CIS Conference
DeWitt A. Payne
Here is the raw transcript of the CIS Jordan conference.
Robert Jordan: Hi--and welcome!
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Cy asks: Will we ever know the specifics of Logain's escape, or
rather, are they
signficant at all?
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Robert Jordan: Read and find out.
Robert Jordan: Sorry about that!
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Hopper asks: We know of high ranking darkfriends among the Aes Sedai
and Whitecloaks. Is it safe to assume that there's one placed near
each of the ta'veren as well?
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Robert Jordan: Gee guys, read and find out!
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David Berenthal asks: Considering all the work you've been through
already, you'll probably hate this question, but when can we expect
the next book, and how many more do you expect?
Will you be writing any other books that are similar fantasy/fiction?
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Robert Jordan: First, I expect to deliver the next book n the Fall of
next year, which means that it will probably be published in the
spring of 1998.
Robert Jordan: I do not know how many more books there will be. There
will be at least ten total, probably more...
Robert Jordan: but the safest way to say that is to say "there will be
a few more, not too many, and please god not as many as have already
been written!"
Robert Jordan: Other books? Not until I finish the Wheel of Time. I
am already working in my head
Robert Jordan: on what I'll do after that. it is indeed a fantasy
series. I have a long gestation period for my books. The Wheel of
Time gestated for at least
Robert Jordan: ten years before it appeared on paper, and Shipwreck
seems to be doing at least that.
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Ryssgarde asks: You are an inspiration among fantasy writers. I am
wondering how you started on this massive undertaking?
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Robert Jordan: Well, I wrote! I had some ideas and I wrote them! I
don't know how else to say it.
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Lyndon Goodacre asks: First, I'd like to thank you for such a great
series. The Wheel of Time is probably the best I've read... My
Question: Do you know roughly what will happen between now (Book 7)
and the last scene of the last book, or are you making it up as you go
along?
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Robert Jordan: Yes and no.
Robert Jordan: I know the last scene of the last book.
Robert Jordan: I know the major events I want to happen between now
and then.
Robert Jordan: I know who will be alive and who will be dead at the
end of the series.
Robert Jordan: I know the situation of the world
Robert Jordan: I know all of those things, but I leave how to get from
one point to the next free...
Robert Jordan: so that I can achieve some fluidity. I don't want it
too rigid, which is what I think will happen if i plan in too great a
detail.
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Edward Henry asks: Mr. Jordan: How do create the personalities for
your main characters? What inspires you to help make your people
believeably different?
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Robert Jordan: I sit down and do a sort of descriptive sketch of each
character.
Robert Jordan: What do they believe about certain things? What do they
like to do, and what do they not like to do?
Robert Jordan: It's very useful as long as I make sure that a
character continues to react as they would.
Robert Jordan: The fault, the mistake is to decide to make a character
behave or speak in a certain way because you need it to happen in the
story...
Robert Jordan: and the devil with whether the character would do or
say that.
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James Tillett asks: 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?
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Robert Jordan: 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.
Robert Jordan: I've been lucky in that people in a great many nations
seem to enjoy that voice, though.
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Searles O'Dubhain asks: I noticed that your other pen name is Sean
O'Neal. Did you draw Matt's "Band of the Red Hand" from family
stories?
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Robert Jordan: No. That came from my mind twisting certain
mythologies that I had read, certain legends.
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DeWitt Payne asks: Were Ba'alzamon's burning eyes and mouth caused by
being zapped by Eldrene at the Fall of Manetheren?
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Robert Jordan: No.
Robert Jordan: Sorry guys!
Robert Jordan: But at least I didn't say, "Read and find out!"
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Charles W. Otten asks: Mr. Jordan,
I think you're series is the most detailed and still the most broad in
scope series currently running. How do you keep everything
straight?...Also, how books do you see in the future before this
"series" of the wheel is done turning?
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Robert Jordan: I keep detailed files on every character, every nation,
every culture, every facet of the world I can imagine...
