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Melissa Killian

@mkillianwrites

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I am a young adult/middle grade writer currently revising a YA manuscript with spooky vibes. 🎃

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September Writing Assessment

~ Read 5 books towards my reading challenge goal, putting me at 42/50 books this year. 📚

~ Revision update: Rewrote chapter 20 and making progress on chapter 21 📓 ✍️

~ Met with a critique partner and got helpful feedback on chapter 16 of my manuscript 💻

~ Attended this month’s online meeting of the Kidlit All Write writing community hosted by Erin Entrada Kelly 📚 💻

~ Attended SCBWI PA West’s monthly Virtual Book Club meeting 📚 💻

~ Attended the online R(ev)ise and Shine! Zoomie: The Magic of 17-27-27 with Susan Kaplan Carlton and Cindy Faughnan 💻

~ Attended the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures event featuring R.F. Kuang in conversation with Jade Song about her newest novel Taipei Story 📚

~ Attended An Evening with John Green in conversation with Mario R. Rossero, director of the Andy Warhol Museum, discussing his new novel Hollywood, Ending 📚

~ Read multiple writing newsletters 📰

#tbrpile #goodreadschallenge2026 #writinglife #amwriting #amwritingya by @mkillianwrites

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17 days ago

Lovely afternoon with my bestie checking out the artwork of another friend, illustrator Laura Garvin, who did the signage for this Alice in Wonderland exhibit taken in Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens by @mkillianwrites

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a month ago

August Writing Assessment

~ Read 6 books towards my reading challenge goal, putting me at 37/50 books this year. 📚

~ Revision update: Rewrote chapter 19 and making progress on chapter 20 📓 ✍️

~ Attended this month’s online meeting of the Kidlit All Write writing community hosted by Erin Entrada Kelly, and participated in some fun prompts on the group’s Slack 📚 💻

~ Attended SCBWI PA West’s monthly Virtual Book Club meeting 📚 💻

~ Watched the replay of the SCBWI digital workshop How to Create Powerful Stories for Young Readers to See Themselves 💻

~ Watched the replay of the SCBWI digital workshop State of the Children’s Book Market with Deborah Halverson 💻

~ Watched the replay of the SCBWI webinar Unbanning Books: What the Industry Really Thinks About Book Banning 💻

~ Read multiple writing newsletters 📰

#tbrpile #goodreadschallenge2026 #writinglife #amwriting #amwritingya by @mkillianwrites

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2 months ago

July Writing Assessment

~ Read 4 books towards my reading challenge goal, putting me at 31/50 books this year. Also read a friend’s middle grade manuscript and gave feedback.📚

~ Revision update: Rewrote chapter 18 and making progress on chapter 19 📓 ✍️

~ Attended this month’s online meeting of the Kidlit All Write writing community hosted by Erin Entrada Kelly 📚 💻

~ Attended an event hosted by White Whale Bookstore featuring Maria Pinto in conversation with Almah Lavon about her new book FEARLESS, SLEEPLESS, DEATHLESS: WHAT FUNGI TAUGHT ME ABOUT NOURISHMENT, POISON, ECOLOGY, HIDDEN HISTORIES, ZOMBIES, AND BLACK SURVIVAL 📚 🍄

~ Attended the R(ev)ise and Shine! Cocktails and Conversation Zoom meetup 💻

~ Watched the replay of the SCBWI PA East digital workshop Research Methods for Writing Authentic MG and YA Historical Fiction featuring Jennifer Robin Barr 💻

~ Watched the replay of the SCBWI digital workshop Critique Group Renaissance featuring Melissa Manlove 💻

~ Read multiple writing newsletters 📰

#goodreadschallenge2026 #writinglife #amwriting #amwritingya #writersofinstagram by @mkillianwrites

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3 months ago

June Writing Assessment

~ Read 5 books towards my reading challenge goal, putting me at 27/50 books this year 📚

~ Revision update: Finally finished rewriting chapter 17! 🎉 Woohoo! 🎉 This is where I got stuck almost a year ago and realized I needed to do a new outline for the whole book. It feels good to finally make it past this hurdle. Now on to chapter 18 and Act 3!📓 ✍️

~ Attended SCBWI PA West’s monthly Virtual Book Club meeting 📚 💻

~ Attended the first meeting of the new Kidlit All Write writing community hosted by Erin Entrada Kelly 📚 💻

