Josi S. Kilpack hated to read until her mother handed her a copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond when she was 13. From that day forward, she read everything she could get her hands on and credits her writing “education” to the many novels she has “studied” since then. She began writing her first novel in 1998 and has written thirty-three novels, one cookbook, and several short stories since then. She is a four-time Whitney Award winner, including two Novel of the Year awards for Lord Fenton's Folly and As Wide as the Sky and a Best of State winner in Fiction. She writes her national women's fiction under the pen name of Jessica Pack (say Josi Kilpack really fast and you'll see why she chose it). Josi currently lives in Northern Utah and is the mother of 4 wonderful kids.
For more information about Josi or her books, please visit her blog, What is a Sundial In the Shade?
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q – How many books will be in the Sadie Series?
A - I had planned on ending the series with Wedding Cake, book 12, along with the cookbook that includes all the recipes from all the books in the series, plus a few extra. Sadie’s Little Black Book of Recipes was released at the same time as Wedding Cake in December 2014. In 2019 I capped the series with The Candy Cane Caper, a Sadie Christmas mystery. Readers have asked if we might do another Sadie book down the road. At this point, I am not planning on it. While I love Sadie and her misadventures, I feel like we finished her series strong.
Q - Will you write Mystery again?
A - I have some ideas for a mystery series that I hope to develop in the future, but it isn’t my main focus right now. I find writing mysteries really challenging, it takes a lot of cleverness that doesn’t come easy to me. I enjoy the challenge, don’t get me wrong, but it takes really being attentive to the process.
Q – How do you find the time to write?
A – There is only one way to find time to write, and that is to make trade-offs. When my kids were little, I brainstormed constantly, edited while I waited for kids to finish their activities, and built time into my schedule for uninterrupted writing time. Now that I’m not a full-time mom—all the kids grew up—I have a career to work around. I still have to schedule the time and make it fit. But I’m a better writer because it’s not the only thing I do—I believe that with my whole heart. You need to live life to have the content for your stories.
Every writer I know struggles to find the time and there is no bit of advice that will work for everyone other than finding what you can trade off in your life. I don't suggest you put your family second to your writing time, nor will I tell you to give up other passions - but we all have 24 hours and it is up to each one of us to decide how we'll use it. The time will not present itself, you will have to find it. I see my writing as a gift that God has given me and I know that I need to use it appropriately. I encourage you not to see your career or family situation as a drawback, but rather part of the process that will make you better as you manage yourself and fulfill your responsibilities.
Q – What do you read?
A – I don’t read nearly as much as I used to and I miss it. With the demands of my writing, reading for fun has gone by the wayside and most of my reading is focused on research materials. When I DO read, I enjoy an eclectic array of authors—Sue Grafton, Lief Enger, Gerald Lund, Liane Moriarty, Dean Hughs, Brenda Kingsolver, Kate Morton, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, John Grisham. I love suspense novels, but I’m a sucker for well written characters in a variety of genres. The key for me is that it has to be well written. A poorly written book—no matter how wonderful the story might be—will lose me. Generally I give a book 50 pages to hook me. If I hit those 50 pages and I’m glad to put it down—I’m done. If I hit those 50 pages and decide I can eat string cheese for dinner again, then it’s worth my time. I would guess I only finish about 1/3 of the books I pick up—which is rather annoying. Reading was more fun before I became so critical. 90% of my reading is via Audible.com these days. It utilizes time I am in the car to get into a good story again.
Q – What are you working on right now?
A – I am working on a full-length Regency Romance novel for Shadow Mountain and a regency novella for Timeless Romance Anthologies. I have a solid idea for a mystery series and some embryos for a Women’s Fiction. I just need a few more hours in every day, and I can write them all! ☺
Q – Do you write anything other than novels?
A – I’ve written some programs, articles, and short stories, some of which have won awards and honorable mentions. In addition to those things, I’ve done some web copywriting as well. I enjoy the challenge of writing different things, but am glad that I have good momentum with my books at the same time. I’ve contributed to several Timeless Romance Anthologies and was recently part of a Pandemic Exhibit through BYU.
Q – What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
A – Being a writer is different than being a novelist. If you’re a writer, you write--and it can be for your own edification, for people you know and love, or for commercial interest. If you're a novelist, you are writing novels for other people to read. I am both a writer and a novelist; some of what I write is for myself, and some of what I write is for an audience. In either case, to have writing be worth the time you put into it, you have to love it. If you love to write and feel that you have something to say, then do it. There is nothing wrong with writing but not publishing, in fact there is some freedom in not writing for anyone but yourself. If you want to make a career of your writing, and earn an income, it's important to know that it isn’t an easy industry to find a career in, and it will never “just happen.” I don’t know of anyone that had a publishing opportunity come to them. It takes a lot of time and a thick hide and its continuation is determined by your continual ability to produce new work—but if it’s a dream you want, it’s worth pursuing.
