TarValon.net’s annual Robert Jordan Memorial Scholarship is now accepting applications: This year’s topic is: How do you plan to use your education in a way that exemplifies being a Servant of All? If you're interested in combining your academic studies and your love of The Wheel of Time, make sure you submit your applications before June 5th! View full news item

This week I stared doing some light exercises. Since having surgery in March--and still having open wounds on my chest--the amount of activities I can do are very limited. I was doing walks 4-5 times a week for the past few weeks, but now I started to do some weight lifting. Simple things, really. Nothing too strenuous. Push ups, lunges, squats. Things like that. It's been really nice! After the Monday's session I felt like I was going to throw up! That's how inactive my body has been. But yesterday's session was better and easier. I think I'll have to do more repetitions since I didn't feel as tired as Monday and Tuesday.

Halfway through the month, but I'm feeling motivated, so I'm jumping on it! I'm not one to read non-fiction. So, I thought it would be an interesting avenue to explore. The last non-fiction book I read was "Teaching Like a Champion," a book that gives helpful hints on how to manage a classroom. It was actually really great, and as a first-year teacher, I really needed all the help I could get. Other non-fiction books I've read include "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" by Haruki Murakami. He's a Japanese novelist who decided he needed to stay active since he was spending so much time writing. He shares how he learned to love running and now competes in triathlons! It was an amazing read! What non-fiction books have you read?

Okay *deep breath* So, I went into this procedure with an expectation of getting a body image I liked. As I said before, the doctor said she'd get my breasts as small as safely possible. That is something I can respect. However, I have been an unquenchable ball of rage for the past four weeks. At one of my appointments, my doctor mentioned how I felt my breasts were still too big. She said she could have taken them smaller but she decided not to because she wanted them to be proportional to my body. What? I'd made it clear I wanted SMALL breasts. Very, very clear. Unfortunately, that was one appointment my husband wasn't able to attend with me, so I was left to feel this overwhelming sense of fury all on my own. Now, I'm very soft spoken in person, so I didn't blow up at my doctor for misleading me. Rather, I've contained it inside my body for four weeks. I cry every few days because my rage is limitless. So, yesterday at my appointment I finally worked up the correct way to address this. I knew yelling at the doctor and releasing my anger would not be an appropriate tactic--which was why it took me several weeks to analyse my emotions and express them calmly. So, I asked what options there were to get my breasts smaller because I was still very unsatisfied with the size. I admitted that I'm crying most days when I look and see how big they are. I mean, I have been going through daily torment with the surgery alone, and to not have satisfying results on top of it? Double frustration. And of course she was understanding and compassionate. She said she would fix it. I know she's an expert and I'm sure she's dealt with a lot of women who are looking for an aesthetically pleasing body. I'm not one of those women. I want my body to be comfortable and I am still so UNCOMFORTABLE. Ugh.... Anyway, she said she'll fix it. We'll have to wait 4-5 months, but she'll fix it. She reaffirmed there would not be any additional costs, besides the biopsy of any tissue removed. That's acceptable. I'm still terribly pissed, but at least I have her confirmation we can still get this done and it won't be more of a financial burden. *deep breath again* I guess I'm just tired of having people second guess my personal choices. I knew what I wanted and I wasn't listened to. But she'll fix it, and I won't have to pay for another round of surgery, so I'll get the results I wanted, just not in a timely manner.

Great job on the last two film reports, James! I haven't seen Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. As I'm not particularly inclined to like war films, I'm sure I won't. But I did watch Zero Dark Thirty and found it to be very interesting. I've watched too many movies to count over the last month and a half of isolation. We're watching at least one a night, sometimes two. However, most of the ones we're watching are repeats. We watched the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe collection. We watched all the X-Men films. We watched all the Star Wars films. We watched all the Matrix films. We're currently watching the DC ones, and the Star Trek remakes. Then we watched The Sound of Music which my husband had never seen! That was really fun to watch again. For new ones, we did watch one called The Set-Up (1949). It was about a boxer who wanted to fight one last time and his wife's inability to support him while he gets beat up. It was really good. I haven't seen Aqua Man yet, so that will be new when we get to it.

