Nora Roberts

Years ago, when my sons were small, I was a person in search of a creative outlet. At that time, I focused on crafts. I did everything from ceramics to embroidery. I baked my own bread and canned my own jelly. In short, I was insane. Then the Blizzard of '79 struck and everything changed. I live in Western Maryland at the end of a long lane that winds up a hill for nearly a quarter of a mile. During that blizzard I had no four-wheel drive transportation and two kids with pent-up energy. The chocolate and Oreo supplies were running low. When school was canceled every morning that week, I'm not ashamed to admit I wept. On an impulse, I decided to take one of the stories inside my head and write it down. This wasn't the start of a career, it was my alternative to murder-suicide. It was simple survival. I started page 1 and I was hooked. It was the creative outlet I needed. After that, it was simple. I wrote whenever I could around my sons' schedule. I scrabbled for writing time between naps and during school hours and transcribed my scribbles on a little portable typewriter in the kitchen. For quite a while I wrote in a notebook with a Number Two pencil. It was important to be portable in those early writing years so I could be in the same room with my boys and prevent my oldest son from sacrificing his younger brother to whatever demons were possessing him at the time. Now, even though the boys are grown men and living on their own, it's basically the same: I write. It's my job and it's one that I really love. I just keep writing and those stories just keep coming. I happen to have a fast pace. That, I think, is just the luck of the draw. I'm disciplined. That's my make up. Every book starts for me at page one, chapter one and I write straight through, getting a fairly quick and loose first draft. Then I go back to the beginning and flesh out the characters, see if the story holds. It'll take at least one more draft for polishing, maybe two, until it's done. It's the characters that draw me in first. If they don't compel me to tell their story, I can't believe the reader would be interested. My characters always surprise me. Once they've taken on a life in a book, it's wise to let them go their own ways. I can't remember ever having a character turn out precisely as I'd imagined them before I started the book. Readers love to ask where I get my ideas. There's no real answer to that, the ideas are just there. I focus on them one at a time, giving each one the attention it deserves when the time is right. People seem to be convinced that having written so many books, at least one would be my favorite. Honestly, my favorite book is the one that just came out. My least favorite? Without a doubt, whatever I'm currently working on. Writing has taken me many places since that first snowbound day. I'm thankful for everything writing has brought - travel, friendship and opportunity. I know I have the best job in the world - sitting here, being paid to tell stories!

Nora Roberts is truly a publishing phenomenon. With over 250 million copies of her novels in print, she has come a long way since she wrote her first novel in a spiral notebook using a No. 2 pencil. Now she has published over 150 novels and her work has been optioned and made into films, excerpted in national magazines and translated in over twenty-five different countries. "I always have stories running around in my head," she explains. "Once I start putting them down on paper, I just keep going; I just keep writing." In addition to her amazing success in mainstream fiction, Nora Roberts remains committed to writing for her category romance audience that took her to into their heart in 1981 with her very first book, a Silhouette romance.

Nora Roberts continues to write futuristic romantic suspense as J.D. Robb, and her characters Eve Dallas and Roarke have become two of her most popular creations ever. Her J.D. Robb titles are hailed as "a perfect balance of suspense, futuristic police procedure and steamy romance...truly fine entertainment" by Publishers Weekly.

Reviewers agree that Nora Roberts deserves praise. The Los Angeles Daily News describes her as "a word artist, painting her story and her characters with vitality and verve." Kirkus Reviews comments on True Betrayals saying "Roberts' style has a fresh, contemporary snap." Roberts is said to be "reminiscent of Jacqueline Briskin and Sidney Sheldon" by Booklist, and Rex Reed lauds her saying, "Move over Sidney Sheldon: the world has a new master of romantic suspense, and her name is Nora Roberts." Publishers Weekly claims "Roberts keeps getting better...[her] prolificness shows no sign of abating." They add, "When Roberts puts her expert finger on the pulse of romance, legions of fans feel the heartbeat." USA Today calls Nora "a consistently entertaining writer."

The remarkable Ms. Roberts did not become a success overnight. By the time her first novel, Irish Thoroughbred, was published in 1981, she already had three years of hard work behind her and several rejected manuscripts languishing in drawers. Today, according to Entertainment Weekly, "her stories have fueled the dreams of twenty-five million readers." One of America's leading novelists, her books are published around the world. She is frequently invited to promote her novels in other countries. Her recent travels took her to England, Italy, Australia and Japan to meet fans, fellow authors and aspiring writers.

Sanctuary was made into a television movie which aired in 2001 on CBS as "Nora Roberts' Sanctuary." The cast includes Melissa Gilbert, Emmy-winner Kathy Baker and Costas Mandylor. CBS has also optioned The Reef for another television movie. Montana Sky has been optioned by TriStar Television for a two-hour television movie. Her book This Magic Moment became the television film "Magic Moments" starring Emmy-winner John Shea and Jenny Seagrove. Sacred Sins has been optioned for film by Kaleidoscope, and Private Scandals has been optioned by Burt Reynolds Productions. Reflections and The Law is a Lady were selected by Good Housekeeping magazine for presentation as condensed novels. Honest Illusions and Private Scandals were featured as Readers Digest's Condensed Books.

The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, People Magazine and Entertainment Weekly have all featured or mentioned Nora Roberts in articles about writing and the romance genre. She has appeared on ABC-TV's Good Morning America and Cable News Network, and has been featured on the television programs To Tell the Truth, Entertainment Tonight, and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. She has been interviewed by local television and radio programs across the country, and she has been featured in dozens of newspapers, including the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Toronto Star, The Toronto Sun, Washington Times, Detroit Free Press, Chicago Tribune, and Atlanta Constitution.

Her extraordinary accomplishments have also received recognition from her peers. The first author ever to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America's Hall of Fame, and the first author to receive their Centennial Award when she published her 100th novel Montana Sky, she is the recipient of almost every award given in recognition of excellence in romance writing. In 1997, she was honored at the Romance Writers of America National Conference when she was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to her awards from the Romance Writers of America, she has also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Waldenbooks, and she has been honored by B. Dalton Booksellers, the New Jersey Chapter of Romance Writers of America, and BookRak Distributors.

Nora Roberts is a charter member of the Romance Writers of America, and a member of their Washington, D.C. chapter. She was the keynote speaker at their 1994 national conference in New York. She is also a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, The Crime Writers League of America, and Novelists Inc.

The youngest of five children, she was born in Silver Spring, Maryland. She now lives in Keedysville, Maryland.