A: Read And Find Out. :)

A: No, not interaction with fans. There are always things that are going to become more obvious as the story goes along. I certainly don't intend to keep everything hidden until the very last. There won't be any Perry Mason revelation scene where all the characters sit down and say, "This is what happened and this is why it happened." :)

A: Probably. I am due to deliver it in the fall of next year which means it will come out probably in the spring of the year following that. I decided writing the books more slowly was better than falling over dead. :)

A: It will be at least 10 books, yes. There will be some more books, not too many, and please God, not so many as I've already written. I am, in truth, writing as fast as I can I want to maintain the pace of the story until I reach the final scene, which has been in my head since before I started writing THE EYE OF THE WORLD.

A: You're welcome. And they are the descendants of the pacifists who were in service to the Aes Sedai in the Age of Legend. If on the other hand, you mean the source of the culture in my mind, they contain some elements of the Apache, some of the Zulu, some of the Bedouin, and some elements of my own including that I rather liked the fact of making the desert dwellers blue-eyed and fair instead of the usual dark-eyed, dark-complected desert people.

A: No, I did not say that Verin had never held the Oath Rod Cadsuane has also held the Oath Rod.

A: I have a huge list of names. Whenever I see an interesting name I jot it down. I almost never use the name as it is, though. I change it.

A: I guess he was right. Because after all, his source for the information was Birgitte, who has some memories of the War of the Power. And yes, if a gholam decided to turn against one of the Forsaken, the Forsaken would certainly have as much difficulty in stopping the attack as any other person would. They were, after all, created for the sole purpose of assassinating Aes Sedai.

A: I couldn't really say I try to make each book better than the preceding book and frankly, once I have written a book, I stop thinking about it. My mind is focused on the next book, to the extent, actually, that when I came back from turning in COS, though I intended to take a short vacation, I found myself sitting at the computer and working on the next book.

A: No, not really except that all of the women have something of my wife in them.

A: I choose the theme, and I give the cover art a general idea of the scene that I want. But then it's worked between him and the art department in NY. I do have some input and I have managed to get a few things changed to some degree. Rand, for instance, in the earlier books, was shown as no more than 5-10 or 5-11, and he is about 6-5, in my eyes.

A: Partly the Warder bond and partly the kind of healing that was used on him. It should be obvious that Damer Filnn has discovered the same method of healing that Nynaeve uses and of course, he still is not completely Healed, remember. Will they all get along? "Read and find out!" he chuckled richly. ;)`

A: LOL! That's very nice to know I've had several people send my copies of their master's theses and other undergraduate theses, comparing me to Tolkien and C. S. Lewis It's enough to swell my head. Luckily, my wife takes care of that little problem. ;)

A: Read And Find Out! stage direction: Phantom of the Opera: Laughter from offstage.

A: There is an illustrated guide to the world of the Wheel of Time in the works. It is planned to have 64 color illustrations and 80,000 words or so of text and it will include a good bit of information that I did not intend to put in the books. There will be a map of the entire world in the illustrated guide. I don't have an estimated publication date at this time.

A: Read And Find Out. :) You guys have to know by now that I like to leave you hanging if I can!

A: It's been about a year since someone's sent me a copy of the FAQ At that time, the proportions were running pretty much the same as the early ones I'd seen: about a third are right, a third are almost right, and the rest are blue sky. In fact, there have been some arguments over things I'd thought I'd made clear. (Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Bela knows!)

A: Yes but I won't. ;) Read And Find Out!

A: Both. The characters in the books are the source of many of our myths and legends and we are the source of many of theirs. You can look two ways along a wheel.

A: Read And Find Out! :) The clues are there.