Signing Reports

[NutiketAiel he/him]

Does 17th Shard usually try to send someone to the various signings and Q&A sessions, to take notes and such? Is there a place on the site/forums to post such info for future reference?

-Jim

[firstRainbowRose she/her]

I wouldn't say we try to, but usually when one of the members is able to go they will throw up a report of some sort. And those who do get a nifty little award, so feel free to if you get an oppertunity!

[NutiketAiel he/him]

Fair enough. I'll be at his signing in Dayton, OH on Thursday, so I'll take what notes I can.

-Jim

[NutiketAiel he/him]

I just got back from Brandon's Dayton signing, and it was awesome! I have copious notes, and will shortly be transcribing them from my incredibly bad handwriting (I'm serious, it's Smedry Talent bad) into something more readable. However, Brandon asked me to run them by Peter first, so I will be emailing what I have to him and awaiting a reply before I post anything here.

-Jim

[Cheese Ninja he/him]

I just got back from Brandon's Dayton signing, and it was awesome! I have copious notes, and will shortly be transcribing them from my incredibly bad handwriting (I'm serious, it's Smedry Talent bad) into something more readable. However, Brandon asked me to run them by Peter first, so I will be emailing what I have to him and awaiting a reply before I post anything here.

-Jim

Cool, a friend of mine pointed out the Dayton signing to me on facebook, but I had to work. I was briefly considering going to the Lexington one tonight, but it's too long of a drive. I miss when we had more bookstores around Cincinnati... I got to see Brandon and Harriet when they did the Joseph-Beth signing back when ToM came out, and Jordan back when Path of Daggers came out, at the Borders that used to be across the street from Tri-County Mall.

[NutiketAiel he/him]

Cool, a friend of mine pointed out the Dayton signing to me on facebook, but I had to work. I was briefly considering going to the Lexington one tonight, but it's too long of a drive. I miss when we had more bookstores around Cincinnati... I got to see Brandon and Harriet when they did the Joseph-Beth signing back when ToM came out, and Jordan back when Path of Daggers came out, at the Borders that used to be across the street from Tri-County Mall.

I'm with you on that one. Having to drive all the way back from Dayton to Cinci after the signing sucked- though it was still totally worth it. :-) And much better than driving all the way down to Lexington, like I did for the Alloy of Law signing (which was the first time I met Brandon).

-Jim

Edited January 12, 2013 by NutiketAiel

[NutiketAiel he/him]

Well, I was going through some things on my computer and found my old report from this signing.  I never did hear back from Peter Ahlstrom after I emailed him, but he's a busy guy I'm sure.  I figure, though, that after a year, I'm probably safe to post it.  So, here is my report.  Much of the information has already gotten out through other signings and sources, but some may still find it interesting, and I think at least one of the answers to my questions about Nalthis towards the end may still hold new information.

 

Also, upon re-reading it, I discovered that I sound like a shameless fanboy.  Or maybe I am a shameless fanboy.  Meh.

