Nora Roberts quoted in Time's 2010 list of '100 most influential people'

Time magazine has quoted Nora Roberts in its May 10, 2010 Time 100 issue, which names 100 of “the people who most affect our world.” Roberts' remarks appear in the “Time 100 alumnae” section of the 2010 list.

According to an ADWOFF entry from Laura Reeth, Nora Roberts' publicist, individuals who had appeared on previous Time 100 lists were asked to comment on influences in their lives. Roberts, who made the list in 2007, answered two questions.

When asked, “What was your first job? How did it influence you?” she answered, “I was a legal secretary — for a mercifully brief time for all involved. The experience influenced me to never again subject any innocent party to my secretarial skills.”

Roberts' answer to Time's second question, “As you look ahead, what would you like to achieve?” was characteristically direct. “I'd like to finish this damn book,” she said.

On May 3, 2007 Roberts first appeared in the annual Time 100 list in the “Artists and Entertainers” section. Andrea Sachs had this comment:

Nora Roberts is to love as Masters and Johnson are to sex. As the world's leading romance writer, she has inspected, dissected, deconstructed, explored, explained and extolled the passions of the human heart since 1981.

In addition to the 2007 Time 100 article on Roberts, she has also been featured in at least three additional Time articles, going back to 2000. Paul Gray and Andrea Sachs’ article, “Publishing: Passion on the Pages,” in Time’s March 20, 2000 issue included the following view of Roberts from the late Kate Duffy, then an editorial director at Kensington Books:

Nora is the standard that nobody's going to eclipse . . . Authors don't know how Nora does it. She is unique. She is a phenomenon. She has a gift, an extraordinary talent. It just doesn't get any better than Nora Roberts.

The November 29, 2007 issue of Time contained two articles on Roberts. In the first, “10 Questions for Nora Roberts,” Roberts answered questions supplied by readers. Her response to the question, “Why should people read romance novels?” is a favorite of many:

They are a celebration of relations, finding love, overcoming obstacles and making commitments. I think that is something very worthy of respect. They're not just about naked pirates, although what's wrong with a naked pirate now and again?

Also on November 29, 2007, Time published a photo essay, “Nora Roberts: Romance Novelist.” The excellent photographs appearing in the online slideshow include Roberts at work, at home and with her sons at the pool.