Monday, July 29, 2013

Scene of the Crime with Author Wendy Roberts!



This week's featured author writes a series that I've enjoyed from the very first book. The series-- called Ghost Dusters-- is a bit CSI Meets Ghost Busters, and its star is Sadie Novak, a former teacher-turned-crime-scene-cleaner. Sadie has a gift that very few people possess: she can see and talk to the dead. Naturally in the process of helping spirits move on, she gets involved in solving murders. Sadie is a character full of sass, smarts, humor, and compassion, and I love her to bits-- even when she gets herself into hot water, as she does in the latest Ghost Duster mystery, Drop Dead Beauty. Come back tomorrow for my review!

Now it's time to learn more about this week's talented writer, Wendy Roberts, who was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and now lives in the Pacific Northwest. With four teenagers, a guinea pig, and a dog, she often feels the need to steal away and write about crime.

Wendy Roberts
Hopefully you'll be intrigued enough by Wendy's photo to click on it. If you do, it will open in a new window for you to see the detail. Quite fitting for a mystery writer! I've also found a few links so that you can connect with her and learn more about her:


Now let's get to the interview!




What was the very first book you remember reading and loving? What makes that book so special?


When I was eight I began reading the Anne of Green Gables books by L.M. Montgomery. The series covers the capers of a young girl and I found her adventures hilarious and relatable. I still have those books!













Outside of your writing and all associated commitments, what do you like to do in your free time?

Chauffeur Mom....


I have four teenagers so “free time” is often my time to play chauffeur! When I’m not running around I have my face in a book or I’m planning my next travel adventure. Having four teens is also great inspiration for writing about murder and mayhem!







If I were to visit your hometown, where would you recommend that I go? (I like seeing and doing things that aren't in all the guide books.)

White Rock Beach

I’d probably take you down to White Rock Beach for fabulous fish and chips and follow that up with a visit to an eccentric palm reader that holds court in a tiny nearby alcove.







You have total control over casting a movie based on your life. Which actor would you cast as you?

Sandra Bullock
Most likely Sandra Bullock because her bumbling antics and snorting laughter most resemble my own.


Who is your favorite recurring character in crime fiction?

I follow so many series and have many favorites, but Stephanie Plum’s comedic romps in Janet Evanovich’s series are a definite “must buy”.








If you could have in your possession one signed first edition of any book in the world, which book would that be? Why that particular book?

I would love any first edition of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries. I’ve even visited the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London!


How did you celebrate when you first heard you were to be published? What did you do the first time you saw one of your books on a shelf in a bookstore?

My kids were little when I first sold, and we celebrated by going for ice cream. I’m a long-time customer at my local bookstore and when Dating Can Be Deadly came out I hurried to the store to be disappointed at not finding the book on shelves. I was about to leave the store feeling dejected when the manager showed me an elaborate display they’d done for my book near the front entrance. I’d walked right by it!


Name one thing on your Bucket List.

Ready to go!


I have a burning desire to see the world and I try to visit a new place every year (in a few weeks I’ll be in Russia). My Bucket List involves setting foot on every continent and, while there, writing new books.










You've just received a $100 gift card to the bookstore of your choice. Which bookstore are you making a bee-line for?

Seattle Mystery Bookshop


My favorite store is the Seattle Mystery Bookshop. The staff is fun, knowledgeable, and the place is haunted so that makes it a hundred shades of awesome rolled into one stop!






Available Now!





Thank you, Wendy, for spending this time with us. It was a pleasure to be able to get to know you a little better.

May your book sales do nothing but increase!


(And, Dear Readers, don't forget to stop by tomorrow for my review of Drop Dead Beauty!)

3 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for the wonderful interview! I love all your fun pictures :D

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  2. Wendy, I still have my Anne of Green Gables books, too. In fact, I'm currently doing a re-read and am on Anne's House of Dreams. Did you ever watch the Canadian miniseries that starred Megan Follows? I *loved* that incarnation!

    Excellent interview!

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  3. Hi Tanya! Yes, I did watch that miniseries. It was awesome. When I was 10 I wanted to die my hair red so I could be just like Anne lol! :)

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