Karen Robards

“But life has a way of chopping people off at the knees, and he was no exception. Ten years of his life had been stolen from him. Now he wasn't wasting another minute. He wanted to experience everything he had missed, to eat and drink and read and work and fuck as he pleased. His dreams were smaller now, but they were still dreams, and he was going after them with everything he had.”

“For Christmas 1999, my husband surprised me with a trip to Disney World. Along with our boys, we were standing on the roof of the Contemporary Hotel at midnight on New Year's Eve 2000 watching fireworks explode over every amusement park in Orlando. It was a magical way to celebrate the millennial, and a never-to-be-forgotten Christmas present.”

“I love 'The Guardian' series. Bianca St. Ives is one of my favorite heroines ever, and the combination of action, suspense, and romance makes her story pure fun to write.”

“I was in law school at the University of Kentucky and realized I didn't really like law school, so I took a creative writing course for something different.”

“When I was in law school, there was a used book store nearby. I picked up a Harlequin romance and read it. It was stress relieving.”

“My orange Persian Mews hangs out with me while I write.”

“I didn't know how to be a writer. But I thought, 'I can do this.'”

“The year I turned 16, I spent the weeks before Christmas dropping hints to my parents about how much I wanted - no, needed - my own transportation.”

“Books are still my favorite present.”

“The good romances are as good as anything.”

“My parents did not encourage romances.”

“I haven't always felt it was okay to read romance novels. When I was younger, it embarrassed me to be seen with my books, but I've come out of the closet.”

“My method is, I just sit down and write a book.”

“I write the best book that I can write each time.”

“I thought I was too intellectual to read something like 'Sweet Savage Love.'”

“I came out of what we romance writers call The Romance Ghetto, because we get so little respect.”

“I write to please me, and I've been very lucky. It's like playing baseball. You just keep swinging, and eventually you get a hit.”

“To move up to hardcover is a way of getting more attention for my books. It means a lot to me: It means my books are legitimate.”

“I start writing with only the vaguest idea about who my characters are and what is going to happen, and the characters and plot come into existence as I go. I've tried doing it the other way, but for me, outlining is a waste of time because I never follow the outline.”

“My books are about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary situations.”