Shades & Shapes in the Dark

Tomorrow, The Shadow Wakes!!! (Shades & Shape in the Dark Arrives)

/ michaelkilman / Leave a comment

I’m so excited to announce, that tomorrow, my dark fantasy horror novel, Shades & Shapes in the Dark launches!

You can find Shades & Shapes in the Dark in paperback and ebook here!

The Audiobook is still finishing up production but will follow close behind in the next week or two. I will announce when that arrives.

To celebrate the release, me and several of my amazing author friends are gathering at Prodigy Coffee where we will be sharing some of our work. I’m so very fortunate to have such talented author friends. Check out their bios and links in the slides below!

If you’re in the Denver area tomorrow, you should join us from 1pm-3pm at Prodigy Coffee!

You can also check out the first and second chapters of Shades & Shapes in the Dark over on YouTube if you’re curious but aren’t sure if it’s for you.

Author Copies Have Arrived and Resistance Reads Episode 2 Goes Live May 4th

/ michaelkilman / Leave a comment

There really is nothing quite like holding something that you spent many hours on in your hands. Shades & Shapes in the Dark has arrived and I’m so excited. The cover, the formatting, the content all came out even better than I hoped. You can preorder the book from all your favorite stores https://books2read.com/u/4NEqGo

Not only that, this weekend our second episode of Resistance Reads goes live on May 4th at 10am Denver time. Matt Wellstrom and I will be discussing V for Vendetta. If you like this book, or have even seen the movie we’d love to answer your questions and engage in dialogue through our livestream comment section on YouTube.

I’m giving away 100 copies of Shades & Shapes in the Dark!

/ michaelkilman / Leave a comment

In celebration of the release of Shades and Shapes in the Dark, I’m running a Goodreads giveaway! What does this mean? It means I’m giving away 100 ebook copies of Shades in Shapes in the Dark. And the best part? If you win one of these copies, you get the book a week before it’s release and get to be among the first people to read my new dark fantasy horror novel.

The giveaway will run from April 26th to May 10th and if you win, you will get your copy immediately at the conclusion of the giveaway. All I ask is that if you get a copy, you give me an honest review (yes even if you hate the book).

Head over to this link to sign up for the giveaway. It’s totally free. All you need is a goodreads profile (you can create one pretty easily if you don’t have one) and that’s it. Since it’s an ebook, all you need is a valid email address to sign up.

Book Release Party for Shades & Shapes in the Dark!

/ michaelkilman / Leave a comment

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the Indiegogo Campaign for my new dark fantasy horror novel, Shades &Shapes in the Dark! I am forever grateful and I will have your perks out to you as soon as humanly possible.

With the conclusion of the campaign, I’m happy to announce, that the book will hit the stores on May 17th 2025 in both paperback and ebook! You can join us over at Prodigy Coffee on the 17th at 1pm for the official release party where I will be reading and signing copies of Shades & Shapes in the Dark! I’ve also created an event over on Facebook if you are on that platform.

The audiobook is currently being recorded and though I have no doubt it will be completed by the 17th, the processing time for audiobook distribution seems to take an extra chunk of time.

A few other incredible writers will be sharing their amazing work in addition to a short reading of Shades & Shapes in the Dark. Including:

Cecily Stone

Marissa Forbes

Stant Litore

and

Jason Van Tatenhove

We look forward to seeing you on May 17th!

Only 24 Hours To Help Me Fund My Novel Shades & Shapes in the Dark!

/ michaelkilman / Leave a comment

It’s down to the wire! Only a little over 24 hours to go and my Indiegogo campaign for Shades and Shapes in the Dark is only 49% funded. I need help crossing the finish line! I need help crossing the finish line!

Don’t forget, the first two chapters are already up on YouTube in audiobook format, which I’ve linked below.

There are tons of perks for those who contribute, including bookmarks, coffee mugs, signed copies, audiobook editions and, even T-shirts. So head over to the Indiegogo page and check them out!

Shades & Shapes in the Dark Chapter 2 is Now on YouTube!

