J.K. Kelly

Kelly has had a passion for writing that dates back to grade school when a letter to the editor of Highlights magazine earned him his first “writing credit.”  He studied Law Enforcement and Journalism at Penn State University and after attending his first NASCAR race he fell in love with motorsports and a friend suggested the photos he took were good enough for publication.  Within months Kelly was writing feature stories and a column for a racing magazine and working as a freelancer in the industry.  His first cover shot was taken at the Cape Kennedy Space Center in Florida where he staged a rocket powered race car underneath the towering NASA rockets of the day.

When a dream job, working for a NASCAR team, opened up he jumped at the chance and worked as the PR Director for Darrell Waltrip and the Gatorade 88 race team on the NASCAR circuit. The demands of the job forced Kelly to put his "JK Kelly" writing ambitions to the side but once Kelly retired from the corporate world he was able to get back to his writing.  First he crafted FOUND IN TIME of which the Midwest Book Review wrote, “a deftly crafted and impressively original military science fiction action/adventure novel by an author with a great flair for engaging and holding his reader’s total attention from beginning to end.”  He then published a non-fiction novel titled FUELIN' AROUND that received great reviews from racers, magazine editors, and race fans alike.  The sequel to FOUND IN TIME, titled THE LOST PULSE, was launched recently to great reviews. 

Kelly lives in surburban Philadelphia with his wife Lisa and has three adult children and three beautiful granddaughters.  Where did the "JK" come from? Back in the 70's some of his friends just started calling him "JK" perhaps because the popular television show "Dallas" had a main character named "JR". Kelly insists, with a wink, that the resemblance is in nickname only.