wotwiki

Interview #639: Twitter: Fan Names in the WoT Books, Entry #2

Towers of Midnight

This entry is a collection of tweets by Brandon announcing the names of the fans who won the charity contest to get their names in Towers of Midnight . Also named in the book were Matt Hatch , webmaster of Theoryland (innkeeper at The Dusty Wheel); Melissa Craib , webmaster of Tar Valon (innkeeper at The Seven-Striped Lass); and Jason Denzel , webmaster of Dragonmount (innkeeper at The Happy Throng). Also included were Kate Nepveu , an old rasfwrj fan and blogger for Tor.com, and Anthony Aziz of TarValon.net, who won the JordanCon 2010 auction. According to Linda’s article on the subject , Padra was named after Tricia Erikson , a JordanCon publicist who passed away recently from cancer.

I missed these tweets by Brandon (date unknown), but Linda kindly shared them with me:

BRANDON SANDERSON

Oh, one more. Joel Derby , you’re dead too.

Also, Nick Okamoto , I used your name in Towers of Midnight this morning. Congrats.

Need to name two men who die gruesome deaths in Towers of Midnight . Tim Riddell , William Reeves , RIP.

Also, John Sloan , you survive.

Brandon Sanderson (28 September 2009)

Most readers know that Robert Jordan looked to real world names and places as inspiration for names in the WoT.

BRANDON SANDERSON

In order to help maintain this feel, I’m doing the same. For Towers of Midnight , I’m looking for inspiration in the list of names from a fund raiser.

BRANDON SANDERSON

First name: Adam Hahn . Congrats. Now, know that I may adapt the name, and may use either the first or the last, depending on what strikes me.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Second name: Alfred Granger .

BRANDON SANDERSON

Next, Adam Sampson and Adrienne Hotard.

BRANDON SANDERSON

@howardtayler—lol. I actually used the Adrienne part. Beautiful name, with a very ‘WoT’ feel to it.

BRANDON SANDERSON (29 SEPTEMBER)

Laura Negin , you ended up as a village near Tar Valon.

BRANDON SANDERSON (30 SEPTEMBER)

Alec Breen, Alejandro Uso , your names just got picked to appear in Towers of Midnight . Also, Alisa Harris, I don’t think I mentioned you yesterday.

BRANDON SANDERSON (6 OCTOBER)

Recently adapted names: Fitzgerald Clark , Eric Mazsone , Han Zhang . You guys just joined the ranks of the Younglings.

BRANDON SANDERSON (7 OCTOBER)

Maksim Zhukov, your name came up next.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Nicole Nimry , I trust you won’t mind joining the Green Ajah?

BRANDON SANDERSON (8 OCTOBER)

Farah Sadaoui , into the book you go.

BRANDON SANDERSON (9 OCTOBER)

Jennifer Kaiser , your name just got chosen.

BRANDON SANDERSON (6 NOVEMBER)

Kine Lohne Finsas , I just used your name in Towers of Midnight . And I’m sorry for dropping a Trolloc on your head.

BRANDON SANDERSON (10 NOVEMBER)

George Zell , I just used your name (or a version of it) in Towers of Midnight .

BRANDON SANDERSON (3 DECEMBER)

Paul Postuma, I named a door after you in Towers of Midnight . [?]

BRANDON SANDERSON

The door will make sense in the book’s context. Remember, I usually keep posts about unpublished WoT books intentionally obscure.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Sarah Kainec , how good are you with a spear?

BRANDON SANDERSON

@Galadriena You’re Sarah, then?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Well then, your earlier reply was perfect. Watch for the name Kainea in Towers of Midnight

FOOTNOTE—TEREZ

Her tweets are protected, so I couldn’t include them.

BRANDON SANDERSON (7 DECEMBER)

Brent Welborn and Brian Lehnen , I hope you don’t mind dying bravely in battle.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Christopher Helmke , you survive. (For now.) Duty is heavier than a mountain…

BRANDON SANDERSON

Dustin Durham , Ed Sorrentino , Eddy Knapper , see my previous post. That goes for you too.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Timothy Brown , you’re an Asha’man.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Steven Connelly, Rhett Petcher, you have fallen in battle.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Robert Barett , Sean O’Connell , you survive this day. (Barely.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Last name for now is Sigrid Andersson. Hope you’re a good horseman.

BRANDON SANDERSON (8 DECEMBER)

Amir Yoeli and Stephen Antill , peace favor your swords. One of you saves an someone’s life; the other Heals his broken leg.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Deep Bhandari , did your parents name you with the expectation that you’d end up in a fantasy novel? Hope you look good in black.

BRANDON SANDERSON (15 DECEMBER)

Ifeyinwa Eboh and Eva Snyder , I just handed you spears and put you into Towers of Midnight .

BRANDON SANDERSON (1 MARCH 2010)

Paul Jarr , your name just came up for a scene in Towers of Midnight .

BRANDON SANDERSON (2 MARCH)

Yes, that post yesterday does mean I’m writing new material for Towers of Midnight . Revision isn’t ALL done, but enough done to be filling in scenes.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Scott Reid , hope you’ve been practicing with your Two Rivers longbow.

