‘I don’t shy away from real life’: Orangeburg native thrives as full-time writer

Now she is a two-time, self-published author.

Till, the daughter of David and Christina Kitchings, was born and raised in Orangeburg and went to Orangeburg Preparatory Schools.

During her undergrad years, Till studied at the University of South Carolina. She completed her master’s degree in speech language pathology at South Caroline State University.

Writing was never “a blip on my radar,” Till said.

According to Till, her previous English teachers may be thinking “the world is ending, Hannah Till wrote a book.”

But Till has always been a bookworm — a trait that was passed down from her mother. As a child, she went to the local library with her mom every week and left with many books.

“I remember reading all the books I could get my hands on,” Till said.

Till says that reading was an escape for her.

“Things can be going bad in your world, but nine times out of ten, if you’re reading a book, somebody is dealing with something worse,” she said.

After giving birth to two sons, Till began to experience symptoms of postpartum depression. Since her anxiety kept her up at night, Till began exploring options of “self-therapy.”

“I wanted to escape that chaotic, anxiety-ridden world I was in,” she said.

Her automatic reaction was to default to reading. When reading did not help, her husband suggested that she try writing instead. His tip led to Till’s first book, “The Celestra,” which she typed in the Notes application on her iPhone.

“I don’t think I realized I wrote an entire book until I noticed it was over 100,000 words,” Till said.

After reading the document, family and friends encouraged her to publish it. She published in February of 2022. To her surprise, it sold out within one week. A few months later, the book was sold in 13 countries.

Her success led to the publication of her second novel, “Shattered,” in September of 2022.

Till was stretched between writing and her work as a speech pathologist.

To lighten her load, she took on a position as a PRN speech pathologist, meaning she only works “as needed.” She says the decision to become a full-time author “came naturally” as her desire to write grew stronger.

Social media played a huge role in book sales, Till said. She says it also makes it easier to interact with readers. She uses her Instagram and Tiktok accounts to promote her novels and give her audience teasers to upcoming books.

Her “bookstagram” is @hannahtillauthor.

Till writes for readers ages 18 and older. She describes her books as contemporary romance or “romantasy,” a mix of romance and fantasy, with mental health undertones.

“They deal with very heavy topics,” she said. “I don’t shy away from real life.”

“The Celestra” is the first of a trilogy and falls into the “romantasy” category. “The Shadows Within,” second in the trilogy, is planned for a July release. Till says the last book of the trilogy will come out in December.

“Shattered,” Till’s contemporary romance novel, is set at the University of South Carolina. She plans to publish another contemporary romance novel in the fall — this time set in a small town.

Till’s books can be found on Amazon or All Good Books, a bookstore in Columbia. She is currently in the process of getting them sold at Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million.

Till has two upcoming book-signing events. She is a featured author for the “Lust in the Lowcountry Romancecon” in Charleston on Oct. 7. The following week she will be signing books in Atlanta at the “Georgia Indie Author Sweet as a Peach” event.