/ michaelkilman / Leave a comment

I just uploaded the second chapter of Shades & Shapes of the Dark on YouTube in an audiobook format. In the second chapter, a thief steals Clarissa’s skateboard and she chases him into the woods, only to stumble on something sinister. If you’re just seeing this, you can also listen to Chapter 1 on YouTube here.

There are only 12 days left for my Indiegogo Campaign to raise enough funds to pay for the final copy edit.

If you enjoyed the first two chapters of the book so far, definitely head over to Indiegogo and see how you can support it’s final creation. There are lots of perks for contributors! Help me make this book a reality!

Here it is, Chapter 2: The Meadow at the Edge of the World

Help Me Publish Shades & Shapes in the Dark

/ michaelkilman / Leave a comment
Paperback mock up of Shades and Shapes in the Dark
Paperback mock up of Shades and Shapes in the Dark

Only a few years ago, before the pandemic, I was able to successfully publish my books by getting a second job. But these days, I need a second job just to pay the bills. So I need your help to publish Shades & Shapes in the Dark.

I’ve just launched a crowdfunding campaign through Indiegogo, a website like Kickstarter where you can contribute to the campaign and get all kinds of perks. At the most basic level your name will be immortalized in the acknowledgements section of the book. But you can also get things like like signed copies of the book, coffee mugs, bookmarks, the audiobook edition and more.

Click here to check out the crowdfunding campaign

Do you want to know what you are backing? Well, here’s the link to my reading of Chapter 1 of Shades and Shapes in the Dark.

Shades & Shapes in the Dark Chapter 1 Audiobook (Listen Now)

/ michaelkilman / Leave a comment

I’m so very happy to release Chapter 1 of my dark fantasy, horror novel, Shades & Shapes in the Dark. You can listen to the audiobook edition of the first chapter over on YouTube at the video below. Chapter 1 is titled, The Crossroads of Life and Death.

Synopsis:

How do you fight a Shadow? How do you survive 40 years of darkness?

When 9 year old Clarissa Lamont stumbles upon something sinister in the forest, she didn’t know it was the beginning of a 40 year long nightmare strewn with the bodies of many she loved. In her journey to fight back, she will need to discover ancient hidden secrets of occult magic, and find others who understand her struggles. But the story begins where it ends, with her final confrontation with something as old as humanity itself. Shades & Shapes in the Dark is the first of four novels about Clarissa’s struggle to learn to harness her own power and magic, and fight a Shadow. Book 1 covers Clarissa’s very first encounter and battles with the creature she calls Demon.

A Poem from “Shades and Shapes in the Dark” Chapter 10: The Shadow of Samhain

/ michaelkilman / Leave a comment

Preorder for my novel, Shades and Shapes in the Dark will begin soon! The book is headed off to the editor next week. The nove is a dark fantasy/horror story set beginning in the 90s and span 40 years. The story is about a dark force, that follows the main character Clarissa through her life, and how she must learn to fight back, ultimately drawing on ancient magic and wisdom. The first book begins when she is only 9 years old, and encounters the shadowlike creature for the first time.

Each chapter in the novel has a poem that opens the piece. Sometimes this poem is something to do with the character, sometimes narrative information for the reader, sometimes foreshadowing, and sometimes it includes a bit of the lore of the world.

Chapter 10 is titled: The Shadow of Samhain. It takes place on Halloween and, of course, since it’s the season, I thought I would share that opening poem.

The Shadow of Samhain

Come all ye, gathering shades,
The time of Samhain is at hand,
We will rise to rot and scatter,
Our blight across the land.

For the first of us comes at witching hour,
To seek his contractual prize,
Lust for power brings him strength,
With every victim’s demise

But a bargain struck will not go unpaid,
A boon of power is owed,
It matters not who is struck down,
Nor the depth and breadth of your woe

More news of the novel, including the release date and more is just around the corner!