Robert Jordan: If I printed out all of the manuscripts of all the oft
the books, and all of the notes, there would be twice as many pages of
notes...
Robert Jordan: and of course that doesn't encompass the great quantity
of things I have tucked away in my head...
Robert Jordan: so solidly fitted there I feel no need to put them in
the notes.
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Hopper asks: I find your characterization of the relationships between
the male and female characters to be interesting, and amusing. Did
you model Nynaeve after an older sister or other female that tortured
you in your youth? :)
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Robert Jordan: All of the women are modelled in one way or another
after the conglomerate of women I've met in my life..
Robert Jordan: but every single one of them, EVERY one of them, has
some element of my wife in her..
Robert Jordan: I won't say what elements are in what characters, we'd
get too far afrield...
Robert Jordan: I will say it has nothing to do with torture in that
particular case.
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Martin Reznick asks: How was the Dark One created, i.e. is he a fallen
angel, an inherent part of the universe, etc.?
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Robert Jordan: I envision the Dark One as being the dark counterpart,
the dark balance if you will, to the creator...
Robert Jordan: carrying on the theme, the ying yang, light dark,
necessity of balance theme that has run through the books...
Robert Jordan: it's somewhat manichian i know, but I think it works.
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Brendan T. Lavin asks: Mr. Jordan. I love your series, it is
intricate and interesting. My favorite character (other than Rand) is
Matt. People have speculated that Odin was the outline for this
character. I see Chukullen (misspelled). Could you eleborate?
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Robert Jordan: There are a number of characters reflected,
mythological characters, reflected in each of the books..
Robert Jordan: because of the basic theme, if you will, of the books,
that information becomes distorted over distance or time...
Robert Jordan: you cannot know the truth of an event the further you
get from it.
Robert Jordan: These people are supposed to be the source of a great
many of our legends or myths, but what they actually did bears little
resemblance to the myth.
Robert Jordan: that is the conceit, that time has shifted these
actions to other people, perhaps compressing two people into one..
Robert Jordan: or dividing one into three as far as their actions
go...
Robert Jordan: so Rand has bits of Arthur and bits of Thor and bits of
other characters...
Robert Jordan: and so does Matt and so does Nynaeve, and so do others.
Robert Jordan: And yes Matt does have some bits of Odin, but not
exclusively. He has bits of Loki and bits of Coyote and of the Monkey
King.
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Eric Ligner asks: I like your use of strong female characters. Was
there any inspiration for this?
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Robert Jordan: Yes, I grew up in a family of strong women. Most of
the women i knew growing up were quite strong.
Robert Jordan: I very early on realized that ---well, it seemed
natural, this is how I saw the world.
Robert Jordan: There were strong women and strong men and when weak
men came along they were ridden over.
Robert Jordan: But the fact that there were strong women didn't mean
no strong men.
Robert Jordan: Again, it's a given, there had to be a balance.
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Lauryn asks: I love the song lyrics in your books. Do you write songs
and music other than in the books?
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Robert Jordan: No, not at all I'm afraid.
Robert Jordan: Some poetry to my wife now and then, that's all.
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Ryssgarde asks: You include a glossary in every novel. Any chance
we'll see a companion book with EVERY term defined? How about
prequels to this series?
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Robert Jordan: The possibilty of a companion book with all the terms
defined is fairly strong--once the series is done of course!
Robert Jordan: As far as prequels, that would depend entirely on my
coming up with a story I'd like to tell that is set there...
Robert Jordan: It's not enough to say, "I just want to write what came
before this."
Robert Jordan: I tell the history of this world in great detail
already.
Robert Jordan: I wil add that we're putting together an illustrated
guide which will include some things that are not in the books...
Robert Jordan: such as the story of Arthur Hawkwing's rise and fall.
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James Tillett asks: The character Beidomon was presumably very
powerful in the AOL and it has been suggested by some that he is still
knocking around in the current age, possibly as Mordeth. Is there any
truth in this?
