SEELIE KAY: Postcards from The Ledge: This week in The Loft: Author Kayelle Allen!

Joining me today in The Loft is space opera and fantasy romance author Kayelle Allen. Kayelle's books are filled with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role-playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr! She is the founder of 7,000-member Marketing for Romance Writers and has been awarded a honorary lifetime membership to the OutlantaCon Science Fiction Convention. She is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and claims to have been married so long she's tenured!

S: Good morning, Kayelle! I'm almost disappointed you didn't arrive in a flying car, ala the Jetsons! That seems a more appropriate vehicle for the worlds you create!

Why did you become a writer?

K: I have wanted to write ever since I was a little girl. I've always been in love with words and with stories. The first word I learned to spell was CAT and I told my mother that now I could write a story about cats. Didn't realize until many years after my first book came out that I had indeed done just that. "At the Mercy of Her Pleasure" is about a half-human half-Kin character named Senth. The Kin are a race of feline-humanoids.

S: (Chuckles.) I have always thought my cats were part-human. They were certainly better behaved than some people!

If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to write books?

K: Oh, heck yes. I love this!

S: What/who inspires you?

K: I'm greatly inspired by music. I listen to groups like Audiomachine, Future World Music, Really Slow Motion, and the misnamed, Two Steps from Hell. Their music is a godsend when I'm writing. I also take great inspiration from Nik Nitsvetov, a cosplayer who has cosplayed my character, Pietas. Nik has brought him to life in two separate cosplays. You'll find images of Pietas and a tribute page to Nik on my website.

S: It must be so satisfying to have your characters brought to life!

How would you like to be remembered?

K: I'd like to be remembered as someone who took time to help others. I want to be remembered as a person who cared.

S: (Nods.) In my opinion, those are worthy goals.

What are you currently working on?

K: I'm putting the finishing touches on "A Stolen Heart," which features the hero from "At the Mercy of Her Pleasure." When he was three years old, Senth was adopted by the former head of the Thieves' Guild, and this is how and why that happened. It's a redemption story with a wounded hero, Luc Saint-Cyr. Here are the basics:

After rescuing an alien child who is running for his life, Luc Saint-Cyr stumbles onto a conspiracy of the highest levels of the powerful Thieves' Guild. Complicating matters, his immortal ex might be involved. Now he must deal with his ex, find a home for the child, squelch the flames of conspiracy and eradicate its perpetrators. As if that's not enough, an unseen enemy is undoing every good thing Luc accomplishes. But when it comes time to give up the child to a family who can care for him, how can Luc bear to part with the adorable little boy who has stolen his heart...

S: Tell me about "At the Mercy of Her Pleasure."

K: Here's the blurb--

When a playful half-cat thief meets a by-the-book, enhanced-human captain, do opposites attract? Oh, mercy!

To free his enslaved brother from a cruel master, Senth, an all-party-fun-and-games thief, must take on the hardest assignment of his life: stealing from the Empress. To make matters worse, he has no choice but to work with NarrAy, a by-the-book rebel female captain whose addictive pheromones could jeopardize the mission and destroy Senth's will.

When the unthinkable happens and NarrAy professes her love for him, Senth must decide if what he feels is real. Can he trust this woman? If he loves her back, can he still save his brother? Or will Senth end up at the mercy of her pleasure forever...