Who Needs a Muse?

摘要

Nora roberts won't win the Nobel Prize in Literature—not unless they invent a new category for gross revenue. But for sheer output, few people can touch this 54-year-old novelist. In just over two decades she has written 157 books (7.9 million words added to the store of romance fiction), and 116 of them were bestsellers. Last year she sold 50 million copies, and stands to repeat that feat again this year. Jane Austen she isn't—and readily admits it. "I don't believe in inspiration," says Roberts in the husky voice of a chain smoker. "I was educated by the nuns. They are a lot tougher than any muse."