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Author Update: Larry Kilham

Larry Kilham is an entrepreneur, retired engineer, and author of four novels, two memoirs, and five other nonfiction books. His most recent release, The Perfectionist: Peter Kilham and the Birds (2018), sheds light on designer, inventor, and visionary Peter Kilham (the author’s father). You’ll find Larry on LarryKilham.net, Facebook and Twitter, and his Amazon author page. For more about Larry’s work, read his 2017 SWW interview.


At its core, what is The Perfectionist about?
This book is about an artist and inventor who brought nature’s beauty and function to the public and did this with complete integrity.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
The story is told as my father and I growing up together. But the challenge was to convey his point of view rather than dwell on mine.

When did you know you wanted to write your father’s memoir? What prompted the push to begin the project?
When I realized that my father’s life story was more important than the subjects of my many other books and only I could adequately address it. Also, due to my advanced age, if I didn’t do it now it might never be done.

Tell us how the book came together.
After I pulled together several boxes of files, I recycled through this content many times until I found an accurate and logical outline of the story. With this done, it only took four months to write the 121 pages and a month to edit. For the cover design, I engaged a very talented book designer who had just gone freelance after working for a university press. She grabbed my notes and photos and I went on vacation.

Do you have a favorite quote from the book you’d like to share?
“Be guided by purpose, truth, and perfection, and the rewards will come.”

Was there anything surprising you discovered while doing research for this book?
Until I researched this story, I never realized how much his wife Dorothy understood him and his business and how much she helped him. My father never said much about her when we talked. That itself is another insight about him.

What was your favorite part of putting The Perfectionist together?
Looking at the old photos, newspaper clippings, and letters to bring back almost-lost memories and to see other people’s perceptions of Peter Kilham.

Which do you prefer: the creating, editing, or researching aspect of a writing project?
The creating and researching feed on each other and I enjoy both. I endure editing like, say, physical therapy.

What does a typical writing session look like for you? Do you have any writing rituals or something you absolutely need in order to write?
I write in the morning when my mind is fresh, and I read in the afternoon. I like long walks in the forest to recharge my mind.

Who are some of your favorite authors, and what do you admire most about their writing?
My list of favorite authors constantly changes. Right now it is Loren Eiseley, T.S. Eliot, and D.H. Lawrence. It’s kind of fun and educational to resurrect Alexander Pope.

What advice do you have for beginning or discouraged writers?
If you’re having trouble getting going, maybe you’re writing about the wrong thing. A story that you should write will make you blossom.

What writing projects are you working on now?
I’m intrigued with Native American poetry, especially Pueblo, and I am experimenting with integrating its thought and style into my poetry.


KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.




2018 Releases for Authors Steve Brewer, Joyce Hertzoff, and Larry Kilham

Steve Brewer, Joyce Hertzoff, and Larry Kilham are just a few examples of the prolific members of SouthWest Writers (SWW) who pound away at their keyboards to produce new work for their fans. Each of these authors represents a different genre, but all have new releases for 2018 and all have interviews posted on the SWW website.


Former journalist Steve Brewer teaches in the Honors College at the University of New Mexico and writes books about crooks. He’s published 31 books spread between several series including The Bubba Mabry Mysteries and Jackie Nolan thrillers, as well as a dozen-plus standalones. His newest crime novel is Cold Cuts (April 2018). You’ll find Steve at SteveBrewerBlogspot.com, on his Amazon author page, and at Organic Books, his family run used bookstore located in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill area. For more about Steve and his books, read his 2017 interview.

Cold Cuts
Some people in the Southwest love the Rojo brand of Mexican bologna, but it’s illegal to bring it into the United States. Smugglers sneak rolls of the bologna across the border, trying to get rich off the food fad.

Enter Lucky Flanagan, such an unlikely smuggler that he’s perfect for the job. But others in the smuggling ring are up to no good, and Lucky is unlucky enough to get caught in the middle of a deadly scheme.

Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Coming up: Though Organic Books is taking all his time and energy at the moment, he has short stories coming out in three different anthologies in 2019.


Joyce Hertzoff retired from a profession grounded in fact and science and now writes short and long fiction in a variety of genres including science fiction and fantasy. Her two new releases for 2018 are the YA novel Beyond The Sea (March 2018) and the middle-grade book So, You Want to be a Dragon (April 2018). You’ll find her on Facebook and Twitter, as well as FantasyByJoyceHertzoff.com and HertzoffJo.blogspot.com. Discover more about Joyce and her writing in her SWW interviews for 2015 and 2017.

Beyond The Sea (The Crystal Odyssey Series, Book 3)
The artificial satellite retrieved from the bottom of Lake Dulno points to Fartek as the source of Madoc’s mysterious books. Nissa, her siblings Madoc and Carys, and a group from the Stronghold set out for the journey across the Great Sea to that unknown continent. After stops at Holm Manor and Fairhaven, they sail east on the royal ship and a freighter.

Besides the books, the expedition hopes to determine what technology still exists anywhere in Fartek. What people and machines will they find? How much have they preserved? And why haven’t they contacted the people of Leara or Solwintor?

Most important, will they be willing to share all that they know with the visitors or anyone else?

Available on Amazon.

So, You Want to be a Dragon
When the harbor of Lorando is torched by three dragons, Bekka, her little sister Cora and their neighbor Derry devise a plan to keep the dragons away. They will parlay with the dragons, plead with them. But to get close enough to do that, they must transform themselves into dragons. They ask a shapeshifter for help, and he reluctantly tells them the steps needed to take on the form of a dragon. Can the three children achieve their plan to convince the dragons to leave Lorando alone? If they do, how will they shift back into their human forms?

Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Coming up: Joyce has four novels in the works, including the sequel to Beyond the Sea, which will be the fourth and final book in The Crystal Odyssey Series.


Larry Kilham is a retired engineer and entrepreneur who has authored four science fiction novels, two memoirs, and five other nonfiction books with topics ranging from creativity and invention to artificial intelligence and digital media. His most recent nonfiction work, The Perfectionist: Peter Kilham and the Birds (June 2018), sheds light on his father who was a designer, an inventor, and a visionary. You’ll find Larry on LarryKilham.netFacebook and Twitter, and his Amazon author page. For more about Larry and his work, read his 2017 SWW interview.

The Perfectionist: Peter Kilham and the Birds
His muse, Leonardo da Vinci, would have been proud. This is the story about Peter Kilham who constantly sought perfection to bring beauty and function to the public through his nature records and bird feeders. His son Larry reveals their many conversations about life and creativity. Peter’s ultimate revelation is that nature is the greatest creator and it is up to the dedicated artist and inventor to reveal nature’s beauty.

The story is told with humor and insight by Larry Kilham who is an accomplished inventor and business person. There are many insights and life lessons revealed for aspiring inventors and entrepreneurs. The book includes many illustrations.

Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

A Note from Larry: For about the last six months I have been writing poetry because I think it is a better medium for my current experiences and thoughts, and because many of my readers have requested it. You can read most of my current poems on my website’s poetry page. I also post on allpoetry.com.


KLWagoner150_2KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. Kathy has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.




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