Utah Wrestler and Coach Participating in 42nd Annual LTUE Symposium

West Jordan, Uta. — The Life, the Universe, and Everything (LTUE) Symposium for Science Fiction and Fantasy Creators recently announced the authors taking part in the 42nd annual three-day event being held Feb. 15–17, 2024, at the Marriott Hotel in Provo, Utah. Award-winning science fiction and fantasy author W.D. Kilpack III of West Jordan is among the authors taking part in panels, presentations, workshops, kaffeeklatches, meetups, readings, and pitch sessions.

Kilpack will be appearing in three panels on Friday, Feb. 16, and Saturday, Feb. 17. On Friday, he will be a panelist in the World Building Panel Disussion "Building a Pantheon" and the Professional Development Panel Discussion "You, Your Workspace, and Creativity." On Saturday, he will be a panelist in the World Building Panel Discussion "Space Whales: Intelligent Nonhumans." Kilpack will also participate in the Mass Signing sessions on Friday, starting at 7 p.m. that are open to the public. Kilpack will have books for sale on site, or they can be acquired ahead of time and brought to the event, either from Amazon, The Printed Garden bookstore in Sandy, or directly from the author via his Web site.

This year's LTUE guests of honor are New York Times best-selling author Aaron Johnston, best-selling science-fiction author Rebecca Moesta, and award-winning children's-book author Kaela Rivera. The toastmaster is sci-fi/fantasy author Michael Haspil.

Kilpack said, "I am very honored and grateful to be included in LTUE this year! Being selected feels like winning an award! Things like this make it feel like the hard work and late nights writing, editing, and going down rabbit holes for research are paying off. I am honored, excited, and a little anxious. I've enjoyed the other panel discussions I've taken part in, so I hope these follow right along."

Sessions are broken down into eight tracks: academics, art, books, gaming, professional development, theater/media Arts, world building, and writing. Presentations usually involve one (or sometimes more) LTUE guests usually accompanied by a PowerPoint slide deck, focusing on one subject in particular. Workshops are hands-on presentations that often require the attendee to make/create something along with the presenter. Kaffeeklatsches are informal chats with some of special guests sitting down with fans answering questions or discussing topics in private chat rooms. Meetups are low-key networking events aimed at finding/creating a writing group, beta readers, etc. Readings are opportunities to hear from and interact with authors in small, quiet settings. Pitch Sessions are for authors looking to be published, so they can pitch stories to literary agents.

Kilpack has published five novels to date, four in the epic fantasy New Blood Saga (Crown Prince, Order of Light, Demon Seed, and Rilari), and the science-fiction novella, Pale Face. Between them, they have won 18 book awards and honors, including the International Firebird Book Award, The BookFest Award, Honorable Mention in L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future, Editor's Choice and Top Pick from BooksShelf.com, and runner-up finishes in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category of the Online Book Club's Book of the Year Competition. By that time, his next novel, the sci-fi epic Battle Calm, should also be available, barring any issues in the publication process.

Kilpack said, "I love hearing from my readers! They send me pictures of themselves holding my books, send messages with their comments, and I am so thankful for all of their support. So I would love to meet more of them in person at the mass signing! I would also love to meet some young, aspiring writers. If I could help a few people pursue their own literary passions in some way, even just a little by sharing some bit of what I've learned thus far, then that would really make the event that much better."

According to Sinister Soup podcast co-founder, Clay Vermulm, "Bill [Kilpack] is a wonderful man who works extremely hard on his craft. Kilpack delivers a stunning blow to the belief that Indie-Fantasy is worth any less that its salt [with] well-crafted epic[s] with unique plot mechanisms, well-developed and believable characters, and a world grounded in the visceral and the real."

Author and screenwriter Jeff Bailey said that Kilpack "is an active author of novels, TV screenwriter, producer, and partner in a movie production company. I consider him to be one of the new breed of fast rising influencers in the publishing, television, and movie industries."

About Kilpack

Kilpack is an award-winning and critically acclaimed internationally published writer, with works appearing in print, online, radio and television, starting with his first publication credit at the age of nine, when he wrote an award-winning poem. As an adult, he has been editor and/or publisher of 19 news and literary publications, both online and in print, with circulations as high as 770,000. He is an accomplished cook and has cooked nearly every type of food on a grill. He received both his bachelor's and master's degrees from Westminster College of Salt Lake City. As an undergrad, he double-majored in communication and philosophy, while completing the Honors Program. As a graduate student, he earned a master of professional communication with a writing emphasis. He was also a high-performing athlete, qualifying for international competition in Greco-Roman wrestling. He is a communication professor and a nationally recognized wrestling coach. He is happily married to his high-school sweetheart and is father to five children, as well as helping to raise five step-children. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he continues to live, coach and teach. For more information go to www.Kilpack.net.

About LTUE

Life, The Universe, & Everything: The Marion K. “Doc” Smith Symposium on Science Fiction and Fantasy originated at Brigham Young University and has grown and changed a lot over the last 40 years. LTUE is a three-day academic symposium on all aspects of science fiction and fantasy. Comprised of panels, presentations and papers on writing, art, literature, film, gaming and other facets of speculative fiction, LTUE is a place to learn all about life, the universe, and everything else you love. The symposium is, most importantly, a gathering place for fans of our creative and innovative world to hang out and share their love of all things amazing, obscure, and even not-quite-real. For more information go to www.LTUE.net.