Local Woman To Talk About Her New Young Adult Book Series At 4S Ranch Library
Kelly Gusich has published three new books, including two in a new mystical series for young adults.
Author 4S Ranch, whose books for young adults go by the pen name Kelly Kay Bowles, has started a series called The Meld.
The former high school drama and English teacher said she realized that many of the teenagers she taught for more than 20 years wished they had some kind of supernatural power. This inspired the theme of his book series.
"In my experience, anyone would welcome supernatural help to solve their problems," Gusic said.
Meld is another World 6 group that gives gifts to teenagers. Half of the members commit suicide for noble reasons, the other half for selfish reasons.
William, a member who died in Europe in 1138, killed people as a soldier. But Catherine, during the French Revolution, killed a woman who fought for a bridegroom.
According to Gusic, these contrasting characters show that people make good and bad decisions. "Doing something positive or negative is right for everyone."
On Tuesday, Dec. 13, Husich will read excerpts from "The Meld: Magic Please" at an author talk at 6 p.m. at the 4S Ranch Library, 10433 Reserve Drive.
In The Magical Grace, Colorado college student Millie Mahoney receives an award after her mother is killed and her father destroyed. His life is a mess and The Meld allows him to review every word he's written. But Meld doesn't tell Milli that he got the gift or how to use it.
"It should help keep it from getting too mixed up, but it hasn't been," Gusic said. "You don't say you have that gift. That's half the adventure... part of the fun of the story."
One of Millie's friends is Tori Parker. Millie greets her when she sees the phenomenon, saying that she heard that Tori has had paranormal experiences. Tori, who has no superpowers, is an adventurer. He agrees to help Milli find out what happened.
Because Tori's character was so important to the overall Meld series, Gish said he decided to share Tori's backstory through a prequel called I Know It's Day. But instead of just being about Tori, this book is about Annabelle Fleming's classmate. He has just come to the small town of Pinewood (Colorado) to live with his mother after his parents divorced. His mother was a successful thriller writer and his father was the leader of a "very successful rock band".
Annabelle wants a normal life and a happy little family. He tries to get used to his new, far from ideal situation and begins to hallucinate. The vision reflects his fear of his family and school, and he gets butterflies, blisters, bruises and bumps on others. This is an inherited feature, not a gift from The Meld. Tori helps Annabelle understand her visions. Because of this experience, he agrees to help Milli in the second book.
The Meld: Magic Please was released in July and I Know It's Daytime in September.
Like the adult novel, this book for young adults is set in Colorado, where Husich lived and taught for many years. She uses her own life experiences, including being a multiple sclerosis patient, as inspiration for her book's themes.
Husich said he was diagnosed with MS in 1994, which caused him to retire from teaching. Sometimes his character also has health problems, which is why he is attracted to paranormal subjects.
"As human beings, we all want the help of the media to get through the day," he says. "I want to snap my fingers and do a massive MRI that makes my brain look like pure Swiss cheese. That's why I wrote in this direction."
Gusic's other books will also be available for purchase at her talk, including Arrested by Comparison, the third installment in the Whiteboard Sketch crime series for adults, published under the pseudonym Kelly Kaye. The book will be published in May 2021.
The series follows high school teacher Emma Lovett, who ends up investigating a murder in her community. It was presented as a "comfortable riddle" in the style of the TV show She Wrote Murders.
Meanwhile Red Adept Publishing Gusic signed a three-book deal for the Chalkboard Outlines series and said she wanted to write another book to complete Emma's story before starting a new adult mystery series. The first two books are Death by Diploma (2016) and Poison by Puntuatioa (2018).
"I wanted to end this streak in the right way," said Gusic.
He is also the author of the young adult novel In die maag van die walvis, which was first published in 2018 and is now being published in a second edition with a new cover.
Husich says she enjoys writing books but dislikes other aspects of book publishing, including marketing.
"I'm not that ambitious," he said. "I like to tell stories, but marketing blows my mind."
Gusic said that he sees writing as a way to share with readers and has called writing his passion.
He has been writing for decades. She started working at The Meld when her husband, Jim Gusich, was a summer sports camp counselor in the Berkshire Mountains in the early 2000s.
"I was living in a cabin and working on this story idea ... so it took me quite a while," he said.
The family moved to 4S Ranch in Colorado in 2011. Her husband is a resource teacher who works with special needs students and is a physics teacher at Del Norte High School in 4S Ranch. They are the parents of two sons, 16-year-old Gray and 14-year-old Griffen.
After taking her husband and children to school, Gusic markets books in the mornings and then writes for several hours each day before returning home to focus on her family.
What he writes depends on how his day is going, but Gusic says he likes novels for adults because he feels very young at heart.
"I was surprised at my age," Gusic, 53, said. - It seems my brain stopped a long time ago. All my mysteries are also about teachers and teenagers.'
As for his health, Gusic said he is fine despite conflicting medical reports.
"Because if you ask me or do an MRI, my brain looks bad," Gusic said. "But the MRI showed that I was stable and I'm grateful for that. ... I don't feel retarded, as the brain scans show."
When Husich isn't focusing on her writing or her family, she also volunteers in the community. He was a member of the Friends of 4S Ranch Library Board for several years.
All of Gusich's books are available on Amazon, including his three most recent books. The Meld: Magic Please is $14.99 for paperback and $5.99 for Kindle. I Know It's Daytime, the prequel to The Meld series, is priced at $15.99 for paperback and $5.99 for Kindle. Strangled by Simile costs $4.10 in paperback and $4.11 on Kindle.
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