USC Aiken Alumni James Kelly publishes "Just a Kid"

James Kelly, a USCA alumni who graduated in 2018, became a teacher and a successful writer with his book “Just a Kid” becoming an overnight success. Kelly has always had a passion for writing, and his love for it shines through in his book.

“I’ve always loved writing,” Kelly expressed. “My English professor in high school was the person who encouraged me to write and would proofread all of the fun writing stuff I would do.”

When it came to publishing, Kelly was waiting for “that point where I had something I would feel comfortable sharing.” He also mentioned that his daughter had a huge influence on his work, saying that he had always wanted to publish a children’s book. 

Kelly’s process for producing his newest book was a long one, and as he described, certainly not the easiest. 

He described the long editing process: “I actually had four or five different people edit it. It is amazing when you’re writing a book the amount of editing you have to do. Just within the written portion itself it was astronomical, the amount of detail you have to have, even for a children’s book. It really blew my mind. With the support system I had I feel like without that, I would have never become a published author.”

Kelly brought Brian Richardson on board to illustrate his pages. Richardson hand drew all of the pictures, with each one being scanned into a digital program to be touched up later. 

“We wanted to make it look like a child actually drew it,” he said.

The book was a year-long process that began roughly around April 2021 and the book was published in mid-January of this year. 

Kelly drew inspiration from many sources, a bulk of which came from his daughter when it came to the story aspect of writing. 

“The book is about this girl named Serenity and her journey with everyone in her life that is an adult trying to tell her a bunch of different things. Jobs that people spend their whole entire lives trying to get to. And here she is; she’s just a kid and she’s thinking to herself: ‘how can I be all these things when I’m just a kid?’ I wanted to write this because I felt that, especially being a dad myself, there was nothing like this on the market. It’s such a big story that should be out there for families and kids alike. It takes what we do everyday and kind of reflects upon that.”

While Kelly’s works reflect that of books mainly for kids, his interests in other authors is anything but that. 

“All the authors I love are not really children’s authors. I was a huge Anne Rice fan. I’m also a huge fan of Stephen King. As far as children’s authors, I love Dr. Suess. His stuff is so timeless.”

Kelly reflected on how enriching it’s been to publish his own book.

“I wouldn’t say it’s the book being done; that in itself was a relief, but all the possibilities that I can do now that my book is published. I teach social studies at Williston Elko Middle School and I love seeing the inspiration that I've been able to give my students.” Kelly also said that many of his students flocked to his book’s Amazon page, proudly leaving five star reviews for their teacher. Kelly will be guest speaking for the Aiken County Summer Camp Program, who will purchase 75 copies of his book to sell to the kids at the program. 

Kelly attributed a lot of his success to USC Aiken and, more specifically, the USCA Writing Center. 

“USC Aiken was a huge influence. There was an English professor there who taught British literature. He actually took my paper to one of his next meetings. I was always in the writing center trying to improve my writing, whether it was for an ELA paper or history paper. As a whole, it was a tremendous asset for me as a student. 

Kelly says he hopes his works can inspire other USC Aiken students and gave some final words of wisdom to those seeking a path similar to his: “You have to keep at it. Not only that, but you have to have a strong support system. If you’re just doing it yourself, it may never come to be. You need that extra motivational push.”

Kelly’s book, “Just A Kid'', is currently being sold on Amazon, and will be in stores like Barnes and Noble and Target in the coming future.