News, Podcasts, A Writing Workshop, and Publishing Updates September 2024

/ michaelkilman / Leave a comment

Hey all, I know it’s been a while since I have had updates so I have several things to post about today. Sorry for the long message, but I’ve broken things down so you can easily skim to the information you want.

The first is the reason that things are so delayed. This summer I joined Teach for America and last month I officially became a High School English and Language Arts teacher for 11th and 12th grade. Let me tell you, that’s an extremely busy job.

Despite the very long hours I am working right now, I’ve managed to make a lot of steady progress on my forthcoming novels. I am currently on a streak of 574 days or writing without skipping. 500 or so of those days had a minimum of 1000 words a day. So I make progress on something every single day (though I must admit at least 50 of those days I deleted the words right after I finished them but hey, you gotta get those bad words out of the way for the good ones to shine).

Here is the current status of my books that I am actively working on:

Shades and Shapes in the Dark is currently in it’s final pass before it heads off to the editor. ETA for book 1 is either October 17th or November 17th depending on the amount of edits required (How much red pen my editor uses).

The series is now 4 books with the following titles and progress level:

Book 1 “Shades and Shapes in the Dark” is in final edits with an ETA in October or November.

Book 2 “Though An Endless Darkness Gleaming” is 75% of Draft 1

Book 3: “An Illumination of Extraordinary Madness” is 50% of Draft 1

Book 4: “The Nature of Twilight At Dawn” is 30% of Draft 1

I currently expect to finish draft 1 of Book 2 by November 1st and to use NaNoWriMo to finish (or get close to finishing) the first draft of book 3

The Children of AEIS and The Chronicles of the Great Migration final two books, A War For the Heavens and A Hand to the Stars are still on their way. The Children of AEIS is sitting at around 75% first draft completion. The largest reason for the delay was a major concussion only two months after the release of Serah of the Runners. This derailed me pretty solidly and right now, when I have free time on top of writing, I am working through creating notes of the 4 books because my memory of them appears to be a little lacking from first the injury and then the passage of time. But, they are in progress and they absolutely will get finished sometime in the near future.

Welcoming the Muse


My poetic essay, Writing is Living was selected for publication by Twenty Bellows Press this summer. The piece is about life as an author in the 21st century. There will be a release party sometime this fall and I will provide more information as the date approaches. Needless to say, I’m thrilled to have another short of mine published this year. That makes 2 short pieces of writing picked up by publishers.

How to Write for the Future Podcast

I also recently appeared on a second episode of Write for the Future. This podcasts covers some basics of worldbuilding. The host also spent time across several episodes highlighting some of the key features of Kyra Wellstrom and I’s book, Build Better Worlds. I have linked the second episode where I guest starred as well as the episodes that surround our book below.

Part 1

Interview with Michael Kilman, co-author of Build Better Worlds, part 1 of 2

Part 2

Interview with Michael Kilman, Co-Author of Build Better Worlds, part 2 of 2

Additional Episodes that Cover Our Book

What is Cultural Context? (Build Better Worlds, 1 of 4)

What is Cultural Context? (Build Better Worlds, 1 of 4)

Myth, Imagined Past, and Cultural Purity in Fiction (Build Better Worlds, 2 of 4)

Myth, Imagined Past, and Cultural Purity in Fiction (Build Better Worlds, 2 of 4)

The Sacred: Religion and Mysticism (Build Better Worlds, 3 of 4)

The Sacred: Religion and Mysticism (Build Better Worlds, 3 of 4)

Economics: More Than Money and Markets (Build Better Worlds, 4 of 4)

Economics: More Than Money and Markets (Build Better Worlds, 4 of 4)

Twenty Bellows Writing Retreat in Denver, CO

My last piece of news is that back in July I was asked to teach a session at the Creative Colorado Writers Retreat hosted by Twenty Bellows Publishing Company. I feel so honored to be a part of this retreat as it includes some of the most talented and knowledgeable writers in Denver.

You can find out more about this retreat here


That’s it for updates (I know there were a lot). I’m confident my next update will be release news! I hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend (if you’re American and reading this).