Note: Text has been lightly edited and does not match audio exactly.
Tricia Ford: Hello, listeners. This is Tricia Ford, an editor here at Audible, and I'm here with Nora Roberts, also known as J.D. Robb, an author who needs no introduction. She's been a fan favorite for decades. We're here to mark a milestone in her In Death series. Yes, book 60 in the series is here. It's called Bonded in Death, and it's everything you'd expect from a Lieutenant Eve Dallas investigation, with its New York setting, international flair, and all the hijinks you could ask for. Welcome, Nora. Thanks so much for being here.
Nora Roberts: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
TF: Now, because this is a time of celebration and a big milestone for you, my first question is, how are you marking number 60? Do you have any special plans?
NR: Absolutely not [laughs]. Probably on the day it's published—it's always a Tuesday—I'll be at my desk working on another book. I'm just not a party animal anyway.
TF: Well, there's all kinds of parties. But all the fans will be celebrating.
NR: Well, that's great. I hope they have fun.
TF: What is your favorite thing about Eve Dallas?
NR: Oh, I have a lot of things about Eve Dallas that I admire and like. I think her sense of duty that's heavily twined in compassion. She's a very compassionate woman. Duty's first, and she's loyal. I don't mean to make her sound like a cocker spaniel, but she has a fine sense of loyalty, a good sense of humor, although she doesn't always think so. She's funnier, I think, than she thinks she is. But I don't think I could write her, especially not for 60 books, if I didn't like her.
TF: That's true, and I think that listener demand shows just how much readers and listeners like her as well. She is the heart of the series. But there are some sidekicks and other characters that are also fan favorites, and we listen and start every new book hoping to revisit them. And one, of course, is Roarke.
NR: Oh yes, he's got to be in there.
TF: He's got to be in there. He's an intriguing guy, and one question people always seem to have about him is why he goes by one name. What is it about Roarke that makes him a one-name kind of a guy?
NR: He only needs one. That's it. I decided back in Naked in Death, the first book, that he would have one name. He never had a first name, and he doesn't need one.
"What's important to me is to give them a good story every time, to write the best book I can."
TF: That is true. It's part of the mystery, part of his appeal, I think. But you have to wonder.
NR: He really, truly does not have a first name, that's why he's Roarke, just Roarke.
TF: Just Roarke. Now, with your devoted fan base, I'm sure you hear a lot from readers and listeners. How does it feel knowing that—you never make people wait very long for your books, I have to say—but that they're still eagerly awaiting, no matter how quickly you get these books out to them?
NR: Yeah, there are a lot of readers who almost resent the wait time, but they can read it a lot faster than I can write it. What's important to me is to give them a good story every time, to write the best book I can, whether it's an In Death as Robb, or as Roberts, a different kind of book. It's just got to be the best I can do. That's what I owe the reader. That's what I hope, when they put down their money or their library card, that they feel satisfied after they read the book.
TF: Right, right. Well, they do, that's why they keep coming back. Another aspect of the audio specifically, with this loyal fan base, is just how much people love Susan Ericksen, your longtime narrator. She's been there from the beginning, and I think her dedication to the series is a testament to just how special it is and how much fun it must be to be the voice of Eve and all those sidekicks. Have you met Susan?
NR: No, I haven't. I haven't. But I'm very grateful to her. I know that the readers, or the listeners, absolutely love her, and I'm so grateful that she wants to keep being those voices. Voice acting is such an incredible skill, and to be able to voice all those characters within one story and be consistent over 60 books, that's something else.
TF: Yeah. Now, do you listen to your own books?
NR: I don't. I don't listen to books, because for me, they're like being told a story and they put me to sleep. It's very relaxing. [It’s] one of the reasons I don't listen when I drive, because I'm saving lives here. I have a book in my hand. I like to read books. If I could when I was cooking or gardening or something, but they really relax me so much, I just want to take a nap. I think that it's so important for someone who loves stories to have so many choices, between a paper book, an e-book, a book they can listen to. I think it's amazing that we can offer those choices.
TF: I'm very curious about two other things, and the first one is getting back into the world of the In Death series. It's set in the near future, so there are inventions of things that actually have become real and things that haven't. What is your favorite thing that is now real that wasn't when you started In Death?
NR: I think probably, certainly the most ubiquitous, is the smartphone, or smart watch, either one. I only use my iPhone when I'm out of the house. Because I live in the country, we don't get really reliable cell service, but I depend on it. I see my grandchildren, it might as well be glued to their hand. I mean, people, their lives are on their phone. When I started in '94 writing them, that certainly wasn't the case. And now you have the watches that'll do the same thing. I thought I'd give her something like Dick Tracy [‘s watch], that's how far back, but then, it's much more.
TF: What's something that you imagined in the In Death universe that hasn't come to be yet that you would love to see happen?
NR: I know they're kind of working on it, but I would love to see an auto chef. I like to cook, actually, and I'm pretty good at it, but it would be so nice, when I didn't have time or I wanted to work another hour or whatever, I could just program. I have no idea how it would work, but I think people all over the world would be grateful for that.
TF: Yes, auto chef would certainly help you, since you are always writing. And this brings me to the other thing that I'm always very curious about. You write as Nora Roberts and you write as J.D. Robb. Do you have more than one novel going at once?
NR: No, one book at a time. I need to give that story and those characters all my time and attention, my emotional commitment, and I'm very linear-minded. Start to finish, every time, and then I can start the next. But I have to finish that book and tell that story and be committed to those characters before I can move on. Every writer works in a different way. There's no right way, there's no wrong way. For those who can go from project to project, and maybe they're having trouble with this one so they move over to that one, I think that's great. That's right for them. I couldn't do it.