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Robert Jordan: No.
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Timmorn asks: Do you ever plan to print/release any of the notes or
character sketches, or anything like that?
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Robert Jordan: Well, some of the information has gone into the
illustrated guide, and I expect some would go into the
dictionary/encyclopedia, whatever, when the series is done.
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Karl Schwede asks: First I'd like to thank you for such a wonderful
series. I'm curious about something, do you ever look at some of
things people theorize about your books, in your newsgroup for
example. Do you ever look to see how close other people's theories
are.
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Robert Jordan: Yes, but only when someone sends me a FAQ. Sometimes
someone will send me a print out of the latest FAQ
Robert Jordan: from the latest source, or send it on disk (it helps if
I can access it through Wordperfect 5.1)
Robert Jordan: generally these things divide up evenly...
Robert Jordan: a third of the answers are right...
Robert Jordan: a third are almost right...
Robert Jordan: and a third are very off the wall.
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Jeff Jarrell asks: What made you decide to make male Aes Sedai go
insane verses female Aes Sedai using magic somewhat safely?
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Robert Jordan: I'm not sure about the last of that question, but this
was part of the basis, the foundation of the story...
Robert Jordan: if women had gone insane using the power and not men,
it would be a much different world, a much different story..
Robert Jordan: and not the story I was interested in writing!
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Charles Dockens Jr. asks: Your female chacters have so much feeling
and emotion. How do you acomplish this as a male author?
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Robert Jordan: With difficulty.
Robert Jordan: I'll tell you, when I was about four years old, I was
picked up by a friend of my mother
Robert Jordan: and she hugged me, she was wearing a soft, silky summer
dress, and her perfume smelled life...
Robert Jordan: and as she put me down, my face slipped between her
breasts..
Robert Jordan: and throughout the experience, I was thinking, "this is
wonderful, this feels wonderful"...
Robert Jordan: and though I was four I found I wanted to spend my life
observing these fascinating people...
Robert Jordan: and I've learned that they look different , they feel
different, they are different, and I've put all this into the books.
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Dave Berenthal asks: Are there any particular themes that you have
added since the begining e.g. theme or characters that you did not
have in mind when you first thought up the series? Are there any
items of the story that have been cut out that you would like to tell
us about?
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Robert Jordan: In both cases, no. I have, in some cases, developed
the story in ways that I did not quite intend to at first...
Robert Jordan: but there has been no important character who has been
deleted, there has been no necessity to add in something I did not
expect to add in.
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Martin Reznick asks: I am an avid reader of author Ayn Rand. A hero
in her novel The Fountainhead matches _Rand_'s physical description
exactly. Coincidence?
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Robert Jordan: Coincidence--I'm afraid I haven't read Ayn Rand since
college.
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mark asks: Mr. Jordan:
I like the fact that the main characters are a little unsure of
themselves and how to proceed in their world, particularly Rand.
Instead, the traditional "superhuman" is Lan, who plays a background
role thus far. Will we see more of him?
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Robert Jordan: Yes, some more.
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Bill Powers asks: One of the Forsaken once said of the current Aes
Sedai, "They bind themselves like criminals." Was the Forsaken
reffering to the Oath Rod?
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Robert Jordan: Read and find out!
Robert Jordan: (He twirls his moustache miniacally.)
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Steven D. Salisbury asks: Why introduce a somewhat important character
like Cadsuane so late in the series? Is the fact that it seems a
little odd supposed to be a clue?
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Robert Jordan: She's introduced late inthe series because this is the
place where she was supposed to come in...
Robert Jordan: I didn't expect her to be a part earlier in the
series--there was nothing for her to do!
Robert Jordan: We introduce no character before her time.
Robert Jordan: With apologies to Orson Welles.
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Ammon asks: Have you ever put your own personality in one of your
characters, or do you liken yourself to one of your characters?
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Robert Jordan: Well, I expect there's a bit of me in all of the male
characters.
Robert Jordan: My secretary thinks that I am Matt.
