Nora Roberts

One of my greatest pleasures is falling into a story someone else has written.

I’ve gotten to know a number of readers from being online, and really treasure the time I’ve spent with them.

I generally write a first draft that’s pretty lean. Just get the story down.

I loved the process of writing.

I decided to write category romance as I’d recently discovered them, and enjoyed them.

Aren’t most romance heros, or heros in fiction of any kind, generally superior to real men? Same goes for heroines and real women.

Certainly the plagiarism, and dealing with the fallout of it, was the most difficult thing I’ve ever faced since I started writing.

I don’t think you can write – at least not well – if you don’t love stories, love the written word.

I don’t base any character on a real person, and really don’t do composites either. I make them up.

I’d always loved to read – and come from a family of readers – but I never thought about writing as a career.

If you write in category, you write knowing there’s a framework, there are reader expectations.

Every single book is a challenge.

I don’t believe for one moment you can write well what you wouldn’t read for pleasure.

My own sense of family, where I came from and what I made for myself is an important part of my life.

Mary Stewart will always be my goddess. I can pick up one of her early books – one I’ve read a dozen times – and still slide right into the story.

You don’t find time to write. You make time. It’s my job.

And each book has to receive your best effort every single time. No slacking.

Every writer has to figure out what works best – and often has to select and discard different tools before they find the one that fits.

The most important aspect of any story, to me, is character.

Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice.

I don’t fiddle or edit or change while I’m going through that first draft.

I believe strongly in writing groups such as Romance Writers Of America that offer support, information and networking.

In the summer of ’80, Silhouette bought my first book.

I find I use the Internet more and more. It’s just an invaluable tool. I do most of my research on the Net now – and certainly do the bulk of my communicating through email.

Action, reaction, motivation, emotion, all have to come from the characters. Writing a love scene requires the same elements from the writer as any other.

Actually, I find it great fun to develop family series with lots of characters.

I read a lot – and I read a variety of genres.

I long for typical days, but rarely get them any more.

For over a year I continued to submit mss, and have them rejected – the last few with rejection letters indicated the story was pretty good, but I was American.

I do indeed write on the road. My laptop goes with me everywhere.

I would hope that my writing’s cleaner than it was when I started.

I need to write to be happy.