Into it: Nora Roberts
... Reading?
My husband owns a bookstore. I read a lot: Patricia Gaffney, Elizabeth Berg, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Lawrence Blocks, Sue Grafton, Stephen King. I've just finished Terry Pratchett's "Night Watch," and I'm just about to start Robert B. Parker's new book, "Blue Screen." I think Terry Pratchett's kind of a cross between Monty Python and Douglas Adams. There's so much there: the humor, of course – you can laugh your way all the way through his books – and the world he's built; "Discworld" is so interesting and layered and hysterically funny. There's also a lot of really clever and snide political commentary.
Parker's use of language is completely different from Pratchett's, of course. He's to the point, and I like that. While good and evil have their subtle shades, they're very well defined. I know when I sit down, I'm going to be intrigued by the story. I know that I'm going to get a really good look at the characters who, especially in his series with Spencer, Jesse Stone, or the new one, Sunny Randall, you get to know over the course of time with layers peeled off. I like the fact that good will probably get a few bumps and bruises, but good is going to overcome evil at the end of the day.
I write in absolute silence. I think that comes as a reaction against starting out, a million years ago, with a 3- and a 6-year-old. I just got Sirius satellite radio in the car. I've only had it about a week so I'm experimenting – it's very high-tech for me. The only place I listen to music is in the car. I'm still a rock-'n'-roll girl. I go all the way back to The Stones and The Beatles and move forward to Bruce Springsteen and Coldplay. I don't generally like country music, but I just got the new Dixie Chicks CD. I especially love "Lullaby" on there. They have gorgeous pipes.
I am in awe of [HBO's] Deadwood – Shakespeare with obscenities. Everything about it is brilliant: the acting, the writing, the cinematography – everything.
I really love Lost. Again, the writing is so clever and you never know what's going to happen. I like the idea of having to build that community and the political factions, or cliques, on an island. You're stuck, you can't go anywhere, you can't get off but you have to live with these people, like it or not. I really like The Closer. I think Kyra Sedgwick is doing an amazing job. And Medium[is] another show that features a strong female lead that is really accessible to the audience.
I just saw the new Superman. It was a little angsty for me. I want angst for Batman – I'm a big Batman fan, too – but I really enjoyed it. The flying scenes are just jaw-dropping. It just looked "up, up, and away." And [Superman] is so cute!
I have an enormous collection of DVDs, just like I have an enormous collection of books. Going back to really old movies – one of my all-time favorites, To Have and Have Not, with Bogart and Bacall – to Love Actually, which is just so charming and poignant and interesting, how all the characters are connected. I watch it a couple of times a year because it's a real tour de force in writing. And I like to watch Hugh Grant do "the dance," too!
• Nora Roberts's new novel, "Angels Fall," is published in hardcover by Putnam.