Morning with the Muse: The Vancouver Backyard Inspiration
Wendy Roberts is out early one morning, on a rainy morning, before the city is fully awake. There are some alert cats who hang about the fence. One of the raccoons observes on the sidelines and runs the odds. Roberts is slow, puts food away, and speaks in a low tone. It is a silent ritual, though it is somehow strained, the sort of strained one gets to know of when she wrote her books.
Throughout his twenty-plus-year career, Roberts has maintained a balance: the mundane bordered on the uncomfortable. She is a long-time mystery, thriller, and supernatural fiction writer who has dedicated 23 years to crafting stories that captivate readers and keep them turning the pages. Fashion has come and gone, but she has not changed much; she has been less guided by formulas and more by instinct.
Writing by Instinct: Having Faith in the Unknown
Roberts does not describe her novels in the usual way. She writes blindly and lets the story develop itself. That technique is commonly referred to in publishing circles as writing by the seat of your pants. It is just the only sense that it made to her.
There’s a risk in that method. A story will get lost without a clear strategy. But Roberts enters into the uncertainty. It keeps the process alive for her, and that vitality is reflected on the page. Unless she is aware of what will be said next, the reader likely will not be.
She has always worked with that feeling of discovery. It is also one of the reasons she has been able to continue and write book after book without losing her voice.
From Light Mysteries to Darker Ground
The initial novels of Roberts were inclined to a lighter and less serious mystery. Gradually, her work has become darker. The shift wasn’t abrupt. It was a slow process because her interests grew and she had more subjects to tell about.
What is notable is that her audience had gone with her. Readers who initially grabbed her cozier titles stayed with her despite the rising stakes and deeper shadows. It is difficult to create that type of loyalty. It implies more than mere taste in the genre. It speaks to trust.
The major preoccupation of all her books, both light and dark, is character. The settings can vary, the crimes can change but the emotional thread will be the same. Readers are aware of it, and they come back to it.
A Career Built with Publishers, Not Around Them
Throughout her career, Roberts collaborated with several established publishers, including Penguin Random House, Harlequin, Red Dress Ink, and Carina Press. These alliances have been the making of her, and have provided both access and permanence in an industry that hardly promises either.
The past 25 years have been transforming publishing drastically. Online retail and changing reader trends have compelled writers to change. Roberts has accomplished this without pursuing each new wave. She is more concerned with consistency instead. Write the next book. Then the next one after that.
It is a less high-profile approach, yet it is successful. Instead of having a single breakout success, she has created a piece of work that still appeals to readers even years later.
Beyond Borders to Reach Readers
Roberts’ books are now distributed far beyond Canada. They are found in the global market, in print and electronic form, and they are read by people who have never heard of her until they accidentally read one of her stories.
Such an audience is no longer an exception, but maintaining it is a different issue. So many titles compete for attention, and visibility may suffer as a result. The fact that Roberts continues to be there indicates something more sustainable: books that stand the test of time and readers who keep recommending them.
Why Mystery Still Matters
Ask the readers why they read mystery and thriller novels again, and the answers usually revolve around the same point. It’s not just about suspense. It’s about resolution.
Life is messy. Problems linger. Questions go unanswered. That is not so in a well-written mystery. There is some building, some guarantee that it will all work out in the end. Roberts is aware of this instinctively.
Her books have been characterized by some of her readers as a sort of controlled tension in which one can experience fear or uncertainty in a safe environment. You may enter into a dangerous world, but you will not leave it. On the last page, it becomes clear.
When times are uncertain, such storytelling takes on a different meaning. It is not so much escape as reassurance.
Always Working on the Next Story
Nevertheless, Roberts does not take time to look back, despite her long career. Her focus is on what’s ahead. New ideas, half-finished drafts, and half-finished stories never cease to exist.
She currently has several published manuscripts and others underway. It is rhythmic: write, revise, go. It is not all smooth sailing, but the habit.
And something like discipline in that, and something like impatience. Quitting is not much of a choice. There is always the next story demanding to be written.
The Long View
Writers discuss discovering their voice. A few of them can retain it for decades. That is what Roberts has managed to do, not that she has remained the same, but she has allowed her work to evolve without losing its essence.
She is sensitive to details, the type of things that other people would miss. One look, one indecision, one silent tension in a scene which is otherwise so ordinary. It is these that give her stories their feel.
Her focus has enabled her to create something sustainable, despite industry changes in which she operates.
Looking Ahead
Roberts is not seeking reinvention as she enters the second stage of her career. She is doing what she has always done: following the story in front of her.
Books on the way are more, and probably far more. To the readers who have been around her since the start, it will be a continuation of something they have heard. It is an invitation to those who have only recently come across her work.
After 23 years, Wendy Roberts is still writing the same way she always has, one page at a time, trusting that the story will lead her where it needs to go.