Robert Jordan: My wife thinks I'm Loilal.
Robert Jordan: Other people have said they detected me in other
characters, but I think it's just a bit of me in all of the male
characters...
Robert Jordan: I'm not sure how I could have written them otherwise.
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Edward Henry asks: Do you have a favorite character? If so whom, and
how do you avoid doing bad things to those you "love"?
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Robert Jordan: One, my favorite character is always the one I am
writing at that moment, even when I'm writing one of the Forsaken or
the Padenthane...
Robert Jordan: always try to get into that character's skin, so that
I can write about that character with success..
Robert Jordan: as far as doing things to characters I like, well, if
the story calls for bad things to happen, so shall it be.
Robert Jordan: we do not all make it to the end of the road, however
good or fair.
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Matt Campbell asks: A follow up to the previous Beidomon Question: Is
he somewhere in the current age?
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Robert Jordan: Read and find out.
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Searles O'Dubhain asks: Speaking of illustrations, do you feel the
cover illustrations to your books accurately reflex your characters
and settings?
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Robert Jordan: Probably as well as they could d without me doing the
drawings.
Robert Jordan: There is no way that someone else can do an
illustration that gives exactly the image that is in my head
Robert Jordan: given the limits on how much description I can give
Daryl Sweet when he's doing his cover paintings, he's doing a good
job.
Robert Jordan: The only way to do it better is do it myself, and I
have no skill there!
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Eric Ligner asks: Do you draw upon your military education for your
battles or from general knowledge?
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Robert Jordan: From both, actually.
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Moiraine Damodred asks: I'd like to thank you for your wonderful
series. It has provided me with many hundreds of hours of
entertainment at home and at work.
Are there any other fantasy authors or titles that you are particulary
fond of?
Do you ever re-read your own WoT?
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Robert Jordan: The only time I re-read is to check on something when I
have to make sure of exactly what I said...
Robert Jordan: In a certain circumstance about a certain character or
incident.
Robert Jordan: As far as the people I read, there are far too many to
list...
Robert Jordan: Tad Williams, barry Hughhart, Ray Feist, it could be a
very long list, but we'd be here quite a time listing authors.
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Ryssgarde asks: I would like to see the fires in Rand's head quenched,
but I would settle for them being significantly subdued. Do you find
yourself WANTING to make things happen sooner so that you can delve
into other areas of a character's psyche?
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Robert Jordan: I sometimes feel impatience but I am trying to maintain
the same pace, making great effort to maintain that pace, to go
neither faster nor slower than I have gone before.
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James Tillett asks: Of the many themes that occur throughout your
books, which do you consider the most important?
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Robert Jordan: I think that's for the reader t decide. I like to put
things out there and let the readers absorb them as they will.
Robert Jordan: One of the things that has happened that I rather
enjoyed was listening to some people talk as they waited for me to
sign books...
Robert Jordan: they were discussing the books, then change dthe
subject, and, without meaning to, were discussing what I consider one
o f the subjects of the books..that was very gratifying.
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D. John Witherspoon asks: In the first five books, the pace of the
story, switching between character situations and the action in
general was high speed and covered significant periods of time. In
The Lord of Chaos, the story seemed to slow. Was this intentional or
only my perception?
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Robert Jordan: It covered a shorter period of time, but in LORD OF
CHAOS and A CROWN OF SWORDS there were a great many things that happen
in a short time
Robert Jordan: that made it necessary to have the books, if not slower
paced from the reader's point of view, slower as far as the chronology
is concerned.
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Egeanin asks: I was wondering if you accept fan mail.....if so, how
can I write to you? Also, how many books long do you think this
series will end up being? I have no objections to it being
long.......
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Robert Jordan: I like recieving fan mail! Write care of TOR books,
175 Fifth Avenue, NY NY 10010.
Robert Jordan: They forward fan mail to me at fairly regular
intervals.
Robert Jordan: There will be a few more books, but not too many.
