I’m excited to introduce you to Wild Ink Publishing author Riley Kilmore. I know you are going to enjoy getting to learn about her and her books just as I did. I can relate to Riley in our writing routine, which you’ll read about below! Enjoy!

Amy

About the Author

In addition to devoting 20 years to firefighting, Kilmore’s been a cop, a homeschool mom, has leaped from airplanes, and sailed around the world. After she and her husband raised six kids she earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction, then won the 2023 West Virginia Fiction Competition judged by author Ann Pancake. Her award-winning fiction and poetry appear in many anthologies, and her debut children’s novel, Shay the Brave, comes out in 2024. Kilmore lives on a mountainside farm in Appalachia where she and her husband have provided a home to their many rescued animals, including horses, goats, dogs, cats, rabbits, and a possum.

Shay the Brave

Feisty Shay longs to wear britches and cut her hair short. Even more, she’d love for all who live in Oldenshire, her fortress home, to stop eating meat.
When hunters capture a pouncer for the Harvest Revel’s “mane course,” Shay decides to act. With the help of Alexy (the laundress’s mute son) and Bridger (Da’s retired war horse), she concocts a plan to free the beast before it winds up on Da’s holiday spit.

The pouncer repays Shay in a big way, bringing his own kingdom to the rescue when her fortress home falls under enemy siege. The problem? Da’s soldiers see the forest citizens as their enemies too.

Two kingdoms, divided by culture and language, multiplied by fear and misunderstanding, equals the chaos of war. Shay’s mathematical mind sees it like this: [ (K1 ] K2) ÷ (c + l) ] x (f + m) = war.

Can two imperiled children and a tired old horse save the day?
Shay and Alexy must act before their fortress families and forest friends harm each other. It will take bravery, but Shay must try. After all, she gave the pouncer his freedom, but in return he gave her the greatest gift of all, a whole new kind of bravery: the courage to be her true self.

What’s the Story Behind Your Story?

After writing and revising my graduate thesis novel in record time (a 400-page science-fantasy manuscript into which I poured my heart and soul), my advisor was satisfied and approved it, then told me I had to start writing a second novel, since I still had a year of coursework to go.

Shay the Brave was that second novel. I’d no idea what to write, just sat at my computer and started typing. The story unfolded as if it were writing itself, and I finished it in three weeks. My advisor approved that manuscript, too, then said, “write another.” That third book is one I’m still working on—a historical romcom set in 1860 Nevada Territory. I’m hoping both my space-
set fantasy thesis novel and my romance work-in-progress will find a publishing home, too.

What Was Your Journey to Publication?

I wrote my first novel when I was sixteen and two more as a young mom (mostly when my kids napped). A few years later I wrote one I thought marketable and showed it to my sister, who’s also a writer. She said to put it in a drawer for half a year, then pull it out and cut it by 20 percent. Meanwhile, she added, write short stories—enter them in contests and try to get them published to building cred.

It was hard advice to hear, but I did what she said. I didn’t want to shove my baby in a drawer and I had little interest in writing short fiction. Well, I ended up querying that book for two decades and could never get an agent, but nearly every short story I wrote wound up winning contests and getting published in anthologies and literary magazines.

Wanting to figure out how my longer manuscripts weren’t measuring up, I eventually went to grad school (as an empty nester) for fiction writing. I still couldn’t seem to snag an agent, so I began submitting to small publishers that didn’t require one. Wild Ink was one such publisher, and they offered me a contract very quickly after I submitted to them. After trying for three decades, It’s exciting to finally have a book out. My advice is to do what I just described, only learn to hone your craft faster than I did so you can achieve success quicker!

Are You a Plotter or a Pantser and What Does That Process Look Like For You?

I’m a hybrid, something I call a “plotser.” I don’t outline, but I do mentally plan my next day’s writing as I’m waiting to fall asleep at night. Occasionally I jot notes about some detail I’m afraid I might otherwise forget, but that’s about it. However, character profiles are a different story. I write extensive character profiles.

What is Your Favorite Writing Tool?

My favorite tools are just a good strong cuppa coffee, a quiet house, and a reliable computer, though I have been known to write longhand (cursive—what’s that?) in notebooks, as well.

What is Your Favorite Writing Resource?

The best resource IMHO will always be well-written books by other authors. Read widely, read classics, read poetry, read plays. Read, read, read. Then write, write, write. The other best resource is life: yours, and others. Observe everything. Notice details. Engage all your various senses
as you do.

What Has Surprised You the Most About Writing or Publishing?

The insurmountable wall between authoring a well-written book and getting an agent.

What’s Next?

I’ll be writing the sequel to Shay the Brave soon, and I’m also working on my historic romcom, which I’d like to finish this Spring. Then I also have a YA book in the works. Always lots of irons in the fire.

What’s Your Number One Tip For Writer’s?

Write freely, edit mercilessly.

Where Can People Find You?

I write a weekly substack called Riley Kilmore’s Monday Morning Literary Bric-a-Brac that readers can subscribe to and interact with. I’m also on Facebook, Instagram, and for now can still be found on Twitter (I refuse to call it otherwise). I’m also trying to get my author website up and going (RileyKilmore.com).

Not all friendships are forged in the same fire.
Most have the power to transform, it’s true;
but only now and then does a friendship come along with the power to save everything and everyone you love.

If you have any comments for Riley, please post in the comments below and we’ll get them answered for you!