Today I would like to welcome author Kai Strand to the blog to answer some questions about her book, King of Bad. If you are a fan of superheroes and can't get enough of them do check out King of Bad!

I really like that the King of Bad gives us the villain's point of view, which is rare in books that feature superheroes. Which villain, from print, TV or movie, would perfectly embody the SV Academy's motto? 



I think Joss Whedon’s Loki is the perfect embodiment of “Where you learn to be good at being bad.” We know Loki – by nature – is a trickster, but he does some downright despicable things and counters it with acts of heroism, verging on selflessness – or is the apparent selflessness really a means to a self-serving end? Tom Hiddleston’s interpretation of Joss’ Loki keeps you intrigued, beguiled, and guessing. I hope my series keeps readers guessing and wondering too.


  Jeff's perception of the SV Academy changes throughout the book, what is the one thing he would say the school has taught him about himself? 


Jeff has always been the bad boy. An emerging pyromaniac who has a way with the ladies. But nothing highlights how NOT bad you are like attending a school filled with super villains. Villains are selfish, self-centered. They plot and plan, use and abuse. They don’t have friends so much as useful acquaintances. They never consider how their actions impact anyone else. So the biggest thing Jeff wonders is if he’s bad enough for SVA?

 Jeff seems to be attracted to Oceanus and Mystic for different reasons. If he were to take them each on a date, what would they do? 


   First, he would be nervous before each date, but for two entirely different reasons. He’d want to impress Oceanus. He wouldn’t want to make Mystic mad. So the dates he’d plan – if he were to date both girls:


  Oceanus has water related superpowers so ideally, he’d like to take her to dinner at a restaurant with a patio overlooking an ocean, so she’d feel empowered, strong and in control. But they live in landlocked Idaho, so instead he’d try to recreate an ocean-side experience. Find a nice deserted lake. Maybe an old rock quarry. He’d surround it with sea lavender and somehow introduce the scent of sea salt to make her feel at home. He’d use his own ice superpower as often as possible, because she swoons every time she sees him make something with water from inside his own body. It would just be the two of them so that he could get to know everything about her.


   Mystic’s powers scare him to death. First of all her powers are psychic, which he has no defenses for. It’s a huge weakness of his. Second, her forte? Psychic sex. Ugh! Someone who can make you think you’ve already been with her and liked it! How is he supposed to know what memories to trust? So he’d want their date to be as busy and distracting as possible. Hopefully a loud rock concert or a busy play-off game of some sort would distract her from suaving him. If not, when he was caught drooling over her, at least he’d have the extra excuse that he’d been distracted.

If each of the main characters had the chance to date a person from the DC or Marvel Universe who would they pick and why?


As soon as Source met Jeff’s sister, Sandra, his world was complete. You could throw Wonder Woman at him and he’d never even notice.


If you can get Mystic’s focus (more like obsession) off of Jeff, I think she’d be intrigued by Marvel’s Magneto. He claims to be able to control minds – well, she’d love to show him how that’s really done. Beyond that, she’d appreciate his ability to manipulate the physical source of magnetism. It would complement her ability to manipulate emotional magnetism. Magneto would provide almost as much allure as Jeff and his place in the villain hierarchy. Almost.


I imagine that Oceanus would take the obvious route and fall for DC’s Aquaman. All things water turns her head and Aquaman has command of the ocean and its occupants. Eventually his goodness would likely bore her, but she’d learn a heck of a lot in the process.


Jeff is a work-in-progress. He likes all girls and is stupid enough to proceed without caution. He’d chase after (DC’s) Wonder Woman if someone carelessly threw her at his best friend, Source – only to be pummeled by her. Being conscious of his own appearance, he’d appreciate (Marvel’s) Medusa’s fabulous hair. He’s naturally attracted to girls on the edge of crazy, so (Marvel’s) Scarlet Witch would probably attract his attention, especially if he could steal her from that jerk of a super villain, Set. Being a girl of two worlds, (DC’s) Amethyst might draw his attention, though he’d have some trouble with the princess side of her – the girl equivalent to a pretty boy, which Jeff really despises. But Set might take a shine to her later and that alone – providing a cast-off for Set, for a change – would make Jeff happy.

Let say you were given the opportunity to shadow a student from the SV Academy, who would you select and why? 


If I were thinking logically, it would be Jeff’s best friend, Source. His superpower is to sense the powers in other Supers and help them develop them. He knows more about superpowers and how to ratchet them up than anybody else.


But the teenage girl inside me would follow Jeff’s rival, Set, around. I have such a crush on him! He’s drop dead good-looking, and knows it. He’s got total control over his weather powers, which is sexy as all get out. And he’s a bad boy. So, yeah, I’d probably shadow him everywhere, but not for the right reasons.

Thanks so much for answering my questions, Kai!



 Jeff Mean would rather set fires than follow rules or observe curfew. He wears his bad boy image like a favorite old hoodie; that is until he learns he has superpowers and is recruited by Super Villain Academy – where you learn to be good at being bad. In a school where one kid can evaporate all the water from your body and the girl you hang around with can perform psychic sex in your head, bad takes on a whole new meaning. Jeff wonders if he’s bad enough for SVA.

He may never find out. Classmates vilify him when he develops good manners. Then he’s kidnapped by those closest to him and left to wonder who is good and who is bad. His rescue is the climactic episode that balances good and evil in the super world. The catalyst – the girl he’s crushing on. A girlfriend and balancing the Supers is good, right? Or is it…bad?


King of Bad, the Amazon bestseller is now in it’s 2nd edition with bonus material! Buy it in electronic or print format from.
Buy it: Whiskey Creek Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or get the SVA Box Set: Whiskey CreekPress, Amazon, Barnes and Noble




When her children were young and the electricity winked out, Kai Strand gathered her family around the fireplace and they told stories, one sentence at a time. Her boys were rather fond of the ending, “And then everybody died. The end.” Now an award winning children’s author, Kai crafts fiction for kids and teens to provide an escape hatch from their reality. With a selection of novels for young adult and middle grade readers and a short story blog, Lightning Quick Reads, Kai entertains children of all ages, and their adults. Learn more about Kai and her books on her website, www.kaistrand.com.

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