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Brendan T. Lavin asks: Mr. Jordan, I have found the prophesies in your
books very structured. Would you recomend a prospective author
structuring any prophesy in this way? And, did you establish the main
prophesies in hte series early on and think to yourself, "Now how am
I going to fulfill that one?"
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Robert Jordan: Well, it is a matter of knowing what I wanted to happen
in the story, and how I wanted the story to go, and placing prophecies
that would fortell these events...
Robert Jordan: sometimes in very shadowy ways.
Robert Jordan: As far as structuring prophecies for your own work, I
think you should do it however you want to do it; it's the only way
you can!
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Ha T. Nguyen asks: 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?
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Robert Jordan: 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.
Robert Jordan: 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.
Robert Jordan: She says this is wholly unconcious. I have my doubts.
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Lyndon Goodacre asks: I've heard that there is going to be a Wheel of
Time computer game... How much are you involved in this (if it's
true), and how do you feel about a game based on your work?
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Robert Jordan: Well, it's true, it's in the works from Legend
Entertainment.
Robert Jordan: I'm involved to the extent that I told them I would not
accept the first scenario they gave me..
Robert Jordan: i told them there were certain things I wanted done int
he game, such as being able to play as a female character...
Robert Jordan: multiple solutions to problems...
Robert Jordan: being able to get through segments without solving all
the problems...
Robert Jordan: and they're working on it.
Robert Jordan: Apparently Glenn Dahlgren, who is designing the game,
is very much in agreement with me on these things.
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Martin Reznick asks: Are there limits to the Dark One's power besides:
inability to reincarnate balefired people, and his imprisonment.
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Robert Jordan: Read and find out!
Robert Jordan: Obviously, there are some limits or he simply would
have ripped the prison open and done as he wanted to do.
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Mike @ Detroit asks: Mr Jordan, please forgive if this is redundant,
as I just recently joined the conference. Is Moiraine well and truly
dead? or could her and Mierin/Lanfear reappear at some later venue?
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Robert Jordan: With an absolutely powerful character, there is no
story, or at least the story goes "it shall be as I will it to be, "
he said, and so it was..the end.
Robert Jordan: That's the whole story.
Robert Jordan: Read and find out!
Robert Jordan: that was to Mike.
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Scott Robertson asks: Mr Jordan, I was wondering where you came up
with the "old language" and the Aiel language? Are there preset rules
to them and it is a functionong language? Or do you just have a set
of _words_ that you devised and insert when needed?
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Robert Jordan: It's a functioning langauge in that I have developed a
basic grammar and syntax, and have a vocabulary list
Robert Jordan: which I have devised, some from Gaelic of course, but
from languages less often used..
Robert Jordan: russian, arabic, chinese, japanese. I try to follow
these rules that I've set up...
Robert Jordan: but occasionally I realize I have to invent a new rule
because I'm doing something I've never done before...
Robert Jordan: but it all follows the grammar I've devised.
Robert Jordan: As far as the Aiel that I've devised as a culture..
Robert Jordan: they have bits of Apache, bits of Beduin, bits that are
simply mine.
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Bill Powers asks: I know you've said we have enough information to
figure it out for ourselves, but, are you ever going to come right out
and say who(or what)killed Asmodaen?
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Robert Jordan: Read and find out! (sound of villainous laughter in the
background--the Phantom of the Opera lives)
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Seanchaí asks: 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?
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Robert Jordan: 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.
Robert Jordan: I write almost every day, I would say every day, but
occaisionally I actually do something else...
Robert Jordan: 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..
Robert Jordan: I then write for at least the next eight hours
straight, and sometimes ten or twelve or more..
Robert Jordan: though I do occassionally take a day off to go fishing,
my usual week is seven days.
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Charles W. Otten asks: 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.
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Robert Jordan: I simply write the way I write.
Robert Jordan: I don't try to imitate anyone. I've certainly
read--and still read--Hemingway, and admire most of his books...
Robert Jordan: but I think the person with the greatest influence on
my style is Mark Twain.
