Today’s special guest is talented mystery author, Kelly Brady Channick! Ok, so I’ll try not to fill this entire blog post about how much I love this beautiful, kind woman, and all the wonderful things she does! This is HER interview after all, so I’m sure you want to hear her do most of the talking. But I’m just so excited for her to be here. I met Kelly at the very beginning of 2020 (you know, before the pandemic fully hit). I wanted to start this interview off by sharing a story about Kelly…
Kelly doesn’t know this, but the night we first started talking, I had just declined a very desired publishing contract for my book. This had been an extremely difficult decision for me, but a necessary business move. Knowing that I had to decline that offer and continue being my own marketer was quite daunting for me. Well, Kelly and I met on Goodreads that very night, and she had just released her first book, “Asbury High and the Thief’s Gamble,” which is the first book in her fantastic and captivating, “Asbury High” mystery series.
The book looked great, so when I went to go look it up, I accidentally stumbled across her super professional website (I will post the link at the bottom of this post). It was so fun, full of character, and well organized. Then, when I went to go buy the book, it had a ton of reviews, fantastic Amazon rankings, and - here’s the catch - it had only been out for a few days! Wow! This business woman knew what she was doing! I wanted nothing more than to ask her what the secret to her success was. How did she have such an amazing book launch? I was in the midst of getting ready to release my book, “Perception and Deception III.” But I was scared to ask, and here’s why. I had reached out to authors in the past, and many times, they didn’t share a lot. But the feeling that I needed to ask Kelly kept returning (which I believe to this day was the holy spirit coaxing me). I ended up sending her a message asking for advice. That same night, she sent me a long, beautifully written, step-by-step letter about all the things she’d done so far and what worked for her. I was absolutely blown away. Just the fact that she was showing such great kindness to me, and she hardly knew me…it astounded and inspired me.
She doesn’t know it, but I went from feeling terribly down that night about the publishing contract, to feeling completely ecstatic that I now had a next course of action to take toward my writing career through her suggestions. She was an answer to my prayers…a true angel! One of the successful tips she had shared with me was going through Silver Dagger Book Tours for a virtual book tour, which ended up being a fantastic success. And ever since then, Kelly has only shown me more love by reading my books, posting reviews, sharing my books with her followers, and sending me more tips and resources as she finds them, just out of the pure kindness of her heart. This also means something extra to me, because you’ll find that when you finally do become a published author, some of the people in your life who you think will be really supportive of your journey…end up deciding not to be a part of it with you, which can feel disheartening. I try to return the favor to Kelly as much as I can, but it never feels like enough compared to the hope she gave me. You don’t find a lot of people like that. And as you can see by her Amazon rankings here…
…God rewards kind people like Kelly very generously. So, without further ado, let’s move on to the interview!
Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?
Hi! I’m Kelly and I became an author because I was born to tell stories. For as long as I can remember (and my past teammates, friends and family can attest to this), I’ve LOVED making up stories and using my crazy imagination. Plus, I talk a lot--ask my handsome husband! I was lucky to grow up in South Jersey, where going to the beach was a five-minute ride over the bridge and summer meant going on my best friend’s boat to tube or water ski whenever I wanted. Although I never said no to boating or swimming, I mostly enjoyed ‘traditional’ sports, like soccer and basketball and even played softball until eighth grade. Basically, sports and action are in my blood.
When I was looking to go to college, I was torn between majoring in criminal justice or education. Growing up, I had always dreamed of being an FBI Agent and going on crazy missions - I even would check the physical test and guidelines each year for making an agent and was proud to say I could’ve passed it easily. However, my cousins’ neighbor was a retired agent, and after learning that most of the job entailed paperwork and desk duty, I knew that wasn’t for me. But, I never stopped daydreaming of missions and mysteries, which led me to write out what I envisioned. After teaching for five years-- ranging from first to eighth grade-- my husband, Ryan, and I decided to work towards having a family. After the birth of our BIG little man, I realized that if I didn’t push myself to publish now, then I probably never would. With encouragement from Ry, I went full steam ahead.
How did you come up with the name of this book?
As I have mentioned earlier, I grew up outside of Ocean City, NJ. Furthermore, I wrote the first draft of Asbury High and the Thief’s Gamble when I was 18! I specifically remember driving to high school and picturing the story in my head (I had the idea running around my head for a few years before I put pen to paper), and stopping on Asbury Ave. Driving past both of my favorite bookstores-- both of which are located on Asbury Ave, I thought, “That’s it! That’s the name of my town,” in homage to SunRose and Bookateria II.
Convince us why you feel your book is a must read. What inspired you to write this book?
I was inspired to write this book because, and although I LOVE SCI-FY AND PARANORMAL, I wanted to read a book where the main characters were dealing with real-life issues, without the excuse or aid of powers. At the time of writing Asbury High, Twilight was huge and it seemed as if every book started having powers or paranormal happenings. Like I said, that’s cool and I enjoy reading them too, but I wanted a book where the teens had to overcome issues and solve a mystery that was believable. Furthermore, I wanted to make my story have more than one main character, and in this case there are four. Each of my characters (Maddie, Cornelious, Carly and Pilot), are so close with each other, but also have different strengths (and weaknesses), interests, and even home-lives, so they each bring a different perspective to the table.
All authors say this about their work, but I honestly feel like this series is a MUST-READ! Not just the first book but all seven. I will also admit something… this first book is not the best in the series, although it is quite awesome. Because the characters are just starting high school and only fourteen, I didn’t want to throw all of the high school drama at them in one year. For those out of high school reading this, think back, it’s not as if you experienced everything high school and growing up had to offer in one year! Therefore, as the series goes on, the book does deal with more relationships, and tougher mysteries. However, I will add this: JK Rowling is my favorite author and I love how she sprinkles little, seemingly-unimportant details in each of her books, which end up being important later on. So, if you love series and mysteries, you NEED to read these books…and start paying attention. I wrote each novel with all the books outlined and knowing I wanted to hide details and future plots (and plot twists) in each story. HAVE FUN!!
What can we expect from you in the future?
A lot more books! Ask anyone who knows me and I love to talk---in addition to being voted most athletic, I was also the class clown. Part of that goes with the ability to tell stories that others enjoy listening to. Thus, in addition to my seven-part Asbury High series-- which will be released over the next two and a half years, I have also written an adult crime novel, and have plans for three other books from various genres.
If your book had a candle, what scent would it be?
All of the scenes in Asbury take place near the ocean, so I would say I would want the scent to be a fresh ocean breeze, with hints of boardwalk nostalgia (think cotton candy, funnel cake, ice-cream)--however, because it is a mystery series, I would love it if when the candle blew out there was a mysterious, lingering scent, that you just can’t put your finger on.
Drop everything and buy her books here!
Make sure to check out her website and follow her on social media as well!
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