Utah Wrestler and Coach Wins Firebird Book Award

West Jordan, Uta. — Speak Up Talk Radio announced the winners of the most recent Firebird Book Awards competition. Amongst the winners was Utah wrestler and coach W.D. Kilpack III for his fantasy novel, Crown Prince: Book One of New Blood, in the Fantasy category.

Kilpack has been coaching wrestling in Utah since 1999, in freestyle, Greco-Roman and folkstyle, at Mountain Top Wrestling Club and is currently an assistant coach at West Jordan High School. Previously, he coached at Copper Hills High School and Jordan High School, as well as the junior-high programs, Victory Wrestling Club and Jordan Junior Wrestling. As a coach, his team has earned three national championships and three national runner-up finishes.

As an athlete, he was an AAU National Champion, a seven-time national runner-up and qualified for international competition in Greco-Roman. He said, "My experiences as a wrestler and coach taught me the importance of work ethic and never giving up. Life can throw you curves and you just have to keep working and fighting, no matter what comes at you."

Crown Prince is the first of the eight-book New Blood Saga, which centers around Natharr, the Guardian of Maarihk. He is one of a long line of protectors dating back to the Firstborn Age, before the Aa Conquest. Natharr's is an ancient role, rooted in his Firstblood, giving him Sight to see what is yet to be. He adheres to his sacred duties even in the centuries since the Firstborn were forced to the brink of extinction by the Aa. Natharr still stands guard over all men, Aa or Firstborn, Seeing what will come to pass, deciding what is unavoidable and what is not. He spends decades planning, even for saving the life of the newborn Crown Prince Vikari so he may one day reclaim the throne of the land where Mankind was created in the time when the Olde Gods walked.

The Firebird Book Awards competition received submissions from authors and publishers from around the world. Two judges from a select panel of 15 read each book in its entirety and independently scored each entry. All judges committed to a set of standardized criteria to evaluate the quality of the writing as well as production aspects. Only entries with the highest of scores were awarded the coveted Firebird.

This is the third award Kilpack has received for Crown Prince. The first was when it garnered a runner-up finish in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy category of the Online Book Club's 2020 Book of the Year Competition; the second was when the Washington-based podcast, Sinister Soup, named Kilpack Author of the Month in April 2021 for the novel.

According to OnlineBookClub.org, "Crown Prince stands out with amazing descriptions, complex characters, and intriguing supernatural elements ... book one in the New Blood series, the storyline is incredibly promising ... the author has a flair for setting the scene and creating memorable characters ... I absolutely loved the descriptive prowess of this author ... Kilpack genuinely takes the time to help us immerse in the fantasy world, no matter if he describes a battle scene, a peaceful moment, or a mythological creature like a Hamadryad or a Manticore, he always manages to conjure the best images in our minds ... the author does a great job of incorporating the supernatural elements in a general atmosphere of myth and legend ... there was nothing I disliked about this novel ... the series has the potential to acquire epic dimensions."

According to Sinister Soup co-founder, Clay Vermulm, "Bill [Kilpack] is a wonderful man who works extremely hard on his craft" and that Crown Prince "is a gritty, visceral, realistic fantasy novel that will compel you to keep on reading!"

In a prepared statement, Patricia J. Rullo, founder of the Firebird Book Awards, said, "This quarter's authors and genres included the most diverse entries to date, from around the world. Our judges [from the publishing and writing world] are also a diverse group of humans and represent a cross section of ages, cultural heritage, race, religion, gender, and experience. At Speak Up Talk Radio, our mission is to offer authors a welcome place to promote themselves and their books via book awards, radio interviews, audiobook production, and podcasting services." She said, "We've included a charitable component to our awards ... we personally make and send handmade fun and colorful pillowcases to women and children in homeless shelters via Enchanted Makeovers, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. All contest entry fees fund this project ... it's been such a rewarding venture for everyone."

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 received special recognition from L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest. He has been editor and/or publisher of nineteen news and literary publications, both online and in print, with circulations as high as 770,000. He is an accomplished cook and has two claims he thinks few can match: cooking nearly every type of food on a grill; and nearly being knocked flat when his grill exploded. 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.

The Firebird Book Awards welcomes author submissions from all genres; mainstream, independent, and self-published are welcome. For more information, go to www.speakuptalkradio.com