Joining me today in The Loft is best-selling author Kayelle Allen. Kayelle writes Fantasy, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Romance, Gay Romance, and non-fiction. Her unstoppable heroes and heroines include contemporary every day folk, role-playing immortal gamers, futuristic covert agents, and warriors who purr. Kayelle enjoys attending science fiction conventions and has been a speaker at DragonCon, GaylaxiCon and NerdaCon. She holds an honorary lifetime membership to OutlantaCon, an Atlanta Sci-Fi convention. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Kayelle also manages the successful Romance Lives Forever blog, and is the founder of Marketing for Romance Authors, a support group for romance writers.
S: Welcome, Kayelle! Thanks for joining me today.
In your opinion, is true romance--the wooing, courtship, passion, seduction, the little gestures of affection, etc.--dead?
K: It's true for me. I've been married almost 49 years, and my husband and I still say, "I love you" more than once a day. We have this little gesture where we flatten a hand and stretch toward the other person, and they do the same and tap the hand. It's completely voiceless, but it's a way of showing affection. How it came about was we used to joke about Harry the Elephant, who lived in our house and tended to leave clutter everywhere. It wasn't us doing it, of course. So Harry got the blame. Then we started stretching out a hand and wiggling it like it was an elephant sniffing with his trunk. Over the years, it morphed into this little gesture. No words needed. Each knows what it means and we always smile at each other when doing it.
S: That's so sweet! What a loving gesture.
What inspires your stories?
K: Ideas fly through the air and land on me. I have no shortage of them. Anything at all can inspire a story. I was once watching the Super Bowl with hubby, and thought, "I wonder what this would be like in the Tarthian Empire?" Boom! Whole new story idea. Women being forced to veil in Afghanistan inspired Alitus. In his story, Betters are enhanced humans whose pheromones and voice can addict and enthrall. They are forced to wear an electronic veil that hides their faces and changes their voices to a genderless robotic sound.
S: What do you want inscribed on your tombstone? How do you want to be remembered?
K: I'm going to quote my immortal king here and say, "Vacant." I hope to be remembered as someone who helped others, and who was open to change her entire life. So much of my life has been realizing I needed to do X instead of Z, or that B was not true and it was actually C. When I learn something, I run with it. I love to learn and hope new knowledge always stretches me to embrace truth.
S: What inspired "A Stolen Heart?"
K: The series, The Antonello Brothers, was written backward. I released Senth's story, "At the Mercy of Her Pleasure," and then wrote a sequel about his brother, Khyff, in "For Women Only." A few years later, I released "Bro," which was the story of how the Antonello Brothers met and took place prior to "Mercy." In that story was a scene where Senth's father has a sweet recollection of playing hide and seek when Senth was a toddler. I always knew Senth had been adopted, but had never written the story. I decided to explore that. "A Stolen Heart" was born from that single scene, and it's probably my longest book. It serves as an excellent origin point for most of the characters in my story universe. This year, I released "Crystal Clear Truth," which is the final book in the series.
S: Is there anything special you would like people to know about "A Stolen Heart?"
K: First off, this book is free. "A Stolen Heart" is a found family story with generous helpings of rescue, redemption, and wide-eyed innocence, mixed with a badass hero. Readers tell me how much they adore the little boy in this story and I have to agree. Senth grows up to be a fun-loving young man who actually inspired my debut novel, "At the Mercy of Her Pleasure," and has been in multiple books since. So if you like "A Stolen Heart," you have plenty more stories where that came from!
Here's the blurb--Love can heal, but will a monster ever deem himself worthy of being saved?
Maybe not, because when your king is immortal -- and your ex -- can you ever catch a break?
S: Kayelle, thanks so much for joining me today. If you'd like to learn more about Kayelle and her books, please visit--
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayelleallenbooks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kayelleallen
Kayelle's Keepers: http://facebook.com/groups/KayellesKeepers
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kayelle-allen
Every book everywhere: https://books2read.com/ap/nEokkx/Kayelle-Allen
Newsletter: https://KayelleAllen.com/immortality
Meet Kayelle and become a Tarthian Empire citizen (and an immortal), among other reader exclusives at KayelleAllen.com/immortality
It's a lot of fun doing interviews, and then when I read them after they're posted, I get to enjoy it a second time. Thank you for having me!
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