Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Welcome Guest author Karen Tabke!!

We are thrilled to welcome a super cool person and a super hot writer, Karen Tabke today. If you haven't read her yet - oh my! You're in for a treat. Please, without further delay, welcome Karen..............

Hello, ladies! And thank you, Cindy for the invite to pop in, introduce myself and hang out for the day. I’m really honored to be here.

So, for those of you who don’t know me, I’m Karin Tabke, and I write really passionate romance! Seriously. And not just passion between the hero and heroine, but their passion for life, their passion for what they believe in, their passion for family, and living, and loving, and playing. Oh, and passion for food. I love a good food scene. LOL

My characters always stand for something and never fall for everything. They live hard, play hard, and love harder. We’ve all heard the adage write what you know; well I have taken that to heart. I’m a passionate person. I married a passionate man. My children are passionate. We are loud, emotional, and love to eat good food and be with the people we care about the most. I have three dogs, two cats and an African Grey named Max who has all of our laughs, cries and cell phone ring tones down pat. My house is in constant motion, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I started writing hot cops. It wasn’t a stretch, the hubster is a retired cop. His many years on the streets and the passionate people he worked with have given me endless fodder for my stories. But my first love, the reason I fell in love with romance was reading the sweeping historicals of the 70’s and 80’s. The meaty, emotional, passionate ones where men were men, and women were woman, and they made no excuses for who they were and what they did. Life was different one thousand years ago, and those sweeping love stories carried me off to my own world for countless hours. I still sigh when I think back to those days. And it was exactly that feeling I wanted again, and so The Blood Sword Legacy series was born.

I’m very excited to say I have two books out this month. JADED the third in my ‘hot cop’ series, and my debut historical, MASTER OF SURRENDER, set in tumultuous 1066 England. It is the first book of the series. Every time I think of the hero and heroine, Rohan and Isabel, I smile. Their passion for what they believed in nearly destroyed them but their love did conquer all. This story takes me back to the days when I was a girl, squirreled away in my bedroom eagerly reading and sighing and wishing that one day my prince would come. He did, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love to read about other girls getting their prince. It’s why I write.

So tell me, what book made you fall in love with romance? And I’d love to give away a copy of GOOD GIRL GONE BAD, SKIN or WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE, to a lucky commenter. As simple Hi, Karin, will get you in the drawing.

Thanks again ladies for inviting me here today!

48 comments:

CrystalGB said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
CrystalGB said...

Hi Karen. Good to see you here. Shanna by Kathleen Woodiwiss made me fall in love with romance.

Misty Williams said...

Love the covers. HOT. :)

Like you I'm a passionate person. I love to see people head-over-heels in love. Another thing about reading/writing romance is I love to escape for a little while and see the world, love, romance, and so much more. :)

Misty

Anonymous said...

Hey Karin, I'd definitely agree with Shanna, and Whitney My Love by K. Woodiwiss. And earlier, I delved into Rosemary Rogers and her Captive series.

Btw, I'm reading your debut historical now, and it's fabulous!

mslizalou said...

Hi Karen. I'm not really sure which romance I read first, but I think it was a Nora Roberts series romance. I'm pretty sure I took it from my mom's stack of romance books and had to read it in hiding(I was 12). I was hooked from the first page and have been reading all types of romance every since.

Lori T said...

Hi Karin,

Your covers are great! I really like the Jaded cover...it just draws your eye to it.

The first book that really made me love romance was Goldent Fancy by Jennifer Blake. I was too young to be reading it and I had "borrowed" it from my aunt while I was visiting for summer vacation. I was hooked from that moment on.

Cindy Gerard said...

As long as you're asking - it was LaVryle Spence and Tom and Sharon Curtis who tripped all those triggers and made me a romance junkie.
If you all haven't read Hummingbird or the Windflower, you MUST find those books.

Helen Brenna said...

Hi Karen. LOVE your covers.

I'm with Cindy. After all the Harlequins I devoured as a teenager, LaVryle Spencer did it for me as an adult. I came later to Kathleen Woodiwiss. And Johanna Lindsey was in there too.

I often miss those guilty pleasure type old historicals too. Will have to check out your Master of Surrender!

Unknown said...

Karin, welcome! Glad to have another historical person in the convertible!

