The New Yorker has a excellent article (by Lauren Collins) about Nora Roberts in the June 22, 2009 issue. (You can find this article at many branches of Halifax Public Libraries or online using the General Reference Centre Database.)
Just to wet your whistle, did you know that twenty seven Nora Roberts books are sold every minute? That she begins her writing day by playing Gem Drop? That her friends refer to her as NFR (now, you will have to go to the article to look that one up!). The article explores her secrets to success. They are many: sense of humor, acerbic wit, terrific grasp of dialogue and character….and on and on. The trait that stood out the most for me was her work ethic. Nora Roberts is a grafter. She writes 6 to 7 hours a day. It’s her job and she takes it seriously. As Stephen King says, “Nora Roberts is cool.”
Her latest, Black Hills, a relationship that begins as childhood friendship and matures into passion. As children they discover a dead body and this discovery follows them into adulthood endangering their very lives.
While you are waiting for your turn to read Black Hills, you might like to try something by one of these writers of romantic suspense. Iris Johansen, Suzanne Brockmann, Elizabeth Lowell, JoAnnRoss, Jayne Ann Krentz and Anne Stuart.
