Author Emily Shilling - Artist Spotlight

Local author, Emily Shilling, explores themes of trauma and healing through the lens of power exchange, alternative relationship dynamics and, what she describes as, radical self-acceptance. Her books feature a wide range of characters with representation for those that identify as queer, live an alternative life style, or do not fit society's outdated standards for, well, everything.

Emily's writing gives life to characters that perfectly capture the way that people experience trauma in its rawest form and how it manifests in relationships and everyday life. Her works demonstrate the complex, multi-faceted nature of being human and honors the time and effort it takes to heal.

Her most recent work, Grace Under Fire, gives light to C-PTSD and extreme low self-esteem and healing through power exchange and alternative relationship dynamics. She dared to write her female main character as a plus-sized woman and describe her as beautiful and desirable - perfect just the way she is, which prompted backlash from the traditional publishing world, with an agent even reaching out to encourage her to slim Grace down a bit, otherwise she likely won't be considered for trad-publishing. Emily's response? She told them that she had no intention of trad-publishing because writing characters that reflect real human beings is her top priority.

If you're interested in reading Grace's story and finding out for yourself what I'm talking about, you can find your copy here. Sidenote: the second book, Finding Grace, is due to be published on August 10, 2026 (not yet available for preorder).

Cover of Grace Under Fire by author Emily Shilling

Her other upcoming works include a poetry collection titled Tourniquets & Turning Points, which will be published on May 25, 2026 and explores the theme of learning to live again after surviving trauma, and a novella called The Weight of Solitude, being published on June 1, 2026, which follows a trans character through their healing process and focuses on themes related to deep depression and being complicit in one's own suffering. You can pre-order your copies here and here, respectively.

In addition to the aforementioned works, Emily’s range also includes epic fantasy novels! Her full bibliography can be found below. You can follow her on TikTok: @e_shilling_author and on The Tiara Court, an all female Indy author collective, also on TikTok.

Bibliography:

• Fear & Other Things - Poetry Collection

• Ireiale’s Peril - Epic Fantasy

• Ireiale’s Choice - Epic Fantasy

• Grace Under Fire

• Tourniquets & Turning Points - Poetry collection, coming May 25.

• The Weight of Solitude - A Novella, coming June 1

• Finding Grace - Coming August 10.