Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts is a prominent American author, born on October 10, 1950, in Silver Spring, Maryland. She is recognized for her prolific writing career, having published nearly 250 books, with 224 achieving bestseller status. Roberts began her journey as a writer in 1979 during a snowstorm, leading to the publication of her first novel, "Irish Thoroughbred," in 1981. Known for her engaging storytelling, she has significantly influenced the romance genre, often featuring strong, self-possessed female characters. In addition to her romance novels, Roberts writes futuristic crime novels under the pseudonym J.D. Robb, starting with "Naked in Death" in 1995. Her dedication to the craft has earned her numerous accolades, including being the first author inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Beyond her writing, Roberts is committed to supporting aspiring authors through initiatives like the Nora Roberts Center for American Romance at McDaniel College. She continues to be a leading figure in contemporary fiction, blending genres and captivating readers worldwide.
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Nora Roberts
Author
- Born: October 10, 1950
- Place of Birth: Silver Spring, Maryland
Biography
Nora Roberts was born on October 10, 1950, in Silver Spring, Maryland, the youngest of five children and the only girl born to Bernard Edward Robertson, a company director, and Eleanor Harris Robertson, a company vice president. Roberts attended public schools in Silver Spring, which included some time in a Catholic school under the discipline of nuns. She married Ronald Aufdem-Brinke on August 17, 1968, and the couple settled in Keedysville, Maryland. They had two children, Daniel and Jason, before they divorced in January 1985.
Roberts worked as a clerk and secretary for a law firm and other businesses from 1968 until 1975. After her sons were born, she stayed at home and tried a number of different crafts. In February 1979, she was snowed-in with her two sons, aged three and six, who were unable to go to school. During the blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write down one of the stories she had been making up throughout her life. After several manuscripts and rejections, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981. She has been a full-time writer ever since, with an unusually prodigious output.
Roberts met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, when she hired him to build bookshelves. They were married on July 6, 1985, and since that time they have expanded their home, traveled widely, and opened a bookstore together.
Roberts has won countless awards, the first being the Golden Medallion from the Romance Writers of America in 1982 for The Heart’s Victory. She was named the Best Contemporary Author by the Romantic Times in 1984 for Reflections and was the first author to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame in 1986.
In the 1990s, she began writing a series of futuristic crime novels under the pseudonym J. D. Robb. The first novel in the series, Naked in Death, appeared in the spring of 1995 with little fanfare, although The Gothic Journal described the book as a blend of hard-core police drama, science fiction, and passionate romance. It was a fairly open secret that J.D. Robb was the pseudonym of Nora Roberts, but Roberts and her publisher, Berkley, were content to let the Robb books build slowly with little tie-in to the Roberts’s style of romantic suspense. The reason for creating J.D. Robb was the astounding pace at which Roberts writes. According to the New York Times, as of 2023, Nora Roberts had published nearly 250 books, 224 of which have been bestsellers. It takes Roberts about forty-five full writing days to complete a novel. Her contemporaries credit her with changing the face of the romance genre by writing about strong, self-possessed women. Roberts is a member of the Romance Writers of America and Washington Romance Writers. She started the Nora Roberts Center for American Romance at McDaniel College to promote the writing and education of romance writers.
Bibliography
Cadwalladr, Carole. "Nora Roberts: The Woman Who Rewrote the Rules of Romantic Fiction." Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 19 Nov. 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Collins, Lauren. "Real Romance; How Nora Roberts Because America's Most Popular Novelist." New Yorker. Condé Nast, 22 June 2009. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Garcia-Navarro, Lulu. "The Critics Scoffed. Nora Roberts Just Kept Writing." The New York Times, 18 Nov. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/11/18/books/nora-roberts-romance-interview.html. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.
Krug, Nora. "Nora Roberts's Three Decades of Writing Have Led to 200 Books." Washington Post. Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
"Nora's Bio." Nora Roberts. Nora Roberts, 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Roberts, Nora. "Nora Roberts: By the Book." Interview. New York Times. New York Times, 11 Feb. 2015. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Robertson, Nick. "Romance Novelist Nora Roberts Denounces 'Shocking' Florida Book Removals." The Hill, 28 Apr. 2023, thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/3977970-romance-novelist-nora-roberts-denounces-shocking-florida-book-removals/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.