Interview

Nora Robert explains how three feet of snow, two active children and a dwindling supply of chocolate kick started her life as a writer.

Tell us about the blizzard of 1979 that jump-started your career…
The blizzard of ’79 hit in February, and I was stuck in the house with two small children. Any mother out there knows what it is to weep bitter tears when the radio announces that there will be no morning kindergarten. I live in rural Maryland, and had no four-wheel drive transportation, two active sons, a dwindling supply of chocolate and three feet of snow. I’d never thought about writing as a career. I thought everyone made up stories in their heads. But after days of being trapped by the blizzard, I was tired of playing Candy Land and was desperate for some sort of release. I took one of those stories in my head and wrote it down. The minute I started the process of writing, I fell in love with it. I had, to this point, sought some avenue for creativity in every craft known to man. Ceramics, embroidery, sewing (I even put little flies in the overalls I made my sons) canning, macramé, needlepoint, baking. I had a distressing craft addiction. Fortunately writing cured me of it, and I found the right avenue.

When you first took a number two pencil to a spiral notebook, did you realize that you were on your way to becoming a ...