When Eleanor Marie Robertson—pseudonyms Nora Roberts, J.D. Robb, Jill March, and Sarah Hardesty—does book-signings, who signs Nora Roberts?

During a book-signing described in The New Yorker (1):

A girl approached carrying a souvenir tote bag. “Everybody’s reading Nora,” it said.

“J.D. is offended, but I’m not,” Roberts said. She added, in a stage whisper, “She’s a bitch, anyway.”

Now if, psychologically speaking, it had really been Nora Roberts doing the book-signing, it would not have made sense for her to say “but I’m not,” because it would be assumed that Nora Roberts would not be offended by a tote bag that said everyone was reading her books.

So if, psychologically speaking, it was neither Nora Roberts nor J.D. Robb doing the book-signing, who was it? Someone who thinks J.D. Robb is a bitch, anyway.

1. Lauren Collins. “Real Romance: How Nora Roberts became America’s most popular novelist.” The New Yorker, June 22, 2009.