I was lucky to get an interview with the fantasy and sci-fi author W.D. Kilpack III. His latest book, Rilari, will be released any day now.

Please, tell us a bit about yourself…
I am an award-winning and critically acclaimed internationally published writer, with works appearing in print, online, radio and television, starting with his first publication credit at the age of nine. My first two novels, Crown Prince and Order of Light, both received the Firebird Book Award, while Crown Prince received The BookFest Award. Demon Seed was Editor's Choice on BooksShelf. I also received special recognition from L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest for my novella, Pale Face. I have been editor and/or publisher of 19 news and literary publications, both online and in print, with circulations as high as 770,000.

I received both my bachelor's and master's degrees from Westminster College of Salt Lake City. As an undergrad, I double-majored in Communication and Philosophy, while completing the Honors Program. As a graduate student, I earned a Master of Professional Communication. I was also a high-performing athlete, qualifying for international competition in Greco-Roman wrestling.

I love to cook. I have cooked nearly every type of food on the grill, although I also love non-grill cooking Cajun, Greek, and Italian food, and have been getting better with Asian cuisine.

I taught college communication classes for 25 years and I coached wrestling for more than 20 years, earning national recognition. I am happily married to my high-school sweetheart, I have five children, and helped raise five step-children. I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

Why should I buy your books?
I would describe my style as "realistic epic fantasy." Magic is more subtle. The characters have doubts and everyday concerns, on top of the more traditional plot elements. I love heroes who are imperfect, and villains that you love to hate (then you get conflicted and wonder if “hate” is too strong a word). I do a lot of research: history, mythology, magic. The New Blood Saga is an eight-book series, with three published and the fourth coming any day. The main character, Natharr, is Guardian of Maarihk, an ancient role, rooted in his Firstblood, giving him Sight to see the future and the past. He and his father have spent two generations preparing for the overthrow of the king, so the newborn crown prince could be saved and kept safe until he is ready to regain his throne. He is faced with crushing responsibilities, faces incredible challenges, endures pain and emotional anguish, then grits his teeth and keeps going. One professional reviewer came up with something interesting to describe Natharr: a blend of Aragorn, Alanon, and Teddy Roosevelt. The most common comment I’ve had from readers about the New Blood Saga is that it’s like a blend of George R.R. Martin and Tolkien. I take that as a huge compliment.

“I have written 24 episodes of a sci-fi mini-series that we want to see on one of the streaming services. Feedback has been amazing!”

— W.D. Kilpack III

What got you into writing? And how long have you been doing it?
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been writing and telling stories. Before I learned how to write, I would draw pictures of spaceships, then act out the battles, drawing in the laser blasts and explosions after erasing parts of the ships that were blown away by enemies. I’ve blown up the U.S.S. Enterprise 10,000 times. I originally wanted to be a cartoonist and start my own line of comic books. I loved superheroes (and still do!) and would draw the comics, as well as write the stories. My first comic-book character was Super Mouse, created when I was 5 or 6. He was pretty much Superman, but a mouse, and he beat up cats. It was very serious stuff, not Tom and Jerry. That was my dream until I wrote my first fantasy novel, when I was 12. I was first published when I was 9, when a teacher entered a poem I wrote into a contest without my knowledge. It won and was published. I was first hired as a professional writer when I was 15, as an editor for a sports publication. Funny thing, the sports publication rescinded the offer to be an editor and changed it to a reporter position when I told them I didn’t have a driver license. I was editor-in-chief of both my high school newspaper and literary magazine, and editor of my college newspaper.

Since I wrote my first novel, I always had pencil and paper with me, so I could jot down a few ideas when the need hit me. Since publishing four novels, it’s amazing how many people I grew up with who mention my red, three-ring binder I carried around with me, loaded with lined paper, so I could write down my thoughts as they came to me. That compulsion persists to this day, although I’ve since updated for the computer age.

Why did you choose to write fantasy and sci-fi? And why pick this particular fantasy subgenre?
I have always loved science fiction and fantasy! I love to read it, write it, watch it in movies, and on TV. I just love it! I grew up watching Star Trek, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica. By the end of third grade, I read every book on mythology in the library at my elementary school. I read The Hobbit when I was 10, the Lord of the Rings trilogy right after. Movies like Alien, Blade Runner, Beastmaster, Dragonslayer, Highlander, The Road Warrior, Terminator, and Willow all really spoke to me. I also started playing Dungeons and Dragons when I was 10, and still play!

In both science fiction and fantasy, one of the primary tools used is distortion: technology or magic making certain elements bigger, sometimes larger than life. That makes the human condition more poignant and can really lead down a rabbit hole in terms of specific ideals. I love that!

As far as subgenre, I didn’t choose one. I’m just writing. Other people told me the New Blood Saga is “epic” fantasy, while others said it is “high” fantasy, others that it’s “heroic” fantasy, and even some that said it’s “sword and sorcery” fantasy. I wouldn’t choose one of those, because I think the New Blood Saga is all of them. It also does a little genre-blending with a bit of the paranormal and horror.

As a person, I was an excellent student who was also a high-performing athlete. I love heavy-metal music and write poetry. I am an artist and coach. I am not a religious person, yet my Philosophy degree would have been in Theology if I would’ve taken three different courses. As a kid, I had an almost pathological fear of looking people in the eye, but ended up doing tens of thousands of hours public speaking and teaching it. I am a published journalist, poet, restaurant critic, sci-fi and fantasy author, pop-culture analyst, screenwriter, technical writer, and proposal writer. My point is that I don’t fit into a box, and I don’t think my writing does, either.

