Nora Roberts, who was born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950, is an American writer who has written more than 225 books. She is best known for writing romance novels under her own name. She also writes mystery stories that include science fiction elements, using the name J. D. Robb. Additionally, she has written books under the names Jill March and Sarah Hardesty in the United Kingdom.
Life and career
Roberts was born on October 10, 1950, in Silver Spring, Maryland, the youngest of five children. Her parents have Irish ancestry, and she has described herself as "an Irishwoman through and through." Her family loved reading, so books were always important in her life. Although she imagined stories as a child, Roberts did not write during her youth except for school essays. She once said she "told lies. Really good ones—some of which my mother still believes." She credits the nuns at her Catholic school for teaching her to be disciplined.
During her second year of high school, Roberts transferred to Montgomery Blair High School, where she met her first husband, Ronald Aufdem-Brinke. They married in 1968, against her parents' wishes, and moved to Boonsboro, Maryland. Roberts' husband worked at his father's sheet-metal business before joining her parents in their lighting company. She had two sons and later referred to this time as her "Earth Mother" years, when she made crafts like ceramics and sewed her children's clothes. The couple divorced in 1983.
Roberts met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, a carpenter, in July 1985 when she hired him to build bookshelves. Her husband owns Turn the Page Books bookstore in Boonsboro and works as an adult content photographer and videographer. The couple also owned the nearby historic Boone Hotel. After a fire destroyed the hotel in February 2008, it was restored and reopened in 2009 as the Inn BoonsBoro. The hotel’s suites were named after literary romantic couples with happy endings.
She is a fan of baseball and has been honored by the former Hagerstown Suns minor league team. Roberts began writing during a blizzard in February 1979. She said she had little else to do because of three feet of snow, a small supply of chocolate, and no morning kindergarten for her two boys. She fell in love with writing and quickly wrote six manuscripts, which she sent to Harlequin, a major publisher of romance novels, but was repeatedly rejected.
Dailey later became involved in a plagiarism scandal and admitted to stealing some of Roberts' work. Roberts once said, "You're going to be unemployed if you really think you just have to sit around and wait for the muse to land on your shoulder." She focuses on one novel at a time, writing eight hours a day, every day, even on vacation. Instead of starting with an outline, she imagines a key event, character, or setting. She writes a first draft with the story’s basic elements, then revises it to add details and study characters more deeply. She finishes with a final review before sending the novel to her agent, Amy Berkower.
Roberts often writes trilogies, completing all three books in a series to stay with the same characters. In the past, her trilogies were released in paperback because she believed readers should not wait for hardcover editions. Her new books are released in hardcover first, followed by e-books and paperbacks.
Roberts does most of her research online because she avoids flying. In 1980, a new publisher, Silhouette Books, formed to publish manuscripts Harlequin had rejected. Roberts’ first novel, Irish Thoroughbred, was published in 1981 under the pseudonym Nora Roberts, a shortened version of her birth name Eleanor Marie Robertson, as she assumed all romance authors used pen names.
Between 1982 and 1984, Roberts wrote 23 novels for Silhouette, published under various imprints. In 1985, Playing the Odds, the first book in the MacGregor family series, became an immediate bestseller. In 1987, she began writing single-title books for Bantam. By 1992, she moved to Putnam to write single-title hardcovers and paperbacks. Her fourth hardcover release, Montana Sky (1996), reached the hardcover bestseller list. She continues to publish single-title novels in paperback and occasionally writes shorter romance novels.
Roberts was featured in A Natural History of the Romance Novel by Pamela Regis, who called her "a master of the romance novel form" for her strong dialogue, vivid scenes, and compelling characters. Publishers Weekly noted her use of humor and multiple narrators, which were uncommon in the romance genre.
Roberts wanted to write romantic suspense like Mary Stewart but focused on classic contemporary romance first to build a readership. After moving to Putnam in 1992, the publisher encouraged her to use a second pseudonym to publish more of her work. Her agent, Amy Berkower, convinced the publisher to let her write romantic suspense under the name J.D. Robb. The initials "J.D." come from her sons, Jason and Dan, and "Robb" is a shortened form of her last name.
