Karen Robards

BIO

Karen Robards is the author of thirty-three books and one novella. She is the mother of three boys, ages 12, 17, and 23, and lives in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. A regular on the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists, among others, she published her first novel at age 24. "I read, I write, and I chauffeur children," she says with a laugh. "That's my life."

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INTERVIEW

April 4, 2008

In this interview with Bookreporter.com's Shannon McKenna Schmidt, Karen Robards --- bestselling author of over 30 works of fiction --- discusses what sparked the idea for her latest romantic thriller, GUILTY, and sheds light on how her protagonist's checkered past affects present-day actions, creating the backbone of the story. She also explains why the novel revolves around the legal field, describes how her own children inspired one of the book's characters and reveals the biggest challenge of her writing process.

Bookreporter.com: In GUILTY, your new romantic suspense novel, Kate White is a prosecutor in the Philadelphia D.A.’s office and a single mother with a disturbing secret in her past. What sparked the idea for this book? Did it begin with something in particular like a character or a plot element?

Karen Robards: I love the idea that people are malleable, that they can and do remake themselves. This story explores the premise that almost anyone is capable of a single bad act, but does that make them an irredeemably bad person? In GUILTY, Kate has a difficult childhood, makes some wrong choices that end up with her being caught up in a terrible crime --- then decides she doesn’t like the person she’s becoming and does something about it. I enjoyed creating the complex, flawed but struggling person that she is. As I wrote her, she became very real to me. Actually, she’s one of my favorite characters.

BRC: One of the novel’s first scenes is a shooting in a courtroom. Do you draw on events or stories in the media for your books? How about for GUILTY in particular?

KR: A courtroom shooting in Atlanta originally inspired that scene. As I did more research, I discovered that courtrooms are uniquely vulnerable to violence. Unless and until they are convicted, defendants are presumed innocent and almost always appear in court unrestrained. Some of these defendants are --- in fact --- guilty, are aware that they are probably going to be convicted, and are desperate to escape punishment by whatever means they need to use. It’s a credit to all the very effective security measures in place that there is not more violence in courtrooms across the country.

BRC: The main characters in GUILTY are a district attorney and a homicide detective, and details about law enforcement personnel and procedures are integral to the storyline. How did you conduct research on the legal aspects to ensure that they’re accurate? Have you ever worked in the legal field?

KR: When I was a little girl, if you had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have said a lawyer. That was the career I planned for. I was actually in law school when I wrote my first book, and, lo and behold, the thing sold and the plan changed. Now, of course, I realize I was meant to be a writer all along, but I’ve always loved the law and all things legal. I read law books and law journals, and follow certain interesting cases for fun, and occasionally something will find its way into my books. Among my many relatives are lawyers and police officers, and I can always check with them if I have questions. It’s a family joke that they take credit for the stuff I get right. With the stuff I get wrong, I’m on my own.

BRC: The story begins with two dramatic scenes, both involving Kate --- one that takes place when she is a teenager and another that happens in the present. How do these two incidents impact Kate, and what do they reveal about her character? What appealed to you about creating a storyline where the past comes full circle to impact the present?

KR: The past ALWAYS has an impact on the present. Every significant event that people experience leaves its own mark. What people perceive is shaded by their view of the world, which in turn is shaded by the things that have happened to them. Kate never experienced any kind of security as a child, so as an adult, security is important to her. She never experienced familial love, so creating a loving family life is a priority. Violence was an everyday part of the world she grew up in, and in the first dramatic scene, when violence explodes around her, she faces a choice: she can embrace it or not. The decision she makes sets her up to become the respected prosecutor and loving, caring parent she is as an adult. When violence blasts into her life again, she is faced with another choice that is even more agonizing because it involves her son. What she chooses to do is, of course, the backbone of the story.

BRC: As a mother, was it challenging to write about a child in jeopardy? Did you draw on any characteristics or behaviors of your three sons for the character of Ben, Kate’s nine-year-old son?

KR: I loved Ben. My boys are very protective of me, and I drew on that characteristic for Ben. They’re also very smart and resourceful, like Ben. And yes, as a mother I do find it challenging to write about children in jeopardy. But what I have learned as a mother is that children, even very young ones, are real people with personalities and quirks and foibles just like adults, and that knowledge enables me to use the fictional children that I create as characters just like all the others that populate my novels.

