Robert Jordan himself

Q: I was wondering if the Dark One is ever going to be manifested into a single person, and was also wondering where you went to college? 
A: I graduated from The Citadel and, for the rest, read and find out! That is neither to say yes nor nor; just read and find out. 

Q: You seem to have a great grasp of history; what is your background? Do you know how the wheel will finally turn,yet?
A: Well, I've been reading history as a hobby since I was five or six, and yes, I do know how it will turn, and how it will end.

Q: How did you initially break into fantasy writing? It seems like you've come from no where to suddenly be on top of the market. 
A: I'm just another twenty-year overnight success. 

Q: I lived in Chas during Hugo--has that influenced you or the story in any way? 
A: I don't think your presence influenced me at all! As for the storm, it didn't influence me either, except that I have noticed sometimes, when the wind gets high, I climb up on the roof for no particular reason. 

Q: This obviously requires huge amounts of plotting and info outlining. Did you have any pertinent WOT info lost during Hurricane Hugo? (And did your house suffer at all?) 
A: Yes, my house suffered during Hurricane Hugo, and no, I didn't have any significant information loss. 

Q: You have written in many Genre, but fantasy seems to be your most profilerant (sp?). The Conan and WOT are the most popoular, it would seem. What do you attribute this too? 
A: Good genes.

Q: Mr.Jordan are you willing to do lectures at colleges and universities? 
A: Depending entirely on whether I have time, which I seldom do, unfortunately. 

Q: When you get writers block.What do you do to get it back into form? 
A: i'VE NEVER HAD WRITER'S (SORRY) block -- but I've sometimes had caps lock. 

Q: If you could work with any of the writers you named, who would you choose? 
A: None of them. I work by myelf. I don't see how to work with someone else, really.

Q: Do you play any role-playing games? What are your hobbies? 
A: My hobbies are listed on the dust jacket; they're too many to list here.

Q: When did you decide to become a writer? did you always want to write or did it come later in life. 
A: At five, while reading Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, I decided I wanted to write, but I always thought I would do it "one day," after I had a practical career. Then I was injured and I had a lot of time on my hands, so I decided to put up or shut up about this "one day" stuff. To my surprise, somebody actually wanted to buy it, and that was that.

Q: I was wondering more what your "writing life" was like...you know, like an every day kinda thing could you tell us what a normal, RJ day is like? (enjoy the rhyme?)... :) 
A: Average day at beginning of book is: have breakfast, answer letters and telephone calls, then write for six to eight hours. Do this five days a week. After a while, this gets to be: drink a quart or two of strong coffee, write for twelve to fourteen hours a day, and do this seven days a week. Eventually the book is finished or I am dead.

Q: Mr. Jordan, how did you becme interested in writing?? 
A: I was reading Mark Twain. I was five years old, and I wanted to make stories like that. 

Q: How old where you when you started writing? 
A: I was 30 when I started writing. Maybe 29. I'd have to sit down and figure it out. It was a while ago. 

Q: How difficult is it to get a major publisher like TOR to publish a novel, Mr. Jordan? 
A: I forgot who asked this, but it wasn't difficult to get Tor to publish my first novel. Tom Doherty liked what I write. I've been writing for 20 years and I told him that I had an idea for a multi-volume book  I didn't know how many books and probably any other publishers would have thrown me out of his office but Tom said OK! 

Q: Being English, I cannot help but notice that you are very much centred in the US. Bearing this in mind, do you consider yourself an international author who is based in America or an American author who just happens to have an international following? 
A: I would have to say I'm an American author, an d mrore specifically that I'm a Southern author. My voice is both very American and very Southern. I've been lucky in that people in a great many nations seem to enjoy that voice, though. 

Q: I love the song lyrics in your books. Do you write songs and music other than in the books?  A: No, not at all I'm afraid. Some poetry to my wife now and then, that's all. 

Q: I really like the romance in your stories and I was wondering if you could tell us how and where you met your wife (if it's not too personal) and, also, if she ever pulled a Moirane/Lan on you, i.e., pouring ice water over you while you slept?
A: Well, I met my wife --the actual story is very long and complicated--but I met her because she had come back to Charlstone to set up her own publishing company and I was in the process of quitting my engineering job to write. As far as the ice water, no, she has never poured ice water over my head, but she has made motions toward my belly button with a paring knife. She says this is wholly unconcious. I have my doubts.