Hello, all! Welcome back to another Community Round-Up! Let’s dive right in. Some major news on the Amazon Prime Wheel of Time show, Daniel Henney—who plays Lan Mandragoran—did a Q&A on Instagram this week. It was amazing to listen to the obvious reverence Daniel has for Lan. As someone who has loved Lan dearly since I first read the series (my Dragonmount name is Mashiara, so my love for this character should be pretty obvious), I am beyond excited to see Daniel in this role. The happiness of JordanCONline last month can’t be put into words. I am so thankful for Jenn and Jimmy Liang, as well as all the JordanCon staff and volunteers who helped put the event together. It was amazing to spend time with friends and listen to Wheel of Time related discussions. The highlight, of course, being when Rafe Judkins—the show runner for the Amazon Prime show—joined the WoT on Prime panel. Rafe, obviously under a non-disclosure agreement, was limited in what he could say. But he did share plenty of great information that already had the panelists, especially Matt Hatch of The Dusty Wheel, theorizing. You can read a quick synopsis of Rafe’s Q&A here, or check out all the JordanCONline recorded panels on their YouTube channel. Dragonmount’s The Wheel of Time Community Show recapped all that happened at JordanCONline! You can watch Ebony and Thom discuss here! Along those same lines, JordanCon’s March Madness Fantasy Artifacts brackets came to a close. The ultimate winner was: the Chodean Kal! Not really a surprise there, in my opinion. This event was a lot of fun and I’d love to see it happen again next year. Tor.com’s Sylas K Barrett—who is currently doing his first time read through of the series—highlighted the changes we see from Mat Cauthon as the series progresses. Sylas is currently on The Shadow Rising, which is where Mat visits Rhuidean and goes through the second doorframe Ter’angreal. That trip certainly does change him! But Sylas also points out how the other characters are unable, or unwilling, to see these changes. It’s a very interesting read! You can check out all of Sylas’s writings on The Wheel of Time here! Is anyone play Animal Crossing in their downtime? I know I am. And here’s great news, there’s a WoT Animal Crossing Group on Facebook! You can play with Wheel of Time friends—some of which even have WoT themed islands, clothes, and landscapes. (As mentioned above, I love Lan, so my island is named Malkier.) You can even find random Animal Crossing things in other WoT spaces. Christopher posted this in the JordanCon group: his creation of the Wheel and Serpent pattern you can use in the game! Now onto the memes! This one I really like because I think Galad will help the Children of the Light become less evil. And of course everyone is so happy for the new reaction of Facebook! That's all of this edition. Don't you think Daniel Henney is going to be amazing as Lan? Please leave your comments below! View full news item

Good point! I don’t recall Darkhounds in book one, but wolves are probable!

This weekend, JordanCon hosted an online version of the beloved convention dedicated to Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time series, and all things fantasy. The Wot on Prime panel had some amazing panelist: Jennifer Liang, Shannan Lieb, Matt Hatch, Adam Whitehead, and Daniel Green. But the surprise guest blew us all away: Rafe Judkins, the show runner for the Amazon Prime Wheel of Time show. Rafe’s presence was a complete shock to watchers on YouTube. Once everyone calmed down, the group talked about casting choices (discussing the amazing acting by Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones and how it won over the fans), the progress of the series (Rafe did nod when Matt said the series will not premier in 2020, and nodded again when Jenn said there won’t be 14 seasons), and how new fans who haven’t read the series might react to the show (Daniel promotes peace between book fans and show fans). Rafe spoke about how fans will react to his adaptation. A lot of factors play into it—alluding to what they could get a dog to do on a Saturday—but Rafe insists he’s keeping the heart and spine of the series whole. He’s casting actors on the ability to portray the soul of the character, or keeping the heart of the scene, even if it’s different from the actual scene from the books. Rafe went into detail about how hiatus has affected the show, including having all eight scripts for season two finished before they start filming it and how that will positively impact editing and the flow of shooting. He shared a story of Josha Stradowski (Rand), Marcus Rutherford (Perrin), and Barney Harris (Mat) sneaking out together in a very similar way the three ta’veren heroes are often out finding trouble. Jenn asked why Rafe wanted to be involved in The Wheel of Time show and Rafe’s answer was perfect—and reminiscent of Brandon Sanderson’s answer for finishing the series—he doesn’t want anyone else to do it because they might mess it up. Rafe continued on this topic and praised Brandon for his support on the project. Adam asked about how gender will play into the show and Rafe answered that the Wheel of Time series addressed many gender issues when it was first released and wants to focus on making sure those points are made in a modern way (my interpretation is the show will not be focusing on feminism from the 1990s, but address it from a 2020-ish perspective). He also talked about major themes of fate, hope and destiny will be prominent within the show. Matt asked how the show will honor Robert Jordan, and Rafe answered there’ll be more of a feel of Harriet McDougal (Robert Jordan’s widow), Maria Simons (Robert Jordan’s assistant and member of Team Jordan), and Brandon Sanderson. He also uses audio clips of Jordan’s book signings for help with pronunciations. Rafe feels behind the scenes footage is better left until after the actual footage has been seen. He says pictures will be released before any behind the scenes footage. Before leaving, Rafe did praise Wheel of Time fans for our kindness. Jenn had to reiterate how we try to have a “No Jerks” policy in all our spaces. After Rafe left, panelists speculated about tidbits Rafe said. The first being the reference to a dog not doing what it was supposed to on a Saturday—Jenn suggests it might be the scene where Mat flours Haral and Alsbet Luhhan’s dogs? There was also heavy emphasis on how Rafe is a huge fan of the series and how similar his answer was to Brandon Sanderson on why he got involved with the show. You can watch the recorded video on JordanCon’s YouTube page, including real-time fan chat! You can check out other JordanCONline videos here! So what do you think? Will Rafe’s fan status ease your worries? Let us know in the comments below! View full news item

