From my first Killer Instinct novel, I was captured by the characters. There are Noelle’s assassins or Jim’s Mercenaries and there was no way to stop the hook-ups, no matter how much Jim and Noelle hated each other. At least until Book 5. She has even made the end of the world pretty hot with her Erotic Dystopian series, Outlaws.
Elle Kennedy has also taken us Off-Campus, Out-of-Uniform and on interesting nights After-Hours. She has written something for everyone and makes us want to come back for more.
Good morning, Elle. Thank you for joining us here today. I am a big fan of both your Killer Instinct and Outlaws series. I have copies of several of your other books in both the Off-Campus and Out of Uniform series downloaded and I am simply waiting for retirement or possibly the end of the world for the time catch up.
In your Outlaws series, would I still be able to charge my Kindle?
LOL Maybe. If you’re in the government-run city, then for sure! If you’re living the life of an outlaw, then it really depends. There are some “communities” that have generators / access to power, though a luxury like a Kindle would likely be frowned upon.
I enjoy your Outlaws world-building and although I love a good romance, most are “safe” in that characters we like don’t die. In the dystopian world you created, life is hard and it is also dangerous and even well-liked characters don’t make it. It really gives an extra level of excitement and tension to the story. As a writer, do you have that Dr. Evil moment where you rub your hands together and give a maniacal laugh as you kill off a character or do you get a little teary eyed?
I’m totally not trying to be sinister when a character dies, but I don’t always get the same emotional response from it as my readers would. When I’m plotting out a book or series I know sometimes certain sacrifices have to be made to either enhance a storyline or fully portray the concept that the world in which the story takes place is precarious at best. It’s also important to have the reader experience a variety of emotions – if every story was a non-stop feel-good love fest, I think they’d get bored after a while. But I’ll admit, I do get teary-eyed when I have to kill off certain characters.
Do yo
u think in the world you created, there can be a Happily Ever After for the characters in general or will there always be a level of hardship and basic survival?
I think it depends on how you define happily ever after. For example, Hudson from Claimed leaves the city, finds someone she loves, and for the most part is living life on her own terms. Yes, at any moment it could all come crashing down, but for her, the happiness she found in the outlaw land is worth the danger. In the world of this series, I think it’s more about Happiness Now.
There seems to be an ample supply of condoms available in this post-apocalyptic world. Is there still a factory actively working on safe-sex in the outer city territories?
A lot of people ask about the condoms! There’s just still a stockpile of condoms left over from before the war, so in the abandoned cities you can still find canned and dry goods, and that sort of stuff, so whenever people go on raids to get supplies (or rummage through old houses), it’s something they can find.
I do have one very important question on your Killer Instinct series. Personally I am not drawn to M/M romances, but in this series, I cannot wait to see Sully and Liam get their act together. Are they ever going to work things out? Because I think you give either of these guys a lady love, I might have to riot or have a one women picketing protest outside your house. Just forewarning you.
The next installment in the KI series, Midnight Target, is actually a super book, so it has TWO fully developed romances in it – one of which is Liam and Sully! But I can’t really tell you much more than that. You’ll have to wait and see what happens, but I’m crossing my fingers that I won’t be finding anyone picketing on my front lawn 😉
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. I am looking forward to more Outlaws stories as well as Sully and Liam’s HEA (*fingers-crossed*fingers-crossed*).
Thanks for having me!
A New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Elle Kennedy grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, and holds a B.A. in English from York University. From an early age, she knew she wanted to be a writer, and actively began pursuing that dream when she was a teenager.
Elle writes romantic suspense and erotic contemporary romance for various publishers. She loves strong heroines and sexy alpha heroes, and just enough heat and danger to keep things interesting!