Q: What are your days like and how do you discipline yourself to write? Is it something you only do when the mood strikes, or do you work at a page, despite it not really flowing, and then edit like hell later? 
A: A writer who waits for the mood or the muse to strike will starve to death because he or she won't write very much. I write almost every day, I would say every day, but occaisionally I actually do something else: my typical day is to have breakfast, answer the phone calls I have to answer, deal with the letters, and then i sit down and start writing. I then write for at least the next eight hours straight, and sometimes ten or twelve or more: though I do occassionally take a day off to go fishing, my usual week is seven days. 

Q: I find you're style similar to Ernest Hemingway in you're attention to detail. Do you consciously write this way, or do you find yourself just writing this way? I wish to write in the future after life's experiences and this would be of great assistance.
A: I simply write the way I write. I don't try to imitate anyone. I've certainly read--and still read--Hemingway, and admire most of his books but I think the person with the greatest influence on my style is Mark Twain. The trouble with that is that I've read a great many authors, and I can't say who has most influenced me over the years without my knowing it. 

Q: How do you feel about women being admitted to the Citadel? 
A: In the first place, I do wish that the school had been able to remain all male, but the fact is, women are in the Citadel, and as far as I'm concerned, it's time to get on with the business at hand and stop grousing about what's past. 

Q: Considering that schedule, do you spend every waking minute on your books or do you do other things in between that prepare you to write? 
A: I do other things. I fish, although not nearly as often as I should, just for relaxation purposes, and of course I read. Actually, I have to read. If I don't read someone else before going to bed, I will lie there awake all night thinking about my own work and what I want to do next.

Q: You have said several times that you based many of the cultures in World of Time on cultures of history. Do you have a favorite period in history, or a favorite culture?
A: The Enlightenment would have been a fine time to live, I think. And there are a few others. But by and large I am happy right where I am -- and when.

Q: When you first started writing, what was your first effort, and how long was it before you had anything published?
A: My first book was accepted by DAW and then rejected by DAW 20 years ago. Whereupon I immediately resigned my position as an engineer. The first year I made nothing, the second year I made $3000, and the third year I made twice what I had made in my best years as an engineer. I have been earning my living with my pen ever since.

Q: What's your writing day like?
A: Breakfast, answer the mail, answer phone calls, then sit down and start writing. I don't stop until lunch. About six or seven in the evening I quit and go in for dinner. If the book is really going hot, I might work later. It's eight or nine hours of writing, usually, and I do that seven days a week. If I decide to take a day and go fishing, since I know I don't do that very often, I don't mind doing that.

Q: what other things keep you busy apart from working a lot on The Wheel of Time? 
A: Hmm. Trying to finish the books would be enough for any sane person. I occasionally find time to go fishing, although not so far this year. I find time to read a little bit. Less than one book a day now. And I don't really have a great deal of time for anything else. When I'm doing anything else, I feel I should be writing. It's a sickness. [smiles]

Q: I'm curious about yr writing methods - do you write for a set number of hours every day? Morning or night? Do you prefer a computer or do you write long-hand on yellow legal pads? Enquiring minds want to know! 
A: I most definitely write on a cmputer. I upgrade it about every 18 months. At the moment I'm using a Pentium 266 MMX with 32 MB ram and a 10G hard drive. I'll upgrade that in another six months. My writing day goes as follows: AFter breakfast i answer the phone calls and letters that I have to answer from yesterday. Then i start writing. I seldom stop for lunch and I stop about six or seven at night. That's seven days a week. Occasionally I take a day off to go fishing.

Q: What were some of the jobs that you did before you were a writer 
A: Not really a lot... I was a nuclear engineer and i was in the US Army before that. Then i became a writer.

Q: what's his fav sci-fi movie?
A: Actually...I think i hav eto go all the way back to Forbidden Planet. My favorite fantasy movie would have to be Excalibur. There are a lot of good science fiction movies out there, from Bladerunner to The Day The Earth Stood Still to The Terminator, but nothing can touch Excalibur.

Q: What made you decide on Robert Jordan as your pseudonym? Is it Hemingway?
A: No, it wasn't Hemingway. I simply wanted to separate the different kinds of books that I wrote with different names, and I made lists of names with my real initials and picked one name from one list and one from another, and Robert Jordan was one of the names that popped out.

Q: That brings us to your intersts outside of writing fantasy. Could you tell us about them?
A: I like to hunt and fish, primarily fly fishing, though I'm not a absolute purist. If the fly fishing isn't going well, I don't have any objection to spin casting. I like to play poker and shoot pool, and play Go. Well, I like to try to play Go. I also collect antique weapons, swords and old muskets and that sort of things and also Asian and African art. Of course, writing is what takes up most of my time. I hope people are enjoying The Wheel of Time.