BRC: This novel has a one-word title, as do many of your other books like OBSESSION and VANISHED. Did you come up with the title GUILTY? What is it about one-word titles that are effective?

KR: I actually did come up with the title GUILTY, although many times my editor and a host of others inside the publishing company brainstorm with me until we hit on something suitable. A one-word title is easy to fit on the jacket --- it’s memorable, and it can be read at a glance. What’s not to love?

BRC: Did you travel to Philadelphia, the city in which GUILTY is set, to conduct research, or did you decide to set a novel there after visiting? Do you have personal ties to the city?

KR: I owe the Philadelphia setting to my middle son, who will soon be graduating from high school. As part of our college search, we checked out the University of Pennsylvania, which is located in Philadelphia, and I (careful mother that I am) did a lot of research into the area. It soon became apparent that it was a great city --- and a great setting for a novel. Thus, I was able to kill two birds with one stone, which is always a good thing.

BRC: GUILTY is your 33rd novel. How do you keep coming up with fresh plot and character ideas? Does it become harder with each book?

KR: Usually I’ll start with a character. Just as every person has a story, every character has a story. That story is the basic thread that determines the plot. Setting, secondary characters, even the love interest --- those are determined by the primary character and are the flavorings that make the whole thing come alive. At any one time, I’ll always have a dozen or so story ideas floating around in my head --- or on little scraps of paper in my office. If I could only find all those scraps when I need them, I’d have enough to keep me going for another 30 years without having to think up another thing! Unfortunately, I’m not that organized, which means I’m always having to come up with something fresh. As for whether or not it gets harder --- no. Like the truth, stories are out there.

BRC: How do you make certain to strike the right balance between the romance and suspense elements of a storyline? What do you find to be the biggest challenge about the novel-writing process?

KR: I’m going to answer the last part of this question first, because it’s the easiest: what I find most challenging about the novel-writing process is simply planting fanny in chair and getting down to writing. Instead of checking my e-mail. Or answering the phone. Or doing a little more research --- let’s see, where’s a spot near the Philly DA’s office where Kate and Tom could go for privacy? Head for Google Earth....

As to striking the right balance between the romance and suspense, I never think about it. I just write the story. So far it seems to have worked out pretty well.

BRC: You write in the novel about Ben, “He loved to read, and one of the reasons his backpack was always so heavy was that he always had a couple of books --- the one he was reading at the moment and the one he meant to read next, in case he should finish the first one unexpectedly and be caught unprepared.” Do you share Ben’s compulsion to carry a spare book? Have you ever been caught unprepared for reading material?

KR: I always carry spare books --- usually several spares --- plus magazines, tabloids, you name it, so I am rarely caught without reading material. Having nothing to read drives me nuts. Of course, when that happens I can usually scrounge up a paper and pencil or pen, so I’ll end up writing, either on the book I’m working on at the time or a new story idea or a dumb joke I want to try out on my sons (who groan at every one I come up with) or something.

BRC: You say on your website (www.KarenRobards.com) that you’re an avid reader. Do you enjoy reading romantic suspense? What other genres do you favor?

KR: I read everything. I like all genres: romance, mystery, horror, fantasy, thriller, paranormal, young adult --- you name it, I’ll read it. I also read a lot of nonfiction. I like history and biographies, and just finished a great book on Abraham Lincoln’s ongoing depression and how it shaped his life and presidency. (The title, of course, escapes me just at present.)

BRC: Can you tell us a bit about what you are working on now?

KR: My newest romantic thriller. It doesn’t have a title yet, but it will be out next April.

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.

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A MESSAGE FROM KAREN ROBARDS

April 1, 2008

Dear reader:

First, I wanted to let you know that GUILTY, my new hardcover romantic thriller about a feisty female attorney whose past comes back to bite her, will be on the shelves Tuesday, April 1st. Publishers Weekly called it “scintillating...a page-turner” and Booklist said it was “a pleasure.” I’m including an excerpt, and you can visit my website for more. Also on my website is my first-ever “trailer,” a short video clip put together especially for GUILTY. Check out the trailer, read the excerpt, RUN OUT AND BUY THE BOOK (I was trying for subtle, but I gave up) and let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you. There’s also a new contest so you can win free signed books.

