Featured Interview With Author W.D. Kilpack III
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
W.D. Kilpack III, MPC, PSMC, is 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, when he wrote an award-winning poem. As an adult, his first three novels, Crown Prince, Order of Light, and Demon Seed each received the International Firebird Book Award, while Crown Prince and Order of Light received The BookFest Award. Demon Seed was recently an Editor's Choice on BooksShelf and, previously, Order of Light was a Top Pick. He also received special recognition from L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest for his novella, Pale Face. In total, his books have received 17 awards. He has been editor and/or publisher of 19 news and literary publications, both online and in print, with circulations as high as 770,000. He is a partner in Safe Harbor Films, LLC, where he does their screenwriting and oversees their marketing efforts.
He received both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Westminster College of Salt Lake City. As an undergrad, he double-majored in communication and philosophy, while completing the Honors Program. As a graduate student, he earned a master of professional communication with a writing emphasis. He was also a high-performing athlete, qualifying for international competition in Greco-Roman wrestling.
He is a communication professor and a nationally recognized wrestling coach. He is an accomplished cook and has cooked nearly every type of food on a grill. He is happily married to his high-school sweetheart and is father to five children, as well as helping to raise five step-children. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he continues to live, coach and teach.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
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.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
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.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
Rilari is the fourth in the New Blood Saga, following Crown Prince, Order of Light, and Demon Seed. It follows Natharr, who is Guardian of Maarihk, one of a long line of protectors dating back to the Firstborn Age, before the Aa Conquest. Natharr's is an ancient role, rooted in his Firstblood, giving him Sight to see what is yet to be. He adheres to his sacred duties even in the centuries since the Firstborn were forced to the brink of extinction by the Aa.
In Rilari, Natharr has finally broken free of the faceless realm only to find that the Usurper’s venom has extended beyond the Gulf of Braag, seeding unrest and hatred for all things Maarihkish. Natharr and the Knights of Ril must overcome malice and the ramifications of Ellis the Elder’s boundless past that even Sight cannot reveal. The Rilari stand alone in a world in turmoil as they discover the tremendous reach of the Usurper’s vizier. Even the endowments of the Daemons of Order are unable to withstand the ravages of fighting to survive on Rilari loyalties. Meanwhile, Nathan and his summoned companion must rely on the teachings of both Natharr and Quiet One to carve out their place in the Maarihk Empire. Skill with a sword is only the beginning of their treacherous path, as fraught with peril as Darshelle’s as she flees the animus of the ancient wood.
The New Blood Saga was inspired by recurring dreams I had for months that left me in tears when I woke. So I started writing about it. Pretty quickly, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to achieve the same level of emotional impact in one book, so I thought I would write a trilogy. However, even then, in building to the point in the dream, creating the gravitas that would really give it some punch, I hadn’t even gotten to the dream in those three books, so I thought it would be six. As I continued writing, it became an eight-book saga.
In Rilari, that dream is finally seen ….
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