~ Read multiple writing newsletters 📰

#tbrpile #goodreadschallenge2026 #writinglife #amwriting #amwritingya by @mkillianwrites

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4 months ago

May Writing Assessment

~ Read 4 books towards my reading challenge goal, putting me at 22/50 books this year 📚

~ Revision update: Revised journal entries to put between chapters, based on feedback 📓 ✍️

~ Shared those revisions of the journal entries with my critique group based on their feedback from last month 📓 ✍️

~ Entered a chapter of my manuscript in a novel excerpt contest 💻

~ Attended SCBWI PA West’s monthly Virtual Book Club meeting 📚 💻

~ Attended the SCBWI PA West Mix & Mingle 🍷

~ Attended the 5th annual PGH Book Fest 📚

~ Read multiple writing newsletters 📰

#tbrpile #goodreadschallenge2026 #writinglife #amwriting #amwritingya by @mkillianwrites

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5 months ago

PGH Book Fest 2026
#pghbookfest taken in Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh by @mkillianwrites

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5 months ago

So many amazing releases this week!
Check out today’s beautiful book mail! by @mkillianwrites

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5 months ago

April Writing Assessment

~ Read 4 books towards my reading challenge goal, putting me at 18/50 books this year 📚

~ Revision update: Wrote out all of the journal entries to put between chapters 📓 ✍️

~ Met with my critique group to share those journal entries and started to implement feedback 📓 ✍️

~ Attended SCBWI PA West’s monthly Virtual Book Club meeting 📚 💻

~ Attended the Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures Ten Evenings event featuring Merlin Sheldrake 📚

~ Attended the online workshop How To Write A Large Cast featuring Erin Entrada Kelly and Nicole Melleby 💻

~ Read multiple writing newsletters 📰

#tbrpile #goodreadschallenge2026 #writinglife #amwriting #amwritingya by @mkillianwrites

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6 months ago

March Writing Assessment

~ Read 5 books towards my reading challenge goal, putting me at 14/50 books this year 📚

~ Revision update: Began working on journal entries to put between chapters. Still playing with different versions 📓 ✍️

~ Met with my critique group and shared my first attempt at those journal entries 📓 ✍️

~ Attended SCBWI PA West’s monthly Virtual Book Club meeting 📚 💻

~ Attended an event hosted by White Whale Bookstore featuring Dr. Ibram X. Kendi in conversation with Professor Sheila I. Velez Martinez about his new book CHAIN OF IDEAS 📚

~ Watched the replay of the SCBWI digital workshop Bewitch Your Pitch: Making Your Project Sound Irresistible featuring Sara Sargent 💻

~ Watched the replay of How To Book Talk Yourself, an online workshop featuring Erin Entrada Kelly and Ryan La Sala 💻

~ Attended the online R(ev)ise and Shine! Zoomie: Agent Q&A with Jennifer Laughran 💻

~ Read multiple writing newsletters 📰

#tbrpile #goodreadschallenge2026 #writinglife #amwriting #amwritingya by @mkillianwrites

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7 months ago

February Writing Assessment

~ Read 4 books towards my reading challenge goal, putting me at 9/50 books this year 📚

~ Revision update: worked on fixing plot holes in the main storyline up to chapter 16 📓 ✍️

~ Met with my critique group and shared potential opening scene possibilities 💻

~ Attended SCBWI PA West’s monthly Virtual Book Club meeting 📚 💻

~ Read multiple writing newsletters 📰

#tbrpile #goodreadschallenge2026 #writinglife #amwriting #amwritingya by @mkillianwrites

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8 months ago

January Writing Assessment

~ Read 5 books towards my reading challenge goal, putting me at 5/50 books this year 📚

~ Revision update: worked on fixing plot holes in my B Story 📓 ✍️

~ Met with my critique group online and shared my third beat sheet that outlines the town legend in my manuscript, and brainstormed ideas for integrating it into the rest of the story 💻

~ Participated in the KidLitWriMo 30 minutes a day challenge ✍️

~ Attended SCBWI PA West’s monthly Virtual Book Club meeting 📚 💻

~ Attended the online R(ev)ise and Shine! Zoomie: The Myth of Happily Ever After with Cathie Mercier 💻

~ Read multiple writing newsletters 📰

#tbrpile #goodreadschallenge2026 #writinglife #amwriting #amwritingya by @mkillianwrites

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9 months ago