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Melissa and Rick are a dynamic duo that will absolutely help you produce your best work. From framing a concept into a compelling narrative, to structuring the chapters, editing, writing and supporting authors, their experience, compassion and savvy make all the difference.
As a publisher and publishing services company serving both indie authors and other trade publishers, it’s critical to find writing and editorial partners that are professional, cool under pressure, and responsive to the needs of clients. Killian Creative checks off all three of these boxes. We worked with Rick in serving a client on a tight-turn revision schedule for a novel, and he was a complete pro every step of the way, translating the client’s requests into solid prose on the page. I’m glad to work with Rick and recommend Killian Creative to others looking for professional writing and editorial services.
Rick and Melissa are a truly dynamic team! Their combined creative writing and editing abilities are second to none. They have a unique ability to find the voice of each author and express ideas consistent with each author’s style and personality.
Rick is both an accomplished writer and editor—and in the publishing world, people with both competencies are rare animals indeed. When I’m in need of a great writer or book doctor, “Killian” comes first to mind.
Working with the Killians was a joy for me. My book was so personal and to be comfortable enough with them to be open and honest with the pain in my life made this journey a successful one for me. They are professional, thorough, detailed, and most important—kind.
I was a reluctant writer! Rick coached me into a love and confidence of writing that has made the whole experience enjoyable. Rick’s ability to preserve your thoughts and stories while adding an easy reading style and ordering the material to best flow for the reader is something I could not have done without him.
All our experiences with Rick have been great. He’s easy to work with. His research is outstanding, and he masterfully incorporates it into his writing.
Recent Blog Posts
Read our most popular thoughts on writing, publishing, and whatever inspires us.
Read moreMy wife took a look at the first version of something I was writing not long ago and said,
“Dammit, man, that’s high school stuff.”
I have to tell her to wait until the seventh draft, it’ll work out all right.
I don’t know why that should be so, that the first or second draft of everything
I write reads that way.—James Thurber
Wait until the seventh draft…
My wife took a look at the first version of something I was writing not long ago and said, "Dammit, man, that's high school stuff." I have to tell her to wait until the seventh draft, it'll work out all right....
Read moreEverything that can be said can be said clearly.
—Ludwig Wittgenstein
Everything that can be said…
Everything that can be said can be said clearly. —Ludwig Wittgenstein
Read moreWords are like kisses—
they can express everything or
nothing.—Liz Glista
Words are like kisses…
Words are like kisses— they can express everything or nothing. —Liz Glista
Read moreGetting it wrong is part of
getting it right.—Charles Handy
Getting it wrong…
Getting it wrong is part of getting it right. —Charles Handy
Read moreI used to write because I wanted to become rich, and when I didn’t become rich, I wrote because I wanted to become famous, and when I didn’t become famous, I wrote because I liked to write. And that’s when I began to make a little money and gain a little notice.
—Thomas Sullivan
The reason I write…
I used to write because I wanted to become rich, and when I didn’t become rich, I wrote because I wanted to become famous, and when I didn’t become famous, I wrote because I liked to write. And that’s when I began to make a little money and gain a little notice....
Read moreRespect your reader. The niftiest turn of phrase, the most elegant flight of rhetorical fancy, isn’t worth beans next to a clear thought clearly expressed.
—Jeff Goldfield
Respect you reader…
Respect your reader. The niftiest turn of phrase, the most elegant flight of rhetorical fancy, isn’t worth beans next to a clear thought clearly expressed. —Jeff Goldfield
Read more. . . novelists . . . have, on average, about the same IQs as the cosmetic consultants at Bloomingdales’s department store. our power is patience. We have discovered that writing allows even a stupid person to seem halfway intelligent, if only that person will write the same thought over and over again, improving it just a little bit each time. It is a lot like inflating a blimp with a bicycle pump. Anyone can do it. All it takes is time.
—Kurt Vonnegut, Palm Sunday, 128
On average, novelists have the same IQ as cosmetic consultants…
. . . novelists . . . have, on average, about the same IQs as the cosmetic consultants at Bloomingdales’s department store. our power is patience. We have discovered that writing allows even a stupid person to seem halfway intelligent, if only that person will write...
Read moreGood writing occurs because a writer passionately desires to say something. . . .
Students do not need more abstract advice about how to write.
They need somehow to have their feelings kindled.—X.J. Kennedy
Good writing occurs because…
Good writing occurs because a writer passionately desires to say something. . . . Students do not need more abstract advice about how to write. They need somehow to have their feelings kindled. —X.J. Kennedy
Read moreI once stayed in a hotel, next door to a well-known writer.
He never talked about writing.
Each night I heard his typewriter,
hour after hour,
past midnight.
Everyone else in the hotel was asleep.
The sound of that machine reminds me, still,
that what writers do is write.—Richard Bach
Each night I heard his typewriter…
I once stayed in a hotel, next door to a well-known writer. He never talked about writing. Each night I heard his typewriter, hour after hour, past midnight. Everyone else in the hotel was asleep. The sound of that machine reminds me, still, that what writers do is...
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