Nora Roberts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nora_Roberts
Nora Roberts (b. Eleanor Marie Robertson, October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA), is a bestselling American author of more than 165 romance novels, and she writes as J.D. Robb for the "In Death" series. She also has written under the pseudonym Jill March, and by error some of her works were published in the UK as Sarah Hardesty.
Nora Roberts was the first author to be inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. As of 2006, her novels had spent a combined 660 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, including 100 weeks in the number-one spot. Over 280 million copies of her books are in print, including 12 million copies sold in 2005 alone. Her novels have been published in 35 countries.
Eleanor Marie Robertson was born on October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, the only daughter and the youngest of five children.[1] She is of Irish descent as both of her parents have Irish ancestors, and has described herself as "an Irishwoman through and through" [2]. Her family were avid readers, so books were always important in her life.[3] Although she had always made up stories in her head, Roberts did not write as a child, other than essays for school. She does claim to have "told lies. Really good ones -- some of which my mother still believes."[4] She attended a Catholic school and credits the nuns with instilling in her a sense of discipline.[4] During her sophomore year in high school, Roberts transferred to a local public school, Montgomery Blair High School [5], where she met her first husband, Ronald Aufdem-Brinke. They married, against her parents' wishes, in 1968, as soon as she had graduated from high school.[6][7]
The newly married couple settled in Keedysville, Maryland. Roberts's husband worked at his father's sheet-metal business before joining her parents in their lighting company. She stayed home with their sons, Dan and Jason. Calling this her "Earth Mother" years, Roberts spent much of her time doing crafts, including ceramics and sewing her children's clothes.[6] The marriage ended in divorce.
Roberts met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, a carpenter, when she hired him to build her bookshelves. They were married in July 1985. Her husband owns and operates a bookstore in Boonsboro, Maryland called Turn the Page Books.[8] The Roberts also owned the nearby historic Boone Hotel, that was undergoing renovations when it was destroyed by a fire[9][10] in February, 2008. After 3 million dollars in renovations, Inn Boonsboro opened on February 17, 2009
Roberts believes that pursuing a career as a writer requires discipline: "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." [11] She concentrates on one novel at a time, [12] writing eight hours a day, every day, even while on vacation.[7] Rather than begin with an outline or plot summary, Roberts instead envisions a key incident, character, or setting.[11] She then writes a short first draft that has the basic elements of a story. After finishing the first draft, Roberts goes back to the beginning of the novel. The second draft usually sees the addition of details, the "texture and color" of the work, as well as a more in-depth study of the characters. She then does a final pass to polish the novel before sending it to her agent, Amy Berkower.[13] She often writes trilogies, finishing the three books in a row so that she can remain with the same characters. When possible, she does the same with the "In Death" books, writing three in a row before returning to contemporary romances.[14] Her trilogies are all released in paperback, as Roberts believes the wait is too long for the reader.[3]
Roberts does much of her research over the internet, as she has an aversion to flying.[7] Despite this she owns property in County Clare, Ireland and visits the country regularly. Some of her novels are set in Ardmore, County Waterford.
It was hard to find a decent biography about Roberts. Check out the wikipedia site if you want more info, there is still more to be read