 

~~~~

 

Hello, fellow Seventeenth Sharders.  As promised, I have taken copious notes at Brandon’s Thursday, 1/10/13 signing at Books & Co in Dayton, OH.

 

The signing began at 7:00 PM, so I thought I’d be clever by showing up early, driving over right after I got off duty and arriving at about 4:30 PM.  I figured I’d be first in line; boy, was I wrong.  There were a good 26 people ahead of me, with more arriving all the time.  By the time the Memory Keepers and store employees finished giving out line tickets, there were over 300 people there to meet Brandon and Harriet.  Of course, that did make me feel a little better about being only #27…

 

The actual signing proceeded a little differently than it had the last time I had met Brandon (at his signing in Lexington following the release of Alloy of Law).  We all went up in order for a first pass, allowing Brandon and Harriet to simply sign our books.  Afterwards, anyone who wanted further personalization was welcome to stay and go up a second time, after Harriet had retired for the evening.  Considering how many people left after the first go around, it seems that that was a pretty good idea.  It made things run very smoothly.  They also took all parents who had small children with them first, so that they could get home with their little ones.  This was a nice move, I thought, and to their credit there was not a single complaint from among the 300+ gathered fans about having to wait for these parents (well, not that I could hear, anyway).  I had no idea we WoT fans were, as a group, such a considerate bunch, especially after seeing some internet shouting matches over the years about who Demandred was, or who killed Asmodean, or whether there could be a female Dragon.

 

Anyway, Brandon and Harriet began with a Q&A session.  I did not have a tape recorder with me, unfortunately, and I was far too overawed to be in Brandon and Harriet’s presence to think of using my smartphone for the task, so I took notes.  I’m also not a professional stenographer, and don’t know shorthand.  So, unless something is in quotations marks, all of these are simple reports of the gist of the question and answer, or paraphrases.  Some mild spoilers for A Memory of Light and, in one case, Way of Kings follow.

 

Q:  Where did the idea for Hinderstrap come from?

 

A:  While working on Brandon’s draft of The Gathering Storm, Harriet told him that “the books not creepy enough.”  She had Brandon re-read the dream sequence with the rat in Eye of the World.  After that, Brandon wrote Hinderstrap.

 

Q:  As a fan, what was Brandon’s initial reaction to being asked to complete the series?

 

A:  “Dumbfounded stupefaction.”  Brandon went on to say that he later apologized to Harriet for being so shocked during their first conversation.

 

Q:  Has working on Robert Jordan’s books influenced Brandon’s own writing?

 

A:  Yes.  Brandon said that had he been asked to finish any other series for any other author, he would have said no.  The characters of the Wheel of Time series are like high school friends to him.  As far as influencing his own writing, Jordan’s “subtle foreshadowing” and “excellent characterization” were both influences on him.  He also learned to interweave different viewpoints better by working on the Wheel of Time series.

 

Q:  Will the prequel books be written?

 

Harriet’s Answer:  “No.”

 

Q:  How does it feel to finish?

 

A:  Sad, but satisfying.

 

Q:  How old was Brandon when he decided to write?

 

A:  16, which was one year after starting to read the Wheel of Time, and a year and a half after reading his first fantasy novel.

 

Q:  What was Brandon’s least favorite part of the Wheel of Time writing process?

 

A:  The extensive revision process.  He said that, in general, “revising has never been my favorite part of the writing process at all.”  The most challenging part of the process was keeping track of all the side characters.

 

Q:  Would Brandon be doing a Reddit IAMA again soon?

 

A:  Yes, probably in a few months after more people have had a chance to read A Memory of Light.

 

Q:  How different was it to work on the Wheel of Time books in terms of discoveries during the writing process?

 

A:  “I am more of an architect… I almost always know exactly where I am going.”  Since Brandon was using Robert Jordan’s framework while writing, it was similar in that respect to his own process.

 

Q:  Robert Jordan kept copious notes and an awkward, very personalized filing system.  Did it grow easier for Brandon to work with that over the course of writing the books?

 

A:  “I gave up on that about 2 months into the first book.”  Brandon credited Maria and Alan with keeping all of that information straight.

 

Q:  What newer fantasy authors would Brandon recommend?

 

