[algernoninc]

I was reading the reviews for the last book in the wheel of time series by robert jordan to see if the downward trend in quality continues. Personally I stopped reading the series out of boredom after book 6 and it seems "crossroads at twilight" is the worst.

but my question is not about the wheel of time quality. i have a theory and i'm curious how far off the track i am: Robert Jordan is a pen name, one of several previously used (Jackson O'Reilly, Reagan O'Neal). how do we know that James Oliver Rigney Jr isn't also a pen name, with a photo and a fictional bio fabricated by the editors? has he appeared at conventions, promotion tours, tv interviews?

I ask this because the writing in the latest book has a clear feminist agenda: endless pages about clothes, furniture, gossip, sexual fantasies ; all the men are helpless dorks without a woman to guide them ; all the women are strong, interesting heroines pulling their male counterparts out of the mess they created when they wouldn't heed their advice ...

is there somebody else who writes his books for him, or is he a her?

[Steven Savile]

well after the hissy fit the man pulled when he was attributed copyright of Terry Goodkind's Debt of Bones last year it is safe to say it's a he... he also took a lot of stick for the fact that he couldn't write women at the beginning of the series, so perhaps he is trying to cater for the criticisms? I don't know, I only ever managed to get 100 pages into The Great Hunt. I just got bored too quickly and life was too short...

[ChrisW]

umm this forum is for discussing fantasy not writing it. :rolleyes:

[Steven Savile]

And erm? Isn't yer man at the top asking a question about a fantasy series? I don't see him asking for tips on how to write something...

[ChrisW]

I think you missed my point :eek: .

[Steven Savile]

hah! I JUST got it this time round...

Sorry Chris.

just slap me.

[FicusFan]

I belong to a SF&F discussion group that is located in an independent book store near where I live. The woman from the store who organizes it also books in the authors who visit the store.

Both Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind make an appearance there in August each year (not at the same time). Both are men, and use their names in the real world (mail and stuff).

Sorry to burst your bubble. Now I have never actually gone to see them, but if there was something funky about them (other than the lines) I am sure all of us in the group would have heard about it. Don't know if they use other names to publish under.

[Avi_stetto]

From Galenet's Literature Resource Center:

James Oliver Rigney, Jr.

1948-

Varients: Robert K. Jordan; Robert Jordan; Chang Lung; Reagan O'Neal; Jackson O'Reilly; Regan O'Neal; Reagan O'Neill

Entry Updated : 10/09/2003
Birth Place: Charleston, SC

Personal Information: Family: Born October 17, 1948, in Charleston, SC; son of James Oliver and Eva May (Grooms) Rigney; married Harriet Stoney Popham McDougal, March 28, 1981; children: William Popham McDougal. Education: The Citadel, B.S., 1974. Memberships: Science Fiction Writers of America. Addresses: Office: c/o Sobel, Weber Associates, 146 East 19th St., New York, NY 10003.

Career: U. S. Civil Service, nuclear engineer, 1974-78; writer, 1978--.

Also author, under pseudonym Reagan O'Neal, of The Fallon Blood,1980, The Fallon Pride, 1981, published under pseudonym Robert Jordan, Forge, 1996; and The Fallon Legacy, 1982. Also author, under pseudonym Jackson O'Reilly, of Cheyenne Raiders, 1982. Contributor, sometimes under pseudonym Chang Lung, to periodicals, including Library Journal.

This is an excerpt from Contemporary Authors. Robert Jordan, at least, is a pseudonym.

Terry Goodkind, though, seems to be a real name.

Hope that helps.

[algernoninc]

I didn't mean to be offensive to mr. jordan. this far fetched conspiracy theory about his name came from a google search that came pretty thin on pictures and public appearances.

several years ago I went to a promo tour of my fav romanian writer (radu tudoran) and i found, to my surprise, that he has been using a pen name for the last 50 years (none of the male\female ambiguities though). so I guess I'm more prone to believe in aliases, being somehow cut off from the information flow.

my apologies to mr. jordan. I guess my discontent comes from my high expectations after the first three volumes of Wheel of Time.

[KatG]

I too have been disappointed by the last couple of WOT books, but I'm probably more disturbed by your complaining of feminist agendas. Just because an episode of a story centers on the female characters for a sec and they don't run and trip on their high heels doesn't mean the author has to be a girl. :)

There have been author duplicities in the past, though they were usually carried out by the author, not the publisher, who may or may not know what's going on. James Tiptree Jr., an acclaimed sf writer for instance, was a woman. Stephen King set up an elaborate pseudonym deception as Richard Bachman, even going so far as to have a friend pretend to be Richard Bachman for years and do photos, go to signings and such, because he wanted those works to be entirely separate from his own, at least initially.

Where publishers tend to get into the party are things like giving a male writer doing romance novels a female pen name -- not usually done any more; or having a writer for hire continue a series under the original pen name -- also not done as much anymore; or hiring a ghost writer to work with a celebrity to produce a novel -- something that is still done but often ends up with the ghost writer being credited as co-author. Most of the time, though, there are so many writers out there available, and writer promotion has become so important while gender biases have declined, that there's little incentive for publishers to bother. But authors for various reasons might want to use a pseudonym, even one of the opposite or indeterminate sex. But with the Internet as it is, it's harder to pull off for long.