J.D. Robb discussion
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Did Roberts really write all these books?
I am up to the tenth In Death book, and I just can't believe that Nora Roberts is really writing these books. I've only read about 4 or 5 of Roberts, but it just seems so different! If she is writing them, then she's amazing, because the styles are vastly different in my opinion.I read Remember When, and it was hard to believe that the same person wrote the beginning part of the novel and then the second part of the novel!
I still love the series though. Eve Dallas is a fantastic character to read about.
If they are ghost writers (and different ones at that), then I am impressed! I read alot of series books and have found that the in death series is pretty good at keeping the grammatical style, term use, and characters steady throughout the series. I read the first like 18 in a row and while there were of course some differences - overall there were more similarities. Other series that I have read are OBVIOUSLY written by others - you can tell b/c the style changes from book to book or in some extreme cases, the characters have totally different mannerisms! In total, if someone else is writing them - keep it up, they are doing a good job!
I think that is what makes them so amazing is the fact that they are so different but I would be disappointed if she is not actually writing them. I do not even want the thought in head.
I'm with you, B. While awaiting another ..In Death" book, I have broken down and read some Nora Roberts books hoping for the best and am always disappointed. In fact, one of the reasons I never tried the "...In Death" series until this year was because I didn't like the Roberts books I had read up till this time. I picked up my first "...In Death" book, cheap, at a church rummage sale and was delightfully surprised. I could have gone to my own death missing these delights because I read Nora Roberts before trying J.D. Robb. If the series is written by ghost writers, Ms. Roberts should have them do all her books.
Jess wrote: "I am up to the tenth In Death book, and I just can't believe that Nora Roberts is really writing these books. I've only read about 4 or 5 of Roberts, but it just seems so different! If she is writi..."I am in no way a romance genre kind of gal, but I have always like Nora Roberts style of writing. I've read almost all of her books and liked most of them. She often has a suspenseful or supernatural twist in her Nora books. While I don't like everything she has ever done, the first part of "Remember When" is totally her style when she writes as Nora. I don't have any trouble believing she could have written both.
Actually, I love the "In Death' books so much, I really don't care who's writing them as long as they don't start messing with the characters and making them different somehow, unless it's the character development that has been, up to now, exceptional.
I agree, i sorta hate all Nora Roberts books, but LOVE ID books. Roberts does write all of them, though.
Nora Roberts (Eleanor Marie Robertson) had long wanted to write romantic suspense novels in the vein of Mary Stewart, but, at the urging of her agent, she concentrated on classic contemporary romance novels while she built a following of readers. After moving to Putnam in 1992, the publishing company quickly realized that they were unable to keep up with Roberts's prolific output. They suggested that she adopt a second pseudonym so that they would be able to publish more of her work each year. Her agent, Amy Berkover, convinced the publishers to allow Roberts to write romantic suspense novels under the new name of J D (for her sons, Jason and Dan) and Robb, short for Roberts. She has also written under other names:
She wrote a story for a magazine titled "Melodies of Love" under the pseudonym Jill March.[16]
Roberts has also been known as Sara Hardesty. When the "Born In" series was released in Britain it carried that name instead of Nora Roberts.
Nora Roberts aka JD Robb
Vanessa wrote: "Great information, thanks!!"You are welcome.
Here is the way I see it.The different writing styles are kind of like a person behaving one way around 'the buds', another way around 'the parents', the offspring, the Law, the Clergy, work, etc... Not an act per se but a different aspect of a person. A person might cuss around this one or that one, but not those. Might listen to one style of music one place but not another. Doesn't mean a person is being fake.
I like LOTS of different music, foods, etc. I read lots of different types of books. They are all different aspects of me. My mind-set one way at work and another at the beach. I have my Mom hat, my daughter hat, my employee hat, and so on...
The same as someone writing under a different name...a different aspect, not fake, just different.
Zaanodes wrote: "Here is the way I see it.The different writing styles are kind of like a person behaving one way around 'the buds', another way around 'the parents', the offspring, the Law, the Clergy, work, etc..."
Very well said!
so we all agree roberts wrote these?
I think she did. I very much am in agreement :)
I believe she did too. And if she didn't, I don't want anyone telling me anyway. It would ruin my Roberts/Robb obsession and I really want to keep it, thanks.
YEA!! If anyone on here finds out that she doesn't write them all, (which I'm sure she does) keep it to yourself..thanks!