BRANDON SANDERSON (3 MARCH)

Susan Moore [?], you just made an appearance in the Wheel of Time. Congrats.

BRANDON SANDERSON (4 MARCH)

Andrew Sparks , you are in Towers of Midnight . You are not human, however.

BRANDON SANDERSON (10 MARCH)

Varkey Titus and Tina Wagner [?], welcome to Towers of Midnight . Your names got drawn.

BRANDON SANDERSON (18 MAY)

I will be posting more names of people who got into Towers of Midnight . (These are people who participated in the WoT charity drive a few years back.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

First name: Scott Bartlett . Congrats.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Shawn Montgomery , how are you with a longbow?

BRANDON SANDERSON

Kine Elandra Bjørnsdatter Haug. You’re in the book too. (Note, I WILL be changing these names to fit…)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Leslie Annis is next. Many of these names are going places I put placeholders in the text. In some, I use a name from Mr. Jordan’s files.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Judith Bélair -Kyle, you are in the book, as is Jonathan Sim .

BRANDON SANDERSON

Lyford Chris (Or is it Chris Lyford?) Either way, you are in the book.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Mark Comer , you’re in too. Congrats.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Gregory Frenette , I choose you! (Read in Pokemon voice.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Jaswant Singh Ranu and James Hirsch , your names came up next. Almost done naming for the day.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Jeremy Naus , Kevin Orr , you two came up next.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Okay, done with names for now. Next, spellcheck. (Wince.) After that, next section goes to Team Jordan.

BRANDON SANDERSON (24 MAY)

David Redbord and Nicholas Votrobeck , if you look closely at Towers of Midnight , you may find that your names appear.

BRANDON SANDERSON (26 MAY)

By the way, Maura Tirasso and Reo Meyer , I just used your names in Towers of Midnight .

BRANDON SANDERSON

Miguel Barriga , Michael Lashia Yang , Pingtjin Thum , Rebecca Joseph. All in Towers of Midnight . Two of you have been eaten by Trollocs. Sorry about that.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Rick Proska [Proska Flats in Saldaea ], Robb Kremer [Kremer Road in Saldaea ], Shannon Berndtson , Sharon Mettler , [?] I used your names. (Or a variation of them.)

BRANDON SANDERSON

Andrej Gadzo: Tai’shar Malkier .

BRANDON SANDERSON (27 MAY)

Rosalia O’Reilly, practice your weaves.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Also, in case you’re thinking I’m naming a lot of names, remember—each new WoT book has added (on average) around 200 named characters.

BRANDON SANDERSON (31 MAY)

Oh, and Karen Clarke and Lisa Sommerfeld , you are spear sisters. Congrats.

BRANDON SANDERSON (1 JUNE)

Michael Cuellar , you are in Towers of Midnight .

BRANDON SANDERSON

Michael Trostler , hope you look good in a black coat.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Jonathan Hamm, get yourself a black coat too.

BRANDON SANDERSON (3 JUNE)

Eric Boettger , you are in Towers of Midnight .

BRANDON SANDERSON

Heidi Soderquist, welcome to Towers of Midnight .

BRANDON SANDERSON (7 JUNE)

Joshua Turner , you’re in Towers of Midnight . Found a person I forgot to name.

BRANDON SANDERSON (9 JUNE)

Robert Soelter , your name just went into Towers of Midnight .

BRANDON SANDERSON (14 JUNE)

Martin Bergman , you are in Towers of Midnight .

BRANDON SANDERSON (24 JUNE)

Bryce Koronko , I named a game of dice in Towers of Midnight after you.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Christopher McClintock , you are in the Band of the Red Hand.

BRANDON SANDERSON (10 JUNE)

Landon Williams , Bryan Kralle you both just got entered as last-minute substitutions in Towers of Midnight for terrible names I’d made up and didn’t like.

BRANDON SANDERSON (1 JULY)

Just realized that, amusingly, I gave a name to an extant, unnamed WoT character. Therefore, I retconned a WoT fan into an earlier book.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Robert Jordan often picked names for the WoT based on names in our world. I didn’t do this in The Gathering Storm , and it felt wrong.

BRANDON SANDERSON

He did it because the WoT world is our world, in another time. Thom, Mat, Elayne, etc. My names were immersion-breaking.

BRANDON SANDERSON

This is working much better, trust me. They will all be changed to fit the world.

BRANDON SANDERSON (23 JULY)

What’s this? Someone in the draft I forgot to name? (I often mark these with a *** mark, indicating I’ll name them later.) Well, well.

BRANDON SANDERSON

Myles Harvell , you are in Towers of Midnight .

BRANDON SANDERSON (28 JULY)

Well, look at this. One last person in the epilogue I forgot to name. Glenn Bergevin . You’re in. 7% cut from the scene you are in.

BRANDON SANDERSON (29 JULY)

Norm Miller, a cook needed a name. You’re in.

BRANDON SANDERSON

William Klock, I needed another name.

BRANDON SANDERSON (11 AUGUST)

Steven Lussenburg [?] and Edward Givens, found a couple of final unnamed people. Really thought I’d filled those in. They are now you.

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