From: [email-masked] ("T.McCormick")

Hi there,
      Well here's my story, back in November I sent an email to the
SF-Lovers asking if anybody had any questions they wanted  Robert
Jordan author of the Wheel of Time asked as I was going to a book
signing of his, here in Glasgow.

However to my dismay, I discovered I couldn't make it to the book
signing in the afternoon, so I typed a small letter to Robert Jordan
explaining my situation and including a list of the questions which I
had received via the internet, asking if he could possibly answer the
questions at his leisure. I also give him a copy of the Wheel of Time
FAQ which I had received via email and which I had printed and
bound.

A couple of weeks later I received a reply.

I would have emailed this response to Sf-lovers sooner however my
rights to the network had been restricted, however my position has
now changed and what follows is the questions I posed then the
letter he sent me.

*************************************
Questions
*************************************
Question 1
When will the next book be released (UK & USA) and what will it be
titled?

Question 2
Do you currently think it will  be 7 or 8 books total, also will the books
continue to remain as 'chunky' as tFoH
& tSR?

Question 3
 In tFoH, in the chapters "The Far Snows" and "A Short Spear," was
the timing of events deliberately precalculated by him, or not? If the
first is true, I'm not asking for an explanation -- presumably we'll get
that in a later book.  I'm just asking for a yes or a no.
(If he wants to know why the question was put, please just say the
two words "time zones.")

Question 4
Ask him if he knows about all the Jordan junkies on the network.
Tell him we love his books and are frenzied to know when the next
one is coming out. Get him to confirm that Verin is not Black. (not
that he will of course; then again, those of us who know, know
that she isn't) Please find out if Lews Therin balefired himself in the
prologue in EotW, or if he just drew too much of the OP. If it isn't
critical to the continuing plot, I'm sure he'll say.

Question 5
We don't want to pry however it was rumoured that you had suffered
a heart attack recently and your devoted readers are concerned for
your welfare;

Question 6
What is the name of the next book and will Perrin be in it a bit more
than tFoH.

Question 7
I have found and read your Conan books, however are there any
other books that you have had published and are there any other
books unrelated to the Wheel of Time that you are working on?

********************************************
Robert Jordans Reply
********************************************

I found the compendium fascinating. It is startling how much your
group has puzzled out correctly, but I have to tell you that some of
what you worked out is wrong, concerning both me and the books,
but I have it in mind not to tell you which parts. That way you can
have the pleasure of figuring out for yourselves where you went
astray. (Easy to say that when I'm four or five thousand miles away.)

With regard to the covers, both my editor and I have fought long and
hard to get them to be the way they should be. And obviously with a
high futility quotient. Countless descriptions of Trollocs, pointing out
that Rand is approximately 6'5"--'6" tall, descriptions of the swords,
of Perrin's axe, etc.
The "dwarf Moiraine on a pony" problem was only the first, along
with Lan being in armour and the Robin Hood clothes. I do not
assign blame. On those occasions when either my editor or I have
been able to speak directly to Darryl Sweet, the problems in
sketches have been solved handily for the most part. (You did not
realise that there were discrepancies in the sketches which never
made it onto the covers, did you?) Sometimes you just give up after
awhile; with Rand's height, for instance. After five books showing
him as maybe 6' tall, I've simply bagged trying for the extra 6". As
for the changing hair colours, I fear you must look to the printing
process for that blame. When we see the cover painting, all colours
are as we wish them to be, but then we must hope that the colours
are reproduced with some degree of faithfulness on the actual
covers. The expense of printing covers and/or dust jackets is such
that no publisher is going to throw away a set and reprint simply
because the characters' hair has changed colour.

Now for your questions.

l) The next book (#6; Lord OF CHAOS) should be released in the UK
in November 1994. I'd have it out quicker if I could, but it does take a
little time to write these books.

2) At present I am indeed hoping to complete the cycle in either
seven or eight books. I am 90% confident that I can do it in seven,
95% confident that I can by eight. The thing is, as a famous manager
of an American baseball team once said: "It ain't over till it's over." I
know the last scene of the last book and the resolutions of all the
major story lines. I have known these things since the very
beginning. It is just a matter of getting there. And I am afraid the rest
of the books very likely will be as large as SHADOW and FIRES.
Sorry. I've been thinking about asking the publisher to include a
shoulder strap. At least I haven't topped a thousand pages in
Hardcover yet.

3) Yes, the timing was calculated. I know how far to the west
Seanchan lies.

4) I know about the "Jordan junkies" (ahem! Blush!), now. Lews
Therin did not use balefire on himself; he simply drew as much of
the One Power as he could, then kept on pulling it in. As for Verin:
read and find out. Surely you agree with Oscar Wilde about the
suspense? I will try to keep you right a tiptoe as long as I can.

5) No, I did not have a heart attack, nor any sort of medical problem
whatsoever. My wife did have heart surgery, she has made a full
recovery); this may be the source of the rumours. Many
thanks for your concern.

6) LORD OF CHAOS is the title of number six at present. (See #1.)
A working title, but I like it. As for Perrin, he will definitely be back
sooner or later.

7) I have been a writer for seventeen years now, and have had a
number of other books published (Westerns, international intrigue,
historical fiction), as well as essays, dance review and theatre
criticism, but no other fantasy save the Conan novels. I've written
only one piece of short fiction in my life, aside from school
assignments, and it was never published. I will probably write in
those other genres again from time to time; I enjoy them.  I am
working on something unconnected with THE WHEEL OF TIME,
though I have not yet begun writing it. (Books percolate about in my
head for a long time before anything goes onto paper.) It will be the
next thing after THE WHEEL is complete. It will be fantasy, in a
different universe than THE WHEEL.
My editor says it will be people's chance to see a society like the
Seanchan Empire, but that is simply because most of the action will
take place in a culture much like Seanchan. The main male
character, who is shipwrecked there, comes from a place that might
he considered a cross between Elizabethan England and the Italian
city-states of the Renaissance with touches of the seventeenth
century. I intend him to be a man in his thirties, a man of some
experience and worldliness in his own culture (though this does him
only occasional good where he finds himself), in contrast to Rand's
innocence and naiveti. The major female character is a
noblewoman of the land where he is shipwrecked; by the law,
whatever is cast up on the shores of her estates belongs to her: the
ship, its cargo -- its crew. Of course, a good many details will surely
change between now and the commencement of writing (they always
do), but that is the general form. No working title yet beyond
SHIPWRECK. I expect to do the story in two or possibly three books.
As far as any message to the folks on the net.... It is really quite an
honour to find out that so many of you want to discuss my books in
such detail. Frankly, I'm both pleased and amazed that you have put
so much time and effort into it. Well, I hoped Iwas writing something
that would hold people's interest; it seems maybe I have.
One thing -- don't think you've reached bottom in your digging. I tried
to make the books fairly simple on the surface, and quite complex
underneath. You've dug up a number of points that I thought I had
buried well enough that they wouldn't come to light for some time yet
(don't expect me to say which ones), and you've also
dug up one or two that I never buried in the first place (no hints
there, either). Jordan's Law, I think, can better be stated along these
~lines: "Ah, you think you know how the game goes now? Very good,
gentlemen. what say we increase the bets just to make it
interesting?".

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End of letter.
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|Tom McCormick, Network Supervisor                                  |
|Department of Computer Studies Tel  : 041-331-3286           |
|Glasgow Caledonian University  Fax  : 041-331-3277            |
|Glasgow, G4 OBA         Email: [email-masked]   |
|     "The Wheel Weaves as The Wheel Wills"  R. Jordan       |
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