Which other author has had the biggest influence on your writing?
I love Homer, of course. Other huge influences on me are Robert Adams, Piers Anthony, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Terry Brooks, Steven Brust, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Stephen R. Donaldson, David Eddings, Robert Holdstock, Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Moon, Melanie Rawn, S.M. Stirling, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Eric Van Lustbader. Aristotle’s writings are awe-inspiring because he was writing in 350 B.C.E., they’re still relevant and the basis of so much in society. I love William Shakespeare’s poetry and plays (MacBeth is my favorite), and my favorite poet is Robert Frost. For screenwriting, I love James Cameron, Aaron Sorkin, Steven Spielberg, and Quentin Tarantino.

What’s the best thing about being a writer?
Creation. I love coming up with characters and worlds, then breathing life into them. I love taking something and turning it on its ear, giving it a different look, a different perspective that people may not have considered. I love taking contradictions and making them work together. I love learning new things through my research. I love having people tell me the things they love about my books. I love it when people are mad at me because of things that happened in my books, because I want to elicit an emotional response.

What’s the hardest thing about being a writer?
Research plays a huge role in my writing. It's challenging, but also very rewarding.

In my fantasy writing, I do a lot of research into specific cultures, technology that was available in medieval times, even word usage. I find that it helps make the world more real, aside from giving me great material to use. As a result, I have people ask, “How did you come up with that?” My answer is something like, “I didn’t. It was still in practice in England till the 1880s.”

For my science fiction, research plays an even bigger role, researching technology, as well as the latest discoveries in space exploration. I’ve always been a space buff, so I have a pretty significant library. I never took a physics class, but I’ve read some of the most influential books at the time in quantum physics.

Do you have any tips or an author app, tool, or resource that you can really recommend we try?
The best advice I have for new writers is write, write, write. You see a movie and a line of dialogue has you going down another path, write it down. You hear a song and a lyric strikes you, write it down. The best advice for someone wanting to be a writer is just that: start.

The best marketing is word of mouth. Nothing is more powerful than a recommendation by a friend you trust. However, getting the word out for people to know that it’s there is the trick. To do this, I have used Facebook quite a bit but, surprisingly, what has had the biggest impact recently are LinkedIn and Twitter. I had a LinkedIn account that I hadn’t done much with for years, then decided to try seeing what happens if I put more focus there. Through LinkedIn, I’ve made contacts for podcast interviews, blogs, and even critics. One of the bigger book critics in India gave my book five stars, and now I’ve got hundreds of connections with people in India. I never saw that coming! Twitter has amazed me with people who are so willing to re-tweet, spreading the word to a wider audience that you never had before.

Three online resources I have been using more and more are RhymeZone (it’s not just about rhyming,) Hyhenation24 (sometimes, you have to go in manually to make things right, or your italic text might be outside the printing area on Amazon,) and the Online Etymology Dictionary. However, two books that I think everyone should have on their shelves are The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White, and The Elements of Editing by Arthur Plotnik.

And now it's time to yank out your Palantir! Let’s talk about the future. What new projects are you working on?
I have 26 novels in the bullpen right now, of various levels of completion. I want to get them all into print and be able to make a living doing it.

I am also involved with Safe Harbor Films, a production company for TV and movies, where I have written 24 episodes of a sci-fi mini-series that we want to see on one of the streaming services. Feedback has been amazing! And it’s already allowed me to meet some people who made an impact on my life acting in some of my favorite movies and TV shows, as well as some of my favorite bands!

After the mini-series, we have a movie trilogy in the pipeline, then a vampire limited series. After all that, there’s talk of putting the New Blood Saga on one of the streaming services. It’s all the future, and nothing is guaranteed, but it’s certainly exciting!

Do you expect new technologies to come along soon that will have a huge impact on self-publishing? For instance, when will we see a decent novel written by an AI author?
The idea of an AI author is both horrifying and amazing. Scary, because that’s what I do for a living, and why put me to work and pay me, when a piece of software can be purchased once and then used forever? That’s aside from the philosophical questions about inspiration being a solely human characteristic. If a computer starts doing it, then so much for that.

At the same time, I love science fiction. I love the stories with androids, where they transcend from machine to something more. Blade Runner is a prime example of this, and it’s one of my favorite movies of all time.

Do you have any dreams you’d like to share?
I want to make a living writing. I don’t ask to be wealthy, just to not have to worry about paying bills. I want to be able to travel to some of the places that I read about. I want to enjoy good food and experience cultures other than my own. I want to see my wife experience those things, because she has such an appreciation for life that it helps me remember the good things.

Anything else you would like to say before we close?
All you readers out there, let’s do this together! Read my stories, tell me what you think, interact, participate, and have fun! The communication hub for my hopes and dreams is www.Kilpack.net. It has information about my books (including purchase links for Amazon, NOOK, Kobo); links to interviews; photos sent to me by readers holding my books; videos of people who joined the Knights of Ril (which you can also do on the site), then videoed themselves reciting the vows of a Knight of Ril and sent them to me; links to my author pages and social media, and other information. It’s been pretty amazing, and certainly unanticipated, to have people sending me photos and videos. Very cool!

Thank you for doing the interview W.D. Kilpack III. I wish you the very best of luck and that you get to finish those 26 novels and get a streaming deal.

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