Robert Jordan: 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.
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Dawn Rosen asks: Thank you -- I've really enjoyed the series and look
forward to reading your current book. I'm having trouble placing the
amount of time that has gone by since the early days when the Aes
Sedai came to Three Rivers. How long has it been? Also, will Nynaeve
and Lan every get together, face to face?
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Robert Jordan: It's about two years since the beginning.
Robert Jordan: Roughly--very roughly.
Robert Jordan: As to them getting together, read and find out, my
dear, read and find out (he chuckled richly).
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Gail Ann Shafton asks: I find it interesting that there is no formal
theology in the series. Why is this?
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Robert Jordan: This is a world where what might be called the proofs
of religion are self-evident all the time.
Robert Jordan: It seemed to me there was no necessity for the
trappings of religion which by and large are to reinforce us in our
faith..
Robert Jordan: and to convince others...
Robert Jordan: if your beliefs are made concrete and manifest around
you at any given timethere is not the need for that.
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mark danehy asks: Are we going to see Moiraine again??
Lanfear??
My wife would like to know why none of the main characters have any
children. Are there any in their future??
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Robert Jordan: Read and find out. Most of the main characters are
both very young and unmarrie.d
Robert Jordan: Even some of the older ones are unmarried--so they have
no kids..
Robert Jordan: but read and find out. We'll see what happens.
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Hopper asks: Speaking of book signings, is there a tour in the works?
If so, when?
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Robert Jordan: Not for A CROWN OF SWORDS per se..
Robert Jordan: there is a tour in the fall, I don't know exactly when,
for the reprinting of some of my historical novels..
Robert Jordan: it looks as though that will be expanded to include
some areas where I nnormally wouldn't appear for those...
Robert Jordan: to make it a partial tour for A CROWN OF SWORDS...
Robert Jordan: the Tor Books website will give details (and so will
Book Preview).
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Eric Ligner asks: With the scope of this work, it must have been on
your mind for a long time. When did you first concieve the story and
how many years after that was the first book published?
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Robert Jordan: I had the first notions for this book, I guess it was
1975 or 76. For these books I should say...
Robert Jordan: but there were a lot of things to think out, a lot of
changes I went through..
Robert Jordan: for instance the character of Rand and Tam were
originally one...
Robert Jordan: I spent about ten years noodling the story around in
the back of my head before I ever put words on paper..
Robert Jordan: but that's rather typical for me. My books have a
fairly long gestation period.
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Matt Campbell asks: Which of the books did you enjoy writing the most
and which was the biggest let-down
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Robert Jordan: None of them has been a let-down. And I always enjoy
the book that I'm writing the most.
Robert Jordan: I do try to make each book better than the last one
I've done.
Robert Jordan: When I've finished with a book, I'm on to enjoying the
next one, and working on the next one.
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Edward Henry asks: How much editing do your books get? Does the story
or your writing get modified?
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Robert Jordan: The story does not get modified. Occasionally the
writing is modified to
Robert Jordan: this extent--a good editor tells you what is wrong, as
another set of eyes.
Robert Jordan: A good editor says, "I don't understand what you're
saying here, you havne't told me enough, you haven't made me believe
that
Robert Jordan: this person will do this or say this."
Robert Jordan: And then I go back and work at making sure the editor
is convinced.
Robert Jordan: Remember the editor is the first reader. If the editor
isn't convinced, I doubt the fans will be either.
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John asks: Have you ever considered making the Wheel of time into a
movie?
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Robert Jordan: With almost every book that has come out, and certainly
every one that has made the bestseller lists, there's a feeler about a
movie...
Robert Jordan: but it always goes away, because any one of these books
would have to be a TV miniseries. There's no way that I can see to
compress them into
Robert Jordan: a three hour movie or even a four hour movie.
Robert Jordan: That's not to say it won't happen, but I don't really
expect it.
