Elise Kennedy
I was lucky enough to get an advanced listener copy of Unexpectedly Bookish, the fourth book in Elise Kennedy’s Love in Fairwick Falls series, and what a sweet, steamy listen it was! I was also happy to meet characters you don’t always see in romance, like a plus-size FMC and an MMC with autism. I reached out to Elise as soon as I finished, and she kindly agreed to let me pick her brain about the choices behind her books.
In this interview, she tells me why she’s trying to be Mr. Rogers for romance readers, how she writes from her own experience while learning from others, how she kept one small town fresh across six books, and how she balances spice with romantic tension.
My favorite takeaway: if we can love imperfect, complicated characters, maybe we can believe we’re lovable too. Here’s our conversation!
The Interview
Your bio says you want readers to feel loved as they are and to know they deserve swoony romance. What inspired that mission?
I’ve joked that since I couldn’t become Mr. Rogers, I’m trying to become one for romance readers. Mr. Rogers had a huge impact on me as a child, being one of the only calm, consistently loving voices that I had access to that convinced me that I was likeable just as I am.
Originally, I started to become a therapist to create more of that radical self-acceptance in the world. I paused grad school though, because I wanted a bigger impact. As a therapist, I could only see only so many clients a year. For me, writing romance to a large audience is an effort of trying to move the needle a little bit in some small way to make the world better. Creating more positivity and kindness to yourself and those around you, and a belief in yourself that if someone can love these flawed character, they can love you with your flaws. I can’t save lives or cure cancer, but I can help in my own way, and I think this is how I do it.
In Unexpectedly Bookish, Pearl and Reed have traits that aren’t always front and center in romance, including Pearl’s plus-size body and Reed’s autism. I personally love reading plus-size FMCs! Was there anything you did differently when writing characters whose experiences are underrepresented?
Selfishly, both of these experiences are based on my own personal experience of being in a plus-sized body and being autistic. I do always want to be careful that my own mental baggage isn't dragged into every story, because that’s not interesting to read. So I try to make sure that not only am I being authentic to my own experiences and what the character might do, but try to understand wider experiences. For example, I don’t have misophonia as badly as Reed does, so I spoke to folks who I know do have it.
I’ve noticed in readers reviews that they appreciate my approach because I don't present these character differences as problems to be solved. They are merely one of the flavors that make the characters into the complex soup that they are. Even a difference like choosing to be vegan makes a character's life a little more challenging, and is a way for their loved one to show up for them in a way that is meaningful.
When you’re different, it’s very easy, at least for me, to feel like I might be a burden to other people around me. I want to make sure that my stories dispel that myth to readers, so instead we see the characters being loved for who they are, including all of the things that make them unique, like body size, neurodivergence, and even something like dietary needs.
“I want to make sure that my stories dispel that myth to readers, so instead we see the characters being loved for who they are, including all of the things that make them unique, like body size, neurodivergence, and even something like dietary needs.”
Your Love in Fairwick Falls series has an interconnected cast over six books. What’s it like writing a new couple when readers already know the town and the people in it? How do you keep it feeling fresh?
I actually feel like it’s easier to write a new couple when the town and its people are known to me—I can focus just on the main characters then. I also try to strive to make sure that each book can be picked up as a standalone to increase my readership, since different tropes appeal to different readers. I've also consciously tried to highlight different personalities, trying to use different Enneagram types and combinations. I also wanted to keep things interesting for myself and for readers (the small town sub-genre is very competitive!), and initially the character of Pearl (Unexpectedly Bookish FMC) was going to be yet another nice small town girl. In Book 3, I realized that was a little boring and so on a whim decided to make her a goth girl who hated flowers (working in a flower shop—way more interesting to me). She then became a force of her own and is now a fan favorite.
Books 4-6 hadn’t originally been in the plan, I added them later. So, I went back through books 1-3 and cataloged all the throwaway comments I’d made use to build out the rest of the world. I like the idea that in book 4, we turn a corner of the 'set' of Fairwick Falls and see new things that were always there, we just hadn't seen them yet. For example, there’s a dive bar on the outskirts of town referred to in book 1 in a throwaway joke. I decided that's where Pearl (Book 4 FMC) would feel most at home since she’s different from the usual Fairwick Falls character. We’d also never gone to something like the courthouse or an elementary school. But yet every small town has these things, so it was fun to build out the small town. I tried to add 1 or 2 new locations in every book so that it felt like it was a real, almost playset that somebody could mentally wander through.
I also liked to continue to build the town lore, like that they had a big holiday decorating committee and festival around Christmas, and that they had ongoing festivals like the Barbershop Quartet Fest. I never would have thought that readers would be interested in 6 books of the same series, but it's been fun to layer in new colors of existing secondary characters and make them full-blown pieces of the series.
Your books mix romcom humor with real tenderness and lots of spice. How do you approach writing steamy scenes while maintaining romantic tension and making sure the relationship and plot continue to develop?
It feels a lot like trying to juggle! Haha! I generally start with the wound first and the Enneagram for a character to understand what is getting in their own way, and then I usually need to tie that directly to their relationship with their romantic partner and even their relationship with sex. So for example, Book 2's FMC is a shy wallflower-type character, and so for her the challenge was gaining experience, and she was most likely to do that whenever she didn’t have to be perfect. Versus my last book in the series, Forever in Bloom, where they have sex to make a baby without feelings, and they hate each other at the beginning. So the tension is how these two people get along and actually realize that they’re perfect for one another romantically.
I think the key is that no one gets immediately what they want too soon. I also know my readers want a bit of spice near the beginning, and so for some plot lines, I had to be creative to make sure we were getting some levels of spice so that readers felt like I delivered on my brand promise but didn’t give away the emotional connection and the reveal too soon.
“I generally start with the wound first and the Enneagram for a character to understand what is getting in their own way...”
Are there plans to return to Fairwick Falls? What do you dream of writing next?
No plans to return to Fairwick Falls, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it sounded nice to go back to a place I already know!
I was definitely feeling ready and excited to do a new series once I wrapped up my last book, but unexpected health issues derailed me for the last few months and caused me to delay my new Christmas series. I'm planning to kick it off for the 2027 season, and I’m so excited to build up a funky, weird little town that grows obsessed with Christmas over the course of several years.
It’s pretty intimidating to start a new series after spending so many years in one small town. I think I also put pressure on myself to do it "right" versus go by the seat of my pants like I did last time, so I didn't want to just wing it for this Christmas season.
I have several other types of stories knocking around in my brain, so we’ll see if Elise Kennedy becomes multiple pen names for me to convince even more readers that they deserve swoony love in several subgenres!
About Elise Kennedy
Elise Kennedy is an author of cozy, spicy, heartfelt small-town romances. She lives in the Midwest with her (very) patient husband and two perfect pups.
Thank you for reading Behind the Manuscript. I hope these conversations help readers discover the creative decisions behind the books they love and give writers a deeper appreciation for the craft behind amazing stories. Until next time. Happy reading!
