Guest Post - Scarlet by A.C. Gaughen

Today I'd like to welcome A.C. Gaughen, author of the upcoming release SCARLET!

Many readers know the tale of Robin Hood, but they will be swept away by this new version full of action, secrets, and romance. 
Posing as one of Robin Hood’s thieves to avoid the wrath of the evil Thief Taker Lord Gisbourne, Scarlet has kept her identity secret from all of Nottinghamshire. Only the Hood and his band know the truth: the agile thief posing as a whip of a boy is actually a fearless young woman with a secret past. Helping the people of Nottingham outwit the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham could cost Scarlet her life as Gisbourne closes in. It’s only her fierce loyalty to Robin—whose quick smiles and sharp temper have the rare power to unsettle her—that keeps Scarlet going and makes this fight worth dying for.

FAVORITE THIEVES IN LITERATURE

Honestly, my favorite thing about my grumpy, prickly heroine Scarlet is that she is a thief. She is an unabashed, unrepentant, five-fingered-discount-lovin’, filching, sneaking, devious little thief.

But this makes sense if you know me. I love thieves. I love cocky thieves; bitter thieves; bumbling thieves; secretly rich thieves; all thieves. I bought a blush from NARS because it was called OUTLAW. I’m currently saving up to buy a Nissan Rogue.

Are you sensing a thievin’ theme?

Anyway, here are some of my favorites:

1. Eugenides

Hands down! Megan Whalen Turner’s Gen, whom we first meet in THE THIEF, is clever and sneaky and brassy as hell--in every book, Gen always has more secrets, more plans up his sleeve that the reader never sees coming, but he’s also fiercely loyal, totally unwavering in his dedications, and also really, really thoughtful in the sense that he plans things wicked far in advance. Plus I just love Turner’s world, based loosely on Ancient Greece. He’s my favorite.

2. Kat Bishop

I don’t just love Kat--I kind of want to BE Kat. In fact, in my personal fantasies, I generally picture myself as Kat. As the leader of a young gang of (mostly) family-legacy thieves, Kat rocks it as a bad ass girl that knows every trick in the book--and now has to somehow write a new chapter and in so doing, con the con-world out of everything it’s got. But she’s got a wicked one-two punch, because she doesn’t just steal, she steals to restore history to it’s rightful place. And the fact that Hale is a smooth swig of awesome doesn’t hurt either.

3. George Cooper

I’d be lying if I didn’t readily admit that Tamora Pierce’s books had the single greatest impact on me as a young reader; Alanna was my personal hero, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence that her great love was George Cooper, the King of the Rogue (ahem, see car choice above). The guy is thief royalty! The ultimate thief! And he’s crafty and clever but he’s also loyal; you know in Book One that he loves Alanna and he’s totally consistent with that all the way through to Book Four. But he also teaches her to fight and supports her and helps her be the best version of herself. AND he’s always the best person to come to for help. Devious, but effective, and I’m a fan.

4. Liesel Meminger

Oh, god. This is a different kind of thief all together, and nothing can follow her, so I left her for last. In Markus Zusak’s THE BOOK THIEF, Liesel is, quite literally, a book thief--she first snatches a book from a bonfire of books being burned by Nazis in Germany. She continues on, under the watchful eyes of Death, the ominous narrator, as she steals books from her neighbor’s library. She inherits the writings of a Jew hiding in a basement; she writes her own book of her experiences. She claims she hates words and loves them, that they have failed her and Germany and caused so much of the war, but still she steals for them. She is easily the most heartbreaking, utterly moving thief of them all.

Who did I miss?

Author Bio:

I am shamelessly addicted to staying up far too late (it feels like stealing time), diet coke (it burns so good), Scotland (stupid country stole my heart and won't give it back. Interpol has been ineffective for prosecution) and thieves (so I guess I'm not that mad at Scotland). 
Want to know more? Just ask!