Theoryland of the Wheel of Time

Robert Jordan signs Knife of Dreams at Border's Books & Music in Santa Cruz, California, October 29.

My friend Katie and I drove the six hours from Los Angeles to get a jump on the signings and I am so glad we did! We arrived an hour before the signing to find that we had just missed out on the 20 or so seats Border's provided. Over the next hour, the majority of the crowd arrived and since there was no structured line or crowd management, everyone just kinda milled around the store. I was really happy to see the number of high school age and younger kids there.

At 4pm sharp the event coordinator was sitting in Robert Jordan's seat helping a young fan (about 10 years old) "flap" his book to the right page. Mr. Jordan crept up behind her and peered over her shoulder. He smiled at the crowd who was watching his every move quietly so we didn't give him away. He continued to peer over the woman's shoulder trying to look upset and put out, but his (Mat like?) sly smile gave away the joke. Finally the woman noticed him and popped out of his seat looking embarrassed. The crowd erupted in laughter. She quickly announced Mr. Jordan and handed off the microphone as the crowd of about 125 strong greeted him with a very enthusiastic round of applause.

After we quieted down, Mr. Jordan launched into his regular spiel as reported from the previous book signings. The pronunciations (it's pronounced SWAN not soo-ON), Infinity of Heaven, the next book may be 2000 pages, and of course photographs are okay but there will be "...absolutely NO MALE NUDITY".

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male nudity

The question and answer session started slowly as people seemed nervous to speak up but as people felt more comfortable in front of this great man the questions came fast and furious. The questions are about what you would expect. In my opinion there were no questions answered that were surprising, and I didn't glean any new insights.

After about 30 minutes of Q&A the signing started. The line move quickly and before I knew it my friend and I were in front of Mr. Jordan.

We posed for a few pictures and then Katie asked him a question about how gateways work.

He smiled and seemed very happy about being asked this question. He described how gateways work, and even set his pen down to use as a visual aid (I took a picture).

gateways

We got all four of our books signed then left. All in all it was a very satisfying and enjoyable experience, BUT, it's not over yet!

We decided since we were in the lovely city of Santa Cruz to walk around their downtown area and take in the sights. Katie and I were giddy, chatting about the signing when out of nowhere Katie says, "You're Harriet!" and stops dead. I look and sure enough Robert Jordan's wife Harriet is standing there looking surprised.

She affirmed that she was in fact Harriet. We quickly mentioned how we were just at the signing and she seemed to relax. Katie chatted Mrs. Jordan up and she seemed more than happy to stand there and talk with us. It was very gratifying and we found the woman delightful. Just before parting ways Katie said "We are just the hugest fans of your husband and from listening to him speak and reading articles it is obvious that he loves you very very much." Harriet seemed a little embarrassed and her cheeks got a little red, but then she answered in just the sweetest shy voice, "The feeling is mutual." Big old romantic softies that we both are, we were very moved by the sentiment and seriously, meeting Harriet was just the coolest and left the biggest impression on us of the day.

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harriet

And that as they say is that. We had a great trip to meet the Man and got to meet his muse. It was amazing and we get to do it all again at the signing at Vroman's Books in Pasadena, California. I-CAN'T-WAIT!

Sean

Dragonmount user—SeanAlThor