Interview: Author Anna Hackett and Her New Science Fiction Romance Series

One of my favorite science fiction romance authors is USA Today Best Selling Author  Anna Hackett and so I was delighted to learn she was releasing a new SFR series, Galactic Kings. Book one, Overlord, sets the stage in dramatic fashion.

Here’s the blurb: When an experimental starship test goes horribly wrong, a test pilot from Earth is flung across the galaxy and crash lands on the planet of a powerful alien king. 

Pilot Mallory West is having a really bad day. She’s crashed on an alien planet, her ship is in pieces, and her best friend Poppy, the scientist monitoring the experiment, is missing. Dazed and injured, she collapses into the arms of a big, silver-eyed warrior king. But when her rescuer cuffs her to a bed and accuses her of being a spy, Mal knows she has to escape her darkly tempting captor and find her friend. 

Overlord Rhain Zhalto Sarkany is in a battle to protect his planet Zhalto and his people from his evil, power-hungry father. He’ll use every one of his deadly Zhalton abilities to win the fight against his father’s lethal warlord and army of vicious creatures. Rhain suspects the tough, intriguing woman he pulls from a starship wreck is a trap, but when Mal escapes, he is compelled to track her down. 

Fighting their overwhelming attraction, Mal and Rhain join forces to hunt down the warlord and find Poppy. But as Mal’s body reacts to Zhalto’s environment, it awakens dormant powers, and Rhain is the only one who can help her. As the warlord launches a brutal attack, it will take all of Mal and Rhain’s combined powers to save their friends, the planet, and themselves. 

I took the opportunity to ask Anna a few questions on behalf of interested readers everywhere. 

Veronica Scott for Amazing Stories Magazine: What was the inspiration for your new series?

AH: I had this idea for some alien warrior king brothers defending their planets against their evil father. The hero of the first book, Overlord, actually appeared in one of my Galactic Gladiators: House of Rone books, so his story has been brewing for a while. From there, all kinds of story ideas sprang to life. That included the first heroine being from Earth, and a spaceship test going wrong and flinging her across the galaxy to crash land on her hero’s planet.

ASM.: Do you have the entire series plotted out in your mind or do you ‘pantster’ as you go?

AH: While I do plot my books, it is only for whatever book I’m working on. I never plot out an entire series. Series seem to develop more organically for me as I write each book. I often have a rough idea of the overarching plot, but not the details, and I never know exactly how many books will be in a series either!

ASM.: Will the books focus on a different couple each time?

AH: Yes, each book in Galactic Kings features a different couple. There are three warrior king brothers, so they will each have a story, and definitely one other character (the Overlord’s captain of guard). After that, we’ll see.

ASM.: How is it to jump back and forth from writing scifi romance to romantic suspense (Norcross Security for example)? Do you find yourself writing any differently? Using a different ‘voice’?

AH: That is a great question. I really enjoy going back and forth between the two subgenres. I always write action-packed romance with tough heroes and smart heroines, but the being able to write a contemporary-set story then go to a futuristic story keeps my imagination fresh. I think my core author voice and story elements stay the same regardless of subgenre, but there are probably some differences. In sci-fi romance I can make up a lot more stuff, so they are a little more larger than life!!

ASM.: If you could live in the ‘world’ of one of your series which one would you pick and why?

AH: Oh boy, that is a hard question. Some of my worlds have some pretty nasty alien animals in them. I really would love to visit the desert work of Carthago (where Galactic Gladiators is set) but I’m not sure I’d want to live there.

ASM.: Do you find your readers follow you across the genres or do you have different sets of readers?

AH: I am really lucky that a large portion of my readers read all my books, whether there are spaceships in them or not! All my books are action-packed romance, and I have had so many readers who enjoy my romantic suspense stories then go on to try my sci-fi romance series and love them.

ASM.: Do you ever put ‘Easter eggs’ in your novels for readers to find?

AH: Yes! I often have references to my other books and series, and sometimes from cameos. And I do love to drop some Star Wars references as well.

ASM.: What was the first science fiction romance novel you ever read?

AH: I can’t remember if it was my first, but it was the one that made an impact. It was Johanna Lindsey’s Warrior’s Woman. I loved that book and still do.

ASM.: What’s next for you as an author?

AH: I’m busy with the second Galactic Kings book, Emperor, at the moment. I’m loving it! Then in the new year, I’m heading back to San Francisco with the gang from my Norcross Security series. I’ll be alternating between sci-fi romance and romantic suspense in 2022.

ASM.: What’s on your To Be Read list?

AH: I just read Ilona Andrew’s new sci-fi romance, Fated Blades. I loved it. I’m waiting impatiently for their next paranormal romance in the Hidden Legacy series. I’m always counting down to a new Nalini Singh release as well.

To learn more about Anna and her books go to her web page.

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