Date: 1994-10-28
Type: Paraphrased
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Reporter: Michael Thompson
My wife, my mother, and I arrived at Flights of Fantasy in Santa Monica about 5 minutes after six last night (October 28). We were given numbers 23 and 24. Robert Jordan hadn’t arrived so everyone just milled around inside the store which became quite warm. I was wearing my Bela ‘96 button (ftp://netcom.com/pub/morgno/wot/bela.gif), but nobody commented on it. I heard no indication that any other rasfwrj readers were present, but then, I didn’t ask. Someone had two children there, but they seemed ordinary children, not wide eyed and clinging, and I had no reason to suspect that Moghedien was among the crowd.
About 6:20, they started lining us up, announced a three book limit and requested that we write our names down so he would know how to sign it. I would guess there were maybe fifteen people behind us before the line went out the door.
A brief moment later, he entered the back of the store wearing, as foreshadowed in the previous signing reports, the hat and carrying the Trolloc-horn cane. The hat and cane were more impressive than I had expected. His wife (I presume—no announcement or introductions were made) has a streak of white in her hair, so I immediately wondered if she were one of the Black Ajah, but she has far too much presence and charisma for that.
From reading reports from the other signings, I knew there wasn’t much point in asking any substantive questions. Since the books usually do answer the questions eventually, there’s no need to ask what’s going to happen; in fact, such are really spoilers anyway. One young man was brandishing three printed pages of questions. The young man stationed himself off Jordan’s left shoulder and sort of shouted out questions whenever there was a pause in the action. I don’t expect he got much, but perhaps if the young man is one of us, he’ll post his results here.
The young man asked “Who was BAY-doe-mun?”
There was a pause. I speculated this was a mispronunciation of ‘Beidomon’ and Jordan had to figure out what was being asked, followed by the usual, “You’ll have to read the books.”
I’ve stopped saying how many more books there will be.
“No prequels, no sequels, and no one else writing in my universe.”
The latter is certainly a relief.
When we got to the head of the line, Harriet was taking the books, and opening them to get them ready. I handed her a copy of Reagan O’Neal’s The Fallon Blood , and asked if he would mind signing it. She exclaimed over how long it had been since she’d seen that book.
He exclaimed over it too, and signed it ‘Reagan O’Neal’. I asked him if Lord Valentine’s Castle in any way inspired the menagerie scenes and he said, “No.”
I showed him my Bela ‘96 button, and he said, “So you’re not one of those who think she’s a Darkfriend?”
Lorie and I went and begged the Tor rep for posters while Aline was getting her books signed. He looked in his trunk, but no posters. Then we left. The line was still out the door, but only two or three people worth.
The limo was black, FWIW.
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