On a personal note, we were hit by a tornado at the end of January and we’re still cleaning up. My two younger sons --- ages 17 and 12 --- and I were at home, it was about 8 pm and I was just settling in to watch “American Idol.” (I think David Archuleta has it in the bag, but it’s early weeks yet and I could be wrong.) It was raining and there were thunderstorms in the area, but the weather wasn’t that bad and there were no tornado warnings. My German Shepherd --- a 100-pound sweetie named Baron --- provided the first hint of impending disaster: he jumped into my lap. Since he is definitely not a lap dog, this was unusual. I was still trying to figure out what was up --- and not incidentally get him off me --- when I heard this weird sound, like a couple hundred chain saws revving right outside our family room. And the house started to shake.

Then it occurred to me that the chain saws actually sounded more like a freight train, and according to what I’d read, freight train sound was bad, bad, bad. Couple that with the fact that my house was really shaking by this time and I had one of my patented Eureka! moments: tornado!

I ran from the room shrieking for my sons, who were upstairs playing video games and, I’m generally convinced, wouldn’t notice if the house was burning down around them. The rest of the animals --- a mutt, a beagle and three cats --- swarmed down the front stairs toward me like they were abandoning a sinking ship. The boys --- startled out of their headphones by their mom’s window-shattering screams --- burst from their rooms and bounded after the animals. The lights went out while they were still on the stairs.

We made it to the basement, animals and all, and huddled together in the pitch dark as the house shuddered and the freight train seemed to roar right above us. Then --- nothing. It was suddenly, eerily quiet. Over.

In the end, we lost 20 trees, a lot of fencing, suffered some damage to the house and even more to the barn. Some of our neighbors were hit even harder. A couple of houses were flat-out destroyed. But no one was injured, so we’re all thankful.

And now spring is here, the roof is fixed, the surviving trees are in bud, and GUILTY is hitting the bookstores.

What’s not to enjoy?

Warmest wishes,

Karen Robards

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INTERVIEW

April 13, 2007

In this interview conducted by Bookreporter.com's Jen Krieger, Karen Robards --- whose 34th book is OBSESSION --- discusses various aspects of her writing process, such as mapping out finer details within the grander scale of her work and how she plans the plots of her novels around her characters instead of vice versa. She also explains why she likes to inject humor into all of her stories and shares a memorable encounter with one of her many fans.

Bookreporter.com: Themes of identity, memory, reality and perception are pervasive in OBSESSION. The idea that our memories, our realities and our very selves are fluid and malleable is fascinating, and you tackle those potentially tricky concepts without ever coming off as heavy-handed or having this information detract from the book's rapid-fire pace. Are you consciously aware of the balancing act you're performing in writing about such cerebral ideas so readers breathlessly keep turning pages?

Karen Robards: The thing that I found fascinating as I was writing OBSESSION was the concept that the core of a person's identity --- who he or she is inside --- never really changes. Katherine's physical appearance changes drastically. The environment in which she finds herself feels strange and alien. Her relationships don't ring true to her, and her memory is spotty at best. Yet the inner core of her personality --- her strength, her resourcefulness, her intelligence --- remains intact, and she is able to call upon it to keep herself alive. Coupling that kind of intense situation with a breakneck pace makes the writing fun for me and, I hope, the story fun for readers.

BRC: There are so many little details, like the sizes of the tiles on Katherine's floor and Dan's glasses --- both of which seem mere mentions at first, but become crucial plot points as the story unfolds. Had you mapped out these details and their place in the grander scheme of the book before you started, or do they evolve as things go along?

KR: The tiles occurred to me as soon as I started writing the book. Dan's glasses came later --- just about the time I needed them. As I write, the story unfolds for me just as it does for the reader. I always start with a grand plan, but it invariably changes as I go along. The thing about details is, they only have as much importance in a story as a character places on them. At first, Katherine made a fleeting mental note about the filthy state of her kitchen tiles. Later on in the story, the tiles became more important because they began to assume increasing significance in Katherine's eyes.