A:  After musing about what the questioner might mean by newer, Brandon suggested Daniel Abraham, M.K. Jameson and Mary Robinette Kowal.  At least, that’s what it sounded like what he said.  Unfortunately, of the three I had only heard of Abraham and Kowal, and Google is being intensely uncooperative, which means I probably heard the name “M.K. Jameson” wrong.  Can anyone help me out there?

 

In any case, Brandon also pointed out that his favorite living author is Terry Pratchett, though he suggested that newer readers not start at the beginning of his works, since they got “better with age.”  He also listed three of his classic favorite fantasy novels:  Dragonsbane, A Fire Upon the Deep and Tigana.

 

Question for Harriet:  Now that the series is done, how do you feel, and what are you planning to do now?

 

Answer from Harriet:  She feels very satisfied, but also “very sad that it’s another occasion for me to say goodbye to Robert Jordan.”  She went on to say that her feelings were “sad, happy, bittersweet, a whole mess.”  She is still working on the Wheel of Time Encyclopedia.  She related that the encyclopedia started while Robert Jordan was working on Eye of the World and she started “writing down proper nouns.”  “Then it got to be The Great Hunt and I said ‘oh, Lord.’”  She said that the encyclopedia could be out “perhaps sometime… this year.”  The contract, incidentally, called for it to be out in 2008, which brought a round of laughter from the fans.

 

Q:  How are our friends in Bridge 4?

 

A:  Brandon reported that they are trying for a late fall release of Stormlight 2, but chances of that actually happening are slim, and that it was more likely to be out next spring.  He said that he was 40% of the way through his first draft, but that revisions are the hard part.  He also said that he didn’t want to short the revision proves and put out a book that was only “90% awesome.”

 

Q:  Who will Brandon miss writing the most?

 

A:  Perrin is Brandon’s favorite character, but Mat was who he would miss writing the most, in part because of the challenge.  “I really feel like I got Mat.”  Mat’s mix of “incorrigible silliness and complete awesomeness” was something that Brandon felt he finally got right after 3 books.

 

Question for Harriet:  Over 20 years, what is the best/most important memory of working on the books?

 

Answer from Harriet:  “I’ll never forget when my husband handed me the first section of the Eye of the World… it knocked me off my perch.”  “When they get to Rhuidean, that absolutely surpassed the beginning.”  She also related an anecdote about a section of the series that Harriet, after reading, told Robert Jordan he needed to make more exciting because it was a section filled with “talking heads”- so he killed someone.  Brandon also related the story that the reason that Tom Doherty sold Tor Books was to raise the money to properly promote the Wheel of Time series.

 

Q:  Can Brandon still read and appreciate the books?

 

A:  “I can still read Jim, Robert Jordan’s, books and enjoy them.”  However, he pointed out that unless he needed to reference something, he doesn’t re-read his own books, since the need to tweak them would be overwhelming, except during the actual revision process.  He re-read one book 14 times during his revisions.

 

Q:  Having gotten to see the ending all at once when he read Robert Jordan’s notes and material, was there anything about the ending that surprised Brandon?

 

A:  Brandon related that there were two “oh” moments and one “oh-no” moment.  He described these obliquely, to avoid spoilers as much as possible.

 

The first “oh” moment was when Egwene got her “special visitor” and “colors of dresses are mentioned,” a scene that Robert Jordan wrote completely.

 

The second “oh” moment was Thom & Moiraine’s special romantic moment, which was something that Brandon hadn’t seen coming.

 

The “oh-no” moment was an event in The Gathering Storm, which Robert Jordan had only described in very short notes, essentially “this happens, and she gets spanked.”

 

Q:  What is behind Brandon’s strong female characters?

 

A:  Brandon related that his mother graduated first in her class in accounting, as the only female in the accounting department that year.  He told the audience about how his teacher gave him Dragonsbane as his first fantasy novel, which he followed with the next book in the card catalogue, Dragonflight.  The next book after than in the card catalogue was Dragonprince.  All three of these were written by women.  When his friends tried to give him a book by David Eddings, Brandon said “I don’t think a guy can write fantasy.”  Thus, his introduction into fantasy was from three female authors “who have been called feminist writers.”

 

