The Notes
As I’ve said before, I signed the contracts with Harriet to finish this series before I was given the notes. Therefore, going into this, I knew very little of what had been done for A Memory of Light already. In fact, the only thing I did know was that Mr. Jordan had written down the ending—the one he’d been promising for years that he had in his head. (Though, being the gardener-type writer that he was, he always noted that the ending could change shape as his view of it evolved over time.)
Eager, daunted, I flew to Charleston in December 2007 to meet Harriet. I knew her by reputation only—the editorial director of Tor Books during its foundational years, the woman who edited Ender’s Game and who discovered Robert Jordan. I was rather intimidated. Turns out, Harriet is quite grandmotherly—in a southern gentlewoman sort of way. She’s confident, capable, and has this air of knowledge about her. However, she’s also kind, quick with a smile, and remarkably genuine. I don’t know that I’ve ever met someone who so effortlessly blends self-confidence with compassion.
Once I arrived at Harriet’s house, I asked for the ending, which she gave me. I spent hours picking through the notes and reading—I was at it after Harriet retired for the night, though before she left, she pointed to the computer in the front room where I was sitting. “That’s Robert Jordan’s,” she noted to me. “That’s where he wrote many of the books, on that computer, that keyboard. We recently moved it in from the office into this room.”
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