Robert Jordan is a Guest at Dragon*Con in Atlanta this weekend and it sounds like a great time! Here is an overview of the action from Jennifer Liang.

The weekend is going great so far. On Friday, Jordan read us a new excerpt from Knife of Dreams. It was a scene from Mat's POV in which he has a conversation with Aludra, the Illuminator. He's done two Q&A's so far and TONS of theories are being shattered left and right. Emma/Isabel has been taking careful notes and those will go online when she gets back to Holland, if not sooner. His appearances on Saturday were taped by Dragon*Con TV and if I can get us the re-broadcast rights, we'll have them online as well.

 

The WoT banquet on Friday went very well. Our guests of honor were the Jordans and the Sweets. We had about sixty people attend.

 

Yesterday we also had Q&A sessions with Darrell Sweet and Teresa Patterson. Sweet's was very enlightening as to the process by which the covers are made. Basically they are made to Tor's specifications which are very exacting. They give him a short description of a scene, or about four or five pages from the book and say "Do this." Then he does it. They ask for changes and he makes them. Specifically on the Knife of Dreams cover, he originally had Galina being held up by two guardsmen, but was asked to remove them. This is why she has such and odd pose. Perrin was originally taller and bulkier, but he was asked to make him smaller. Darrell is actually disappointed that his covers don't really please the fans, but since Tor is signing his paychecks that's who he listens to. He considers the back covers to be his own personal playground and has fun doing landscapes and other interesting things.

 

Teresa Patterson talked about her new projects. She would love to work on a new worldbook if Tor was interested in publishing one after the series ends. However those kinds of books are extremely expensive to produce and Tor would have to be convinced it was worth their while. She would also like to work on an anthology of short stories with Jordan someday, as the WoT world was one of her favorites to work in.

 

We also did the Dragon*Con parade yesterday. It was very cool to be marching down Peachtree Street dressed as the Amyrlin Seat with Robert Jordan and his wife clapping and cheering you on. The Jordans have been incredibly enthusiastic about everything so far this weekend. They seem to be having a really good time. They've done two signings so far and judged the Wheel of Time constume contest. The Con gave us a larger conference room than they usually do and it's been packed for every event. Jordan's appearances have been held in larger ballrooms. We easily had three hundred people lining up to get into the first Q&A.

 

Today we have one more Q&A session, with both Jordans, as well as a presentation on The Wheel of Time: New Spring from the Dabels. We also have a live demonstration of the sword forms tonight.

Much more to come!

More info

[

[ Dragon*Con Wheel of Time Track Schedule ]

[ Age of Legends Website ]

[ http://www.dragoncon.org/]Dragon*Con' 2005 Website ]