Brandon went on to describe how the female character in his first book, White Sand, was “really bland.”  He realized later that he was taking characters and “putting them in their role” rather than writing them as characters.  He was writing them as love interests or sidekicks, essentially creating cardboard cutouts to surround the hero.  He realized that he needed to ask himself “what would this character be doing if the plot hadn’t gotten in the way?”  He pointed to Robert Jordan as an excellent example of this, with Moiraine filling the role that would usually go to a wise old man, while the actual wise old man was a juggler.  He also cautioned writers to avoid “Tolkienism,” which he explained to mean avoiding having an entire culture represented by a single individual character.  By doing so, the individual quirks and personality of that character became representative of the entire culture.

 

Question for Harriet:  How do you feel about the graphic novel project?

 

Answer from Harriet:  The creators of the graphic novels “have been a joy to work with editorially.”  There had been some problems with the schedule, but they were “very dedicated.”  She also added her reaction to seeing the French edition of the graphic novel, and seeing Mat speaking French:  “Zut alors!”

 

Q:  What is Brandon’s favorite part of the creative process?

 

A:  “Being a natural outliner, all the dreaming.”  “I always know what the ending will be.”

 

Q:  What is Brandon’s inspiration for his intricate magic systems, and what comes first, the magic or the world?

 

A:  Usually, the process is intertwined.  He must have a “couple of good ideas” for magic, setting, characters and plot, then put them together to become greater than the sum of their parts in an organic process.

 

Q:  Since the prequels aren’t being done, what about the Outriggers?  The fan asking had heard that there were “2 sentences” in Robert Jordan’s notes about the outriggers, and wondered what they were.

 

A:  Brandon pointed out that, since there was nothing more than two sentences about the planned outrigger novels, it would be “impossible to write them.”  Unfortunately, he wouldn’t say what the sentences contained, since that would be providing spoilers for the audience about A Memory of Light.

 

Question for Harriet:  How many books did she edit for her future husband before their romance developed?

 

Answer from Harriet:  “One book, but it was a big mother of a book.”  She described working on Fallon with him, and how the book kept getting “taller and taller,” and how they eventually had to end up cutting “three lines per page.”  She spoke of how the Director of Publicity of Ace Publishing had quit at that time, and of situations where the two of them would go to a book signing and find no copies of the book at the store.  She finally described a time that he had taken her son to go see a Star Trek movie and she asked if she could come along, too.

 

I’m honestly not doing this answer justice.  I admit that my notes here are pretty fallible, since I was honestly too absorbed in listening to her tell the story.  I hope that you all will forgive me for this lapse.

 

After the Q&A session, Harriet read the first two paragraphs of Chapter One of A Memory of Light, the “wind” section.  She spoke afterward about how she felt that the wind at the beginning of each novel was “very consciously” the breath of life into his characters.

 

After the reading, the store held an auction to sell off a signed Memory of Light poster to the highest bidder, with the proceeds going to Project Read, a Dayton-based charity promoting literacy.  Unfortunately for me, I was severely outbid (I need a better paying job), and the poster went for $210.  Later on in the evening, a Stormlight Archive poster was found and also auctioned off, this time for $220.

 

It was then time for the signings.  After getting my own books signed, I sat as close to Brandon and Harriet as I could, taking notes as the various fans spoke to them and asked questions.  There was far too much to record everything, I think, but I took down some of what I considered to be the more interesting, amusing or informative tidbits and included them below.  After the first round of signings, when Harriet had retired and Brandon called us back up for personalization, I informed him that I was taking notes to post for the Seventeenth Shard.  I asked his permission to post the conversations that I had overheard, since I wouldn’t put up private talks that were not part of the Q&A without permission.  He told me to email the information to his assistant, Peter, before doing so (which I have done, though as noted I never heard back from him), and then gave me permission to sit next to the signing table so that I could hear better and take notes more effectively.  That was quite a thrill for me, I must admit, and I even managed to make myself useful when one of the fans asked Brandon to personalize the book with his favorite Mat curse.  Brandon couldn’t decide off the top of his head, so he asked me to look up an image of the blood and bloody ashes tee-shirt.  You know, the one that has all of Mat’s profanity in one convenient square?  I almost failed, actually (stupid smartphone), but was eventually able to get the image for him when he suggested a good search term.  Oh, and if anyone was curious, Brandon ended up going with “sheep swallop and bloody buttered onions,” which just so happens to be my favorite Mat curse, too.  :-D

 