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Jim Porter asks: Congratulations on CoS. It is a wonderful read. Do
you find the extra several months you took to write it contributed to
the overall readablility of the book and actually made it shorter in
length?
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Robert Jordan: Possibly. It was actually a good bit more in time.
Robert Jordan: With the exception of The Eye of the World, which took
four years to write, each of these books has taken me somewhere on the
order of
Robert Jordan: thirteen or fourteen months.
Robert Jordan: A Crown of Swords took twenty months.
Robert Jordan: There were several things I had to work out. Too much
was happening and the book would have been too long.
Robert Jordan: I had to work to cut things out--and that's not as
easy as it sounds.
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Karl Schwede asks: Is their any particular inspiration for the
forsaken, and the other antagonists in your series, as their are for
the women characters. Demandred and how he was always an inch behind
Lews Therin (in the power, in swordsmanship etc...), for example, was
their a particular inspiration for that?
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Robert Jordan: Well, there are--and i won't go into details because I
want to keep the mythological and legendary roots hidden--
Robert Jordan: I don't want to have people spending more time
discussing the legends than the stories!
Robert Jordan: The thing is there are several legends and myths based
on such jealousy, on the man who is just a half a step short of
another man..
Robert Jordan: the woman who would have been the greatest of her age,
but there was another who was just a bit better..
Robert Jordan: that sort of jealousy leads to the worst kind of
hatred. When someone can easily defeat hyou, there's not that kind of
jealousy..
Robert Jordan: but when he beats you in a photo finish every single
time, that is when emotions begin to curdle and rancor sets in...
Robert Jordan: and you find yourself with this festering deep inside
tthat can turn into murderous hatred.
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Searles O'Dubhain asks: The initaition rituals for raising an Accepted
to Aes Sedai seem to be based upon some sort of real-life ceremonies.
Where did you get the idea for the three passes through the
ter'angreal?
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Robert Jordan: Trinities and threes and multiples of three or seven
turn up again and again in mythologies and legends throughout the
world
Robert Jordan: and in ceremonies throughout the world.
Robert Jordan: that part is hardly original. It's something that
speaks to us on some deeper level. It's so prevelant, it must. It's
all pervasive.
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Ryssgarde asks: You approach the issues of sex love and the like with
all of your characters while maintaing an almost virginal perspective
and yet there is a GREAT deal of nudity throughout the novels.No
problem with this but when are Rand and Matt and Perrin going to stop
thinking the other has the upper hand?
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Robert Jordan: I'm not sure that they ever will. Who knows?
Robert Jordan: It seems to me to be a very human thing in dealing with
the opposite sex at least to think that somebody else knows more about
it than you do.
Robert Jordan: You might swagger and put on a surface belief of "well,
I have that nailed!" but I think for most people, there's a little
voice in the back saying
Robert Jordan: "God, he really does know how to handle women, doesn't
he?" or "God, she really does know all about men!"
------------------------------------------------------------
Lyndon Goodacre asks: It seems to me many authors say they write
because the books they wanted to read hadn't been written yet... Is
this true in your case?
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Robert Jordan: Oh , I suppose it might be. If I were just a tad
lazier of course, I could quite happily sit back and read other
people's stories forever..
Robert Jordan: the truth of the matter is that I have these stories
that I'D like to tell..
Robert Jordan: if someone had gotten there ahead of me, I might never
have written...
Robert Jordan: or, who knows, I might have found I had another set of
stories to tell that no one had written.
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Martin Reznick asks: Does your world have defined natural laws in
terms of : the One Power, the True Power, the weather, etc. or do you
make them up as you go along?
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Robert Jordan: There are set laws --there have to be -- if you write
stories where anything can happen, they get flabby, you lose focus..
Robert Jordan: I have certain set laws and limits on the One Power,
the true power, and all of this...
Robert Jordan: and these limits and laws come out in pieces...
Robert Jordan: they are not the focus of the stories so they only come
out in bits and pieces.
Robert Jordan: I'd like to thank everyone for coming. Good night
everybody!