Nora Roberts: The Romance Fiction Wizard

According to Publishers Weekly, Nora Roberts is the only author in the world who has written more bestsellers than any author.

In the year 1999 and 2000, USA Today listed five best-selling novels of the year of which four of them were authored by Nora Roberts. From 1991-2001, 68 novels of hers, both paperbacks and hardbacks were listed as New York Times Bestsellers.

In the year 2005, an estimated 12 million copies were sold, and as of 9th January 2009, more than 400 million copies of her books had been printed. Not only this, Nora Roberts books have been published in 35 nations.

Early Life of Nora Roberts

Born as Eleanor Marie Robertson, Nora Roberts was born on 10th October 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. She was born as the youngest of her four siblings.

At Blair High School, Nora met her future husband, Ronald Aufdem Brinke. After graduating from high school, she was married to her high school boyfriend in 1968. From the marriage, Nora Roberts gave birth to two children, Dan and Jason.

However the relationship didn’t last long. They divorced. Nora Roberts met her second husband, Bruce Wilder after she had hired him to build for her bookshelves. In July 1985 they tied the knot.

Bruce Wilder is the owner of Turn the Page Books of which is based in Boonsboro, Maryland.

Nora Roberts’ Writing Career

Nora Roberts’ initial career entailed working as a legal secretary.

Her future successful writing career began in February 1979. Together with her two sons, they were trapped in their home for one week from snowstorm. During this period, she tried different crafts to make herself busy. Having tried different crafts for a change without any fruition, she tried her hand in writing.

As is the case with most authors, Nora Robert’s first script was rejected by Harlequin for publication. She submitted several manuscripts but they were rejected. She didn’t give up.

The breakthrough came occured when her first novel ‘Irish Thoroughbred’ was published by Silhouette books in 1981. Her 23 novels were published by Silhouette from 1982 to 1984. From 1987 to 1991 she wrote single title books for Bantam, then single title hardcovers and original paperbacks for Putnam.

She has won several awards, and apart from her successful career as an author, she has also given back to the society. She is the founder of Nora Roberts Foundation, the organization involved in humanitarian work, and promoting literacy and arts.