Stoughton's Ed Kelly Publishes First Book

STOUGHTON, MA — A father who abuses and tortures you, alcoholism: both of these things can become too much for a person to handle and keep a person from realizing their true potential.

In the case of Stoughton resident Ed Kelly, writing became a key outlet for recovery and leading a normal life. Kelly recently published Addiction and Pestilence, his first book in a four part series.

Kelly said Addiction and Pestilence is about an ex marine from Boston struggling with alcoholism . He must overcome his addiction when faced with an apocalyptic plague threatening to wipe out the human race.

The ex marine is based on Kelly's own personal struggles. Like the main character, Kelly's struggle with alcohol affected his family life. Kelly said he started drinking as a way to dissociate from the abuse he endured in his youth.

"I turned to alcohol to mask the memories," Kelly said.

Kelly stopped drinking for a while, but becoming a father triggered old pain. Even though Kelly knew he would never hurt his children like his father hurt him, anxiety took hold and drinking persisted.

The book's main character, Drew goes through an eerily similar struggle that leads to his wife walking out. Drew must face his own demons while simultaneously confronting the apocalypse.

Drew is not the only character going through a personal struggle. According to Kelly, the main characters are all going through some sort of ordeal.

"The characters are all going through the worst time in their lives, so I can relate to it," Kelly said.

He also made a point to emphasize the way the characters are introduced. Though Kelly said Stephen king fans will probably like the book, he pointed out a key structural difference. Kelly said rather than introducing new main characters later in a book or in a new book entirely, he prefers to introduce all the main characters at the beginning of the book.

This doesn't mean new characters will not be introduced in the four book series. Kelly said any new characters will be minor as most of the stories will continue to focus on the arcs of the main characters and how they interact and connect with each other.

Kelly said the book only took him three months to write. The second book in the series Demons and War is close to completion and will be out sometime in 2019. Kelly said he's enjoying writing the second, third, and fourth books much more.

The first book encompassed a lot of personal struggles that Kelly actually went through while the rest of the books are experiences Drew builds off from that. Kelly said creating those new stories has been a lot of fun.

Kelly is self publishing all his books without a book deal.

"I looked into traditional publishing and you're basically relying on somebody else," Kelly said. "You have to conform to them and you have to give up your rights."

Given that the book is so personal to Kelly, compromising on ownership or any other aspect was not something he was willing to do.

If you want to by Addiction and Pestilence or just learn more about Kelly and what he's up to, visit his website here.

Feature image provided by Ed Kelly

Other photo by James Bentley