Sunday’s Author Spotlight: L.G. Kelso

Today I’m really excited to have author L.G. Kelso on the
Sunday’s Author Spotlight. L.G. Kelso is the author of ‘Fierce’, a New Adult
Contemporary sports romance. ‘Fierce’ was published in August, 2014 and has an
average rating of 4.02 on Goodreads and a 4.6 average rating on Amazon. This
book sounds like a great read and it’s definitely on my TBR list. 

Tori’s MMA career was taking off, until she beat the
wrong man. Her training partner, nursing a bruised ego, snapped—shattering her
trust and confidence.

Three years later, Tori’s keeping her fists to herself as she struggles to put
herself through college. But when a group of gangbangers hassle her at work,
old habits kick in and her fists fly. Max Estrada, a frequent diner customer,
steps in and gets them out of hot water, but Tori is still fired… days before
tuition is due.

With no other option, she’s forced to take a desk job at her old pounding
grounds, where her demons still haunt the cage and the temptation to go
glove-to-glove with familiar pro-fighter, Max Estrada, is too much. The sexy
Colombian draws her back into the world of MMA and revives her dreams of
becoming a professional face-puncher—until Will, her old partner and current
Middleweight Champion, struts back into the gym. The secret they share is an
unexpected liability to his career, and he’s determined to keep her silent.

With her life on the ropes, Tori will have to face the past for a shot at
winning back her future, or carry the weight of a loss even greater than
before.

This book is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble,
Kobo and Smashwords.

FIERCE is on sale for 0.99 CENTS today!!

In short, FIERCE (A Whatever It Takes novel) is a
challenge.  It’s a challenge to
stereotypes we place on women in the real world AND fiction.

I love to shred stereotypes. In FIERCE, our leading
lady is Tori, a female fighter who is INTENSE. She’s aggressive, she can
abrasive, she can get pissed. She can react rather explosively.

Why is Tori like this? Not just because I love to destroy
gender-stereotypes (cue evil laugh), and not just because I want the alpha,
intense, get-pissed-off, punch-you-in-the-face-if-you-eff-with-her types to
have a place in fiction.  Much of her
anger and reasons for reacting explosively are related to what happened a few
years before the start of ‘Fierce’ with her training partner (you’ll have to
read for that). Other reasons Tori can be in-your-face and aggressive: Tori
started training and fighting when female fighting was still heavily looked
down on.  While ‘Fierce’ is fiction, the
MMA side of things is authentic and so I used the real timeline for female
fighting.  In short, women weren’t
allowed to fight in the UFC until 2012 (THREE years ago. THREE. UFC was started
TWENTY years ago).  You can read more
about women’s fight history in this blog
post, if you’d like.  Tori had be
tough to make it. She had to fight to be able to fight. She’s a professional
face-puncher, which requires a certain high-level of intensity and a-way-in-the-negative-range
level of being gentle, soft, and outwardly vulnerable.

For the record, her anger and explosiveness are flaws
that she has to work on throughout the novel. She does also have a vulnerable
side.

Tori goes beyond dealing with fighting female-stereotypes
that are often seen in the real world,  to fighting a stereotype so many female
characters are locked into. So often do we read about angry guys who so often
respond physically before thinking it through. Female characters, however, are
often expected to be soft or docile, and get criticized when they aren’t: They
aren’t supposed to be angry (because women never get angry??? I’m pretty sure
that notion makes me angry), aren’t supposed to use their fists or react
explosively, they wipe the blood off the hero after he defends her, not cause
the blood in the first place.  If you’re
like me, you’re sick of these ridiculous expectations.

So, if you’re me, as you write, you stay calm and break
arms. Figuratively. My girl characters break arms. Or noses. Or whatever other
body part is available.

Max, our leading male, is another stereotype-fighting
character.  I see a lot of male-fighter
related stereotypes in real life and fiction. 
It often is something along the lines of manwhore, partier, overly
controlling, relies on fists all the time, suave and smooth-talking, brain
cells in question…  Hang on, I need to a
second:

HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Ok, that’s better. Seriously, though, I’m sure there are
plenty of fighters who fall into that category, but it’s a much smaller % than
people assume, and I kind of loathe those stereotypes. Fighters can be pretty
awkward and dorky (I say that with love, fighters).  Also, a lot of them are brilliant, in both
fighting and other things. Fighting takes brain cells, and if you want to keep
your brain cells, it takes even more brain cell usage. Seriously, fighting
requires thinking on so many levels. So, Max. Max is a librarian, avid reader
(obviously, right), and fighter. He’s tough, he’s a badass, but he’s also
awkward and blushes a lot and says dorky things and ERMAGAWD I just fell in
love with him again. You also won’t find the manwhore stereotype in Max. He’s
had two girlfriends in the past six years, and one was almost for six
years.  He also has his shit together,
and, overall, he’s pretty stable. Tori isn’t, but he is.

The next Whatever It Takes novels will continue to fight
stereotypes in different ways, and continue to bring diversity (racial,
socio-economic etc).  Max is
up-and-coming; Shane is struggling. Tori is tomboy to the max; the next leading
lady is more of a girly-girl and refuses to lose that side of her, while
embracing being a female in the fight world differently. There is more romance
in the next novels. FIERCE really focused on Tori’s journey, with some romance
and assistance from Max. The next novel is just more romantic and steamy,
because that’s what the story calls for. 
I hope to bring more badassery, another tough heroine, and a hero
fighting for, literally, everything.

Be sure to check enter the giveaway below for a chance to
win an ebook of FIERCE.

“A unique twist on the fighter trope – FIERCE is a
compelling, original read with my favorite kind of heroine (a kick-ass one).”

– New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Cora
Carmack

“If you’re looking for a strong heroine who stands out in
the New Adult contemporary world, L.G. Kelso’s Fierce is the book for you. Why
I loved it: A complex heroine dealing with inner and external obstacles; a
romance that isn’t the character’s main goal (though it is hot!); powerful
voice and an authentic journey into the MMA world.”

– Diana Gallagher, author of ‘What Happens in Water (Fall
2015, Spencer Hill Press)

“Definitely recommend it to anyone that has any interest
in MMA field or just looking for a strong female lead with light romance to
spice things up.”

– Spiced Latte Reads

“If you love contemporary romance, especially of the MMA
variety, then I think you will really enjoy Fierce.  If you like books
with strong female leads, then you most definitely will enjoy Fierce.”

– Always YA At Heart

“You can have a great set of characters but it is the
plot that brings them to life and allows them to thrive. LG Kelso accomplished
that so well.”

–  Typical Distractions Book Blog

L.G. Kelso is a fantasy and contemporary novelist. Having
grown up watching Xena and Hercules with her grandmother, she inherited her
passion for all things magic, paranormal and mythological. She also has a
probably unhealthy obsession with martial arts, and as a boxer she strives to
give readers an authentic view of MMA in her contemporary sports novels.

For more information about L.G. Kelso and ‘Fierce’ please
visit her website, Twitter, Facebook, her blog, NA Alley, Goodreads, Pinterest
and Amazon. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway