Sarah Lilton - Nora Roberts: A Biography

Nora Roberts scoffs at spineless heroines Weak, passive people dont make good characters, she says. She is equally brutal about needy men: If a man wants someone to take care of him, he should get a dog as a companion and live with his mother. Washington Post

It was a dark and stormy night although it may not have been stormy or even dark, but the infamous blizzard of February 1979 was enough to lock Nora Roberts inside with her two young sons board games and a rapidly decreasing supply of chocolate. For something new to do, she grabbed a tablet and began writing her first novel in longhand and voila, she had found what she was meant to do. By 1980 her first novel was published From such humble beginnings, Nora Roberts today has written over 200 books, countless articles and stories and earns over $60 million each year. Not bad for a highschool graduate with no formal college or writing training.

What makes Nora Roberts so popular and she is popular with over 250 million books sold and more to come. She does not pretend to be high-brow or even mildly intellectual. Her heroines and heroes are salt of the earth, hard working people with transcendent desires and sexual ideals. Although she is rarely reviewed in publications such as the New York Times, she leaves her mark on its bestseller lists on a regular basis. The one review in the NY Times, in 2004 stated From one novel to the next, you can be sure the sex is going to appeal to a certain sort of reader: a woman who dreams of a man who is tough but sensitive, a man who's most comfortable in jeans and likes to chop wood but also listens to Norah Jones and appreciates a good cabernet.

Nora Roberts has created a cottage industry literally since she works from home that supplies mostly women readers with several books a year as well as futuristic mysteries from her J.D. Robb pseudonym. Noras output has changed the formulas for romance novels. In their earliest days, romance novels were novels of manners in the style of Jane Austen. Later novelists like Mary Stewart created romantic suspense novels which Nora Roberts emulates. In fact, she attributes quite a lot of her success to Mary Stewart s influence: Mary Stewartwill always be my goddess. I can pick up one of her early books one I`ve read a dozen times and still slide right into the story.

WIth the rise of Noras spirited, workaday heroines and heroes, the bodice ripping, wealthy earl and poor governess style of romance novels has taken a backseat to the new modern tone Nora exemplifies. You know the ones, where Fabio is standing bare chested holding onto a fainting woman whose breasts are nearly exposed. Roberts refers to these books as having a "a nursing mother cover". A what? "You know, where she's falling out of her dress and he has his mouth on her tit." Her books have essentially Americanized romance novels and eliminated the class distinctions that characterized those books that have preceded hers.

By the time Roberts sold her first book to Silhouette in 1981, she was already reshaping the world of romantic suspense. One thing she has always provided her readers is a happy ending that is a requirement that they demand and expect. Roberts writes for the readers and as The Guardian states she is is probably the most successful novelist you've never heard of. The reason that she is prolific is that she is always writing even on the road. Her view of writing is that it is her job, and she writes six to eight hours a day. Some may find this odd, but she would be working similar hours at any other job, so Roberts finds this reasoning specious.

What makes Nora tick? Her love of family, community and a keen understanding of what readers want and her ability to give them what they need. Her books are replete with sex and kisses, and characters with snippy mouths and snarky comments. This makes them relatable and encourages readers to follow their exploits, usually through Noras frequent trilogy groupings.

While some may consider imitation as the sincerest form of flattery, Roberts became embroiled for several years in a plagiarism lawsuit against fellow romance writer, Janet Dailey. Dailey lifted whole passages from several of Roberts books and placed them as her own writing in her own works. She also plagiarized other writers, but Roberts was in the forefront of the suits. In a blogged update in 2001, Roberts explained to her fans on likesbooks.com that Dailey, despite her protestations that her plagiarism was due to family and psychological issues had been stealing Roberts copy for over seven years. As she states plagiarism is not a victimless crime. Its stealing and in order to resolve the issue The matter took [Roberts] over two years to resolve, cost a great deal of my time, energies and money.

Roberts and Dailey settled their suit and Roberts donated her award to the adult literacy programs. It should be pointed out that Roberts actually made the donation, Dailey just had to pay her the settlement. In many reviews of this situation, it is made to seem that Dailey was an equal contributor, when in actuality Roberts determined where and how to spend the money of the settlement. Daily has never actually apologized or admitted wrongdoing, making up nebulous excuses for her inexcusable behavior. She obviously copied from the wrong person, as Roberts tenacious personality and sense of her own self worth would not allow such an egregious fault to pass away unnoticed. Dailey also plagiarized from other writers, but it was Roberts who led the charge against her. While Dailey continues to write, her plagiarism will always be held against her. Roberts won by showing the same tenacity and spine that characterize her heroines.

Her prolific output has drawn criticism, scorn and even contempt from literary critics and writers, however, her legion of fans negates any of the critiques of her work, since as soon as a new book is announced, it is bought in staggering numbers. While she has only gathered a couple of articles in the New York Times itself, her books are always lurking near the top of the NYTs venerable bestseller lists. Roberts explained her output to the Washington Post I was educated by the nuns,guilt and discipline combine those and youll be pretty productive.

Because of the speed at which she produces a book and due to publishers limitations, Roberts also writes futuristic police procedurals in the In Death series, under the name of J.D. Robb. These books are grittier than her romantic suspense books, however, their main characters are still involved romantically and their relationships drive the action of the books. As Roberts says "Character is plot. Make them accessible to the reader. They may be a billionaire or they may be a half demon or they may be a gym teacher, but something about them has to relate so the reader can say, 'I understand them.'

Many of Noras books have been made into movies for the Lifetime channel. While some authors complain that their books have been changed too much or do not reflect their story, Nora Roberts is thrilled with these films for television. It was fascinating for me to read each draft of the scripts. The translations keyed into the heart of the stories. As casting progressed, my delight became absolute glee. She reveled in the process and her books keep becoming films each year. Even her producer, Peter Guber says of her "She's not a pain in the ass," "You have to listen to her, but, at the same time, she was completely like, 'You want to blend those two secondary characters together? Great. Not a problem.' As with most of her work, Roberts is professional, capable and understands the nuances of her genre not just in writing but as adapted for film as well.