Becoming an author is no easy feat, so those who choose to climb that mountain are brave indeed. As an aspiring author myself, I know how hard it is to write a book, let alone market it and get noticed in this big old world.
Curious by nature, when I come across writers and works that I’m interested in, I want to know more. So, when I saw this beautiful cover, I decided to take a leap and ask more!
The author, Holly Killian, kindly agreed to an interview with me, and we were off. Please enjoy reading her responses as much as I did.
The Interview
CD: So Holly, I like asking an icebreaker question to start these off, because I like how they give us insight into who you think yourself to be! If you had to be transformed into any animal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
HK: I’m stuck choosing between a bird and a cat…a huge contradiction, I know. I admire the leisureness of a cat; how lovely it must be to nap all day and then be taken care of. But I also envy the birds that get to see the world so differently than we do; how easy it is to just…fly away.
CD: I have to agree, those are excellent choices. The freedom of flight is such a draw, I’d have to be a bird too!
CD: Now, onto the juicy bits. Who is Holly Killian? Tell us all about yourself!
HK: I am soon-to-be twenty-five and I reside in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I have two cats, named Willow and Garfield and my husband, Brandon.
I have a B.A in Early Childhood Education, and a M.Ed in Reading and Literacy. I taught for a few years before deciding it wasn’t for me, and I am currently getting my real estate license.
I’m in a very awkward stage of my life, where it sort of feels like I’m having a quarter-life-crisis. For so long I thought I was content with teaching, but it was like a light switch turned on in my mind, and suddenly I wasn’t happy anymore. Ultimately, my goal was always to become an author. Instead of sitting idly and miserably watching the world turn, I’m going for it full force.
CD: It’s awesome to hear you’re chasing your dreams head on! Tell us about your book Highsummer, which comes out in May, 2027!
KH: Highsummer is a spicy, twisted retelling of Frozen, where a queen of a kingdom cursed beneath an endless sun has to take a life-altering journey to find her sister and finally put an end to it.
My main female character (FMC) is Mira, the newly crowned queen of Eirholm. Mira is sheltered from being trapped in her castle for a decade, out of harm’s way from her dangerous sister. She is resilient at the best of times and gullible at the worst of times. With a heart of gold, her only intention is saving her kingdom from relentless, sweltering heat.
My main male character (MMC) is Reed, a stubborn and loyal blondie, who happens to be the royal postmaster. He knows the ins and outs of the kingdom better than most, and has an upper-hand when it comes to navigation and travelling: perfect for assisting the queen in her journey. His issue? He has trouble trusting people, especially those of royal blood.
Tropes: sunshine x grumpy romance, forced proximity, found family, blood-magic system, and slow burn (yes, there is spice!)
Comp Titles:
- One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
- The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig
- When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker
- Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
CD: That sounds amazing! With a cover like yours, this is shaping up to be a fantastic read! But tell me, what drew you to writing in the first place?
KH: When I was a teenager, my grandfather bought me a restored typewriter from the sixties, and I became obsessed with writing poetry on it. I was wildly influenced by a multitude of things: The Great Gatsby, the Hunger Games, Divergent, Lana Del Rey, etc. I was intent on dragging myself into worlds and getting lost in music.
I felt everything deep in my soul and I had so much pent up emotion, I found that writing was a way to throw it all out into the world. A way to say how I felt, without really saying it. I’d come home from my hardest days of school and write on Wattpad…and various stories in my Notes app. Even today, my hardest days have ended either reading or writing. Mostly the latter. I am most drawn to writing more than anything else in my life.
CD: Wow, those are some fantastic sources of inspiration if I do say so myself. Writing is a solace to many of us, but it has it’s difficulties too. What do you find challenging about writing?
HK: For me, it’s writing the scenes that aren’t necessarily ‘exciting’ but are still important to the plot. For example: the scenes where Mira (the queen) has an audience and discusses political matters. It’s not exactly thrilling, but I know it needs to be done, so I put it on the back-burner until I have enough mental clarity to finish it.
One other challenging part has less to do with writing and more to do with planning. Remembering all the small, specific details is especially tough. When a book is more than 400 pages long, you tend to forget the small things like ‘wait…what did I name that horse again?’