Q: As a man who served tours of duty in Vietnam, how does your epic reflect your own personal experience with war, and how difficult is this for you to write about? 
A: It really doesn't reflect any of my own experiences, except that I know what it is like to have someone trying to kill you. I don't try to write about Vietnam; I thought I would, once, but now I don't believe I could make myself. But I know the confusion, uncertainty, and outright ignorance of anything you can't see that exists once the fighting starts; I don't think war will ever become sufficiently high-tech to completely dispel "the fog of war." So I can put these sensations into my writing. 

''I've never used my real name on a book. In the late '70s, I used to think I would write a novel about Vietnam, and put my name on that. I had decided I would put a different name on different types of books, different genres, simply to avoid confusion. People would know clearly, this is a fantasy novel, this is a science fiction novel, this is a western, this is a historical novel, and I would put my real name on any contemporary fiction I write. Well, I've never written any contemporary fiction, as it turns out. If I wrote that Vietnam novel now, it would be a historical novel, and I'm not sure anybody's really interested anymore. Vietnam is a long time in the past, almost 30 years ago, and it struck me that 30 years after my father came home from the South Pacific, not only had men walked on the moon, but the manned space program was already dying. That's a long time! It gives you a little perspective."

Q: Thanks for such a terrific series! I can't begin to tell you how many hours of entertainment it's provided. I was just wondering . . . provided that you get the time once in awhile, do you tend to read books inside the fantasy genre or outside or it?
A: I read more outside of the fantasy genre than inside, but I certainly do read fantasy.

Q: Mr. Jordan How many hours per day do you aproxometly spend writeing, and do you listen to music meanwhile or do you prefere the silence?
A: I usually write to classical music of various kinds, and occasionally Chinese or Japanese music. I like to listen to rock and to jazz, but I can't write to them. As for the number of hours, I try to do at least 8 hours a day, six or seven days a week. When the schedule gets very hectic, that can grow to twelve hours a day 7 days a week, and no time off.

Why did he start writing, and is that still the reason he writes?
"I started to write because I'm crazier than ... and I still am. [laughter] ... I knwe at the age of five that I would write one day. _One day_ I alwayswas a ferocious little monster. That is to say, when I was five year old, my worldview was equivalent to that of the average of a twentytwo or twentyfive year old. I had the life-experience of a five year old, but I had the way of looking at things of a twentyfive year old. and I looked at myself and I thought 'well, I can't be writing.' No, I'll write one day, but for me to be writing now would be ridiculous. I'm a kid. and when I was a teenager, it was the same thing. I hadn't seen anything, I hadn't done anything. "
Okay, this simply isn't possible anymore. I'll just tell in general what else he said... He finally started writing when he was in hospital some years later, realizing that life was too short.
And that still is the reason he writes. Life is too short to waste on things he doesn't want to do.

Q: Have you visited many WoT websites on the internet?
Jordan: ... I do not regularly spend time visiting websites, though. When I sit down at my desk, I'm looking at my computer. When I'm looking at my computer, I think of what I can do with the computer, how I can best use it, and the answer to all these questions comes back: write! So, I have visited some, but it's not a regular thing.

A question about how autobiographical the books are.
A: There is nothing in my books that I can point to and say 'that happened to me,' but everything I write is talking about who I am. And who I am is a creation of all the things that have happened to me in my life. So you could say that everything I write was first shaped by my life's experiences. It's a rather tenuous connection, but that's the only one I can find for you, sorry.

Q: when you are writing, do you have music at the background?
A: when i am writing i almost always have music playing usually classical music, some jazz and some ethnic music primarily japanese and african