As J.D. Robb, Roberts wrote the In Death series, futuristic science fiction police procedurals set in mid-21st century New York City. The series follows detective Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke. Neither Roberts nor her publisher acknowledged her authorship when the series began, hoping the books would stand on their own.
After publishing 18 In Death novels, Putnam released the 19th, Divided in Death, in hardcover in 2004, which became Roberts’ first bestselling novel of that year. As of March 2022, she has published 54 novels and 10 novellas in the In Death series.
Roberts wrote a story for a magazine under the pseudonym Jill March. She was also known as Sarah Hardesty in the UK, and the Born In series was released under that name in Britain
Charity
Roberts has been listed many times on the Giving Back Fund's yearly lists of celebrities who help others. Most of her donations go to the Nora Roberts Foundation. This foundation gives money to groups that support literacy and the arts, help children, and work on humanitarian projects. The foundation also funded the Nora Roberts Center for American Romance at McDaniel College. This center helps with studies and research about American romance novels, focusing on how important and special the romance genre is in literature.
Screen adaptations
The following books were written by Roberts:
• Magic Moments (1989)
• Sanctuary (2001)
• Angels Fall (2007)
• Montana Sky (2007)
• Blue Smoke (2007)
• Carolina Moon (2007)
• Northern Lights (2009)
• Midnight Bayou (2009)
• High Noon (2009)
• Tribute (2009)
• Carnal Innocence (2011)
• Brazen (2022)
Several of Roberts' books have been adapted into TV movies made especially for television. These movies were broadcast on Lifetime.
The 2007 Collection featured the following titles:
• Angels Fall
• Montana Sky
• Blue Smoke
• Carolina Moon
The 2009 Collection featured the following titles:
• Northern Lights
• Midnight Bayou
• High Noon
• Tribute
Peter Guber’s Mandalay TV and Stephanie Germain Production Company produced the eight TV movies.
Awards
The Romance Writers of America awarded Golden Medallion awards.
- The Heart's Victory: 1983 – Best Contemporary Sensual Romance
- Untamed: 1984 – Best Traditional Romance
- This Magic Moment: 1984 – Best Contemporary 65–80,000 words, shared with Deirdre Mardn's Destiny's Sweet Errand
- Opposites Attract: 1985 – Best Short Contemporary Romance
- A Matter of Choice: 1985 – Best Long Contemporary Series Romance
- One Summer: 1987 – Best Long Contemporary Series Romance
- Brazen Virtue: 1989 – Best Suspense
The Romance Writers of America awarded RITA Awards.
- Night Shift: 1992 – Best Romantic Suspense
- Divine Evil: 1993 – Best Romantic Suspense
- Nightshade: 1994 – Best Romantic Suspense
- Private Scandals: 1994 – Best Contemporary Single Title
- Hidden Riches: 1995 – Best Romantic Suspense
- Born in Ice: 1996 – Best Contemporary Single Title
- Born in Ice: 1996 – Best Romance of 1995
- Carolina Moon: 2001 – Best Romantic Suspense
- Three Fates: 2003 – Best Romantic Suspense
- Remember When – Part 1: 2004 – Best Romantic Suspense
- Birthright: 2004 – Best Contemporary Single Title
- Tribute: 2009 – Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements
The Quills Foundation awarded Quill Awards.
- Angels Fall: 2006 – Book of the Year
- Angels Fall: 2006 – Romance
- Blue Smoke: 2007 – Romance
- Divine Evil: 1993 – Best Suspense Novel
- Sea Swept: 1999 – Best Romance Novels (Favorite Romance of the Year)
- Survivor in Death: 2006 – Romantic Suspense winner
- New York to Dallas: 2012 – Best Romantic Suspense winner
- Concealed in Death: 2015 – Romantic Suspense
- Loyalty in Death: 2000 – Romance Novels (Favorite Romantic Suspense) and Romance Novels (Favorite "Other" Romance)
- Portrait In Death: 2004 – Romance Novels (Best Alternate Reality)