Robert Jordan isn't his real name.

Robert Jordan is the pen name of James Oliver Rigney, Jr. He's the American author who writes the Wheel of Time fantasy book series.

Why doesn't Robert Jordan publish under his real name? Jordan told fans he plans to use his real name for non-genre works. In real terms, that means Robert Jordan is saving James Oliver Rigney, Jr. for the publication of the elusive Great American Novel. Or maybe a history book. It hasn't happened yet.

Since starting his writing career, Robert Jordan has written under several names. In addition to Robert Jordan, he's also been Reagan O'Neal, Jackson O'Reilly, and Chang Lung.

Robert Jordan: Vietnam, nuclear physics, and how he met Harriet

Robert Jordan is from Charleston, South Carolina (United States). Jordan was born in Charleston and lives there with his wife, Harriet Rigney. (That's the same Harriet to whom the Wheel of Time books are dedicated.)

Robert Jordan was in the US Army from 1968 to 1979. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam. Jordan graduated from the Citadel, South Carolina's military college, with a BS Physics degree. He worked for the US Navy as a nuclear engineer. In 1978, Robert Jordan began writing during a month-long hospitalization for a life-threatening injury.

Because of his writing, Robert Jordan met Harriet Popham McDougal, a Radcliffe college (now Harvard) graduate turned editor at Ace Books. Harriet had a son, Will, and she'd inherited a house in Charleston. That's where they live today. Harriet's active in several community organizations, and the Rigneys give charitably to a number of causes around Charleston.

Robert Jordan wrote other books before the Wheel of Time.

The first book was The Fallon Legacy in 1981. This was the first volume of the Fallon series published under the pseudonym Reagan O'Neal. Robert Jordan also published Cheyenne Raiders, a Western, under the pseudonym Jackson O'Reilly in 1982.

From 1982 to 1984, Robert Jordan wrote eight stories on the legendary hero Conan. These were published in two volumes, The Conan Chronicles and Further Chronicles of Conan.

1990 was the year Robert Jordan published Eye of the World, the first book in the Wheel of Time series. Jordan originally anticipated a series three books long. Fifteen years later, Robert Jordan is finally nearing the end of the Wheel of Time series. It's going to be twelve books long.

Tom Doherty on Robert Jordan and Harriet Rigney

Tom Doherty, founder and editor of Tor Books, said of early days with Harriet McDougall and James O. Rigney (Robert Jordan):

"How's a startup company to get good people away from companies like Random House and Simon & Schuster and MCA? It seemed to me that the only way you can do this is to really give people a chance for a lifestyle that they would prefer. For example, Harriet MacDougal wanted to live in Charleston, South Carolina. She had inherited a wonderful home down there on the Battery with a great walled garden, 500 feet deep. She was divorced and she thought that would be a nicer place to bring up her son. So she moved to Charleston. She was the best editor I had ever worked with, and I couldn't let such talent get away. While still at Ace we joint-ventured a number of books, including the first two Robert Jordans, American historicals published under the pen name Reagan O'Neal. When Tor started, we got her a computer and a modem and she'd modem in her copy and come to New York when she wanted to meet with agents."