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Daniel Rook Signing 2004

After a day to think about the signing again, and think about things to ask today, I realized I forgot a few things...

  • Jordan confirmed that this book is really much as people have said, the first part of a two part story. [So what is a two book series in a nine book series called? Of course since he also said he hasn't finished the next book, or even really knows how far along he is, this may or may not be true.]
  • Jordan detailed Tam's history... but basically said the same things that were said about him to Rand.
  • Jordan was a nuclear engineer for the Army, doing work on submarines. [Army working on Naval craft?] From there he entered government service of some sort, and when he hurt his knee started writting. (See previous post on details)
  • There were some really interesting collectors items to be signed. One ex-Tor representative (Who says he remembers you Patrick) had Advanced Reading Copies from the Eye of the World. tEotW and tGH's advance copies were both nicely bound with cover art on them. From the Dragon Reborn on they are bound in yellow or red construction paper. The first 3 advance copies seem to be single spaced single volumes. I don't knowabout the others, but Lord of Chaos' advance bound copy was double spaced and in two volumes. Another fellow had a large fold out map that was included in one of the Advance Copies. It was black and white, and Jordan said it is an early copy from which the modern maps were made. I noticed attractive drawings of several places along the border. One I think was Tar Valon.
  • The recent freebie first half of The Eye of the World was the impetus that got his elder brother to read the books. Apparently his older brother doesn't read much fantasy, and hadn't read any of Jordans books until he saw the freebie in the store and picked it up.
  • Jordan reads voraciously, a book a night. He says if he sat down for an evenings reading he could probably put away 2 books the size of LoC easily. When tested in grade school he was sent to the principle because the teachers were sure he had cheated. No one could read as fast as he did with as much comprehension as he had at that age. Jordan recalls that being called to the principle didn't upset him as much as not being apologized to afterward. Apparently the library where he grew up restricted children under 12 to the kids department. This rankled the young Jordan, who read all he wanted to from that department in two days. He thus swiped books from tables and sat in a corner to read them. His main supply of literature as a kid was through his older brother. (10 years older)
  • Jordan uses a 486 running at 66 MHz with lots of bells and whistles to write.
  • Jordan doesn't like his first book, but is scared to throw it away because he thinks his luck might be tied to it. He detailed how he sent it to a publisher and it was accepted. When he asked for a few minor changes be made to his contract, they sent a letter dropping him. Since he now knew he could right, he set about doing so...
  • There was one ominous hint that Robert Jordan is going to pull a Tom Sawyer and watch his own funeral. Since we know that Jordan is only a pen name, this is entirely possible.
  • Robert Jordan won't ever write about these characters again once the series is complete. He may write a series based on the NEXT age though.

Well, thats all I can remember for now... Maybe this will get my name in the FAQ. :-)

Daniel L. Rouk

d...@uncecs.edu

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