And good luck with the new series. I LOVE the great of sweeping historicals. . . but I really like the new, snappy, adventuresome historicals, too. And I do love the cover of your historical. . . wow, that SWORD!

Kathleen Woodiweiss's "Shanna" did it for me, too. It was after reading that book that I started to write.

Karin, how cool that your career is proceeding on two fronts at once! Good Luck!

Kathleen Eagle said...

Hi Karin!

Cindy, you mentioned 2 of my favorites. I still hold up the Curtis's LIGHTNING THAT LINGERS as a shining example from the Loveswept line, and their SUNSHINE AND SHADOW is a wonderful mainstream contemporary.

My first romances were historicals--especially Westerns. I didn't discover series romance until I submitted an historical to an agent, who agreed to represent me and suggested that I write a contemp series. Silhouette was fairly new on the scene, and the market was voracious.

flip said...

My first romance was The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer. I was 11 years old. I have been a dedicated romance reader ever since.
Wow, everyone has mentioned some of my favorite books. I can't explain how overwhelmed I was by The Flower and The Flame when I read it.

Karin, I love the covers to both of your books.

cheryl c said...

Jaded and Master of Surrender both sound like wonderful reads. Congrats on their release-2 in one month! Wow!

Cindy Gerard said...

Kathy - I treasure my first editions of Sunshine and Shadow AND Lightning that lingers. I think that book by Tom and Sharon launched the Loveswept line.
I still have 'ahhh' moments when I think of those books.

Hellie Sinclair said...

That is definitely a cover I would PICK UP. Holy cow.

First book that drew me into romance:

First Love, Wild Love by Janelle Taylor. About a Texas Ranger who mistakes an innocent for a lady of the night, seduces her, then finds out she's the rancher's daughter he works for. Loved it!

I also loved Autumn Dove by...dang, I don't remember. He was a half-breed; and she was the Easterner...and they fall in love on the trail. Very dramatic. Adored it.

These were very delicious books when I was 13...and then I got hooked on Julie Garwood historicals.

Darcy Burke said...

Hi Karin! Kathleen Woodiwiss hooked me in too. And your new historical series reminds me a bit of The Wolf and the Dove. Great book. Looking forward to Master of Surrender. Love your title and cover too.

You look awfully prolific. How many books do you write a year?

Anonymous said...

Isn't Whitney My Love by Judith McNaught?

As a child I loved the gothic romances. Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, Taylor Cauldwell. Okay, I'm showing my age.


Laurel Bradley
A Wish in Time
Crème Brûlée Upset
www.laurelbradley.com

Debra Dixon said...

Karen-- Hello (again) and welcome! Totally love your covers. (covers have been on my mind as you know)

Currently I think I'm falling in love with romance again just looking at that great guy/sword cover!

I first came to romance as a teenager reading smuggled gothics at night. There is one contemporary romance I would dearly love to find again. The title was something like "Please Mr. Godinspickle." I swear. It was something to do with a joke in the book. I have fond memories but I wonder if the book was really any good. LOL!

I loved Emily Loring and Georgette Heyer.

Then came Shanna and there was no more hope for me. I was addicted and not looking for a 10 step program.

Anonymous said...

Hi Karin,

I still own the first romance I ever bought, a Harlequin presents called Blue Days at Sea by Anne Weale. Nothing happened in it, but it was still HOT. As for historicals, I think one of the first I ever read was a Jude Deveoux.

Your covers look great and the blurbs are very intriguing!

From another KarIn

Anonymous said...

Hi Karin,
I first 'discovered' romances as a young teen sneaking my mom's Harlequin books.
Like yours, our family is also very passionate (and VERY loud)!
Great to see you here. I'm always excited to 'find' a new author to read.

Anonymous said...

Good morning, everyone! I apologize for my tardiness in joining you all this morning, but deadlines rule right now. I pulled an all-nighter last night. So let me go grab a cup of coffee and I'll be right back to chat!

Anonymous said...

Good morning, Crystal, I remember Shanna fondly. What was the hero's name? Rorik? Something with an R.

Misty, I'm with you 100%, love is what makes the world go 'round and I like to be on that carrousel as much as possible.

Hey, LaD, I never read Whitney My Love. Actually after Ashes in the Wind (I think that's the title) I stopped reading Ms. Woodiwiss. Not sure why. You know another book I really enjoyed back in the day was Rosemary Rodgers' WILDEST HEART. Rowena and Luke. He was some kind of man.

