Outside the Law with Kara Lennox

Tell the readers a little about yourself.

I've been writing stories since I was old enough to hold a pencil. My first few books were written as Karen Leabo for Silhouette Romance, Desire and Intimate Moments, and Bantam Loveswept. As Kara Lennox I moved to Harlequin American and Intrigue, then to Super Romance. Perhaps I have a short attention span? The stories I love most are romantic suspense, and at Super Romance I've finally found an outlet for the longer, more complex and suspenseful stories that are so much fun for me. All of my Supers are in the Project Justice series, which so far has six books (the fourth is out this month, Outside the Law). I grew up in Texas, spent some time in Kansas City, and recently transplanted to Southern California and LOVE IT.

As an author, do you take time to read? If so, what do you like to read and who is/are your favorite author/s?

I definitely take time to read, and my taste varies widely, everything from lush historical romance to tense mainstream thrillers. Right now I'm reading Ben Franklin's autobiography, a book by Robert Crais, a J.D. Robb (all at the same time) and a writing book by Donald Maass. Janet Evanovich is one of my favorite authors, as is T Jefferson Parker, Jasper Fforde, and a bunch of others. Whoever I'm reading at the moment becomes a favorite author, at least temporarily. 'Cause if I don't love a book, I don't finish it. Life is too short.

How do you stay motivated when the Muse is uncooperative?

My muse is well trained, and when I sit down to write, she's usually there. That said, sometimes I am distracted by other things, especially with all the social networking choices, gardening, crafts and artwork. I have to be very disciplined to turn off all that other stuff and write. It's hard work!

If you could go anywhere in the world on a romantic getaway, what would you do and where would you go?

My favorite getaways are cycling vacations. When you climb a big hill with your sweetie and make it to the top, sweaty and winded and triumphant, it's a bonding thing. Then at the end of the day you can relax with local cuisine and wine. We go to some very interesting places--Serbia, Bulgaria, Victoria Island. This summer we're going to the finger lakes in upstate New York.

What is the hardest thing for you to write?

Love scenes! It's not that I'm shy or embarrassed, but I've written so many, and it's a challenge to come up with some fresh way to describe it. (I've probably written a hundred loves scenes!)

If you could live the life of one of your characters who would you be?

I wish I could be as efficient and organized as Jillian (not to mention young, beautiful, skinny and stylish). She appears in all of the Project Justice books (I think) first as billionaire Daniel Logan's personal assistant, and later in her own story as an intern trying to prove herself as an investigator. But I wouldn't want to actually be any of my characters, as they have way too much drama in their lives and bad guys try to kill them. They end up in a good place, true, but I wouldn't like all the angst leading up to the happy ending. I'd rather write about it than live it, LOL.

The tag line on my blog is ‘Indulge Your Inner Romantic.’ What do you do to indulge?

My inner food critic, I guess. I love going out to eat and for a while I was a restaurant reviewer. My husband laughs at me because I get so much pleasure from food and he really just doesn't care as long as he doesn't go hungry.

What do you like to write about the most? The least?

Cops are my absolute favorite. I am fascinated by murder investigations and serial killers. I love putting characters in danger, getting them shot, having them almost die. What do I least like writing about? Well, once when I was a freelance writer, I had to describe a chicken processing machine. And fork lift parts. After that, anything else is a picnic. 

Thank you so much for having me as your guest!

I will give away one autographed copy of Outside the Law, my March Harlequin Super Romance, by random drawing from among all those who comment on this blog. Here is the link to the book's Amazon page, where you can read an excerpt: http://www.amazon.com/Outside-Harlequin-Superromance-Kara-Lennox/dp/0373717679/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329265136&sr=8-1