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Interview #504: Charleston City Paper Interview, Entry #7
Brandon Sanderson
Sanderson says, “Like most fans of the series, I was just shocked and saddened that Jim Rigney wasn’t going to be there to finish it himself.” He adds, “About a month after his passing, I woke up one morning and found that I had a voicemail. I listened to it, and it said, ‘Hello, Brandon Sanderson, this is Harriet McDougal, Robert Jordan’s widow. I’d like you to call me back. I’ve got something I want to talk to you about.’”
Sanderson wasn’t sure how to take it at first. The author was certain that someone was playing a joke on him. Then he started to shake nervously at the thought that it might not be a prank. “When I got hold of her, I found out that she was looking at me as one of the candidates to finish The Wheel of Time. I hadn’t applied for this or anything like that.”
Even though Sanderson had never met Rigney, he considered him a mentor. “I had read a lot of his books when I was trying to decide how to write myself, and he strongly influenced what I produced. But I didn’t know him personally, and that’s what dumbfounded me when I got the phone call,” recalls Sanderson. “I was absolutely stunned. I’m afraid I stammered a bit when I told her I would be honored to be considered; in fact, a while after I got off the phone I sent her an e-mail that started, ‘Dear Harriet, I promise I’m not an idiot.’”
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