Liza, I hid under the covers and devoured THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER. I literally was never the same again.

Anonymous said...

Lori, I didn't care for the JADED cover when I first saw it. I wanted hunky guy. But, when I held the book in my hand for the first time, I grinned from ear to ear. The j.peg doesn't do it justice.

Hey, Cindy, thanks again for inviting me! I haven't read Hummingbird or Windflower. Sigh, more books, not enough hours in the day. Do you ever wish you could just stay up 24/7 and never turn into a zombie?

Hi, Helen, thank you, I like my covers too! I've opened a JL book a time or two. My mil loves her. I was just thinking, I really loved Katherine Suttcliffe's historicals. She wrote a couple of contemps I liked as well. Whatever happened to her?

Betina, the convertible ride just got better! So you like the sword? Hop on over to my web site and check out the sword on MASTER OF TORMENT! :)

Christie Ridgway said...

Hi, Karin! Thanks for riding with us today. The book that made me fall in love with romance was These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer. And then I got hooked on Harlequins. Spent tons of babysitting money on those books. Still love 'em.

Playground Monitor said...

I didn't start reading romance until about seven years ago and it was actually category romance that got me hooked. 80% of what I read is category. I love the short format and the promise of a happy ending.

One of these years I'm going to have to read Woodiwiss and Curtis and Spencer and Heyer and catch up.

Marilyn

catslady said...

I've read pretty much all the authors mentioned but it was Woodiwiss that hooked me on romance the most. I've recently found Julie Garwood. Historicals have always been my favorite and Master of Surrender sounds wonderful. And what a cover!

Anonymous said...

Hey, Kathleen, I LOVE westerns. and I am embarrassed to say I haven't read one in ages, (except my friend Jan Kenny). Can you recommend a good meaty one?

Hi, Flip. am I bad because I've never read Georgette Heyer? I get the feeling I'm missing something good.

Cheri, thank you, and if I do say so myself, JADED and SURRENDER are pretty good reads!

Msshllion, I read my first romance at 14 under the covers. Very dee-lish.

Darcy, I think Ms Woodiwiss can be given the credit for turning many us doey-eyed girls into ravenous romantics! I remember when my brother, who is a year younger then me, found my dog eared copy of THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER, then threatened to tell my mom if I didn't let him read it. He was never the same again. He still talks about how he'd like to meet Heather Birmingham in a dark alley.

Anonymous said...

Laurel, I've read Mary Stewart and loved her!

Hi, Debra, another heart turned by Woodiwiss! and a sword! She really left a remarkable legacy for us all.

Hey, another Karin with an i! I need to read Garwood. I think there is something of hers in my towering tbr pile. After this deadline, I'm going to sequester myself in a room and read until my eyeballs drop out.

Georganna, ain' t it grand our loud lusty families? If you happen to pick up one of my books, let me know how you liked it.

Hi, Christie. Okay another vote for GH. Talk about spending babysitting money on books, I had a paper route. On payday it was a bee-line to the corner market that had a twirly book rack, and there I discovered Laurie McBaine (sp), and Rosemary Rodgers.

Marilyn you must get early Woodiwiss! you will sigh and hit yourself in the forehead saying, screw the V-8! Icould have had this all this time!

Catslady, I think after all of this mention of KW, I'm going go on a book search and snap up every one of her titles I can get my hands on. Have you read the old Anita Mills historicals? She's good too.

Jane said...

Welcome Karin,
My first romance was Julie Garwood's "The Bride" and I've been hooked ever since. I can't wait to read your first historica.

Cathy M said...

Hi Karen, Kathleen Woodiwess swept me into romance stories too. Over the years I've read all the genres, and love them all, the sexier the better.

Maureen said...

Hi Karen,
I originally started reading romance in high school but then I started reading more best sellers when I did get a chance to read. One day when I my kids in the library I picked up a book by Lavryle Spencer and have been reading romance for years now.

acdaisy95 said...

Notebook by Nicholas Sparks and Never Too Much by Lori Foster made me fall in love with romance.

Fedora said...

Hi, Karin! What fabulous covers! I'm excited to see your latest! And books and food are two of my passions, too!

