During bouts of writer’s block, romance author Amber Roberts turns to an unexpected place for inspiration: graveyards.
The 39-year-old Arlington resident wrote parts of her newest book, Haunt Your Heart Out, while sitting in burial grounds, including the Evergreen and Saint James Episcopal Church cemeteries in Arlington, Old Yard Cemetery in Stowe, and Green Mount Cemetery in Montpelier. These haunts provided fitting scenery for the novel, a steamy romance that draws inspiration from Vermont’s ghost stories.
The story is told from the perspective of Lex McCall, a bookstore employee in Stowe, who finds herself falling for James, a handsome out-of-towner making a documentary about local hauntings. For the film, James draws on Lex’s old vlogs chronicling local ghost stories. The problem? James doesn’t know that Lex’s paranormal encounters were staged with special effects.
And James isn’t the only believer. Lex’s boss becomes convinced the bookstore is haunted and offers her a bargain price to buy the store. Now, both her budding romance and career hinge on her ability to prove the ghost stories are real.
Published earlier this month, the book weaves in the tales of two real-life Stowe legends: Emily, who supposedly haunts the Gold Brook Covered Bridge — aka “Emily’s Bridge” — and Boots Berry, said to lurk around the Green Mountain Inn.
According to legend, Emily was in love with a man of whom her family disapproved, and the two agreed to elope at the bridge. When he failed to show, Emily hung herself in despair. She allegedly still lingers at the bridge, waiting for her lover to arrive. Meanwhile, Boots Berry’s spirit is rumored to tap dance on the roof of the Green Mountain Inn, from where he fell to his death after saving a little girl stranded there during a snowstorm.
Roberts, who works a day job in copywriting, describes herself as a writer of “contemporary romance about unabashedly nerdy characters in ridiculous situations,” and she specializes in plots with elements of absurdity. In her debut novel, Text Appeal, a woman takes up text message–based sex work after losing her job as a computer programmer. In Haunt Your Heart Out, Lex meets James after her car gets stuck in the snow, and the stud also just so happens to be the driver who picks her up while she’s hitchhiking.
Seven Days spoke with Roberts via Zoom about her new book.
“Vermont’s a pretty old, spooky place.” Amber Roberts
What gave you the idea for Haunt Your Heart Out?
I grew up near Stowe and ended up spending a lot of time in the Stowe area. When I was about 19 or 20, I worked at a bookstore, and some friends I met through the bookstore wanted to show me Emily’s Bridge. We went there and checked out the cemeteries and all kinds of spooky locations. I was trying to show them that I was brave and cool. I could go to a haunted place, and it wouldn’t scare me at all. I was totally terrified the entire time.
When the pandemic started, I was really missing that experience I had all those years ago. So I started writing about this fictional person in this fictional bookstore, and then it just poured out of me. I kept writing, and it turned into this book.
You wrote parts of the book while sitting in a cemetery. What kind of inspiration did that give you?
I’ve loved cemeteries for decades. I used to actually take my lunch breaks in the Hope Cemetery in Barre because it was very close to where I worked, and it was quiet and peaceful. I liked looking at the gravestones and reading the inscriptions and poetry. It was a really calming and grounding place for me to be.
When I was writing this book and my previous book, I needed somewhere quiet to go. I couldn’t go to a café because I can’t handle all the noise and the people buzzing around. So I just started going [to the cemetery] and picked a nice spot under a pretty little tree, and it became my space. If I’m stuck on a writing project, I’ll go sit in the cemetery. Nine times out of 10, I can work out my problem while I’m there.
My favorite moments in the book were the flirty banter between Lex and James. Do you have any strategies for making the dialogue feel authentic?
I talk to myself in the shower, when I’m washing dishes or when I’m driving. People must see me when I’m driving and wonder what I’m doing because I’ll be having a conversation with myself in the car. Anytime I have a quiet moment, I chat back and forth as my characters and get a feel for how things might sound. That said, I always end up having to tone down my banter from my first draft to my final draft because it usually starts out sounding too mean. I have to turn it into banter instead of just an argument.
What do you think is the enduring appeal of ghost stories?
People like to have an explanation for things, even when there isn’t one. Sometimes having an explanation that’s a little fantastical or too spooky to believe brings a little bit of fun into the world. There are also people who very strongly believe they’ve had an experience with a ghost, and whether or not there’s an actual ghost involved is not for me to say. It’s also a great way to connect with people. Every time I tell somebody I wrote a book that has ghost stories, they want to tell me about their experience with a ghost.
Vermont’s a pretty old, spooky place. We’ve got all kinds of possibilities for ghost stories in this area. And it doesn’t matter which part of the state you’re in; there are tales no matter where you go.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Book Bonanza
Keep the Halloween spirit alive this weekend at the third annual Green Mountain Book Festival in Burlington, where several of the 29 participating authors will showcase their spine-tingling tales.
The festivities kick off on Friday, November 1, at the Venetian Cocktail & Soda Lounge, where mystery writer Archer Mayor will receive the inaugural Phoenix Books Lifetime Achievement Award. Mayor is renowned for his 33-book series following detective Joe Gunther of the Brattleboro police. Currently a death investigator for Vermont’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Mayor bases his fictional books on real-life field experience as a detective.
The evening will also feature music, light refreshments and a silent auction to support the festival. One of the items available for purchase: Chris Bohjalian will use your name for a character in his next novel. Bids start at $500.
On Saturday, November 2, head over to the Fletcher Free Library for a day of panels, workshops and poetry readings. Kenneth Cadow, the subject of a November 2023 Seven Days cover story, will discuss his book Gather, a 2023 National Book Award Finalist and 2024 Kirkus Prize winner. The novel, inspired by Cadow’s experiences as coprincipal of Oxbow High School in Bradford, follows a resilient teen navigating life in rural Vermont.
At 11 a.m., head to Burlington City Arts for a tour of the exhibit “Between the Covers: Works by Jane Kent.” The collection features artwork that incorporates text from various poets and writers.
Back at the library, a trio of panel discussions with Vermont authors closes out the afternoon. Daniel Mills leads “Spooky Season: The Ins-and-Outs of Writing Horror” with Margot Harrison, Brian Staveley and Kristin Dearborn. Amber Roberts moderates “Romantasy: An Emerging Genre,” about the hybrid of romance and fantasy, with Katherine Arden, Laurie Forest and Madison Rene. And Sean Prentiss heads “The Craft of Memoir” with Thomas Christopher Greene, Rob Mermin and Adrie Kusserow.
In the evening, head to Muddy Waters for poetry readings by poet laureate Bianca Stone and members of the Burlington Writers Workshop and Poetry Society of Vermont. The night will also pay tribute to the late poet Reuben Jackson, who died in February. His final works were published posthumously in the collection My Specific Awe and Wonder in August.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Phantom Feelings | Author Amber Roberts discusses her new book and the joy of writing in cemeteries”
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This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2024.
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