheel of Time world book get set up?

World books, like the one for the Wheel of Time are usually put together by a Packager—in this case Bill Fawcett—who, with the approval of the publishing house and the series author, puts together a team of artists and a writer to do the project. The publishing house and the series author then approve the choices for main author and artist. Once that is done contracts are issued and the project begins.

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The big question for Robert Jordan fans: What's it like working with Robert Jordan? How did that experience compare to other collaborations?

Robert Jordan is probably the finest world builder working in Fantasy today. His background in physics, history, and social dynamics combine to give him an appreciation of world dynamics that are currently unmatched in literature. For me, that made the job of documenting his world both challenging and intriguing. The bad part is that I did not get to create much to add to the universe—he had most things worked out and knew how he wanted them presented. I will admit that I had much more creative latitude with some of my other co-authors, but I had a larger canvas with Robert Jordan's universe. I also love history and discovered that we shared that as well as an appreciation of old weapons and military tactics. He has put a lot of thought into all the things that make Rand's world a complex place, so that everything has a history or a science to it, even if those details never appear in the books. Few authors go to that much trouble to create the background on which their characters perform. I spent a lot of time asking questions and listening to Jordan talk as he took me inside that universe.

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Did you work with him in his home office or exchange data by phone and e-mail? What was a typical workday like?

First, we (the lead artist, the packager, and myself) all re-read all the then current books. I made notes and highlighted things I wanted to explore. Then at a preset time, we spent a week or so at RJ and Harriet's wonderful colonial home. I used the time to pick RJ's brain about his world and Todd used the time to make sketches of places and characters for his approval. He then also supplemented the discussions with a large packet of written materials and notes that he had made while writing the series. I organized the materials into an order and format that seemed sensible and then filled in the gaps if necessary. We communicated by phone or mail when necessary. As I completed each section of the manuscript it was then sent back to RJ for his notes, corrections, and approval. I made any requested changes. Then the finished book was sent to the packager, and on to the publisher. The publisher then made additional changes—some of which I did not know about until the book was released.

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Many fans wonder whether the Wheel of Time world book should be considered "canon." Did Mr. Jordan verify all the factual information in the book?

Mr. Jordan "verified" the facts, in that he had final approval over the manuscript and everything that went into it, but we wrote it as a "living" history—in other words, we wrote it from the point of view of a learned scholarly person living during Rand's generation who had some unusual access to rare books relics, and materials. Whether this person's assumptions about the true nature of those artifacts or the histories that were uncovered were the truth is only as certain as it is for any of our own present day historians and archeologists. This is doubly complicated because some facts are always lost to time, even in Rand's world, and that not all truths are recorded accurately—especially of the Aes Sedai have decided to muddy the waters.

The result is that we wanted each reader to take away his or her own interpretation of the veracity of the information. Does the book reflect what R.J. intended? So far as I know, it does. Does it reflect the last and only word on Rand and his world? Perhaps. We also believed the dinosaurs to be cold blooded reptiles for many years. Now the current belief says they were warm blooded and related to birds. Which is canon? Who knows? Will it change again? As with Rand's world—wait and see.

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Can you recall any specific areas of the book where you were on your own? Conversely, what parts did Robert Jordan write or verify?

RJ verified everything. He is the property holder and I wrote at his pleasure. There were some sections which I was allowed to play with—so long as it stayed within his vision of course—and others which were completely his. It has been long enough that I no longer recall which parts of the book were wholly mine—especially since the short stories that were originally scattered throughout the manuscript were all cut in the final version—but I can tell you that certain parts—such as the History of Artur Hawkwing and the Calendar and dating systems were wholly Robert Jordan.

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Did you have direct access to any of Robert Jordan's files? Did you pick up any juicy tidbits? Any that you can share?

He gave me access to a lot of notes and information. But there is nothing I can share that was not already in the book. I can tell you that I did clearly see the inspiration for the women in his book in RJ's wife, Harriet.

