Kelly began her writer’s journey by creating fan fiction of some of her favorite tv shows, before branching out with an all-original super hero novel of her own.
She published Scorcher, the first book in her Forces of Nature series, in 2012. The sequel, Thin Ice, was published in 2022. They’re both available now in e-book and physical formats.
WANT SCORCHER AS AN AUDIOBOOK?
Audiobooks are fun. They make novels more accessible to people with disabilities, people who are low on time, or even just spend a lot of time driving.
So get Scorcher as an Audiobook when you support Kelly’s crowdfunding campaign! Or even just support its creation for some smaller perks, while making her novel more accessible.
Poll Time!
For those who have contributed to the Scorcher Audiobook campaign, many of you have stickers as an added perk!
I’m still designing them though, so I want YOUR input!
Option 1: High quality vinyl cut-out stickers — We would make vinyl stickers in a medium size (over 1.5″x1.5″), with one or two designs sent to the backers who signed up for the relevant perks.
Below is an example image, not the final product:
Option 2: Standard quality sticker sheet — We would put several pieces of art in a sticker sheet. These stickers would be smaller, and not as durable as vinyl cut outs, but you will get more art.
Below is an example image. Not the final product:
Thank you to our contributors!
Jessica Beier
Leandra Lederman
Derek Spicer
Elizabeth Pieters
Onna Brewer
Kat Day
Joseph Kaja
Autumn Dollak Posch
Paul Leone
Jackie Lee King
David McDonald
Andrea Starnes
James Guentner
Hollis Thompson
Anita Williams
Micah Riley
Eveli Liivak
Tom Soliva
Thomas Guentner
Michelle Lyzenga
Rob Multari
Karl Witsman
Crayle McDonald
Ruby Elliott
Sara Freites
Cheyenne Hollowell
Melissa Dionne
Scorcher
Supervillains are people too. They’re not always megalomaniacs with dreams of world domination. Sometimes they’re just people doing whatever they must to get by.
Aidan Grey is a college student with goals for the future, a drive to succeed, and little time for romance. She’s also a woman with a secret.
A dangerous one.
At eleven, she was orphaned due to the accidental use of her pyrokinetic abilities. She was taken in by the secret criminal organization known as Iris and trained to use her abilities for the organization’s profit.
Marty Knox, on the other hand, is a police detective who loves his family, tries to genuinely make a difference in the world and falls hard for Aidan.
He shows up just as Aidan is starting to question her loyalties to Iris and she’s surprised to find that she can’t resist him, even if it would be dangerous to get involved with someone on the right side of the law.
What Aidan doesn’t realize is that Marty has a secret of his own, one that would endanger both their lives if discovered by Iris.
Click here to purchase Scorcher in hard copy or on Kindle.
Enjoy this trailer for Forces of Nature #1: Scorcher
Thin Ice
After quite literally burning their bridges with the villainous organization Iris and the super hero alliance known as the Solaris Circle, Marty and Aidan are living on the run.
Their relationship will be tested as they continue their mission together to destroy Iris, despite being pursued by villains and heroes alike.
But as they continue their cycle of fight and flight, an even darker conspiracy emerges.
Living on the run already isn’t easy… But for Aidan and Marty, things are about to get even more complicated.
After a traumatic childhood, Aidan, a.k.a Scorcher, was taken in by the villainous and elusive organization known as Iris.
Meanwhile, police officer Marty was living a double life as well under the moniker, Chill, alongside the other super heroes in the Solaris Circle.
Now, they’re a couple, pursued by villain and hero alike. But they still have a common mission.
Will they be able to take down Iris all on their own? Will their relationship survive the strain of life on the lam?
On top of everything else though, an even darker plot emerges as they grapple with the challenges they already face. Can they set everything else aside to thwart this greater evil?
Thin Ice, the thrilling sequel to Scorcher, answers these questions, and asks new ones too.
Click here to buy Thin Ice on Kindle or in hard copy.
Reviews
A literally hot supervillain finds romance in spite of everything…
October 20, 2012
Scorcher is the name of a female supervillain who tries to live a normal life and finds romance, all the while, fulfilling her obligations to the evil organization that kidnapped her as a child.
Though she tries to live a normal life, Scorcher’s criminal life and past sins circle around her and hurt her both physically and emotionally. Throughout the book we see her deal with those issues in different ways and grow from them.
Quite a bit of the book is spent out of costume but it still has a lot of superhero action in it. Though, even in the calmer moments, we are always aware that the protagonist’s supervillain problems and powers exist. Which is a good thing, as far as the writing is concerned. There are a lot of books out there that only use the superhero/villain angle as flavor text and not as part of the plot as a whole. In those books you could easily swap out the “superhero” thing for policeman or some other job, making that sci-fi aspect of the book unnecessary. This book maintains that superhero/villain aspect and keeps it relevant to the story as a whole, all the while weaving a romantic tale into it as well.
The romance in this book is well written. You don’t get that instant thing where the heroes fall in love just because they’re the two most sexy people in the room. they are, of course, the two most sexy people in the room, but that’s beside the point. It takes a while before any connection is truly made. A lot of flirting goes on, which is nice. It isn’t a slow burn, but it isn’t an instant flame either. I appreciated that, since it felt real in the context of the story.
…
Action/Romance, plus a literally HOT supervillain protagonist, equals 5 Stars.
Adventure, feminine perspective on the super-hero action genre
January 23, 2018
I can’t even begin to start on how much I loved this book.
The lead character is complicated. The thematic questions about good and evil are thought-provoking. The relationships between characters are vivid, the super-hero parts are great if you are normally a fan of the genre, but not so over-done that a casual reader would be turned off.
It’s a female perspective, and kind of introspective, which was refreshing.
I could go on and on. Buy this book.
This is a different take on a villain story … Is she bad because she was born that way or because it is her job? Or is she even truly bad or is it a misconception due to the circumstances she was forced to grow up in?
This was an engaging story that made me think alot about the nature of the image we perceive of ourselves…are we what we think we are or how others see us? What exactly is our reality?
The action and adventure are nonstop with a dash of suspense and intrigue just to round out the story 😀 I can not wait to read more of this series as I can not quite figure what happens next .
**this book is for adults only
Bring Kelly’s book to your convention!
Have live readings and book vendors at your local event or convention? Invite her to join by e-mailing kelly.guentner@yahoo.com
Art Credits:
Cover Art: Dafne Salazar
Additional Character Art: Eveli Liivak
Additional Character Art: Jen Watson
Kelly Guentner-Edwards 