Has the Fantasy genre always been your favorite genre to read? Is it now?
No. I have no favorite genre to read, nor have I ever. I read any book that I think is good, in almost any genre. I mean I don’t read romance novels. Simply the fact that a book is supposed to be a good book, is enough for me to consider reading it. And maybe if I decide it isn’t a good book, it is not worth reading it. I’ll try anything; fiction, non-fiction...
You've learned to read at a very young age, and the books you read weren't children's books either. Do you think that this is what caused you to become an author in the long run?
Uhm, I don’t think it caused me to become an author. I must say I prefer writer. I write, I don’t `author`. I think that they’re synchronous things. Or perhaps, both `indignative` of the same thing about me. I didn’t become a writer because I read early, any more than I read early because I was going to become a writer. I am the kind of person who would become a writer [...] and that kind of person is, I think, perhaps someone who reads early, who gathers inspiration for books.
When very young, did you ever think of writing already, or was it a sudden realization in your mid-twenties or so?
I knew that I was going to write, one day. From the age of five, I knew this. But, when I was very young - five, ten - I was precautious enough, or advanced enough in my thinking, to believe that it was ridiculous, to think of a five, of a six year old, or a ten year old, writing. And I was very conscious of my dignity at that age. In my teens, I’ve said I haven’t lived enough, haven’t experienced enough. Anything that I will write will just be empty and useless. So I didn’t write. And what actually got me started was in my late twenties when I was injured. I spent a month in the hospital. I was injured in the fall, was torn away from my family. Complications in the surgery. So I spent a month in the hospital, I nearly died. There were some other factors involved. In part, that simply convinced me that life was too short. I shouldn’t wait any longer.
When you started writing, did you expect or hope to become so popular and famous?
I certainly did not expect it. That would go beyond having an ego, becoming an egomaniac. Everybody hopes that what they’re writing will be popular. I don’t think anybody writes a novel and says "I hope 50 people will read this". That’s all they want, just 50 people. You hope that what you write is gonna be popular, but you certainly don’t expect it.
Do you enjoy listening to music, and if so does it aid you in acquiring inspiration for your writing?
In many ways, yes, I listen toe very sort of music. Classical, Rock, Jazz, Country, Western, Ethnic music from various countries... I do not write to Jazz, or Rock. I like all country western, I like to listen to it, or blues, but I can’t write to it. I write, or at least maybe I can write to some Jazz, I mainly write to classical music, and some jazz. I usually have music playing when I write.

Something quite unusual from now on. Is there anything you’d like to talk about, doesn’t have to do with Fantasy at all, but just want to share your opinion with the world?
[snickers]
No, nothing. The world has enough people who try to share their opinions with the whole world, and I figure I will share my opinions with the whole world when I’m backed into a corner and prodded with a pitchfork. Other than that, I’m sorry, I will just pass on that.

Q: When you are writing, do you have a daily routine?
A: Yes. I read the newspapers over breakfast, lift weights or swim for half an hour, then go to my desk, in the carriage house in the garden, and answer the email, letters and telephone calls that simply must be answered. Then I begin writing. I usually spend at least eight hours a day writing, with a short break for lunch, and normally I do this seven days a week. Occasionally I will take a day to go fishing, but unless I am away from home, I usually find myself wondering why I am not back at my desk writing.

Reports from signings

His wife said he is the only author she allows to submit partial manuscripts for editing. She also does Morgan Llewelyn, the Bears and David Drake among others. She said she was starting to reduce the number of authors she edits since she is overloaded. She edited one of RJ's books before they ever dated, so their professional relationship was already established before they married. She feels that mutual respect for the other's work is what keeps the two relationships from interfering with each other. I think that's all that was said of any significance. The rest was personal info that I don't think is important here, and I'm not sure a lot of this was either. BTW, both Mr. and Mrs. RJ are very friendly, outgoing people and were fun to talk with. Am I the only one that thinks he looks like an older Bayle Domon? This could lead to some interesting speculations.

The biggest fish he have ever caught was a 12", 980 lbs tigershark, even though he had some help. He claimed he had on one occasion caught a tigershark bigger than the boat, but let it go. The audience saw with suspicion at this statement.

The next book isn't going to come out until 1998 because RJ is "a sadistic SOB" (his words, not mine). This one's outdated, but I liked the self-description. -Raina

Hawk found a way to get RJ's attention. Brandish a whip. You see, RJ IS a dirty old man. 

RJ fits the classic description of an author: Plenty of facial hair, a cane and a little on the podgy side. He didn't have an African hunting hat though… The cane looked pretty cool, and he assured us he'd use it if we tried to swarm him.

After he explained how they taught him to speak in the army. They'd stand you with your nose touching the barracks and get you to give your orders, if the people on the other side obeyed, you were half way there. If the barracks obeyed, you had it.

RJ first started reading at 4. He skipped children's books and read "White Fang". By 5 he was reading Jules Verne. Since then it was his dream to become an author. But instead at uni he chose Maths(?) and Physics to become an engineer because he hadn't heard of a successful American author. Later, after he had had a near death experience, he decided it was do or don't time. He wrote TEOTW, and sent it in to a publisher hoping to get a reply something like "This is good, with some more experience you can do well." Instead he got, "This is great, we want to buy it"

RJ writes 8-10 hours a day. He usually misses lunch, sometimes dinner too. If he takes a day off, it's because his wife says he's working too hard. He says he writes because he likes it.