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What are your thoughts on Robert Jordan's characters? Are there any that you identify with?

Surprisingly, despite the fact that I am a woman, I identified with most of the young men, especially Mat and Perrin. The women always seem a little mean spirited and petty to me. I always wanted to know what they were going to do next, but I couldn't identify with them.

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As an artist yourself, what are your thoughts on the artwork in the Wheel of Time world book?

I was a little disappointed with the final version of many of the character pieces, but I guess it should be no surprise that the characters as they appeared in my head look different from Todd's vision of them. I think most people have their own vision of how the characters look. I know that R.J. had approval over the initial sketches, but I was disappointed that the finished pieces were not tighter. I can say I would have done them differently—but not necessarily any better. Todd has received a lot of criticism for his pieces in the book. I know Todd was under a lot of stress and pressure, and I suspect it affected the final product more than he would have liked.

The inserts with the Darrel Sweet covers however, are wonderfully reproduced—even though R.J. says Mr. Sweet's covers are not necessarily accurate. Darrell Sweet did the cover of the anthology for my first story, so I have a particular fondness for his work. Elisa Mitchell did a great job with the cover art—though I will never understand why they shrank her piece down and surrounded it with gobs of white space. I guess it was some kind of marketing choice. I was also happy with most of the spot illustrations, ornaments, and maps that she and John Ford and Thomas Canty contributed.

RJ explained in another interview that Todd Hamilton kind of got screwed in his contract, which affected the quality of his art.

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Are there any plans to update the book with new information? Would you be interested in such a project?

So far as I know there are no plans to update the book. I would certainly be willing to work on an update, and have recently completed working on an updated version of my other Worldbook for the Shannara series for Terry Brooks. In that case I found revisiting the world was like returning to an old friend. I suspect that would also be the case with Rand's world.

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We understand that you are also a balloon artist. Can you tell us about that?

Writers rarely make enough to pay the bills from writing alone, and I am no exception. I have a "day job" as a balloon sculptor. It began 20 years ago when I was a musician and the company "Balloons to You" hired me out of college as a singer to perform at parties. My plan was to be a starving writer, artist, and musician. Over the years the company morphed into its present incarnation as designers and decorators. We no longer do musical performances at all (though I still perform as a singer at small venues and conventions). Instead we are now part of what we call "a tiny ma and pa international balloon company". Our company only has a handful of balloon artists, but over the years we have done work for several presidents, including our current leader, and have worked in many countries, including Russia, Germany, Canada, Mexico, and Britain. Before 9-11, we traveled all over the country doing special balloon sculptures for companies like American Airlines. We travel a lot less now, but I am still on call 24/7 except when I am at an SF convention or a diving trip.

Most of our work is for trade shows, shopping malls, and special events with designs consisting primarily of vaulting arches and columns made of individual balloons, but we can sculpt almost anything out of balloons. I have to mention that these are very large sculptures--not the little balloon animals most people think of. Over the years I have made many tin soldiers, Christmas trees, helicopters, pink poodles, ice cream sundaes, and high heeled shoes. I have also made the flags from many nations. Britain has one of the most difficult flags to render in balloons. My average speed when working with a team member off an air blower is approx 1200 balloon per hour. My speed with helium is slower because we have to change out the empty helium tank every 500 balloons or so.

My best friend and I used to joke that we would quit doing balloons as soon as we published our first book. Well, both of us now have several books out and we are both still doing balloons to make ends meet. My boss jokes that he has the most famous balloon crew in the business because two of us are writers, one is a Broadway performer, and one was the inspiration for a 1970s cartoon character. None of that saves us from having to spend the night installing the sculptures in a shopping mall.

Thanks so much for sharing your time with us!

Thank you so much for asking.

Dragonmount

Teresa Patterson will be appearing at Dragon*Con 2005 in Atlanta, Georgia. September 2-5.

Special thanks to Bob Kluttz for the interview and Jennifer Liang for arranging it!