Name: Pam
Location: Falling Waters, WV
Guest: Moderator
Question: Will you be doing a book signing in the area soon? If so, when and where?
Roberts: I have a signing this Sat, Feb 11 from one to three at my husband's bookstore, Turn The Page, in Boonsboro. Several other authors will also be signing. My husband's store puts on fun events. Hope you can make it!
Name: kim
Location: needmore
Guest: Roberts
Question: which book do you feel is you best book that you wrote/ And what other famous male or female author do you read?
Roberts: It's really impossible for me to judge which might be the best book I've done. And it's really so subjective. I can say the most important book to me is always the one I'm working on. That's the one that matters most at that particular time.
I love to read, and read a lot. Some of my favorites would be my pal (and Blue Ridge Summit resident) Patricia Gaffney, Robert Parker, Sue Grafton, John Sandford, Terry Pratchett, Lawrence Block, Elizabeth Berg. I could keep this up most of the day.
Name: Kenda
Location: Florida
Guest: Roberts
Question: Just wanted to say how much I enjoy the fact that you include the tri-state area in your books..imagine the suprise when I recognize the landmark...Thanks for taking me back home!
Roberts: I love this area--it's home. I really enjoy using it as a setting, putting in local landmarks.
Name: Deb King
Location: Forbes Road High School
Guest: Roberts
Question: What advice would you give to high school students interested in pursuing a career in writing?
Roberts: Study. Sorry, but that's a definite requirement. Read. Read everything, and remember to read for pleasure. For fun, not just for assignments. Write every day, even if it's just a page. You'll find your voice, your style, your particular area of writing interest with time, practice and exploration.
Name: elizabeth hess
Location: shepherdstown, WV
Guest: Roberts
Question: I'd like to know briefly about the new book Memory in death. I read Survior and Visions in death. I'm wondering if perhaps she (Det. Dallas)goes into more details how she killed her father.
Roberts: The current book, Memory In Death, deals with a person from Eve's past, her feelings about it, and memories that come back from after she was put in foster care. It really doesn't speak much to the time before that, or her father.
Name: cammy
Location: smithsburg, md
Guest: Roberts
Question: Of All the books you've written which is your favoite?
Roberts: My favorite book is always the one on sale now. So at the moment, my favorite book is Memory In Death.
Name: Cathy Marshall
Location: Sharpsburg
Guest: Roberts
Question: Will Mavis finally have her baby in the Memory In Death book ? I am so looking forward to Eve and Roarke's reaction to the real event.
Roberts: Sorry, you've got a little longer to wait. Mavis will have her baby in Born In Death, the next full length book in the series. We've had to shuffle my publishing schedule just a bit, so Born In Death will be out this November. And Mavis will, finally, have the baby.
Moderator: In a recent review in the Washington Post, one of your books was described as having a graphic rape scene.
How do you do research on topics like this and on police-related matters?
Roberts: There are many aspects of any given book that require extensive research. I do most of my through the internet, or through books. For a violent scene, I'd often rely most on my imagination and the characters involved. Who they are, what they are would play a major role in the tone and the action of a scene like this. Motive, location, the connection of lack of connection between the rapist and the victim.
For something more procedural, I may again rely on books--I have a lot of police and forensic material around here. Or I may talk to a cop.
Moderator: You've written so many books that it seems as if you are never at a loss for inspiration. Have you ever had "writer's block", and if so, how did you break out of it?