But he seemed genuinely interested in talking about them, and was very warm and responsive. Harriet was with him, and I was really pleased to meet her, as well.  She's a lovely, elegant lady.  But she sat up suddenly with a startled look several times during our chat, and the whole effect was somehow birdlike.  I couldn't help but think of Verin in her "pay no attention to the little brown sister in the corner" mode.

Someone mentioned the Internet-based rumours about him suffering from heart attacks / other forms of poor health.  I couldn't tell from his expression whether RJ was amused or annoyed: Probably both equally.  He replied that he's in good health with a resting heart rate of 71 beats per minute and good cholesterol.

Another reader asked how long he's been married to Harriet.  He said 18 years -- and that he has to have Harriet remind him, since it seems like last month.

At one point, he began reminiscing about signings from years past when all of 15-20 people would show up for a signing, and after they were all done, they would sit around and chat.  I'm sure that some of the signings he was referring to involved some of our very own Cabal members (TINC).  He said he hopes those days never come again, but that he certainly enjoyed the signings more back then...

At one point, someone made some comment about Orson Scott Card (which I didn't hear), and Jordan replied with a meaningful "Scott and I disagree on _many_ things."  I don't know what brought that on, but evidently the two have had some contact, enough to identify gaping differences.  It was hard to miss the point of his comment; in fact, IIRC, he said basically the exact same thing at least twice, and almost in succession.

As the line was drying up, the crowd apparently consisted mainly of several booksellers.  They got talking about first edition printings of the hardcovers for tEotW. Jordan said that he has a whole box of them at home, and that he should give the bunch of them to his son, so he can finance all his children's college educations...

"I grew up around strong women; weak men were pickled and salted. The women wouldn't waste time raising a weak boy."

Evidently, Jordan didn't like being taught cursive, but showed otherwise by a teacher at a young age. "A gentleman's handwriting is always round and legible, always clear, no matter how drunk, how  tired, or how busy he may be. This I require of you." Being "required" to do something by that particular teacher was evidently a big deal.

It seems Jordan learned to read by having his father read to him constantly (when he was being read to, he wasn't messing around with expensive "toys" that broke easily).  They started out with children's books, until Dad found out that it didn't matter whether Jordan really understood or not, and started reading books that Dad wanted to read instead.  This went on for a while, until the night Dad put a book away before it was finished, so Jordan grabbed it and struggled through it on his own, figuring out what he didn't understand through context.  (The Maltese Falcon was mentioned, but I don't recall how, other than as one of the books that he liked.)
When Jordan was 6, he got a library card -- like "the keys to the city".  The librarians didn't want to let him out of the kids section, so he learned tricks.  If you shelved books in the reading room, they would stay there, so you could pick them up again later, whether they belonged there or not.  And kids could go to the reference section.  "I discovered the encyclopedia."
The library at the time was in a mansion -- the "Miskelle house", I think.  He spelled it for me (without being asked; by that time there had been more than one comment about the lunatic scribbling notes on everything), but my notes were rather cramped by that time.
"Reading is like breathing.  If you take it away, first I become antsy, then violent."

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 .  . .  .

There were a lot of amusing personal remarks as well, which I won't try to capture.  He seems to have a half a dozen answers for the question, "Where do you get your ideas?"  The one that tickled me was that he sends off to a mail order company from Trenton, NewJersey (I think) for some large amount of money, at three ideas per page.  I looked askance and remarked that Ellison gave the same answer, except his ideas came from a warehouse in Peoria (which I'm sure I've read somewhere.  Think it was Ellison.)  He shot back, "Yeah, but did you notice that mine are more expensive?"

And at one point, while posing for a picture, he asked if should appear pensive?  Or perhaps Byronic?  I shot back, "Byronic, or ironic?"  "I can do ironic, too, but it costs more."

Another thing I found amusing was that a woman behind me talked about how she lives where RJ originates (Charleston?).  He supposedly takes his bicycle around town, waving at people and ringing the bell on his bike.

RJ: 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.

Q5: What kind of music do you listen to?
A5: Works to classical. Listens to South African, Japanese, some country music, etc. He said (quite seriously) ‘everything under the sun’. Except for punk music.

