Sex and Sexuality (you asked!)

Q: You approach the issues of sex love and the like with all of your characters while maintaing an almost virginal perspective and yet there is a GREAT deal of nudity throughout the novels.No problem with this but when are Rand and Matt and Perrin going to stop thinking the other has the upper hand? 
A: I'm not sure that they ever will. Who knows? It seems to me to be a very human thing in dealing with the opposite sex at least to think that somebody else knows more about it than you do. You might swagger and put on a surface belief of "well, I have that nailed!" but I think for most people, there's a little voice in the back saying "God, he really does know how to handle women, doesn't he?" or "God, she really does know all about men!" 

Q: What cultures and socieities did you base Saldaea on? And <nervous grin>, is the sa'sara supposed to be a sort of belly-dance? <duck> 
A: Saldaea is based, in part, on a number of middle eastern cultures and several cultures in countries surrounding the Black Sea. In part. The sa'sara, now...You'll need a certificate from your doctor, a note from your mother and a certificate of health for whoever you intend to dance it for before I can give you any more information beside the name.

Q: Tell us about those seafolk rituals during the wedding... 
A: How old are you? 
Q: Over the age of consent. 
A: You're too young!

Q: You might also want to ask him about the sexual preferences of Galina, Bain and Chiad. :-)  A: RAFO.

Q: Mr. Jordan- What rough percentage is devoted to Mat and Perrin in this book? I must admit I was disappointed Mat wasn't in the Path of Daggers more.
A: In the Path of Daggers, you have to remember that Mat had a building fall on top of him. I personally don't think that Mat lying around in a bed with bandages and splints is very entertaining, and it certainly wouldn't have done anything to advance the story. Mat does have an encounter with pink ribbons that some of you might find amusing in this book.

Q: You said earlier that Mat would get 'stuck' with someone and you mentioned Pink Ribbons. Eighteen century condoms were attached with such ribbons...is it linked?
A: No.

Q: What exactly is the "hot" ter'angreal played with so enthusiastically by Elayne and when will we see it actually put into use?
A: Read and find out, Pam. You're experienced enough at this to know that I wouldn't give that answer, I think!

Q: What exactly IS a Nine-Horse Hitch? C'mon, tell us. We can handle it.. we're all big boys and girls.
A: If you don't know already REALLY you aren't old enough

Reports from signings

When told about the Bela in LoC plot contest he said that he knew what Bela had been doing in LoC. WARNING! Non-family newsfroup material! Quote made without consent from the Great Lord of the Dark! "I wouldn't quite call it lesbian bestiality. Rather a very close mutual friendship with a certain female in Salidar." [ I wonder who? :-) ] Did Jordan really say that or is someone making this up? - Raina

First, the question of Hake's inn in TEotW is answered: it is _not_ a whorehouse, at least not more than any other inn. :-) Due to the increase in women's power, the very concept of prostitution is unknown; but women have much greater freedom in choosing their partners, both casual and permanent. He specifically mentioned Mat's little escapades with various maids and serving-girls.

He wouldn't answer the question about the nine-horse hitch. (said he'd have to marry me if he told me. I'm kinda disappointed we didn't get a RAFO.) We figure it's his version of "figs and mice".

Hawk found a way to get RJ's attention. Brandish a whip. You see, RJ IS a dirty old man. 

Anyway, Mat has indeed had far and away more MPS experience than our other young heroes, and intends to get much much more. I believe the quote was something like "The world is full of beautiful women, and Mat wants to romp barefoot though them all. (or was that with them all. same thing.) He's slept with lots of women; he's slept with women old enough to be his mother..." Also, Mat makes the Aes Sedai nervous. Sigh, and if RJ had shown all of this "on-screen," y'all wouldn't be complaining about the lack of explicit sex in TWOT!!! (And the books would read like _The Fallon Blood_.)

RJ also said Berelain is attracted to Perrin partly bc he's the first man she wanted and couldn't get which is interesting, partly because he's buff, and partly bc she thinks it'd be kinky to make it with a blacksmith. (On the anvil???)

Then I asked about Elayne's Rod of Pleasure, and got a RAFO with the explicit warning that we might not ever get to the FO part.

Me: What happened with Elayne and that warm ter'angreal?
RJ: (laughs) What do you think happened?
Me: We figured it must be some sort of One Power sex toy.
RJ: (laughing harder) I may write something about that in a later book.
Me: RAFO, right?
RJ: Exactly.

RJ exercises his hands a lot to avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and whatnot.
He had amusing comment on how women saying “Oh, he’s got such strong hands” and whatnot is BS, and that what they’re thinking about is those muscular jaws. (I won’t elaborate, as I think your imagination will make that more interesting than it really was

Q: Will there be more talk about necklines?
Jordan answered something about it only being natural that men will notice such things. If a man sees a woman, the odds are that he'll notice things like her legs, and her mouth and her bosom. And women will notice necklines as well, usually thinking other things like 'could I wear that?'

Q: Do you have someone to advice you on writing sex scenes from a women's point of view?
A: No. And if I had she would lie to me. A woman is as likely to tell the truth about that as men are to tell them, and if you think about how many of that you would tell anyone on god's green earth about that. And if you come upon that teaspoon of liquified truth you would tell, know that that is five times the truth that she would tell you.
No, what I do is, I eavesdrop. [laughter]
One time when he was younger and eavesdropping on women, he received Veritas. He knew everything there was to know about women. And it turned his hair completely white, and beyond, so that most of it is dark again, except for that piece in his beard there, plus it also erased all knowledge he had gained straight from his head. [In other words, more and more he was really getting in a funny-story-telling mood. Maybe Jordan should have become a stand-up comedian. I don't know how much of the humor I manage to bring across, I can imagine it's very little, but if you were there you would have laughed at every other remark, just like the rest of us.]
Once in all his books, he went to Harriet saying 'Okay, in this particular situation, this is how I think this woman would react, this is how I think she would feel. Do you believe it? And she said 'yes, I do.'

I don't remember how we got on the subject, but at one point he made mention of the whole lesbian issue. Something to the effect of, "Well, you put fifteen year old girls in a tower filled with almost entirely women, with their hormones raging on overdrive, keep them away from men, because you can't afford to loose any of them, and what do you think is going to happen?" I think this answers the questions about whether there are really lesbians in Randland, and if they are intentional.

Raina's Hold / Thus Spake the Creator - Index