BRC: Katherine is perpetually on the run, fleeing one shadowy assailant after another, and the pacing of the book is breathless. You have obviously mastered the art of keeping the tension high and the readers completely absorbed --- not an easy task for a writer. Would you say this is something you've always had a knack for, or is it a skill you developed over time?

KR: First of all, thanks for the kind words. I love having my pacing described as breathless! But to answer your question, storytellers are born, not made, in my opinion, so this is something I've always had a knack for. For me, the key to writing a good tale is getting inside the head of my characters. When I am writing from Katherine's point of view, I try to see through her eyes. Katherine was in a dire, life-or-death situation, and the rapid-fire pace was a natural consequence of that.

BRC: Katherine is such a distinctive and unconventional character; from the reader's first encounter with her we know immediately she is no damsel in distress. What was your inspiration for her?

KR: I always try to get inside a character's skin, then ask myself what I would do in that situation. Katherine is a strong and determined woman who is desperately trying to survive, despite daunting odds. Her reactions are instinctive and visceral.

BRC: Despite the violent and twisted plot of the book, there is a lot of humor and wit --- much of it the result of Katherine's observations and narrative tone. Consequently, there was never a time when I wanted to put the book down because it was just too dark. Do you think injecting humor into a sinister plot is necessary to keep the reader involved? Do you think romantic suspense, as a genre, lends itself better to intermittent levity, or do you think most suspense/thrillers and mysteries --- regardless of their target audience --- benefit from the balance of the humorous and the ominous?

KR: I personally am a big fan of humor. I think it adds a little something extra to the story, whether it's romantic suspense or straight suspense or whatever. And Katherine had a naturally funny voice, which helped.

BRC: There are two major turning points in the plot of the book --- when Katherine looks in the mirror at the hospital, and, much later, when she and her mysterious "protector" arrive at a certain destination. As a reader, I saw neither one coming and was shocked by both --- as well as impressed by your pacing and plotting. Did you have these two pivotal twists mapped out when you started the book, or did they develop as you wrote?

KR: I knew that the first plot twist, the mirror, was coming in advance. The second developed as the story developed. It shocked me too --- which is always nice. There are always surprises along the way as the book unfolds, and that's one reason I keep writing.

BRC: One of the things that made the book so enjoyable were your characters, like the aforementioned Katherine and Dr. Dan. Typically, do you see characters or plot first?

KR:I tend to see characters first. Usually the heroine, because I have to identify with her and get inside her skin before the story can begin to unfold. As I said before, I see through her eyes.

BRC: All of your recent books have had one-word titles. Do you come up with the title before you start writing, or is that something that happens later?

KR: Usually the title and the story idea evolve about the same time. Sometimes, though, my editor and I do some brainstorming to get just the right title. Marketing gets involved in there, too.

BRC: Do you keep an idea file? How do you keep coming up with new ideas?

KR: I do keep an idea file, and if I could just find it --- my office tends toward the chaotic --- I would be thrilled. I've never had any trouble coming up with ideas. Like the truth, they're out there.

BRC: This is your 34th book and your fan base just keeps growing. What do you hear from readers? And can you share a favorite encounter with a reader with us?

KR:I get a lot of wonderful feedback from my readers, and I appreciate every nice thing they say about my books. Writing is such a solitary pursuit --- at least it is for this writer --- that getting feedback from fans is really important. It's good to know that people read and enjoy what I do.

I've had so many memorable encounters with fans, it's hard to pick one! But this one does stand out. In February, I was attending a conference in Salt Lake City when a woman came up to me and said she wanted to thank me for the many hours of reading pleasure I had given her and her mother. She told me that her mother had recently passed away, and that her last weeks, which were spent in and out of a hospital, were made more bearable because of my books, which the daughter read aloud to her right up until the end.

BRC: What would you say has been the most important lesson you have learned since you started writing?

KR: That books have a life quite apart from the writer. Every book I have ever written --- since the first in 1981 --- is still in print. They're out there on their own, sometimes for years and years. That's why I want every single book I write to be wonderful, and why I always do my best to make sure they are. I want readers to pick up my newest book, or a book I wrote 10 or 15 years ago, or whenever, and love it.

BRC: What can readers expect to see from you next?

KR: I'm just beginning work on my newest romantic suspense, which should be out next April.

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