Falls Church, VA CoT signing 23 January 2003 - report by Sonia Ibarra
report posted at Dragonmount.com
I attended the 7:30pm signing in Falls Church, VA on January 23rd. The day was bitterly cold, but by the time the signing began, there were 294 people packed into the Borders waiting for Jordan to arrive. He had a reserved parking spot out front, but it was far too big for his limo. The came up the elevator to the second floor, and the magic began. He started with the usual routine--pronunciations, who killed Asmodean ("I want to let you squirm"), and instructions for taking pictures. He was gracious enough to answer questions as we went through the signing line.
Here are the questions that I asked, and the responses I got:
Sonia: So the Eye of the World is a well, right?
RJ: [pauses] Yes and no. It's in the same class of objects as a well, but on a different scale.
Sonia: So could it be refilled by a male channeler?
RJ: No. Remember, lots of Aes Sedai died to make it.
Sonia: To keep it pure.
RJ: That, among other things. Look, a normal well is like this water glass. [he gestures] The Eye is like a liquid nitrogen canister.
Sonia: So are wells made with the opposite half of the power that they were meant to contain, like Rand did at Shadar Logoth.
RJ: [sly smile] No, they don't work like that.
Sonia: Are steddings natural, or were they created with the Power like the Far Madding ter'angreal?
RJ: Read and find out.
The signing lasted until about 10:30, when Jordan began to remark that he was getting tired and hungry, having not eaten dinner yet. There had been a cake screened with a picture of his face on it, but I don't recall seeing him eat any of it. In fact, the icing with his face on it was still intact, and Jordan remarked that he didn't think he could manage to sign icing. All in all, it was a pleasant evening, and one that netted me a complete set of signed WoT books.
Sonia Ibarra