The key to 'transporting her readers'

 

“I don't believe in writing anything that I don't know about or haven't researched about personally. I like to transport the reader to places, and in order to do that I have to do the research.” –  Jackie Collins

 

Born in Hampstead, England in October of 1937, Collins was the author of 32 novels, all of which appeared on The New York Times bestseller lists.  Her books, many still going strong, have sold over 500 million copies and been translated into 40 languages.

A naturalized U.S. citizen who also maintained her British citizenship, she started writing in 1968, encouraged by her husband who called her “a born storyteller.”  And so she began writing, turning out the bestselling The World is Full of Married Men on her first try.  From that point on she never really stopped writing, her final book The Santangelos released just before her death from breast cancer in 2015.  

 

Eight of Collins' novels have been adapted for the screen, either as films or television miniseries and others are still under consideration.  And while her books often were lambasted by critics and even fellow writers, the public loved them.

 

 “Inspiration is all around me,” she said of her prolific output.  “I can read a newspaper article and come up with an idea for a book.”