A very proud moment, for me; I helped my favorite writer look up fictional profanity.  ;-)

 

Anyway, here are some tidbits from Brandon’s conversations with his fans (sometimes with a preface about the question, other times just with Brandon’s quote; there are a few potential spoilers in here for A Memory of Light, one MAJOR spoiler for A Memory of Light and to a much lesser extent Mistborn, Warbreaker and Legion):

 

I heard a little girl and a little boy both separately ask about when Alcatraz 5 was coming out (a topic near and dear to my heart, too).  Brandon explained that he had bought the rights to the series back as of January 1^st, and said that it “might be the breather book after Second Stormlight.”

 

When asked about his favorite Forsaken, he said “My favorite Forsaken is probably Demandred.”  He went on to say that his second favorite was Lanfear, and that “I was happy to bring Lanfear back into the forefront of the series.”

 

When asked about his prodigious writing pace:  “I don’t write any faster than any other writer, I just spend much less time not writing.”

 

I didn’t overhear the question that led to this answer, and I can’t decide whether that’s a good or bad thing:  “I have been asked to sign some body parts that I was not comfortable signing… I declined those opportunities.”

 

When asked one of the things that he liked about Robert Jordan’s writing:  “I really liked how he used mythology.”

 

When asked about future books following on Alloy of Law, he said that his next major project after Stormlight 2 would be the next Alloy of Law book.

 

I didn’t hear the question that led up to this answer, but my ears perked up when I heard Brandon say the word “Feruchemical.”  He said that the spiritual Feruchemical powers are “very interesting,” and that in future books “mostly I’m going to play around with the different types of twinborn.”

 

The frontrunners for baby names are Gideon and Oliver.  Not sure of the spellings there.  :-)

 

“Dalinar is the first character I ever wrote.”

 

“I’ve ignored the UK for 2 years and they’re getting rowdy… as rowdy as Brits get, which is not that rowdy.”

 

When asked who opened Cadsuane’s special box in The Gathering Storm, he would not answer directly, but did say that “the dangerous weaves were removed for the one who opened the box.”

 

When asked whether he gets tired on tours:  “It gets a little wearying on day 28, but we’re only on day 5, so it’s fine.  Day 4?”

 

“More of everything is on the way.  I can’t stop writing!”

 

When a fan of Warbreaker asked about the versatility of the Royal Locks, he replied that “they could go to non-natural colors.”  However, he pointed out that this would require a greater understanding of the power.

 

By this point, Harriet had retired for the evening and Brandon announced that he was ready to “take requests.”  I believe he was referring to personalizations, but one fan asked him to breakdance.  Much to my dismay, Brandon announced “I cannot breakdance.”

 

One fan asked about the exact locations of the Inquisitor spikes.  Brandon replied that a hemalurgic table with a list of spike locations, including the Inquisitor spikes, would be forthcoming.

 

When asked by a fan about the third Mistborn trilogy:  “The third Mistborn trilogy is going to involve a lot of tying things together.”  “Allomancy has built into it faster than light travel.”  The fan mentioned the speed bubbles after that, but Brandon replied non-committedly.

 

When asked about his own personality:  “I score about halfway between everything.”  Brandon pointed out that, when he had taken various personality tests, he had always scored at or around 50 on right/left brain tests, extrovert/introvert scales and the like.  “I kind of shift between the two.”

 

When a fan complimented him on the accuracy regarding horses in the Wheel of Time:  “Mostly that’s Robert Jordan, he was much better at that than I am.  I’ve taken some crash courses.”

 

When asked about the Wheel of Time MUD game, he replied that he had never played it.  Brandon explained that during the era when MUDs were really big, he didn’t have an internet connection.  He did point out that he was part of the Wheel of Time discussions on Usenet.

 

When asked what his favorite Wheel of Time book was, Brandon said it was Book 4.

 

When asked about Aviendha’s second trip through the pillars in Rhuidean, Brandon said that he pitched that sequence.  He related that Team Jordan was initially reluctant, but once he actually wrote a draft of the scene, they loved it.  He said that he is most proud of that chapter.

 

