Nora Roberts was born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950. She is an American writer who has written more than 225 books. Many of these books are romance novels published under her own name. She also writes mystery stories that include some science fiction elements. These stories are published under the name J. D. Robb. Additionally, she has used the names Jill March and Sarah Hardesty (in the U.K.) for some of her works.

Life and career

Roberts was born on October 10, 1950, in Silver Spring, Maryland, and was the youngest of five children. Her parents had Irish heritage, and she often said she felt deeply connected to her Irish roots. Her family loved reading, so books were always important to her. Although she enjoyed making up stories as a child, Roberts did not write stories during her youth, except for school essays. She once said she told stories that were so good, her mother still believes some of them. She said the nuns at her Catholic school helped her learn to be organized and focused.

During her second year of high school, Roberts moved to Montgomery Blair High School, where she met her first husband, Ronald Aufdem-Brinke. They married in 1968, right after she graduated from high school, against her parents’ wishes. The couple moved to Boonsboro, Maryland. Roberts’ husband worked at his father’s sheet-metal business before joining her parents’ lighting company. She had two sons and later called this time her "Earth Mother" years, when she made crafts like pottery 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 a bookstore called Turn the Page Books in Boonsboro and works as a photographer and videographer. The couple also owned the nearby Boone Hotel, which burned down in February 2008. After the fire, the hotel was rebuilt and reopened in 2009 as the Inn BoonsBoro. The hotel’s rooms were named after famous romantic couples from books with happy endings.

Roberts is a big fan of baseball and was honored by the Hagerstown Suns, a local minor league team, several times. She began writing during a snowstorm in February 1979. With three feet of snow, a small supply of chocolate, and no school for her children, she had little else to do. She loved the writing process and quickly wrote six stories, which she sent to Harlequin, a company that publishes romance novels. However, she was turned down many times.

Dailey, another writer, later faced a scandal where she admitted to copying some of Roberts’ work. Roberts once said, “If you wait for inspiration to come, you might never get a job.” She focuses on one book at a time, writing eight hours a 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 basic story elements, then revises it to add details and study characters more deeply. Finally, she polishes the book before sending it to her agent, Amy Berkower.

Roberts often writes trilogies, finishing three books in a row to stay with the same characters. In the past, her trilogies were released in paperback because she thought readers should not wait long for books. Now, her new books are released in hardcover first, followed by e-books and paperbacks. She does most of her research online because she does not like to fly.

In 1980, a new publisher, Silhouette Books, was created to publish stories that Harlequin had rejected. Roberts’ first novel, Irish Thoroughbred, was published in 1981 under the name Nora Roberts, a shortened version of her birth name Eleanor Marie Robertson. She used this name because she thought romance writers often used pen names.

Between 1982 and 1984, Roberts wrote 23 novels for Silhouette, published under different imprints. In 1985, Playing the Odds, the first book in the MacGregor family series, was published and became a bestseller. In 1987, she began writing single-title books for Bantam. Five years later, she moved to Putnam to write hardcover and paperback books. Her fourth hardcover book, Montana Sky (1996), became a bestseller. She still writes some shorter romance books, which she says remind her of her busy years as a mother.

Roberts was included in A Natural History of the Romance Novel, where she was praised for her strong dialogue, exciting pacing, and deep character development. Publishers Weekly noted her use of humor and different narrators, which were uncommon in romance novels at the time.

Roberts wanted to write romantic suspense stories like those by Mary Stewart but focused on classic romance first to build a readership. After moving to Putnam in 1992, the publisher asked her to use a second name to publish more books. Her agent helped her choose the name J. D. Robb, combining her sons’ initials (Jason and Dan) and a shortened version of her last name. Under this name, she wrote futuristic science fiction detective stories featuring Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, set in a future New York City. These books, part of the In Death series, focus on solving crimes and the growing relationship between Eve and Roarke. Neither Roberts nor her publisher revealed her identity when the series began, hoping the books would be judged on their own merits.

After publishing 18 books in the In Death series, Putnam released the 19th book, Divided in Death, in hardcover in 2004. This was Roberts’ first bestselling novel of that year. As of March 2022, she had written 54 novels and 10 novellas in the In Death series.

Roberts wrote a story for a magazine under the name Jill March. She was also known as Sarah Hardesty in the UK, and the Born In series was published under that name there. She later changed publishers. In 1996, she reached the 100-novel mark with Montana Sky, and in 2012, she doubled that number with The Witness. In 1999 and 2000, four of the five best-selling romance novels listed by USA Today were written by Roberts. Her first appearance on The New York Times Best Seller list was in 1991, and between 1991 and 2001, she had 68 New York Times Bestsellers, including hardcovers and paperbacks. In 2001, she had 10 best-selling paperbacks, according to Publishers Weekly, not counting books written under the J. D. Robb name. In September 2001, Roberts’ romance novel Time and Again reached the top two spots on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list for the first time.

Charity

Roberts has been listed many times on the Giving Back Fund's yearly lists of celebrities who give generously to others. Most of her donations go to the Nora Roberts Foundation. This foundation gives money to groups that help improve reading and the arts, support children, and help people in need. The foundation also funded the Nora Roberts Center for American Romance at McDaniel College. This center helps with research and studies about American romance novels, especially focusing on their literary qualities and importance.

Screen adaptations

• 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)

Many of Roberts' books were turned into TV movies that aired on Lifetime.

The 2007 Collection included:
• Angels Fall
• Montana Sky
• Blue Smoke
• Carolina Moon

The 2009 Collection included:
• Northern Lights
• Midnight Bayou
• High Noon
• Tribute

Peter Guber’s Mandalay TV and Stephanie Germain Prods. produced the eight adaptations.

Awards

Golden Medallion awards were given by the Romance Writers of America.

• 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 Destiny's Sweet Errand by Deirdre Mardn
• 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

RITA Awards were given by the Romance Writers of America.

• 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

Quill Awards were given by the Quills Foundation.

• 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)