KAREN ROBARDS

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.

My parents did not encourage romances.

Books are still my favorite present.

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

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 write the best book that I can write each time.

You look beautiful sitting there spitting at me like a she-cat. All I have to do is look at you, and I lust. I'm going to take you back to the hotel and take off that delectable dress and make love to you until you don't have the energy to be mad at me anymore." Ian Connelly, Marquis of Derne

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

My parents did not encourage romances.

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.

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.

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

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.

Books are still my favorite present.

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

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 write the best book that I can write each time.

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

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.

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

I grew up with three little brothers. Every Christmas, we'd have piles of toy trucks and Lincoln Logs and G.I. Joes under the tree. Those were for them. For me? My No. 1 favorite present of all time: books. Two or three tall stacks of wonderful stories that I could lose myself in for weeks.

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.

The good romances are as good as anything.

You look beautiful sitting there spitting at me like a she-cat. All I have to do is look at you, and I lust. I'm going to take you back to the hotel and take off that delectable dress and make love to you until you don't have the energy to be mad at me anymore." Ian Connelly, Marquis of Derne