One fan asked Brandon to compare Kaladin with Galad, Gawyn and Lan.  Brandon said that Kaladin shares things with both of them.  Lan overcame his troubled past, whereas Kaladin hasn’t yet.  Brandon hopes that Kaladin does better than Gawyn, who was overcome by his past and let it crush him.  In reference to all three, he said “I would hope that Kaladin would appreciate the comparison.”

 

One fan thanked Brandon for all the advice he offered to aspiring writers, to which Brandon replied in part “I got lots of good help when I was starting out, and I want to do something for others as well.”

 

One fan asked for something about the “two sentences” that Robert Jordan left about the planned outrigger novels.  Brandon said that the sentences would be released at some point, but did say that one of them was about “what Perrin’s doing.”

 

When asked his favorite female Wheel of Time Character, Brandon said that it was Aviendha.

 

MAJOR SPOILER for A Memory of Light in the next one.  Be warned:

 

One fan asked Brandon about a particular incident in the epilogue of A Memory of Light, when Rand lit his pipe by thought.  Brandon related that there were two kinds of notes that Robert Jordan had left- one set of notes to himself, to remind himself of various things, the other notes intended to help someone else complete the series.  The epilogue, however, as has repeatedly been pointed out, did not need anyone to complete it- Robert Jordan had written it in its entirety.  So, there was no explanation about how Rand accomplished this.  Brandon did relate his own theory about the incident to the inquiring fan, however:  “Certain people are touching the pattern, and certain touches leave certain kind of marks.”  For me, this was one of the highlights of the entire evening.  The Great Brandon Sanderson himself, who has seen all of Robert Jordan’s notes and writings, and spent years working with Harriet and Team Jordan to complete the series… when it comes to this one thing, he has to come up with theories just like the rest of us fans.  It made me feel really close to Brandon, in that moment.

 

When working on a personalization for a fan:  “My Old Tongue is rusty.”

 

One fan asked him about his process when writing an emotional scene, when he will leave the writing and go walk on his porch:  “I’m… trying to escape from the words and get to the images.”

 

When asked about his favorite fruit:  “Pomegranate, followed quickly by a mandarin orange.”

 

When asked about how much time a day he spends writing:  “I take off between five and eight to spend time with my family.”  “If I’m not doing anything else, I’m working on my books.”

 

When asked about his own contributions to the Wheel of Time, Brandon related a request he had made of Harriet.  “I wanted an Asha’man of my own… Androl had been in the books, but there was no personality with him, just a name.”  “I took him wherever I wanted to go.”  He clarified that Androl was not an author surrogate, or a way of inserting himself into the books, but that he was a character that Brandon could develop and write as he pleased.

 

One fan asked if the Wheel of Time RPG had any impact on the development of the powers in the series:  “I have never read the role-playing game.”

 

The Cosmere- How?:  “I don’t know if it’s something I can answer, simply because I don’t know how.”  He went on to relate his feelings when reading Asimov’s Foundation, and how cool it would have been if Asimov had known from the beginning that he was going to be tying all these things in, and the subtle hints he could have left in the earlier stories.

 

How did you keep Legion straight?  “I cheated a little bit in Legion and based each personality off an actor.”  He pointed out that his favorite personality was JC, who was based on Alec Baldwin from Firefly.  He also related that Ivy was based on Gwyneth Paltrow.  The fan commented that he envisioned Brandon having a folder on each personality, which Brandon confirmed.

 

When asked how he approaches writing a novella as opposed to an epic, Brandon reiterated that he was an “architect” style writer, and viewed novella writing as an opportunity to practice his pre-writing skills and his “discovery writing.”

 

When asked about the Wheel of Time prequels, Brandon reiterated that there was about a “one billionth of one percent chance” of them ever being written.  He said that the first prequel would have been about Tam going to war, and would have been in parallel with the story of Rand’s biological parents.  The second would have been the further adventures of Moiraine and Lan, including their encounter with the Green Man.

 

One fan asked Brandon to rank Mat’s combat ability compared to other characters in the series.  Brandon described Mat as “good” and “above the curve.”  However, compared to Lan, mat was “completely out-classed.”  Brandon confirmed that Lan is at the top in terms of combat ability, but added that, at his height, Tam was “pretty darn good” and could have taken Mat.  However, Brandon cautioned that all this was not factoring Mat’s luck.  Mat’s combat abilities vary a great deal, depending on whether he was “ticked off,” what the stakes of the battle were and whether he was in “awesome Mat mode.”

 