Though the annual JordanCon was canceled in the physical realm, they’re taking the party to a mystical place similar to tel’aran’rhiod… the internet. More specifically, JordanCon’s website, their Discord server, and other meeting apps like Zoom. Today, JordanCon released this weekend’s schedule: Thursday night will have a JordanCon countdown. Join the Discord server and party till the party starts! Friday’s events start with the “Kilts and Crowns Kickoff on our Social Media.” This event can be accessed several places, including JordanCon’s website, their Facebook group, Twitter, and Instagram. Don’t say they’re not giving you options. There will also be a “Dragonsteel Kickstarter” where Brandon Sanderson and Dragonsteel will reveal their latest project. There will also be livestreams with artists Ariel Burgess and Paul Bielaczyc—Ariel’s will be demonstrating digital painting techniques, while Paul’s will host other artists for a game of Drawful. As usual, Saturday is the day for cosplay! Follow or post your own pictures on all of JordanCon’s social media accounts. Jennifer Liang and Adam Whitehead, along with other panelists, will discuss “WoT on Prime,” delving into all we know about the show and other things we can guess. No Texas Hold-em Tournament this year, but JordanCon is still raising money of the Mayo Clinic—this year’s game of choice will be “Celebrity DnD.” And no JordanCon is complete without the Saturday dance party! You’ll need to head to Zoom to see the dancing and Discord to hear the music. Sunday concludes the convention with “Fantasy Debate,” where the panelists will discuss Wheel of Time versus fantasy elements. And finally, Jenn and Jimmy Liang will end the event with the JordanCon Awards. Though we can’t be together all in one place, at least we’ll be able to spend digital time with people we love and discuss the series that brought us all together. Keep up-to-date with the details by following JordanCon on social media, or check out their website! View full news item

Welcome back to “Community Round-Up,” which highlights all the latest fun and news within the Wheel of Time and Sci-Fi/Fantasy community. First up, the Hugo Award has its list of Finalists! Our sponsor Tor, and its subsidiary Tor.com, have four novels up in the Best Novel category: The City in the Middle of the Night, by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor; Titan) Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir (Tor.com Publishing) A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine (Tor; Tor UK) Middlegame, by Seanan McGuire (Tor.com Publishing) The other two novels nominated are: The Light Brigade, by Kameron Hurley (Saga; Angry Robot UK) The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E. Harrow (Redhook; Orbit UK) The Wheel of Time series was not nominated, but Dragonmount contributor Adam Whitehead was nominated for Best Fan Writer! We wish him the best of luck as voting begins later in April. You can find more information on casting your ballot here. Most of you saw (and voted) in the March Madness Fandom Madness matchup hosted by the fansite Winter is Coming. Unsurprising, to us at least, Moiraine Damodred won the whole tournament! Here’s what the organizers have to say: You can read the details of the matchup here. Dragonmount’s Wheel of Time Community Show has two new episodes to keep you entertained while stuck at home. In one, Kitty Rallo dives into the directors of the Amazon Prime television show. She also speculates about the titles and the timing of the shows versus the books. And in the second Lanfear is back and giving advice on parenting (and flouting the quarantine rules). And let’s wrap up with some great memes! This is an oldie but a goodie from our friends at Ta’veren Tees. Something we're all excited to hear someone say in the Amazon Prime show: And since Lanfear is so hot right now.... This meme from the Facebook group Screw You All, I Love Wheel of Time, can stand on its own, but sometimes the comments can make it more meaningful. That's all I have for today. I'm super excited about the Hugo nominations. Which of the nominees for Best Novel have you read? View full news item