Into the Furnace by Geonn Cannon

Into the Furnace

By Geonn Cannon

Kelly Lake is one hot tempered, strong willed, blonde bisexual fire fighter with a mouth on her! And you will fall in love with her instantly. 

As we follow along, one week into Kelly’s life, in that time it just all seems to fall apart. It becomes a true test of her will, to see if she can and will make everything work.

She has a relationship, but does love always prevail? Her job, which as everyone knows, fire fighters become a family unit because they live together. But as with family-even work family, it too is a relationship that requires work.

The part that really pulled me in was reading the Arson, and how in depth it was, and how the lives were affected. Eleven people, and of course the fire fighters. You can just feel the pain. The writing was very descriptive, and it was almost as if I was right there watching it. Actually, in all honesty, I think this would make a descent movie. I mean- personally I can see it.

However, as I came to the end of the book, I just felt Kelly Lake could deserve more of her story being told. I felt her calling out to me, telling me she had more to tell me. I can feel her words, and needs as a character, and that she has more to tell.... I will ask the Author that when I ask questions, you can trust me on that!

This book was amazing, and I give it five stars. I just felt very drawn in, and I just could feel and see everything. As I said, it would make for an excellent movie. It was very well written, and very understandable. And it was a very different kind of read than I expected, especially when he told me it had to do with a bisexual woman. I was thinking it was going to be a sex book, and no, it wasn’t. It was all in all a very good literary read. And I am glad to see someone give recognition to the bisexual women! Well deserved! 

My questions for Geonn:

1. What made you write this story?

Everyone loves firefighters! There's just something about a female firefighter who can hold her own in one of the toughest, most physically daunting professions that appeals. And they look good in the uniform. The reason I made her bisexual was because of another author's blog conversations about how there's so little representation for the "B" in LGBT. I thought it would make an interesting aspect to her character, and it would be a fun perspective to write.

2. Don't you feel Kelly has more of a story to tell?

Oh, absolutely. I want Kelly to come back again and again, at least until she gets her happy ending. She's got a lot more stories to tell.

3. Do you have a photo or a description other then blonde of Kelly?

I cast all of my novels, just so I can get images of the person in my head and the scenes can play out right while I'm plotting. For Kelly, I used Emily Wickersham from NCIS, but I added a few details. I made her more muscular in the arms and I added dark eyebrows and a strong jaw because those are familial traits that end up having an important element in the plot.

4. Did you do any sort of research for this book?

Oh, very much. It's tough to just dive in and write a firefighter novel without learning their jargon, their codes, and their hierarchy. I knew a lot of it from the first firefighter novel I did ("World on Fire") but I had to dig back in for this one.

5. How long have you been writing?

I think I posted my first story way back in 2001, but I was writing in high school. I wrote something for a girl I had a crush on, and it made her laugh. That was when I realized I had Power, if I could just hone it. I could entertain women with my writing! That was my "in"! And then I chose a genre where 95% of my readers are lesbians. Go figure. ;)

6. Who is/are your favorite Author(s)?

So many! Neil Gaiman, Max Gladstone, Elizabeth Bear, Caroline Paul (a real life Kelly Lake!), Jonathan Evison, Greg Rucka... the list goes on and on.

7. Out of everything you personally have written- what is your favorite book you have written?

"The Rise and Fall of Radiation Canary" was my pinnacle, I think. Not that it's my best book, but because it was the culmination of everything I'd written, everything I'd learned, and it felt like the lynchpin of my career. It's a book about the formation and sudden rise to fame of a band from Seattle, and I just fell in love with the characters and their world. I really want to hear their music on the radio. ;)

8. What can you suggest to future writers out there?

Never give up! Never let people tell you that it's not worth trying or that you won't make it. I'm a straight man who writes lesbian fiction, and that's a heck of an uphill battle. But if you work hard on your craft, the doors will open. I'm the only man who has ever won a Golden Crown Literary Society Award, and as of this summer I've won TWO of them. I'm the only man with a webseries in production with Tello Films, whose tagline is "100% Women 100% of the time." I'm their diversity and I'm honored to be included. So never give up! And don't feel like you have to be restricted to one genre or type. I've written westerns, I've written historical steampunk with magical elements, I have a contemporary romance next to a supernatural werewolf mystery series. Write what you want and the readers will hopefully follow.

9. Have you met anyone famous since or because of your writing career?

I'm not hanging out with Stephen Colbert or anything, but I've met some movers and shakers in the industry. Probably the coolest celebrities I've met are Liz Vassey, who follows me on Twitter, and Max Gladstone, who I befriended when I got an early review copy of his first novel and got in on the ground floor of his meteoric career.

10. Please share with us links to follow you and read your work:

I have free stories on my website (http://www.geonncannon.com/). Squire's Isle may spoil some novels, but Underdogs is spoiler-free if you stick to Volume 1. All of my novels and the short story anthologies I've contributed to can be found in my website's store (http://store.geonncannon.com/) and you can subscribe to my Patreon to get exclusive stories and sneak peeks at future novels! (https://www.patreon.com/GeonnCannon). And follow me on Twitter! @GeonnCannon

Into the Furnace by Geonn Cannon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kelly Lake is one hot tempered, strong willed, blonde bisexual fire fighter with a mouth on her! And you will fall in love with her instantly.

As we follow along, one week into Kelly’s life, in that time it just all seems to fall apart. It becomes a true test of her will, to see if she can and will make everything work.

She has a relationship, but does love always prevail? Her job, which as everyone knows, fire fighters become a family unit because they live together. But as with family-even work family, it too is a relationship that requires work.

The part that really pulled me in was reading the Arson, and how in depth it was, and how the lives were affected. Eleven people, and of course the fire fighters. You can just feel the pain. The writing was very descriptive, and it was almost as if I was right there watching it. Actually, in all honesty, I think this would make a descent movie. I mean- personally I can see it.

However, as I came to the end of the book, I just felt Kelly Lake could deserve more of her story being told. I felt her calling out to me, telling me she had more to tell me. I can feel her words, and needs as a character, and that she has more to tell.... I will ask the Author that when I ask questions, you can trust me on that!


This book was amazing, and I give it five stars. I just felt very drawn in, and I just could feel and see everything. As I said, it would make for an excellent movie. It was very well written, and very understandable. And it was a very different kind of read than I expected, especially when he told me it had to do with a bisexual woman. I was thinking it was going to be a sex book, and no, it wasn’t. It was all in all a very good literary read. And I am glad to see someone give recognition to the bisexual women! Well deserved!


View all my reviews