Up until now, I’ve always flitted through pages of notes and skimmed my manuscript for the answers. However, I recently attended an author event where V.L. Bovalino (author of The Second Death of Locke) mentioned the same problem, but with a genius solution: create a ‘book bible’ with all of the small details that you can reference for later.
CD: It’s so helpful to have a way to track all those little details, especially when writing big fantasy stories! I love fantasy because it is so different to our everyday lives, and it enables us to use so much imagination. Tell me, where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?
HK: This is very odd to say, but sometimes I will literally get HIT with an idea and I need to write it down immediately. Just the other day at work, I was in the middle of completing a task, when an idea for a new book just made its way into my mind like a little virus. I took out my phone and typed it down because those ideas are most often fleeting. Sometimes I will intentionally be looking for new ideas, and they come up in the bath, the shower or anywhere unexpected.
Music has a huge influence, too. When I listen to a song that makes me feel very emotional, I want to write about it. I was listening to Rick Nelson’s Lonesome Town on repeat at the beginning of the year, and I started writing a story that made me feel as the song did: eerie.
My last influence is books, of course! I always say: to perfect a craft, you also have to be participating in it. You cannot be a writer and never touch a book, they go hand-in-hand. When I read a really good book—I’m talking ‘I stayed up until 3am reading it’ kind of book—I immediately want to get out my Alphasmart and notebooks to start writing.
CD: Inspiration really does strike in the strangest ways! I love the song recommendation too. You seem like a very thoughtful writer, intent on capturing the emotion of your stories as much as the action for your audience. What do you hope your readers learn or take away from your work?
HK: For one, I hope they genuinely enjoy the story for what it is. It’s great if they get anything else out of it, but even just reading it is enough for me!
Looking back on Highsummer now, I can see more self-reflection than anything. Mira goes through a huge experience of her own, finding herself and who she is outside of what she’s been told her entire life, and I felt like I was (…and still am) going through something similar.
I’d like readers to take away this: the world can tell you what it thinks of you, but it’s up to YOU to decide who you are, and what you want for your life. It’s easy to get stuck in an endless cycle of unhappiness, where you feel like you have no choice. It’s harder to step outside of your comfort zone and pave your own path.
Pick the harder route, because more often than not, contentment is always waiting at the end of the road.
CD: That’s very powerful, thank you for being so open with me. I like your last note there, about choosing the harder route because contentment is waiting. Is there anything else that surprised you on this writing journey—maybe things that were easier or more difficult than you first thought?
HK: I think writing a manuscript in of itself is challenging, but often rewarding. The biggest thing that absolutely shocked me is how my writing has improved since finishing Highsummer. My early manuscripts from a few years ago were decent, but I felt a shift with Highsummer, particularly near the 75% mark––where the words just seemed to flow out of me naturally.
I wrote 20,000 words in an entire day while finishing up Highsummer—I’ll never forget it. It was like an out-of-body experience, and the moment where I knew I wanted to take it to the publication level.
I am not, of course, perfect at writing by any means. I have so much to learn, so far to go, but it can only get better (right?) So if you’re an aspiring author: keep writing, keep reading!!
In this industry: practice really does make ‘perfect’ or pretty close to it.
CD: You’re so right! Practice is the key, annoying as it may be to hear. You’ve been so generous with your time and answers, so here is one last question to tie it all up before you go: what are you reading at the moment?
I finished reading The Sweetest Fiend by Raven Kennedy and Florenscentia by I.V. Ophelia last week, and they were so good that I felt inspired to work on book 2 of Highsummer. (Really anything by I.V. Ophelia, I eat up very quickly!)
The Sweetest Fiend is an absolute must-read for any romantasy fans, the slow burn, the tension, the freakin’ Pied Piper… Amazing!
Florenscentia by I.V. Ophelia is her first romantasy book and I couldn’t put it down. As a fan of the Poisoner series, I wasn’t surprised that it was something I devoured. The main love interest is an alien-demon thingy and made me question lots of things about myself. Addicting is an understatement.
CD: Wow, I can’t believe I’ve not heard of those. Thank you for the recommendations and thank you again for this interview. I’ve really enjoyed it, and I hope our readers will too!
You can find Holly on Instagram here: @hollynkillian and on Threads here: @hollynkillian.
Until next time, x
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