Regarding the battles in the end of the series, Brandon said that some of the researchers working with them studied historical battles and fed him movements for authenticity.

 

Much to my delight, at the end of the evening, as everyone was packing up, Brandon thanked me for coming and for my enthusiasm.  He said that he was always gratified to see a Seventeenth Sharder, and appreciated what we do.  I have to say, I have rarely felt so honored as when he said that to me, especially since I barely consider myself to be a Seventeenth Sharder.  After all, this report is the first thing I’ve really done for the 17^th Shard.  I thanked him profusely, and did mention that I had not gotten a chance to ask him any questions about the Cosmere.  Brandon magnanimously allowed me to ask a few quick questions while the Memory Keepers and store employees were packing up.  So, here they are:

 

“If a native of Sel or another Shardworld travelled to Nalthis, would they be a drab?”

 

Brandon almost answered quickly, but then got a thoughtful look and paused to consider with a “hmm.”  After a moment, he replied “No, they would not be a drab.  But, no one would be able to take their breath.”

 

“If such a person died on Nalthis, could they Return?”

 

“No, they cannot Return.”

 

“If such a person received breath, could they use BioChroma?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I was probably grinning like a looby at this point, but I didn’t care.  Brandon complimented me on my questions, saying that I had asked some good ones and that nobody had gotten so much information out of him in a while.  I don’t know whether he meant it, or was just trying to give me some confidence and make me feel good about myself as an amateur realmatic theorist (very, very amateur), but either way it made me feel like a million bucks.

 

Brandon’s good at that.  I’m consistently amazed by his positive attitude, and just how much attention he lavishes on his fans.

 

So, that’s my report.  I hope you all found it interesting and, perhaps, a little useful.  It certainly gave me a lot to think about.  I was thoroughly honored to have met Harriet, and so pleased to be able to see and speak to Brandon again.  I hope I get the opportunity to take notes again at his next signing.  You know, I started this report by lamenting the lack of an audio recording of the proceedings… but I think that taking and transcribing these notes was actually more fun for me.  I guess I feel more… invested in the process this way?  I don’t know.  Either way, if I get the opportunity to do this again, I think I’ll do the same thing I did this time.

 

But maybe do some hand and wrist exercises first.  Writer’s cramp!!

 

-Jim Schofield

[Kurkistan he/him]

 

“If a native of Sel or another Shardworld travelled to Nalthis, would they be a drab?”

 

Brandon almost answered quickly, but then got a thoughtful look and paused to consider with a “hmm.”  After a moment, he replied “No, they would not be a drab.  But, no one would be able to take their breath.”

 

“If such a person died on Nalthis, could they Return?”

 

“No, they cannot Return.”

 

“If such a person received breath, could they use BioChroma?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I was probably grinning like a looby at this point, but I didn’t care.  Brandon complimented me on my questions, saying that I had asked some good ones and that nobody had gotten so much information out of him in a while.  I don’t know whether he meant it, or was just trying to give me some confidence and make me feel good about myself as an amateur realmatic theorist (very, very amateur), but either way it made me feel like a million bucks.

 

 

*Grinning like a looby*

 

Congratulations on settling no less than 2 long-standing debates in one fell swoop.

Edited January 26, 2014 by Kurkistan

[Claincy he/him]

Yes

 

The Nalthis questions essentially confirm exactly what I had thought.

 

Nice writeup.

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

I don't remember. Sorry! But the report is fine.

 

It's Adam Baldwin rather than Alec Baldwin.

 

Also, Hinderstap is foreshadowed in chapter 1 of Lord of Chaos.

[NutiketAiel he/him]

I don't remember. Sorry! But the report is fine.

 

It's Adam Baldwin rather than Alec Baldwin.

 

Also, Hinderstap is foreshadowed in chapter 1 of Lord of Chaos.

 

Ah, thank you for the correction.  All those Baldwins, so hard to keep track of.  :-)  Also, it's funny you should mention LoC Chapter 1, as I'm in the middle of my own WoT re-read, and just read that chapter yesterday.  I wondered if that was supposed to be a foreshadowing of Hinderstrap.

 

 

*Grinning like a looby*

 

Congratulations on settling no less than 2 long-standing debates in one fell swoop.

 

Yes

 

The Nalthis questions essentially confirm exactly what I had thought.

 

