Today's Special - - Karen Hawkins

I'm delighted to welcome New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Karen Hawkins to TRD today. Filled with both humor and heart, Hawkins' books (more than 30, historical and contemporary) are always on my must-buy list. Her infectious humor is on display in her stories and in the following bio from her website:

Karen writes for a living between shopping for shoes, playing around on Facebook and Pinterest, looking for fun items for Hawkins Manor, and napping, although usually not at the same time. Sometimes, for fun, she takes Instagram pictures of her two rescue dogs, Sadie and Teke, and posts them online.

Yeah, she's a wild one.

Cuteness alert! PJ, here. I'm jumping in to introduce the newest furry addition to the Hawkins family: Karen's grandpuppy, Banksy. I'm in love. <3

Karen lives in balmy Orlando, Florida, with her husband, aka Hot Cop, and her two dogs. Her children are both out of college and have become productive, non-violent members of society. Karen writes six to eight hours a day when not obsessively reading research books on Regency-era Scotland, snacking on chocolate, or looking out the windows of her house and thinking about gardening. Her hobbies include sculpting, oil painting, playing badminton, and -- ok, ok, she doesn't have any hobbies, but if she did, she's sure they'd be something refined and fascinating. 

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKarenHawkins

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/TheKarenHawkins

INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/karenhawkinsauthor

PINTEREST: http://www.pinterest.com/thekarenhawkins/

Why I want to be Robin Hood.

Yes, Robin Hood. Just think about it. – if you were Robin Hood, you’d get to shoot bows and

arrows (and you’d be good at it – VERY good), engage in exciting sword fights (which you’d ALWAYS win), collect gold and beautiful jewelry (FREE!), AND go glamping with a bunch of merry men (who do all of the cooking and cleaning).

Seriously, what’s not to love about being Robin Hood?

Which is why my next book, THE PRINCE AND I (available tomorrow!), is a fun, swashbuckling, Regency Scotland-set retelling of Robin Hood, although … (drum roll, please) … my Robin of the Hood is no other than Maid Murian herself, and she – well, I’ll let you read the book to see the mischief she gets into, especially once she meets dashing, infuriating Prince Max of Oxenburg.

Just trust me on this: my fiery, red-haired Murian is no wilting flower. She’s more than willing to fight for those she loves, even when fate makes her difficult path even harder when she meets a green-eyed prince who is far too handsome for his own good.

The story of Robin Hood is old, old, old, first mentioned on paper in the 1377. Yes, the story is THAT old. And throughout the years, characters have been added -- Little John, Friar Tuck, and even Maid Marian herself. But after the first century or so, the main story has been the same -- a loyal, fierce opponent to a crooked prince, Robin Hood bravely fought for those who had less.

In preparing to write this book, I read several old Robin Hood tales and watched a ton of Robin Hood movies including those of Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe, Cary Elwes, (and more recently, the one starring Richard Todd), and even the Disney fox-as-Robin-Hood version, and I came to fall in love with the merry auld tale all over again.

Robin Hood is the story of independence, and love, of good fighting evil, and of power and responsibility . . . in a word, it’s a story worth retelling.

What Robin Hood books or movies have you seen? Which one is your favorite?

Karen is giving away two autographed books today. One randomly chosen person leaving a comment will receive a copy of How to Pursue a Princess and a second person will receive The Prince and I.