Wow i didn't even know about this!!! I heard that she writes like 6 hours a day or something. I didn't even think that was possible.this is really stupid, but what is a ghostwriter????
yea idk either lol. uhm yea six hours a day i a TON but obviously that means she loves it, right?
Gina, I think a ghostwriter can be someone who helps write a book or writes the whole book under the original author's name. I'm not sure if it is even legal, but maybe if the original writer or the ones with the rights to the books gives permission. This is just a guess, though.
Here is an article I found online re Ghostwriters:"A ghostwriter is a writer who writes on an assigned topic under someone else's name, with their consent. They often write books completely from scratch but sometimes their work involves rewriting or polishing an existing work.
Most books by famous personalities are actually written by ghostwriters. When you see an autobiography or memoir from a politician, businessperson, or celebrity, chances are that it has been written by a ghostwriter.
Here are a few examples. The autobiography "Ronald Reagan: An American Life" was ghosted by Robert Lindsey. “Learning to Sing”, the autobiography of American Idol star Clay Aiken, was written with ghostwriter Allison Glock. The autobiographies of Doris Day and Sophie Loren were written by A.E. Hotchner.
So how popular is ghostwriting? Statistics are hard to come by since many people don't want to reveal that their book is ghosted. Some industry estimates suggest that up to fifty percent of all non-fiction books are ghostwritten."
There is a whole lot more information there, I just googled 'what is a ghostwriter', and it brought up 'worldwide freelance' among others. That was the most informative tho...:)
I didn't know that. It's sort of disappointing in a way. It makes sense if the author gives their permission, but it's kind of a let down because you expect it to be them.Gathering from interview that i've seen of Nora, i feel like she wouldn't do that. She seems to really enjoy writing her own stories.
I'm pretty sure they would all be her own writing too..:)
I don't really believe there is much ghostwriting in the fiction arena.In biographies, the ghost doesn't have the information or memories. The celebrity doesn't have the writing skills. So, someone ghosts their memories into a book and everyone gets money.
In a work of fiction, it is different. Why would someone ghost a story and get less money than they would writing the story for themselves if the imagination and sweat-equity is theirs?
good point! i didnt think of that before
Of course people other than writers when writing a book have collaborators and ghost writers. I think it would be pretty pathetic for a *writer* to have a ghost writer. I would more align with those who think it's just another aspect of her personality. As an artist myself, I have never wanted to be pigeon-holed, and tend to like to enjoy -- and paint and design -- a variety of styles. It keeps life interesting. It is tiresome to be stuck in a box only creating one style of a thing, so I can see her wanting to explore another interest, another voice.
Personally, I'm not a fan of Nora Roberts, which may seem strange, but in fact I'm not a fan of romance novels. I personally wish the sex scenes in Robb's In Death books weren't so flowery -- I'm just no fan of the mush and gush, and I find that the flowery prose at that time goes against the character of Eve, too. But anyway, I really dig the character of Eve Dallas and the In Death series, and I like Roberts' voice when she writes as Robb. I'll keep reading. :c)
I don't believe she uses ghostwriters, I've read her In Death books more than just once-sometimes more than twice- and never noticed a difference in style just the developing of the characters. She explained her decision to use J.D. Robb because the style of writing was different than her Nora Robert books. As for me, I love her writing as Nora Roberts and was sceptical about trying the In Death books. Once I did I was pretty much in love with the series too.
that would make me a bit sad if she didn't really write all of the books, though i'd still like them. it's true though that some authors use different names for different series just cause the style is so different. like jr ward writes contemporary romance under the name jessica bird.
Yea because if people found out Nora Roberts was writing.crime/thriller the'd be like WTF? But J.D. Robb... Now she's bad-ass lol. I'm pretty sure that was the reasoning behind it.
Or, maybe she puts on a different personna when writing the Eve Dallas books and felt that personna deserved a different name. I guess only she would know. :)
I do not know if this is true or not, but i must say that I loved Treachery In Death a lot more than the last couple of books. It could be the personal nature of this one that was intriguing. I usually do not re-read these right away but I might read Treachery in Death again! Can't wait for the next one!
I've also heard she went with JD Robb because her publisher for Nora Roberts didn't want to put out any more books per year than they currently were and glut the market with Nora Roberts books. She was then able to get a different publisher as JD Robb for In Death series.Considering the number of books she releases in a year, I'm not surprised that the last couple of ID books were just so-so for me. (Loved Treachery though)
I don't recall the title just now but the one fairly recent ID book I didn't care for all that much was the one where the killer was using virtual reality. Probably because I am not into high-tech and wasn't fascinated about what was being done with it, I didn't find it as readable as most.As to whether Robb/Roberts writes all of her books or has a ghostwriter, I can only comment on the ID series and compare it to some of the "joint venture" books published by some writers. In most cases, if I am familiar with what the writers generally produce on their own, I can tell which books have been written extensively by the other author.