Nice writeup.

 

Thank you both.  :-)  I had no idea there were ongoing debates about these issues; I presume they were about whether non-Nalthians could Return, and whether or not they would be Drabs?  Out of curiosity, what direction was the consensus going in?

 

-Jim

Edited January 27, 2014 by NutiketAiel

[Kurkistan he/him]

Thank you both.  :-)  I had no idea there were ongoing debates about these issues; I presume they were about whether non-Nalthians could Return, and whether or not they would be Drabs?  Out of curiosity, what direction was the consensus going in?

 

-Jim

 

It was actually the "would aliens be drabs?" and "can non-Nalthians Awaken?" questions. The consensus was generally heading towards your answers, I think. We haven't had a big scuffle over the "are aliens drabs?" question for at least a few months, but the question of whether/how Hoid could Awaken has been big relatively recently.

 

The question of aliens Returning has not been contentious, to my knowledge. Personally I would have thought that they couldn't due to the fact that drabs couldn't return, which strongly implied that the Breath was how Endowment "tracked" people, but that could just be me retroactively adjusting what I "would have" thought in such a way that past-me just so happens to be right.

[NutiketAiel he/him]

It was actually the "would aliens be drabs?" and "can non-Nalthians Awaken?" questions. The consensus was generally heading towards your answers, I think. We haven't had a big scuffle over the "are aliens drabs?" question for at least a few months, but the question of whether/how Hoid could Awaken has been big relatively recently.

 

The question of aliens Returning has not been contentious, to my knowledge. Personally I would have thought that they couldn't due to the fact that drabs couldn't return, which strongly implied that the Breath was how Endowment "tracked" people, but that could just be me retroactively adjusting what I "would have" thought in such a way that past-me just so happens to be right.

 

Well, I'm glad past-you knows what he's talking about.  :-D

Edited January 27, 2014 by NutiketAiel

[Moogle]

An alien being able to Awaken with gathered Breaths is a very nice catch. Have an upvote!

[Swimmingly he/him]

You know, it doesn't say "awaken". It says, "use BioChroma. This could just mean the effects of the Heightenings.

[NutiketAiel he/him]

You know, it doesn't say "awaken". It says, "use BioChroma. This could just mean the effects of the Heightenings.

 

I'm pretty sure that he knew what I meant when I asked the question.  I don't think Brandon would try to trip me up like that.

[Bean]

On the contrary, while he is a nice guy, he is also Aes Sedai. He doesn't lie (not on purpose), but he can be tricksy.

[Shardlet he/him]

It is not uncommon for him to answer the asked question without answering the question that was intended.

[PeterAhlstrom he/him]

It is not uncommon for him to answer the asked question without answering the question that was intended.

On this particular question, I am certain he answered it very carefully.

[Swimmingly he/him]

I'm pretty sure that he knew what I meant when I asked the question. I don't think Brandon would try to trip me up like that.

He delights in telling half-truths and lying by omission, and we delight in tearing apart his words for the toffee centre. It's a happy medium.

[Pechvarry]

I'm pretty sure that he knew what I meant when I asked the question. I don't think Brandon would try to trip me up like that.

From what I understand from videos and signing reports, he actually does this pretty often, but always accompanies it with a huge troll grin or his cryptic-face, so you would've known if something was up.

But I've never met the dude.

[Shardlet he/him]

From what I understand from videos and signing reports, he actually does this pretty often, but always accompanies it with a huge troll grin or his cryptic-face, so you would've known if something was up.

But I've never met the dude.

 

I wouldn't rely on that too much.  In my experience, when he uses the troll-face, his answer (the phrasing and delivery) is very clearly an evasion. 

Edited January 28, 2014 by Shardlet

[NutiketAiel he/him]

Well, great.  Now I don't know what to think.  :-P

[Argent he/him]

Heh. One of my Brandon-related highlights was when during one of the Chicago Steelheart signings the staff tried to politely kick me out after the event was over, but Brandon interfered before I could even reply, saying something like "it's okay, he's one of mine." That and the fact that pretty much all of my friends - and I will note, I include my own mother here - claim I look more like Brandon than like my own dad...

[bartbug he/him]

Just a question: I'm going to be going to the second San Francisco signing on his WoR tour. What should I do for maximum profit?

(I've done a signing before, but I don't think I got maximum profit that time