RJ exercises his hands a lot to avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and whatnot.
He had amusing comment on how women saying “Oh, he’s got such strong hands” and whatnot is BS, and that what they’re thinking about is those muscular jaws. (I won’t elaborate, as I think your imagination will make that more interesting than it really was

Q10: Can you personalize this?
A10: You’ll have to get to the end of the line [it was a rule that sigs would come first, then anyone who wanted personalization would have to wait in line again].
Then he goes on to tell a story about a guy who was the last in line that wanted a personalization.
RJ:“You’ll have to get in back of the line.”
Fan:“I AM the back of the line.”
R:“Don’t make me repeat the rule.”
F:*think, think* *walk around in a circle and returns to the table*
R: “Hi! *smile, smile*”
[Just included this to show how cruel and sadistic he is. ]

[The next piece of conversation was between RJ and a guy from Russia. He started off asking how he liked Russia (since RJ went there before), and this whooooole thing got rolling. For the first part, I’ll just say that RJ has met some rather dangerous Russian mafia types (heh). Robert Jordan, a white-knuckled translator ready to wet himself, and a Godfather-type guy. “How do you know what you know?” Interesting picture there.

Second part: What everyone wants to know: RJ’s drinking habits.
When he was in Russia, he was surprised by the drinking there. Everyone says that Russians can and do drink a lot, he said, but he was amused that people kept telling HIM to slow down and eat before drinking. The man can handle a good deal. I mean, ****, he said vodka was like mother’s milk.

“When I was young, when I really used to drink”—Imagine if you will, the Creator himself, sitting at a table with a bunch of drunken buddies. There’s $4700 dollars on the table. Yes, this is a drinking game. At any point, someone can say ‘stand’. The drinkers have to stand up, hold their hands above their heads, spin around three times, and sit back down. If you become unable to do that, you lose. After TWO QUARTS of Russian vodka, everyone else is floored, and our man wins. Not only that, but he drags his drunken friend back to their room. He mentioned that he didn’t get undressed for bed that night (as if admitting some weakness from the alcohol).

He used to know all of 7 words of useful Russian, most of them curses (he repeated two of them, to the amusement of the guy he was talking to).]

Q20: Did you get that custom made? *pointing to RJ’s cane*
A20: No. And he likes ram’s horn sticks (walking canes?). They fit the hand nicely. [Ok…]

Then Jordan finally entered. I don't know how late this was, but I'd say around 19:40 or so... My first impression was that he was pretty much like the photos I'd always seen of him, except that his hair was even wilder, and I never really appreciated the size of that cane.

Anyway, Jordan arrived, telling us that he wanted to make an announcement. We'd come for Jordan and Pratchett, so there he was. He was both people, had a split personality and all. I'm sorry, I'm incapable of bringing it across as well as Jordan did, but it was funny, especially knowing all the rumors about Jordan being either George R.R. Martin, or Pratchett, or Goodkin, or any of the other bearded fantasy writers.
Then Pratchett arrived, wearing Jordan's hat.

Just before getting to Jordan, I heard a question about him once having trouble with his arm or something, and how he got over that.
"I worked very hard with grip-exercises. Now I no longer have pain while writing or grasping, or ..." Sometimes he does still wake up in the middle of the night with shooting pains though, end then has to do excersises until it's passed.

I don't remember too clearly what caused this, but suddenly he was talking about faking his own death and starting a new life. Either as a rockstar, or in the circus. Harriet was rooting for the rockstar idea. Yes, just faking his own death, putting a coffin full with rocks into the ground, and going to go off and start another career somewhere.

Hmm, and I managed to tape one line of Jordan suddenly starting singing: "Take me in pretty woman, ride the snake"

A general remarks: I don't know if this comes across very well in these reports, but Jordan changes what he's saying a lot while halfway a sentence, probably already far ahead with thinking, wanting to say more and other things before even finishing what he started saying...

Q: Do you ever talk to any other fantasy authors outside of work?
A: Well, someimes... not often. They're a good distance apart. John M. Ford...
Then he looked very closely at the card I had him sign...
me: It's supposed to be Graendal.
J: Yeah, well, it is.. I just never knew that Graendal had nipple-rings, that's all. Now for once, it's just a thing I hadn't realized about a character in my book, that's all.
A: I see fantasy writers sometimes at conventions. And no, we don't sit around talking about fantasy. We sit around drinking bear, talking about contracts, mainly. And John M. Ford comes to visit me almost every christmas, he's a close friend of me, uhm, almost as long as I've been married. [I think that was what he said]
And no, we don't talk about fantasy either. We talk about other writers, and contracts. When ... has his book finished, that sort of thing.

Raina's Hold / Thus Spake The Creator - Index