I attended the Dayton signing last night at Books and Co.
I'll insert my summation of the event here, since it seems the most related spot for it. I was only taking loose notes, and I'm not very fast at it, so very little of this will be direct quotes. I tried to pay more attention to wording when it sounded like an Aes Sedai trying to bend the First Oath.
The event started with the introduction of Brandon. He talked for about 20 minutes about how he started writing, and how he was first introduced to the Wheel of Time. He was a teenager, and was always drawn to "big books" because of their high page-to-dollar ratio. Big books weren't always good, but if they were, they didn't end as quickly, was his reasoning. He had the chance to meet RJ once at a convention, but chickened out. Sanderson never saw him closer than from across the room. Talked a little about his own works, and refusing to shop them around to anybody after Tor made the first offer he received from a publisher. Told about the day Harriet called him to ask him to finish WOT; she'd read the blog post he wrote in memory of RJ after his death.
After that, he did a short reading consisting of the first few pages of the prologue, with the Borderland farmer watching the unnatural storm. Apparently, it was the first time he'd read that scene out loud (to an audience?).
He took about 15 minutes of audience questions next. I'll summarize the questions and answers.
Q: "Were you surprised at who killed Asmodean? Are the clues there? Had you figured it out?"
A: He knows (he said with a taunting laugh). It was one of the first things he sought out in the notes. He doesn't agree with RJ's standard answer that it's obvious, though acknowledges that enough of the clues are there because somebody (or more than one somebodies) have definitely figured it out. When he found out, he described the feeling as an "Ah, so *they* are right!" sensation. He *will* reveal it before the series is done.
Q: "Will you be involved in the comics?"
A: Maria (RJ & Harriet's assistant) is the liason, there. Brandon's got his plate full. She's great for it, anyways, because she's the continuity guru. He gets asked if he'll be involved with the movies (status: In the scripting stage. The option has been exercised by Universal.), and she'll probably be the liason there, too. They plan to do one movie per book, from what he understands.
Q: "Will there be a Wheel of Time MMO?"
A: Brandon doesn't know. Red Eagle has the video game rights, and are planning on using them for something, but he doesn't know exactly what at this point.
Q [mine, actually]: "You mentioned earlier that the first day you spent on the internet was devoted to discussing WOT on Usenet. Which group?"
A: r.a.sf.w.r-j. He also checked out the r.a.sf.w.tolkien group, but they were mean to him.
Q: "How has working on WOT changed your writing?"
A: Harriet has forced him to be more precise. He referenced the prologue scene he read, and noted that in his first submission, he just said "a rocking chair." Harriet shot back with, "What was it made of?" She makes him be more specific, but not necessarily longer. [hah!] It's taught him to juggle multiple viewpoints and plotlines better. He lavished some praise on Harriet at this point, slipping in the same mention he made in NYC (apparently) that she edited Ender's Game. He says that one of the first books that got picked up was meant to be his foray into fantasy epic. Tom Doherty liked it, but Brandon asked to hold off on it, because he didn't feel ready yet. He hadn't even written a sequel, yet, all his stuff had been standalones. So he wrote Mistborn, instead. He feels that after he's ready for epics, now, and so after he finishes WOT he'll return and revise and improve that one [whose title I forget].
Q: "LTT and Rand -- same person, or not?"
A: Straight-up reiteration of RJ's "same soul" answer. In fact, Brandon referenced that that's how RJ always answered that question, and that he'd continue to do so.
Q: Referencing the story about chickening out on his opportunity to talk to RJ at the convention, "If you could talk to RJ now, what would you say/ask?"
A: "Your books made me want to be a writer." Brandon says that that's always something that he takes heart from, and it's what he wishes to express to RJ.
Proceed to signing. I was a late number, and the front seats were packed for a while. I had a few questions I wanted to ask, but I took an opportunity after maybe 40 people had gone up, to move to the front row and listen to some of the questions. I couldn't hear perfectly, but a few general gists.
Q: "Who's your favorite character?"
A: [Not quite as unsatisfactory as RJ's "whoever I'm writing at the time" answer, but similar] It changes. At various times in the series and in his life, he's liked Rand, Mat, Perrin, Elayne, Egwene, and a few others I didn't pick up on hearing.
Bunch of questions on Sanderson's other works, which I have yet to read, so I didn't retain much of anything.
Then I got my turn at the signing. Right before me, there was a couple with two children. The older one, who looked 2 or 3, apparently liked one of his books (Knights of something?) as bedtime stories. She brought him a box of Mac & Cheese, which Brandon declared was his favorite. Very sweet, and Brandon's good with kids.
I started off by telling Brandon "Good job." I really liked this book. I also told him that the scene where Mat was planning his entry into the town after Dorlan was the most hilarious scene in the series, and that "Elaborate aliases and backstories" (which he began quoting along with me after the first word) was easily the best comedic relief I've seen and quite memorable. Finally, I told him that Talmanes really came to life under his pen, to which Brandon responded, "I always read him that way. I called up Harriet and said, 'What if I do this?' And she said, 'It's good, but doesn't fit with what Mat's observed before. Mat would know.' and I said, 'No, he wouldn't! That's the beauty of it!'"
Then, I asked 2 questions. I had a third, but he went into enough detail in his reaction to my Talmanes comment that I felt like I was holding up the line.
Q: Obviously, all the words in TGS are yours. How much of the plot was your doing, and how much was outlined (and how detailed) in the notes?
A: Harriet actually gave me complete creative control. She said that if something needs to change to work, it can. RJ's notes were very specific on Rand, but there wasn't much on Egwene.
Follow-up Q: And Verin?
A: Very explicit. When I read that, it was definitely an "Oh, wow" moment. I had to step back and process for a minute.
Q: Have we seen the last of Gaidal Cain's screentime? Will we find out which, if any, current 3rd Age characters become newly bound to the Wheel and the Horn?
A: Re: Gaidal, RAFO. He mentioned that yes, he's been spun out into the Pattern, and is thus an infant, but who knows if he's since died and will show up again with the Horn? Re: new Bound to the Wheel characters, RAFO. He's not sure how much of where characters end up will make it into the books proper, but RJ was very detailed about how characters end up, and BS hopes, after WOT is done, to publish a book collecting and organizing the notes themselves. Such a book would have all this info for sure.
Overall, I found Brandon really fun. He was really a mixture of fan and author, where RJ was always the creator. When RJ said "RAFO," he enjoyed it, and loved making us anticipate things. Brandon, when he says RAFO, really has this sense of "I wish I could tell you, but it's GOOD, you'll love it." He was an engaging story teller, had a good sense of humor, and was really a joy to listen to.
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