Contemporary Conversations with Hilt: September's Author Spotlight

      It's been a hot minute since I've done an author spotlight. I'm back with September, though. This should fill in our missing spotlight and then I'll start work on our official October spotlight.

  September's author is near and dear to my heart. I've known K.D. Hilt since she was a baby. Literally. I knew her before she was born. She's my little sister and I couldn't be more proud of her.

  K.D. Hilt is the pen name of a Nebraska-born and raised contemporary fiction author.

  "I'm dabbling in fantasy and paranormal," Hilt stated, "but I write general contemporary fiction with some mystery, romance, and family drama for teens to young adults."

  Hilt graduated from high school in Nebraska and then moved to Ames, Iowa to continue her schooling. At the time of this writing, she is a senior in college. 

  "My older sister would make up, or write, stories and tell them to me when I was a kid," reminisced Hilt. "Listing to the stories was always one of my favorite things to do. I always had my own headcanon for them too. I still have a playlist of songs that I feel relate to one of her books."

  On October 26, 2020, Hilt published her first book, The Ruined Halloween, which focuses on Ryder Clark and his younger sister's life after the tragic loss of their family. The book is contemporary fiction with a hint of mystery and kicks off Hilt's Finding A New Normal series. 

  The Ruined Halloween has 5 stars across Goodreads and Amazon. It's been reviewed a total of six times, as of the writing of this article. I had the special privilege to read both the early version of this book and the finished project. 

  Like the other reviewers, I gave the book a 5-star review. K.D. Hilt made me laugh and cry with her words. I loved how caring the main character, Ryder was, and how he steps up to raise his younger sister when tragedy strikes. The main side character's name is Jessica James, which made me giggle because she's basically named Jesse James. Overall, the story was an interesting novella with elements of crime fiction.

  Finding A New Normal is a seven-part series that Hilt is working on combining and extending into a journal edition, written by the main character, Ryder Clark. 

  "My favorite book is either A Homemade Holiday [Finding A New Normal #3] or Hope for Valentine's Day [Finding A New Normal #4]," remarked Hilt. "A Homemade Holiday was a short story that I loved the storyline of and dedicated to my grandma, who passed away the year it came out. On the other hand, Hope for Valentine's Day was one of my hardest stories to write due to feelings I've had towards the holiday, but I was able to bring to light some topics I feel are important."

  Ryder Clark is Hilt's favorite character that she's written. She stated that she's fascinated with the way he's gone through so much tragedy in his life, has fallen, and has learned to let others help him along the way. He's had to learn that he's not alone in the world.

  Hilt's inspiration for her books comes from music, family, and friends. "I think, though, that my main inspiration would be just my feelings," Hilt stated, thinking aloud. "Writing has been my way to express my emotions for a long time because I'm not comfortable showing them. I'm able to put those emotions into stories and create this whole new world."

  Hilt jumped into the self-publishing world after having already established relationships with other independent authors. She'd spoken to several friends and decided that the journey of self-publishing was one she craved to make. 

  "I had a lot of ideas for stories, but no one besides my family had heard them," explained Hilt. "I'd seen my sister already self-publish and had gained some author friends of my own already, and I decided I wanted to get my stories out there."

  "My biggest challenge as an author has been not letting different parts of my life influence my writing," Hilt continued. "As I said, I use my writing to express emotions, but I generally have story ideas. I haven't written about a couple of my works in progress this last summer because of the loss of a friend that happened. I knew that if I wrote on them when I was feeling that grief foremost the story wouldn't end well or right."

  Many authors won't read their reviews because they don't want them influencing their writing. They will encourage their readers to leave a review to help their books get on To-Be-Read lists and help their readers decide if they will like a book or not. Hilt, however, loves reading reviews. 

  "I've gotten to see a lot of reviews on my books and meet a lot of amazing authors and readers," she stated. I also get to bring up topics that are important to me and make them relatable through my characters. Something I'd like new writers to know is not to worry about what others think. You're writing because you want to, not because others want you to. You shouldn't be scared to bring a topic into your book. It's your book."