Biography
Just Kelley
Kelley Bowles Gusich writes young adult novels under the pen name Kelley Kay Bowles and cozy mysteries under Kelley Kaye. Her debut novel, cozy mystery Death by Diploma, was released by Red Adept Publishing on February 2016, went #1 on Amazon for cozy mysteries in August that same year, and is first in her Chalkboard Outlines® series. Book # 2, Poison by Punctuation, was released April 2018, and Book 3, Strangled by Simile, came out May 21, 2021 to win 5 stars on Reader's Choice.
Kelley's young adult novel, Down in the Belly of the Whale, was released May 5th, 2018, by Aionios Books, and won their title 'Victor Indie Book of the Year'. Look for it in Kindle, paperback, and audio book (narrated by Kelley!). The YA Series The Meld, Magic, Please, was released July 3, 2022, with PREQUEL I Know it's Daytime following soon after on September 5.
Kelley taught high school English and drama for twenty years in Colorado and California, but a 1994 diagnosis of multiple sclerosis has (circuitously and finally) brought her to the life of writer and mother, both occupations she adores and dreamed about way back when she was making up stories revolving around her Barbie and Ken dolls.
Kelley has two wonderful and funny sons and an amazing husband who cooks for her. She lives in Southern California.
She wants to hear from you, so don't be shy about emailing her at kelkay1202@yahoo.com, and follow her on social media @kelkay1202.
Kelley remains ever grateful to her readers for sharing their reviews, comments, and insights. Yay, books!
At a book signing
Portrait photo
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- News You Can Use A Newsletter for Peer Support Volunteers July 2020LEARNING OPPORTUNITY WEBINAR SERIES-NATIONAL MS SOCIETY & CAN DO MS RELATIONSHIPS AND INTIMACY Presenters: Meghan Beier, PhD and Kathleen Healey, NP, PhD August 11, 2020 @ 8 PM ET, 7 PM CT, 6 PM MT and 5 PM PT Tune in as we discuss how living with MS can impact intimacy and relationships. Together, we'll learn how to maintain a balanced and satisfying partnership despite MS symptoms. Call 1-800-344-4867 or go to https://www.cando-ms.org/multiple-sclerosis-programs/webinar-series/ to register. ANNOUNCEMENTS Ask an MS Expert Webinar Series The Ask an MS Expert weekly webinar series is an opportunity to learn more about multiple sclerosis from top MS experts. Each week’s edition will focus on a topic related to the MS community and feature a presentation followed by the opportunity to ask the expert your questions live. The series will run on Fridays at 1 p.m. EST. For more information click here. Staying Informed: COVID-19 For information about COVID-19, please see the “What You Need To Know About Coronavirus (COVID-19)” page on the Society website. Guidance for the use of disease modifying therapies during the COVID-19 pandemic is located here. The advocacy team is monitoring COVID-19 response/legislation/policies at the federal and state levels and have taken numerous actions. Be sure you’re signed up with the MS Activist Network to stay up to date on breaking advocacy related issues. The National MS Society’s Advocacy team developed a layperson summary of what is in the CARES Act. Here is the link to the news page. From this page, at the top, you will see a click here and that will take you to the summary of provisions in the bill. Support Group Update Please note: Support group meetings will be digital until September 30, 2020.
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT Meet Kelley Gusich Kelley Gusich—when she was still Kelley Bowles—was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis back in 1994. The diagnosis came at a time she’d just started a career as an English and Drama teacher at South Lake Tahoe High School in Lake Tahoe, California. It came at a time she felt like she’d barely begun her life as a grownup—engaged to be married, enjoying status as a new adult guiding potential adults, facing a world filled with nothing but promise. The diagnosis was devastating, but after a few months curled up in a ball on the bed, Kelley decided she was not down for the count. Moving back to her family in Colorado and taking a job at the high school from which she’d graduated seemed to be the temporary solution. Turned out to be a sixteen-year answer, during which time Kelley served as an MS spokesperson, traveling and speaking statewide, and receiving the MS Hope Award in 2004. Kelley will now tell you, if you ask, that MS has been an unbelievable gift. It has presented her a compassion for others and a fortitude for herself she never knew existed. It gave her her first writing opportunity, contributing a piece in MS Survivor and advocate Jackie Waldman’s inspirational anthology Teachers With the Courage to Give; an opportunity that has now grown to the publication of three fictional novels (two murder mysteries and one young adult) with mystery #3 under contract, self-help memoir at an agency, supernatural young adult trilogy in progress, and many more in the works. It’s taught her how to adapt when life is not going exactly as she’d expected or maybe as she’d wanted, but mostly she’s learned it’s all going just the way it should! One of the ways Kelley’s life is going just the way it should is as a wife and parent. She, not surprisingly, started this adventure pretty late, but now there are two glorious sons—Grey and Griffen—who turned recently 14 and almost 12. They’re very sporty, which Kelley doesn’t know ANYTHING about. Thankfully her husband not only is quite sporty himself, but he loves COACHING sports, specifically baseball. So she just watches, cheers and learns. The family (Kelley, Jim, Grey and Griffen) moved to San Diego in 2011, partially because her neurologist had been suggesting she move to a more temperate climate for many years, partially because Jim doesn’t like the cold or shoveling snow (he’s from Phoenix), and completely because...well…SAN DIEGO! She’s been taking Copaxone for almost as long as it’s been around, and she’s been volunteering as an MS Friend since 2012. Go, MS Friends!