If you’re interested in being a published author, I recommend you join a writers group, attend some writing conferences, meet other writers, and just keep writing, I've belonged to the LEAGUE OF UTAH WRITERS for years. If you’re not in Utah, there is likely a similar group in your state. To find it, do an internet search of your state + writing groups and see what you find. I also belong to a group by the name of STORYMAKERS and we do a writer’s conference in Utah every year which has been a great asset to many writers. If you’re interested in attending our next conference, go to this LINK for more information.
A - I had planned on ending the series with Wedding Cake, book 12, along with the cookbook that includes all the recipes from all the books in the series, plus a few extra. Sadie’s Little Black Book of Recipes was released at the same time as Wedding Cake in December 2014. In 2019 I capped the series with The Candy Cane Caper, a Sadie Christmas mystery. Readers have asked if we might do another Sadie book down the road. At this point, I am not planning on it. While I love Sadie and her misadventures, I feel like we finished her series strong.
Q - Will you write Mystery again?
A - I have some ideas for a mystery series that I hope to develop in the future, but it isn’t my main focus right now. I find writing mysteries really challenging, it takes a lot of cleverness that doesn’t come easy to me. I enjoy the challenge, don’t get me wrong, but it takes really being attentive to the process.
Q – How do you find the time to write?
A – There is only one way to find time to write, and that is to make trade-offs. When my kids were little, I brainstormed constantly, edited while I waited for kids to finish their activities, and built time into my schedule for uninterrupted writing time. Now that I’m not a full-time mom—all the kids grew up—I have a career to work around. I still have to schedule the time and make it fit. But I’m a better writer because it’s not the only thing I do—I believe that with my whole heart. You need to live life to have the content for your stories.
Every writer I know struggles to find the time and there is no bit of advice that will work for everyone other than finding what you can trade off in your life. I don't suggest you put your family second to your writing time, nor will I tell you to give up other passions - but we all have 24 hours and it is up to each one of us to decide how we'll use it. The time will not present itself, you will have to find it. I see my writing as a gift that God has given me and I know that I need to use it appropriately. I encourage you not to see your career or family situation as a drawback, but rather part of the process that will make you better as you manage yourself and fulfill your responsibilities.
Q – What do you read?
A – I don’t read nearly as much as I used to and I miss it. With the demands of my writing, reading for fun has gone by the wayside and most of my reading is focused on research materials. When I DO read, I enjoy an eclectic array of authors—Sue Grafton, Lief Enger, Gerald Lund, Liane Moriarty, Dean Hughs, Brenda Kingsolver, Kate Morton, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, John Grisham. I love suspense novels, but I’m a sucker for well written characters in a variety of genres. The key for me is that it has to be well written. A poorly written book—no matter how wonderful the story might be—will lose me. Generally I give a book 50 pages to hook me. If I hit those 50 pages and I’m glad to put it down—I’m done. If I hit those 50 pages and decide I can eat string cheese for dinner again, then it’s worth my time. I would guess I only finish about 1/3 of the books I pick up—which is rather annoying. Reading was more fun before I became so critical. 90% of my reading is via Audible.com these days. It utilizes time I am in the car to get into a good story again.
Q – What are you working on right now?
A – I am working on a full-length Regency Romance novel for Shadow Mountain and a regency novella for Timeless Romance Anthologies. I have a solid idea for a mystery series and some embryos for a Women’s Fiction. I just need a few more hours in every day, and I can write them all! ☺
Q – Do you write anything other than novels?
A – I’ve written some programs, articles, and short stories, some of which have won awards and honorable mentions. In addition to those things, I’ve done some web copywriting as well. I enjoy the challenge of writing different things, but am glad that I have good momentum with my books at the same time. I’ve contributed to several Timeless Romance Anthologies and was recently part of a Pandemic Exhibit through BYU.
Q – What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
A – Being a writer is different than being a novelist. If you’re a writer, you write--and it can be for your own edification, for people you know and love, or for commercial interest. If you're a novelist, you are writing novels for other people to read. I am both a writer and a novelist; some of what I write is for myself, and some of what I write is for an audience. In either case, to have writing be worth the time you put into it, you have to love it. If you love to write and feel that you have something to say, then do it. There is nothing wrong with writing but not publishing, in fact there is some freedom in not writing for anyone but yourself. If you want to make a career of your writing, and earn an income, it's important to know that it isn’t an easy industry to find a career in, and it will never “just happen.” I don’t know of anyone that had a publishing opportunity come to them. It takes a lot of time and a thick hide and its continuation is determined by your continual ability to produce new work—but if it’s a dream you want, it’s worth pursuing.
If you’re interested in being a published author, I recommend you join a writers group, attend some writing conferences, meet other writers, and just keep writing, I've belonged to the LEAGUE OF UTAH WRITERS for years. If you’re not in Utah, there is likely a similar group in your state. To find it, do an internet search of your state + writing groups and see what you find. I also belong to a group by the name of STORYMAKERS and we do a writer’s conference in Utah every year which has been a great asset to many writers. If you’re interested in attending our next conference, go to this LINK for more information.