Published in the Leader, Sunday January 23, 2005
"I charged through Seattle's Memorial Cemetery with my arms pumping and heart
pounding. My mouth wheezed in great mouthfuls of dreary afternoon drizzle while
I ruined a perfectly good pair of black leather sling-backs. To top that off,
the purse snatcher, who was at least double my twenty-six years and probably
a heroin addict as well, had easily out-run me." - Dating Can Be Deadly
Sheila Reynolds
Staff Reporter
Tabitha Emery is a legal receptionist in her mid-20s. She's single, but has
a close group of girlfriends with whom she shares a plate of brownies on a fairly
regular basis.
There's a guy who's interested in her, but she, of course, has her eye on another,
more unattainable specimen - a married man with a beautiful, pregnant wife.
She's also got this other complication in her life. Tabitha is psychic, but
wishes she wasn't. And the uncontrollable blink that precedes her premonitions
makes it next to impossible to hide her special ability.
As stated on the back cover of Dating Can Be Deadly, "she didn't ask for this
talent ... but it clings to her like a thong and is just as uncomfortable."
Tabitha is the creation of Wendy Roberts, the Surrey author of Dating Can Be
Deadly.
While Roberts also has an interesting, eventful life, she isn't single, works
from home, and isn't currently exhibiting any clairvoyant tendencies.
In fact, Roberts, a married mom of four, has a life quite removed from the world
of dating and crime - another intriguing plot aspect in her debut novel.
The 281-page paperback, in bookstores next month, introduces Tabitha shortly
after she's had her purse snatched an she and friend Jenny happen upon the remains
of a cat inside a pentagram - thanks to a sudden, psychic vision. A subsequent
blinking fit takes a pair to a dumpster filled with blood and when it's identified
as human, Tabitha's role as amateur detective takes flight.
Dating Can Be Deadly, described as a comedic who-done-it, is the product of
years of creative writing by Roberts, who says she didn't choose writing, "it
chose me."
The Panorama Ridge resident has been putting pen to paper as long as she can
remember and has done "a little bit of everything." Her first memorable
piece was in Grade 3 when she wrote a poignant tale about a cup of flour's journey
to becoming a birthday cake.
But after a hiatus spanning a few decades, Roberts' later-in-life writing transformed
into a form of therapy to keep the then-new mom sane.
"When I was pregnant with my third child, I thought 'I cannot join another
mommy's group... I need adult conversation, even if it's only in my head.' "
She laughed out loud at her husband's suggestion to write childrens books -
because it wasn't nearly removed enough from the kid-centred world she was already
drowning - and eventually turned to adult fiction.
"I tried writing romance, but I wasn't very good at it because I was too
cynical about the whole happily-every-after thing," she says.
Repeatedly, however, Roberts found her writing straddling genres - including
aspects of both mystery, romance and comedy.
In fact when she began submitting work to publishers about three years ago,
one of the rejection letters advised her she ought to choose a style.
She didn't listen.
Her unique approach eventually grabbed the attention of Red Dress Ink, an offshoot
of well-known romance novel publisher Harlequin Enterprises Limited. Red Dress
specializes in so-called chick lit, picking up "unique and irreverent stories
that reflect the lifestyles of today's single women."
Roberts says she began writing chick lit before she knew what it was.
"All it really is is a woman's journey," she explains. "It used
to be primarily young women... but now it's sort of taken a new turn and involves
real women with real lives and real boyfriends. They may be looking for love,
but they also have careers and that sort of thing."
But Roberts' stories are rarely straight up as she makes sure the "silly
side" of each character shines through.
"I think life, in general, is funny. Follow me with my 4 kids through the
grocery store and every single moment has funny things happen."
With two other novels in the works - one involving a realtor that stumbles upon
a body, and another involving a Maui murder - she hasn't committed to a second
sequel to Tabitha's mystery adventures, but says she'd pounce at the opportunity.
"Definitely. If people wanted a follow-up, I could write it no problem."
"The murder is solved, but that doesn't mean she (Tabitha) couldn't solve
other murders."
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