As for which book hooked me? I don't remember the very first one (I definitely read some of those Silhouette First Loves in junior high, but didn't read a grown-up romance until high school, when a friend from Algebra lent me a historical of some sort. I can't remember much about it, but I was hooked and avidly read through everything at our local library. I stopped for a while in college and for a while after, and then picked up a Jennifer Crusie at the library a some years ago and have definitely been rehooked but good!

Dina said...

Hi Karen,

Your Master of Surrender cover is hot!

I can't remember wchich book got me into the lvoe of reading, sorry.

robynl said...

Hi Karen and welcome.
My first foray into romances were by Deveraux and Lavryle Spencer.

WK said...

Wow I like the sound of that historical as well as hot cops. My first romances were Jude Deveraux's Velvet Series, with VELVET PROMISE. I did read Pamella Belle before that and still have her books, I adored her work, but once I found Jude Deveraux I devoured all her work. I still have a collection of all her books.

I love a great love story. LOL

hugs,
Wendyk
www.the-keels.blogspot.com
www.four-ladies-reading.blogspot.com

Estella said...

Hi, Karen!
Bertrice Small made me fall in love with romance.

tetewa said...

Love your cover for Jaded! I don't really remember how I started reding romances, just know that they take me to places where I'd love to go and I've never been!

Anonymous said...

Hi, Jane, another Garwood fan!

Cathy, KW is the woman of the hour, and I'm with you on liking sexy books. :)

Maureen, glad you came back to romance. And I have to say, I have not been to a library to check out a book since my kids were younger. I really should go check out some of the titles mentioned here today.

acdaisy95, I read the Notebook. Made me cry. Good tears.


Hi, flchen1, I've been very fortunate in the cover department. My editor has a lot of input. She has been especially on top of the historical covers.

Dina, MofSurrender looks even better in hand. Especially that sword. ;)

WK, glad you're intrigued. if you do happen to pick up one of my titles, please, let me know how you liked it.

Ah, yes, Estella, Bertrice Small. Sexy stuff!

Anonymous said...

Tetewa, I'm with you on loving where romance takes me. I loved that place the
first time I read a romance, and like an addict keep going back for more. Life is good.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Unknown said...

Hi Karin! My aunt gave me my first romance novel when I was 13. I've been hooked since. I even still have the first book. Congrats on the new releases!

Caffey said...

Hi Karin! I've always been a reader as a child too because it was my way for me to communicate. I had just absorbed into reading because I could get into the world in what I was reading compared to home and school since I was deaf. So I had learned so much! I read everything I could. With romance, I saw my mom reading lots of series books and going to the store with her as she picked out each of one of the books they had out! It then became a routine that each evening I'd visit my mom's room and she would use miming and tell me about the book, and I would take it and read that evening and come back the next night to get a book and chat with her. Romance had such a wonderful feel to it and I could open up so much more to my mom. So I cherish those memories! Great question to ask, I loved thinking back on these!

Wendy said...

Hi, Karin! I love See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson - heck, I named my blog after it. It's one of my favorite romance books. :)

Cindy Gerard said...

ONe more time - Thanks again, Karin for hangin' with us today. Best of luck on the new releases and wow, those covers are so amazing!!
Hugs
Cindy

Anonymous said...

i love happy endings and lovers getting toghether.

kim h

Anonymous said...

Amy, how cool that your aunt introed you to the world of romance!

And Caffey, I would have loved to have picked out romance books with my mom. She didn't begin to read it until I started writing it. Now she is a huge fan!

Wendy, See Jane Score. Love that title!

Thanks, Cindy! I'll draw a name for one of my books in just a few, and post it here.

Kim, those endings are the best kind. :)

Anonymous said...

Maureen? You are my winner!! email me at Karin@KarinTabke.com with the title of one of my back list and your snail mail addy and I will get it right out to you.

Ladies, I had a blast today, thank you for inviting me, and thanks to all who stopped by to chat. If you want to chat some more you can always find me at my blog, www.karintabke.com/blog most days, I love having new friends stop by.

Take care, and happy reading!

Anonymous said...

When I was young I read Forever Amber and Gone With the Wind but I never had much time for pleasure reading. It was time spent on college texts. b But in the 80's someone gave me their copy of a LaVeryl Spencer book called Twice Loved and then I began to really read romance books. Also about that time I read Shana by Kathleen Woodiwiss-both still on my keeper shelf much to the chagrin of my husband.
JOYE
JWIsley@aol.com