Please introduce yourself and your book(s)
I’m Kayelle Allen. I’m a science fiction author and a US Navy veteran. I’m married,mom to three grown children and a grandmother to five. I write Science Fiction and Space Opera, Science Fiction Romance, Fantasy, Contemporary, and non-fiction. I’ve been published since 2004 and have over twenty books. I’m active on Twitter as KayelleAllen and I’m on Facebook under the same name. My Instagram account is kayelleallenbooks and I use it to meet authors as well as readers.Â
Tell us about the characters and relationships in your stories
One theme in my books is trust. Not only of others, but of yourself. Pietas, my immortal king, at times deals with family issues with the emotional level of a teenager, and I have a three-year-old who looks at life with the wisdom of an ancient. Emotional maturity has little to do with age, and my books reflect that. I have a race of catlike people called the Kin who can smell every emotion, and it’s all but impossible to lie to them. Another race, the Chiasmii, are dual gendered, telepathic and see the auras of humans. Between these two races, humans have a hard time pulling a fast one — but being human — they still try.
What lessons could readers learn about real-world relationships from your novel(s)?
Talk to one another. Don’t be so quick to make decisions based on what you know. Learn to listen more than you talk. When you listen without thinking of what you’ll say in rebuttal, you really begin to hear. Learn to read the non-verbal clues of others, as well as their tone.
What real-life relationship experiences, observations or insights have influenced your writing?
I’ve been married 48 years this month. That by itself teaches a lot of things at different levels. I’m a veteran, and joined when it was still very much “this man’s Navy” — I had to learn to hold my own against prejudice and wrong expectations. Plus I’m married to a former sailor who has PTSD, and with three grown children and five grandchildren, I have a lot of life experience behind me. I’ve written 38 books, many of which are free to my newsletter subscribers, and I’m self-published. Being an authorpreneur gives one a unique mindset. I’m creative, but also practical-minded.
Are there any relationship themes or topics you want to cover in future releases?
The Kin are a matriarchal society and believe males should be protected, and that they are better suited to raising children than fighting war. Why should males need an education when all they’re going to do is keep house and learn how to please their mates? Their culture is ripe for a revolution and I’ve been writing books toward that end. Many of my books are in the same universe and time period. Characters overlap books, stories intertwine, and life is messy. People learn lessons in one book only to fail at them in another. Much like real life today, things are never quite what they seem. If I had to write until I ran out of stories, I’d be as immortal as my characters.