"Voice acting is such an incredible skill, and to be able to voice all those characters within one story and be consistent over 60 books, that's something else."
TF: How do you mentally prepare yourself to approach a Nora Roberts novel versus J.D. Robb?
NR: Absolutely the same. It's no different as a different road on the highway. I just sit down and get to work. There's no mind-melding sort of thing, "Oh, today I'm J.D. Robb, today I'm Nora," it's just, "This is the story, this is the book, this is the job."
TF: Got it. I almost imagined that you had two separate rooms or two separate—
NR: No. [Laughs]. Not necessary.
TF: I love your work ethic when it comes to writing, because, yes, there's inspiration, but it's just really doing it, right?
NR: It's just really doing it. I love what I do. That's so, so helpful. But it's my job. I just happen to love my job. So, I sit down every day and do my job, and then I can congratulate myself every now and again for being able to make a living doing something I love.
TF: Maybe that's a reward in and of itself.
NR: It is, definitely.
TF: So, with the In Death series, do you ever see it ending, or do you have an end in mind?
NR: No, I don't think about that, it's just the next story. I don't think about, "Well, I've got to wrap this up now." If it came to the point where I couldn't think of anything fresh or new or interesting in that world with that cast of characters, then I might start thinking about what would be the best way to end it, but I don't feel that way right now. I really enjoy writing them and finding out what's going to happen next.
TF: That's great. Before you start any series, do you have a feeling that this could be another 60-plus book series or—
NR: Well, I don't write any other series, and no, I didn't think the In Death series would be 60 books when I started it. I don't look that far ahead. I really, sincerely look at the next story, and that demands all of my attention, that story. I don't really write spin-offs or sequels. When I'm done, I'm done, then it's on to the next. I write trilogies as Roberts, sort of fantasy novels or paranormal or something with a little magic or ghosts. Two books out in The Lost Bride trilogy, and the last will be out next November. Those are tremendous fun, because I do have to weave something through three books and not resolve it until the third. I guess that's as close as I get to doing a series.
TF: And what are you working on right now?
NR: I'm working on the hardcover novel, the standalone novel, under Roberts, for '26.
TF: No working title yet on that?
NR: No, it's a really terrible working title, so no.
TF: [Laughs]. Okay. That's good to know that even Nora Roberts has terrible working titles.
NR: Hopefully, somewhere, in the first draft, a better one will come to me. I'm well into it, but it won't be till the second draft. Eventually, it'll come.
TF: How many drafts do you typically have?
NR: Three. I do the discovery draft to just get the story down, and I don't edit as I go, I don't go back and fiddle. Then I start page one with a second draft and start fixing things, and fiddling and adding, subtracting, whatever it takes to see if I've got the story solid. I know more about the people. And then I do a polish draft to make sure it's the best I can do, absolutely the best I can do at that time.
TF: You mentioned the people and getting to know the people through writing that first draft, I love that idea, that they're still coming to life as you're writing.
NR: Absolutely. I don't know them very well when we start. I have an idea of them. They don't always cooperate with that idea, and it moves a little away from that or it expands from that. Sometimes they're exactly what I've envisioned, sometimes they're not, but they're the most important part of the story for me. The action matters, but it matters who it happens to or who drives it. My focus is always character-driven.
"The action matters, but it matters who it happens to or who drives it. My focus is always character-driven."
TF: Before we wrap, is there anything else you'd like to say about the In Death series that we haven't talked about yet?
NR: I don't think so. I would like to say the readership, what I hear when on Facebook and our social media, is they're incredibly loyal and incredibly invested, and a lot of them read the series, they'll finish the 60th book when it comes out, then they'll go back and they'll start at the beginning and read them all again. Read someone else! Expand your library. I appreciate it. It's so flattering that they just read me, but you've got to read more than J.D. Robb. You really need to expand your horizons a little bit.
TF: Well, there's a lot to choose from there. And being an audiophile, I would welcome all those people that have read all 60, come on back and listen to all 60.
NR: Well, a lot of them do. I hear that all the time. A lot of them will read the book first, and then they like to listen to it afterwards, and they say they get a different vibe, they catch things that they didn't catch the first time around. Or they listen to it and then read it. But there are a number of them who mention that, that they do both read and listen. I think that's kind of fascinating. Or maybe they want to revisit, so it's in their car when they're driving to work. I think it's great.
TF: Who are some of your favorite authors?
NR: Oh, I have a lot of those too. I'm always waiting for John Sandford's next one. That'll be Virgil Flowers or Lucas Davenport he's writing about. I love Stephen King. The great American colorist, boy, he really puts you there. Sarah Addison Allen. Love her books. I love Sue Grafton, rest in peace. I'm sorry Kinsey Millhone had to stop at, I think, Y. And Terry Pratchett, another, rest in peace. I'm all over the place. That's why I say expand your library. Read, read, read, or listen, listen, listen.
TF: Right. That's great. Thank you so much. This is such a pleasure.
NR: Oh, thank you. I appreciate it.
TF: And you're not celebrating, but I encourage you to go ahead and do that, it is quite an accomplishment. And just thank you so much for feeding everyone's desires for more J.D. Robb.
NR: I appreciate the appetite. I really do.
TF: It's a good thing to feed, so thank you so much.
NR: Thank you. Thank you.
TF: And listeners, you can find Bonded in Death by J.D. Robb on Audible now.
