Today we’d like to introduce you to W.D. Kilpack III.
Hi W.D., so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve always been a storyteller. Before I could write, I would draw my stories. I remember drawing the starship Enterprise and the Battlestar Galactica, and others, and they would have epic battles, firing on each other. I would draw in the weapon blasts, then the explosions, then erase out the parts of the ships that were destroyed. When I got older, I started writing my stories and drawing them, so I originally wanted to be a cartoonist and create my own line of comic books. Then, when I was nine, I wrote a poem that my teacher, Ms. Adams, entered into a contest (without my knowledge). It won and was published, making it my first publication credit. Still, I wanted to be a cartoonist, until I was 12, when my Language Arts and Gifted & Talented Teacher, Mrs. Ferrin, told me to write a chapter in a book for every writing assignment in each class, rather than the assigned writing assignments. By the end of the year, I wrote my first fantasy novel, and I was set. I no longer wanted to be a cartoonist. I wanted to be a novelist. I knew I would have to make a living writing until then, so I pursued journalism, which expanded into public relations, then marketing, then technical writing, then proposal writing, before I finally published my first novel. All the while, I was freelancing, but it was a long road between when I got my first publication credit for my first novel… hundreds of publication credits… I stopped counting them.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I can’t think of any road that’s smooth, no matter what it is. I was hired to write for the first time when I was 15, for a sports publication. They hired me as a writer/editor and kept assigning me stuff all over Utah. After a half-dozen excuses of why I couldn’t go, they demanded to know what was wrong, and I had to admit that I couldn’t drive all over the state, because I was too young to get my driver’s license. They couldn’t believe it, particularly since I had a full mustache. But they appreciated my guts, didn’t fire me, and let me write on local events, but did withdraw the editorial position. That was a struggle.
The typical struggles for writers are the many, many rejections. I have a file of all my rejection letters. I’ve kept every one I’ve ever received. I sometimes go through them and read them. Most just form letters, and they just get a glance, but the ones that have more notes on them (especially the hand-written notes) get more time and attention.
Those notes really taught me a lot. The more attention I gave those rejection letters, the more I received acceptance letters, the more I got paid, and the less my rejection file got fat.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a science-fiction/fantasy author. I have five books published, the epic fantasy New Blood Saga: Crown Prince, Order of Light, Demon Seed, and Rilari, and the standalone science-fiction novella, Pale Face. Crown Prince, Order of Light, and Demon Seed have all received Firebird Book Awards. Crown Prince and Order of Light received The Bookfest Award. BooksShelf named Order of Light a Top Pick and Demon Seed an Editor’s Choice. Pale Face received Special Recognition from L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future Contest. Rilari was just released in February 2023.
I’m known most for being a very visual writer. Almost every professional review I’ve received has mentioned how descriptive I am and how they can see, smell, and feel the world where the story unfolds.
What sets me apart is that I can write in pretty much any genre, be it fiction or nonfiction. In addition to my novels and short stories, I am an internationally published poet and journalist. I have worked as a technical writer, and proposal writer, climbing to the top ranks in marketing and writing scripts for radio, television, and the big screen.
We’d love to hear what you think about risk-taking.
Every new experience is a risk. If you’re not taking risks, you become stagnant. Where’s the fun in that? I wrestled for 12 years and qualified to represent the United States in Greco Roman wrestling. That does something to your head in terms of confidence. I got to the point in wrestling where it didn’t matter who I was going up against, I didn’t get nervous anymore. As soon as I stepped on the mat, the nerves were gone. I just went out and did my thing. That same mentality has carried into the rest of my life and has served me extremely well. When interviewing for jobs, if I’m asked if I can improve something, then the answer is always yes. After I’m hired, then I just have to figure out how. Luckily, I’ve never been wrong. (Knock on wood). That’s not to say that I haven’t made mistakes along the way.
I’m pretty hard on myself when I make them. More than once, I’ve recommended my own termination for my mistakes, but never been taken up on it, because my supervisor saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself at the moment because I was focusing too much on the dark cloud from that mistake, whatever it might have been. The bottom line, without risk, you can’t grow and progress and improve.
Pricing:
- Pale Face $10
- Crown Prince $15
- Order of Light $17
- Demon Seed /Rilari $20
- All eBooks $3.99
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kilpack.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wdkilpackiii/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077173903372
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/WDKilpackIII
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzT0orMdL12YwqEifT010Pg
- Other: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19339956.W__Kilpack_III
Image Credits
Alison Kilpack
