Nora Roberts is Making Me Hungry

First I have to tell you about the quest. Back in 1981 I made a full-blown effort to become a writer. I got a smattering of rejection letters. I also got pregnant. Within two years I found myself with 2 toddlers in diapers, and the writing for a living thing went on a back burner.

Now fast forward to 2006. Home computers have changed the world. No longer does a writer have to type away on a manual typewriter, pack up a 3" stack of manuscript pages and mail them off to an editor, many times never to be seen or heard from again. But I digress.

Now my girls are out of college and one is married. The other one is engaged. And I finally have time to be a writer.

In my whole life I've read maybe 2 romance novels, and that was probably by accident.

But I had helped a friend move a few years ago and she had bookcase after bookcase buried 3 levels deep with books, at least half of which were romance novels. So I got to thinking, what do millions of readers know that I don't know? And I hate being in the ‘don't know' category. She gave me a whole box of Danielle Steele books to lug home. I bought them thinking I could sell them to a used bookstore, but after 3 turned me down I was chagrined. Turns out those books are so popular; the used bookstores are glutted with them. So I read I think two of them and the box went into the garage.

So a few years went by after that seed was planted. I was going through the library looking for more books on how to write poetry when my eyes caught on a title. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Your Romance Novel. So that is how the quest began. I was just going to have to dig in and read more romance novels. (For research you know).

A few weeks later I'm at the library again. I had every intention of going to the used bookstore upstairs in search of more Nora Roberts books. I had gotten through her book Key of Light and saw that it was a trilogy. So now I wanted the next two. I'd also read Ghost Hunter by Jayne Anne Krentz. I liked them both more than I thought I would, because they both had a paranormal theme. And I hadn't expected that in a romance novel.

Since the used bookstore is on the upper floor, and I had to go through the paperback section to reach the stairs, I found myself browsing the racks for more romance novels. I think I grabbed about 10.

I get to the used bookstore and believe it or not they are talking about romance novels. Not only that, they are talking about Nora Roberts. I also decided I'd checked out enough reading material, so didn't need to buy any of them. Which is a good thing, because one woman had filled a grocery sack with Nora Roberts books and we would have had to arm wrestle for them.

About that time an elderly woman came in and said to the elderly man at the register, "Can you recommend any inspirational books; you know the kind with no violence." I about gagged when he said, "Try the romance section," because both books I'd just read had murders in them. By then the ladies in the romance section had scooped the woman up and called out, "You should try Nora Roberts." The man at the register harrumphed and said he doesn't read Nora Roberts, thank you very much. And another woman said, "I'm too embarrassed to admit I read these things."

Frankly, I never read romance novels because I've been lead to believe they were tripe.

After reading a few, I'd have to disagree.

Anyway, when I got home, instead of carrying on with the Key trilogy, I couldn't resist starting her book "Dance Upon the Air." I'm almost done with it. For those of you who read it and need your memory jogged, it's about 3 witches and one of them is a kitchen witch. Which means there is a constant description of every delectable food imaginable including pork loin, tarts, blueberry muffins, and a whole parade of soups and salads and pies and pumpkin cheesecake. Nora Roberts is definitely making me hungry.

Lately I've been very anxious about medical tests and procedures, having no money, career problems, relationship problems. My mind was running in circles and I couldn't sleep at night. Then I remembered books. So I went to the library and picked up a newly acquired Nora Roberts book called Blue Smoke.

It was excellent. About a woman firefighter. I love strong female characters. It totally took my mind off of things for awhile. Books are great for people with overactive imaginations.

I turned that one in and checked out Angels Fall. I just finished that one yesterday. It's a murder mystery set in Wyoming. I'm not sure which one of these two I liked better, but they definitely held my interest. She writes equally well about the city and the country.

I'm sure you can find both titles on Ebay, Amazon, or your local bookstore or library.