I was at the reading today with Danlo and also had the privelege to hear from Chapter 5 of Runes of the Earth. I probably should post this in Danlo's thread, but I didnt' want to bury juicy news deeper in the thread.
Any specific quotes from SRD will be in quotation marks, otherwise I'm just giving you a summarazation of what he said.
When Stephen first arrived the first person he saw was GRRM. They chatted and talked shop. Very cool seeing my two favorite authors together in the same room.
Kudos to Danlo -- the man tooks notes NON STOP during the entire reading! He did yeoman's work for the board!
First, Stephen was on a writers panel from 1-2pm that discussed the art and science of naming characters. He mentioned many times that sound is very important in his writing, and that having a name 'sound' good is just as important to him as the meaning. He also mentioned that Kevin was named after a bratty kid that he knew (who happened to grow up to be a nice guy).
Nope, not dishing the juicy Runes of the Earth news yet. I'm building suspense.
A question was asked about how names are translated in foregin editions of novels, and Donaldson had two absolutely hilarious stories. He said that the first translation of the chronicles in France BOMBED. It turns out his brother-in-law reads french scifi/fantasy as a hobby and told him that the subtitle of the book was translated to "Chronicles of Thomas the Incredulous."
It gets better. Saltheart Foamfollower's name was translated into "Brainy the Pirate." The room absolutely broke out laughing over that one.
Ok, Runes of the Earth, I've tortured you too long.
Just to fill in a few points from Danlo's awesome post (I wont' rehash what he already said):
SRD said he enjoys readings but absolutely does not want to unveil crucial new information, so that's why he chose chapter 5.
Before reading the chapter, he gave a quick preface of a little bit of what happens before chapter 5. He mentioned that Joan had handed Roger over to the Despiser and I go the impression that's what caused his psychotic behavior.
Thanks to yours truly, I was able to pry the corruption of time theme from him based on my question. I said that as a reader, I saw the chronicles dealing with two different themes: the 1stC dealing with despair vs. hope and the second about corruption. That's where he talked about the manichaean nature of the 1stChron. He said for the 2ndChron he wanted to raise the stakes because "armies are a simple danger" and that they only needed to be countered with muscle. Dealing with the corruption of nature required a deeper, harder solution. He said that after that, it's kinda hard to raise the level again, so the only thing left for Foul would be the corruption of time itself.
This is where Stephen really started to give some good (but general) information. He alluded to writers revisiting their older series and ruining a good thing (he specifically mentioned Asimov's Foundation series). I may be reading between the lines, but I think he might've also been alluding to some writers simply doing it to cash in.
Thankfully, I didn't sense that at all from Stephen. He is definitely writing the Third Chronicles for the right reasons, not because of pressures from his agent or publishers. When I asked him about themes, this is where he mentioned the 3rd Chronicles would be about the corruption of time and that the chronicles were his "Sistine Chapel", with the 3rd Chronicles tying all three together. This is where he mentioned about parts going back in time into the "deep past." He said that the 3rd Chronicles are proving to be very complex with many interwoven threads, and this complexity has necessitated a few rewrites and will probably require another (which is why Runes of the Earth won't even be shopped to a publisher until Oct/Nov).
He mentioned that he spent a summer re-reading the two chronicles for preparation and notes. He said that he had only remembered the flaws of the books and was actually pleasantly surprised at the strengths. He even mentioned something to the effect of almost feeling intimidated and that wasn't sure he could top himself. He said that in the end he didn't want to turn it into a competition with himself.
I asked if he planned to write all four books at once for the sake of continuity or write the first, publish, write the second, publish, etc. He said that he would prefer to write them all at once but that it wasn't possible because of the nature of publishing. He mentioned that he had people also helping with continuity to keep details and facts straight among the Chronicles.
SRD also mentioned that the Gap Series had poor sales.
Bombshell:
A question was asked about a possibility of the series becoming a movie. He said that it was discussed years ago but nothing became of it.
He said that there is renewed interest that started a few months ago and it sounds like SRD think it's very possible that the chronicles would be optioned. As SRD pointed out, an option doesn't mean the movie will definitely be made, but that the studio is simply securing exclusive rights to the works. He also said that the more they option the story for, the more likely the chance of the movie being made.
I remember reading a quote from a writer (Hemingway IIRC) that said there's only one way to handle having your novel turned into a movie: take the money and run. There is no way to ever maintain any semblance of control or authority over the work, and this was exactly SRD's attitude. He said he would hate the movie anyway, even if it was good. He was offered to write the screenplay and have an executive producer title and turned them both down. He said that screenwriting is a totally different beast and that he wasn't an expert on it (I think he also may have hinted at screenwriting being boring because it's basically just dialog and camera angles).
He said that writing is solitary and the book is pretty much his baby, but that movies are "art by committee" and that he wouldn't be interested in that. He aslo discussed about how the chronicles deal with the interior emotional landscape of Covenant and the challenges of translating that to the movie screen since you can't get inside a character's head in a movie.
I'll post my general impressions of Runes of the Earth sometime tomorrow... I must now let the glory of Chapter 5 soak in.
So sweeping in their generalizations, and yet so true at the same time--brings a tear to my eye . . . 
Heh, you almost got me pinned down, except for the Star Trek thing . . . And I'm 320 pounds, but I work out, so it looks and feels more like 200-something (see my wrestling pic). Oh, and it's my grandparent's basement. 
back to topic 
. . . Yep, sounds like SRD. I'd be diplomatic to a fan-boy were standing before their god. Gotta let them have their Holy Communion and all . . .