Subject: Dayton Signing Report: Some Silver, Some Dross

From: "Michael Martin" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 08:16:03 -0500

>From  the RJ signing for PoD at Books & Co., in Dayton, OH, on Sunday, 11/15:

My report is not as exhaustive as Matthew Hunter's--I didn't take notes.
>From  his report, however, it seems that our two signings were quite similar,
at least as for as what Jordan said.

I had several questions prepared, and, surprisingly, had all but one
answered.  Of course, only two of those questions really impact plot and
stuff, so...

My first question:  "Was the Aes Sedai who initiated the Pact of Rhuidean
>from  the Age of Legends?" (From TSR).

Jordan: (Pause)"No." (Pause)"No, she was not from the Age of Legends."

My reason for asking had to do with the Oath Rod theory about agelessness
and such.

Next two questions were essentially the same, just about different
characters:  Had he always known the size and importance of the role of Fain
and Cadsuane?

Answer:  Yes.

He went on to repeat what he has said before--knowing the end, knowing all
the major events, yadda yadda.  However, what he did said that was new (at
least for me) was that the _order_ of events was _not_ set, and that he
allowed some fluidity for them.  He made a remark about a cousin of his (who
is an engineer) who came over and saw all the notes and work and asked why
RJ hadn't created something called "critical flow charts" or some such.  RJ
replied that the nature of the story was too complex for such linear
breakdown.

He also said the that the idea for the chapter icons was his wife's.  They
sat down and decided (roughly) what they ought to look like, and hired an
artist to do them.

I asked if we would see Isam/Luc again.  "RAFO."

RJ was very personable and seemed to genuinely enjoy the interaction with
the fans.  I was disappointed, however, by how few questions there
were--most people simply stood there silently while he signed.  I was also
surprised by how few people seemed to know about the newsgroup, the FAQ, and
the Compleat Index.

There were a number of people there who were only partway through the series
(although I guess we _all_ are only partway through the series!) and many
had not yet read the book.

Like Matthew Hunter (see his post), I was surprised by the candor of RJ's
remarks regarding Sweet's covers.  At least we know he is just as
exasperated by them as we are.  If only Michael Whelan and Jordan had been
able to work a deal out--man.  Talk about poster-worthy and collectible art.

OK. I have to work now.  I'll try to respond to any questions or gripes
about the report.

Michael Martin
"I never walk into the light unless I know who turned the switch."
--Dime Store Prophets

---

From: [email-masked] (Scott Cantor)
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 16:46:04 GMT

>characters:  Had he always known the size and importance of the role of Fain

He also mentioned the fact that Fain is essentially his wildcard, a character 
that is outside the structure of the work and can therefore act 
totally unpredictably.

>replied that the nature of the story was too complex for such linear

Critical paths, actually.  The idea is to identify what absolutely has to 
happen before a set of outcomes can occur so that you can plan accordingly.  I 
had a vision of him inputting his plot into Microsoft Project.

When I reached the signing table, I asked him if he had a better idea now how 
many novels there would be than he might have had previously, knowing it was a 
lame question, but he answered it politely.  He said he knew there would be at 
least three more, and that he generally finds himself with twice as much 
planned for a novel as he can pull off in 700 pages, which happened with the 
new one. This suggested to me that 5-6 more books would not be surprising.

I didn't stay too long, but I had a good time, and just wish he had stopped in 
Columbus as well.

--------
  Scott Cantor          In the beginning the Universe was created.
  [email-masked]      This has made a lot of people very angry and
  Univ Tech Services    been widely regarded as a bad move.
  The Ohio State Univ   - Douglas Adams

---

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1998 00:38:38 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>,
  "Michael Martin" <[email-masked]> wrote:
<snip Michael's report>

 I wish I would have known you were there cause I was too.  I throughly
enjoyed it.  I got my pic taken, got a couple of books signed, and I seemed
to be the only one who really drove a long ways.  My one person road trip
>from  Indy to Dayton was fun.  I also asked RJ the age old question:  If you
love your wife so much and place her on this pedistal you seem to do, why are
all the women in WoT pains in the butt? Answer:  (and this is
paraphrasing)They aren't.  I was raised in a family of very strong women.  I
was taught that if a woman was other than strong, they were boring.  Someone
who wasn't strong was only good for a few days.  A woman that is strong
challenges you.  The women in WoT are just strong women. (that is extremely
paraphrasing it, sorry)  I thought RJ was great.  He was really getting into
it.  I really had a great time although I didn't know anyone there.

--
***********
Alais
The WoT Movie Poll=  http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair/1385/poll.html
*********

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