Biography for Nora Roberts, | 
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A Look at the Facts and Figures and the Emotional Side of Nora Roberts� Career |
Any way you look at Nora Roberts� career, the fact remains that she is a publishing phenomenon. Indeed, the numbers speak for themselves. With the publication of Carolina Moon, (G.P. Putnam�s Sons/March 2000) Nora landed her forty-second New York Times bestseller. In 1999 alone she had fourteen titles on New York Times bestseller lists - including her first writing under the pseudonym J.D. Robb. At the end of 2000, she�ll have 140 published novels translated in over 25 languages to her credit. Her numbers increase each year without fail. In the United States alone, a Nora Roberts book is sold every four minutes - bringing her total copies in print to more than 112 million. Recently featured in the New York Times, USA TODAY, Time Magazine and People Magazine, she is the fastest growing writer of women�s fiction in the world, with mass market sales that now surpass Danielle Steel.
But the Nora Roberts phenomenon is more than just facts and figures. From the many fans who turn out at her book signings to those who chat with her online, the common theme is how Nora Roberts� books have touched their hearts. Publishers Weekly said it best when they wrote, �When Roberts puts her expert finger on the pulse of romance, legions of fans feel the heartbeat.� A reader at heart, Ms. Roberts remains committed to the loyal category romance audience that welcomed her in 1981, while drawing new fans with her original paperback trilogies as well as her mainstream fiction titles.
�It�s a celebration of emotions,� Ms. Roberts explains about the appeal of her work. �It�s that wonderful rush of feeling when you first fall in love.�
All this success is the result of hard work and consistent excellence. Twenty years ago, Nora Roberts was a stay-at-home mother with two small children living in Western Maryland. When a blizzard in February 1979 left her stranded at home for a week with no school, she searched for something to keep her sane. Dragging out a notebook and a number two pencil, she began to write down one of the stories stirring in her mind.
�I�ve always loved to read, and I�ve always had story ideas running around in my head,� she explains. �But writing as a career never occurred to me. Writing down stories during that long week in February 1979 was more to save my sanity than a career move.�
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 desk drawers. It was the combination of drive, discipline and desire that pushed her to continue to create.
�I don�t believe in waiting for inspiration,� she says. �It�s my job to sit down and figure out what to write.�
And undeniably, Nora Roberts excels at that job.
For general information on LVA National Conference 2000: Show Me the Future!, call Peggy May at 843/671-2008 or E-mail to [email protected]
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