The Herald Sun gives you the latest news on Melbourne and Victoria Australia, but they also cover our favorite American romance author…
In a November 2010 interview, Nora gave Blanche Clark an awesome interview. Ms. Clark combined the new information with some already known facts to create a fresh look at Nora.
I pulled out a few of the quotes I found fascinating for this article. Especially of note is the letter from the truck driver. I thought that was really interesting. I wish more men would read her books. I think women would be happier world wide! 
Even A Truck Driver Can Be Moved By Nora
She earns more than Dan Brown and John Grisham, and thinks Armani is a genius. Who is Nora Roberts and how does she stay so down-to-earth?
AMERICAN author Nora Roberts is a one-woman writing machine. An author of 209 novels, she writes five books a year: two installments of a new romance trilogy, two futuristic police procedurals under the name J.D. Robb and a stand-alone romance novel.
Last year she sold 10 million books worldwide, and in 2004 Forbes magazine estimated her gross annual income was $60 million.
Surely that’s enough glory to bask in for the rest of your life.
But this humble 60-year-old grandmother, who lives on a country property in Maryland, measures her success in smaller ways.
Like the time she reduced a truck driver to tears.
She treasures his letter about how he listened to audio books on his long hauls, and unbeknown to him his wife uploaded Roberts’ Irish trilogy, The Gallaghers of Ardmore.
"He wrote, ‘Here I was and I pulled into the truck stop and I had to sit there, because I was crying and I can’t go into the truckstop where the guys were and order my grits’.
"He said, ‘You know, you can be a real guy and read these’."
PERSONAL NOTE FROM ME: I really like thinking of this big, tough guy ‘listening’ to Nora’s books and being affected. 
Destiny or Hard Work?
There is nothing in Roberts’ background to hint she was destined to become one of the world’s biggest-selling authors.
Born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950, she had an idyllic upbringing as the youngest of five in an Irish Catholic family.
She was educated by nuns for her first nine years of school, and though top in English, failed abysmally in maths.
"I was pitiful. I got an F-minus in algebra in ninth grade. It was really sad. I still don’t understand it."
When she transferred to the local public high school, her "superior" Catholic education allowed her to coast along, but she also discovered boys.
"I did well enough in school, but I didn’t want to go to college. I wanted to get married and have babies and that’s what I did."
She married Ronald Aufdem-Brinke at the age of 17. He worked for her parents in their lighting company while she stayed at home with their sons, Dan and Jason. Her only creative output was craftwork, including sewing, ceramics and macrame.
The story of how she suddenly became a writer is legendary.
In February 1979, when a blizzard had her housebound with two bored children for a week, she began writing a story inspired by the Harlequin paperbacks she’d been reading.
Harlequin rejected the manuscript but Roberts’ passion for writing continued, and several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981.
Her success came at the same time her marriage fell apart and she divorced Aufdem-Brinke in 1983.
"Even though that marriage was a disaster, I have two beautiful boys and two beautiful grandchildren. So I’m Irish enough to think things happen because they are meant to happen."
Her only advice for her 17-year-old self is: be a little more patient.
A New Love, A New Beginning
The story of how she meet her second husband, Bruce Wilder, is worthy of a romance novel.
"I hired him to build me a bookshop and do some other work around the house. He did a good job, he looked great in a toolbelt, so here we are 25 years later."
Wilder sounds remarkably similar to Simon Doyle, a character in Roberts’ recent stand-alone book, The Search.
"Bruce would like to say all my heroes are based on him," she says, laughing.
"But I don’t base characters on anyone. I make them up, otherwise I’d be thinking about that person and not the character."
For 14 years, Wilder has run the Turn The Page Bookstore in Boonsboro, the nearest town to their home.
There is a room dedicated to Roberts’ books and she does about five book-signings there each year. The next one is scheduled for December 4.
Nora’s Views on Celebrity and Politics
Though she is one of the most famous authors in the world, Roberts doesn’t suffer the vagaries of celebrity.
She is overwhelmed by avid fans at author events, but rarely accosted in the street.
"I’ve been on vacation on Grand Cayman and I was out by the pool reading and the woman next to me was reading one of my books," she says.
"She closed the book for a minute and looked down at my picture on the back and then looked over at me and looked down at the book, and then it was like, ‘Hey’.
"She was very polite and, thank God, she was enjoying the book."
Roberts says it’s rewarding to know her books not only entertain, but help people through difficult times.
"If reading one of my books has made it easier for them to get through cancer treatment, divorce or the death of a loved one, then that’s such a tremendous compliment."
She believes people who don’t read romance or relationship books have ill-conceived ideas about the content.
"They think they are all about naked pirates or whatever; they don’t realise that a lot of us grew up on fairytales, but we did not grow up waiting for the prince and the pumpkin. Women are not idiots. We know the difference between reality and fiction, but we need to look for someone who compliments us, who we love, who treats us with respect and affection."
A keen gardener and left-wing Liberal Democrat, who is "totally" behind President Barack Obama, Roberts has one guilty pleasure.
You can read more of this article by visiting the Herald Sun website.
