A: I'm happy about making a game about the books before the books are finished. There have been some compromises between what I wanted in the games and what Legand wanted. At first, they told me that they couldn't do certain things until later and I said "well, here's your money back." After which, they decided that maybe they could do those things now and, in fact, it seems that these things are part of what look to make this one of the hottest games - and maybe the hottest game - anywhere in sight.

A: Sometimes people have found things that are typos, and sometimes people have found a place where a change or correction that I had intended to be put into the book was not before it was published. I always try to get those corrected as soon as possible after they're found. And, while I don't like having them there, I'm glad when someone points one out to me. As for inconsistencies, I'm afraid inconsistencies are a failure to read the books correctly. Everytime somebody has come to me with an inconsistency, I have been able to point out in a return letter where their mistake was.

A: I think it's a toss-up between the ancient Celts, the Japanese of the Shogunates, and France of the 17th Century. But then, there are a lot of bits and pieces that have come from a great many sources. I'm not truthfully certain that the three that I gave you really ARE the greatest influences.

A: Rand has some elements of Jesus Christ, yes. But he is intended more to be a general "messiah figure." An archetype such as Arthur, rather than a manifestation of Jesus Christ in any way.

A: It could hardly help having done so.

A: My best book is the one that I'm working on now. My best book is ALWAYS the one I'm working on now. And, as far as I'm concerned, action is always secondary. The main part of the story is the relationships between people. Those relationships sometimes lead to god-awful troubles, battles, etc., etc. but it's the relationships that are the important things.

A: I have agreed to do a short story in the universe of the Wheel of Time for an anthology put together by Bob Silverberg called "Masters of Fantasy," which I understand will include Stephen King, Anne Rice, Terry Pratchett, Ray Feist and some other people. That's it, really, as far as short fiction. I don't normally have the time to write short fiction.

A: Hmm. Trying to finish the books would be enough for any sane person. I occasionally find time to go fishing, although not so far this year. I find time to read a little bit. Less than one book a day now. And I don't really have a great deal of time for anything else. When I'm doing anything else, I feel I should be writing. It's a sickness. [smiles]

A: No. There is a way that you can get the latest information on the Wheel of Time series. By dialing: 1-800-221-7945. Then extension 701. This number is St. Martin's press, and the extension has me telling you what the latest information is about when the next book will be out, what the price will be, that sort of thing.

A: Read And Find Out.

A: I think it would take at least 18 or 20 hours of movie to do any one of the books. Which means, I suppose, that none of them will ever be done as movies.

A: I certainly never anticipated it. I'm not certain that it is a "cultish" following. I hope that it doesn't fall under that definition. As far as appreciating it, I'm very appreciative. I hope that's what you mean.

A: No, it wasn't Hemingway. I simply wanted to separate the different kinds of books that I wrote with different names, and I made lists of names with my real initials and picked one name from one list and one from another, and Robert Jordan was one of the names that popped out.

A: No, I did that a loooooong time ago.

A: I enjoy hearing music about the Wheel of Time and seeing drawings about the Wheel of Time. As far as the fan fiction goes - that is, stories - please remember copyright, guys. To protect my copyright, I have to keep on top of anyone who violates it. So, no fan fiction using my characters or my world. Sorry. Using the ornaments out of the books is a different matter. That is a violation of copyrights, trademarks. When I say I like seeing art about the Wheel of Time, I mean art that the fans created themselves. And remember guys, you can't try to make money out of this stuff.

A: Would I lie to you? For details, Read And Find Out.

A: There will be several more books. There will be some more books. There will be a FEW more books. But not too many. I know the last scene of the last book, I've known it from the beginning, I just have to get there.

A: Well, first off, along with knowing what the last scene is, there are certain events that I know I want to happen. Certain things that I want to happen, both in relationships between people, and in the world, if you will. I picked out some of those events to see if I could fit them in -- from the position everyone was in, the position the world was in at the end of the last book. I then began to roughly sketch out how I would get from one of those to the next. And then I sat down and began writing, in the beginning eight hours a day, five or six days a week. And I do my rewriting while I am doing the writing. When I hit the end, I only allow myself to give a final polish. I keep going back while I am writing and rewriting the previous stuff. By the end of the book I was doing twelve to fourteen hours a day, seven days a week. I did that for the last five months of LORD OF CHAOS, except that I did take one week off to go fly fishing with some brothers and cousins and nephews up in the Big Horn and Yellowstone. It was terrific. It kept my brain from melting.

A: No, not really. They're ALL like that. The only difficulty this time was that I perhaps went to the seven day a week and fourteen hour day a little sooner that I would normally. Partly that's because each of these books takes MORE than a year to write. The publisher likes to publish them once a year, though. With the result that with each book I've slipped a little bit more beyond the deadline, and I DON'T LIKE being beyond the deadline. So the further beyond the deadline I get, the more I want to put the pedal to the floor and get done.

A: I'm satisfied and I'm not satisfied. It doesn't have anything to do with the time. The effect of the time is that I have to work to disengage my mind so that I can go to sleep. I have to read somebody else who will engage my thoughts. Charles Dickens is always great for that. If I don't do that, I will lie there all night thinking about what I'm writing, sure that I will go to sleep in just a few minutes now, and then it gets light outside, and I haven't been to sleep yet. What happens is that I get this DESIRE to keep writing. Once upon a time, before I was married, I used to write for thirty hours at a stretch. And then I would sleep for nine or ten. I didn't do this all year round, it was just when I was working on a book. When I get going, I want to keep going. And about the other thing, I ALWAYS think I can make the book better. I'd probably spend five, six, ten years on a book if I was left to myself, trying to polish each phrase. So it's just as well I do have deadlines to bring me into the real world.