Eric Flint is doing this with his "1632" SF series, Anne McCaffrey did it with the books that followed "The Ship That Sang". Several books written with characters established by a deceased author have been very obviously written by someone else.
The style that is characteristic of Robb's handling of her ID characters and their interaction seems to not have this "off" taint to me.
I LOVED the virtual reality one! Where the game cuts of hat guys head?! I thought it was great but the one I dont like was the preacher one. I thought it was BOOring
Odd how things strike different people and why. I've lived in southern KY now for 10 years, in the heart of the "Bible belt" where there are at least two southern Baptist churches on every little country road. Not my upbringing, so find it fascinating in a "really? you're not kidding?" sort of way ... so I kind of thought the southern-Baptist preacher thing was fun.
I loved the virtual reality one, too. I think it was Fantasy in Death. Even though it's pretty recent, I sometimes get the titles mixed up, there are so many!! Ok and someone remind me what the preacher one was again. I usually know this stuff, so my brain must be mush right now.
I don't know if Nora Roberts has ghost writers but it would make sense. She is the most prolific writer i have ever read. She writes at least one in death book a year, a regular N.R book and at least one novella. That is amazing! I suppose it is also possible that she is an A type personality and a real workaholic.
Vanessa wrote: "I loved the virtual reality one, too. I think it was Fantasy in Death. Even though it's pretty recent, I sometimes get the titles mixed up, there are so many!! Ok and someone remin..."
Salvation!!
Honestly, I don't think her books are ghostwritten. If they are then her ghostwriter needs a huge raise because her 'voice' is consistent across all the booksI've read all her ID books, most of her trilogies and all of her single suspense titles. The writing style, the word choices, the cadences are soooo similar across all the books that you can tell it is her. Her style is very distinctive. So much so that it is a nit I pick when I review her books.
Her most recent suspense book Chasing Fire had a couple who were trying to figure out who was killing these people and I swear it could have been Eve and Roarke working through a case.
So all that --- and the fact that her love scenes in all her books are written using the same metaphorical language -- you know when the author uses colors, and storms and space travel to describe sex rather than, well, sexy words -- leads me to think she's just a writing machine.
I also don't think any of hers are ghostwritten
I think she's "an A type personality and a real workaholic," like Dee said.I want to say I read somewhere that she really does treat this like her job (which it is)—she gets up and writes from like 8 to 5 every day. But it's STILL incredible that she cranks out 2 NR and 2 JD Robb books a year, PLUS a JD Robb novella! Does she write a NR novella each year, too? I don't really read NR, so I don't know.
It's so funny, because I used to read Meg Cabot's blog, and she is NOT that dedicated to writing (or so it seemed), although she spits out 2 or 3 books a year. One is a kid's book, so that's not AS impressive, but still—usually 1 adult, 1 YA, and 1 kid book. But she's like, "I get up, drink coffee, eat breakfast, check my email for an hour, get a snack, write a bit, then eat lunch, then check my email, then write a bit, then get a snack, then check the latest celebrity gossip, then write a bit..." haha... I don't know how she gets anything done!
I have wondered the same thing. I have read all the In Death, up to Indulgence (which I am reading now)' and a whole lot of Nora Roberts, and I think the same person wrote most of them. There was one book in particular that I thought, "Nora Roberts did not write this book" I cannot remember which one, but it was in the middle of the series. I looked at the reviews of the book on here, and there were several others who thought the same thing. So perhaps she has some help here and there, but if it is so obvious that one book sounds very different from the others, it is a pretty good sign that she probably actually writes most of them herself
I came across an article about Nora and apparently, she writes a complete novel in 45 days. That's 10-11 books per year. So, I don't believe she uses a ghostwriter, and this article makes no mention of one. It's a good read:http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/...
Great article!!! Nora sounds like a HOOT!
Amanda wrote: "Love the article! Thanks for sharing!"You're welcome!
Hey that's a great article! For some reason I never thought Roberts would be so funny...which is stupid because you kind of have to be, to be as an amazing writer as she is!
J.D. Robb
Books mentioned in this topic
Fantasy in Death (other topics)Fantasy in Death (other topics)
Chasing Fire (other topics)
Anyone have the same feeling?