A: First, Bob Silverberg asked me to do a short piece for an anthology entitle Legends, and the result was the novella NEW SPRING. What I fist mapped out to write, though, would have been much too long, so I had to revise extensively just to keep it down to novella length. Later, I happened to mention this to my publisher in the States, Tom Doherty of Tor Books, and he asked me whether I could expand the novella to the originally planned novel length. That wasn't really possible, but what I did was rewrite the novella to a considerable extent to make it what I originally wanted. And I was quite right about the length. As a novella, it was a little over 30,000 words. As a novel, the story is about 120,000 words.

A: I wrote NEW SPRING to be accessible to people with no knowledge of the world at all. Of course, people who do know the world will spot some things that others won't, and perhaps get a few answers to some of their questions. And they will get to see something that I have been asked about fairly often, the test for Aes Sedai.

A: The major focus of the prequel is on Moiraine Damodred and Lan Mandragoran. The main thrusts of the story are how and why Moiraine became part of the search for the Dragon Reborn and not only how but why Lan became her Warder, giving up his one-man war in the Blight.

A: Basically, one of the two will tell how and why Tam al'Thor resigned his position as Second Captain of the Companions, the elite Illianer military unit, and returned to the Two Rivers to buy a farm. The second will reveal how and why Moiraine ended up in Emonds Field at just the right time in THE EYE OF THE WORLD.

A: No, Book Eleven has no title yet. I never have a title until I'm at least halfway through a book, and often not until near the end. As for clues ... Read and find out.

A: Good God, yes! Every writer hopes for success, but it would take a bull-goose lunatic to actually expect this level of success.

A: Both grateful and uneasy. It is like being compared to Mozart as a composer. A part of you feels gratified at the ego-stroking, but the rest of you worries that you might begin to believe it. In high school, my football coach used to tell me that I could read the newspapers the day after a game and believe what they said about me for that whole day, but when I came out to the next practice, I had to believe that nobody had ever heard my name and the next game coming up would be the only chance I would ever have to make a reputation. I've tried to transfer that into my writing. What's past is past, and I have to try to make the next book better than anything I've ever done before

A: The best "barefoot doctor" manual I could find, the best manual I could find of industrial chemical processes of the 18th and 19th Centuries, and an M-14 rifle with a good scope and as much ammunition as I could carry. The first is for obvious reasons; unless you have access to an Aes Sedai, healthcare depends completely on how good your local Wise woman is and whether you even have a local Wise Woman. Additionally, the ability to treat injury and illness is a good way to be accepted as a stranger in a strange land. The second would be a source of obtaining an income until I could find my way back here. The third also is for obvious reasons. That world is dangerous, boys and girls!

A: Spend most of my time trying to find a way back out of it. Do you remember the old Chinese curse, 'May you live in interesting times'? Well, that world is much too interesting for comfort.

A: John M. Ford, Arturo Peres-Reverte, Thomas Harris ... No, there are just too many to name.

A: [pauses] Yes and no. It's in the same class of objects as a well, but on a different scale.

A: No. Remember, lots of Aes Sedai died to make it.

A: That, among other things. Look, a normal well is like this water glass. [he gestures] The Eye is like a liquid nitrogen canister.

A: [sly smile] No, they don't work like that.

A: Read and Find Out.

A: He responded that iron doesn't TURN into cuendillar, iron is the base of cuendillar. He said that the links of the chain fuse together and become a solid piece. Thus making the chain impossible to raise, lower, or remove. This prevents boats from entering AND leaving Tar Valon. It then became obvious that this was a way for Egwene to succesfully siege the island without using the One Power on anyone (as Lord Gareth wanted). I don't know why I didn't realize this on my own, but thought others might want the additional insight.

A: RAFO

A: So far I've heard only good things. I don't know how much I'll be involved

A: Yes, the timing was calculated. I know how far to the west Seanchan lies.

A: The total number of people in a circle, when you have the maximumnumber of women for each man, is always divisible by three.