Rachel Gillig, the celebrated author behind the number one New York Times best-selling Shepherd King duology—and the highly anticipated new novel The Knight and the Moth—has mastered the art of crafting emotionally devastating and breathtakingly beautiful prose. Her books, which are celebrated on BookTok and beyond, are known for their immersive Gothic fantasy worlds and rich characterization. But behind the scenes, Gillig faces the same pressures and challenges as anyone else, from the stress of a tight deadline to the struggle with performance anxiety. In an exclusive conversation, she shares the self-care secrets that help her navigate the demands of her career, from her favorite high-quality beauty products to the simple, yet profound, habits that help her stay grounded and healthy.
Navigating Success and Embracing a Creative Mindset
Rachel Gillig describes her initial success with One Dark Window as a “sleeper hit,” a book that grew in popularity organically over time, thanks in large part to the power of BookTok. While she admits she’s still figuring out what it means to be a “BookTok book,” she enjoys being on the platform and uses it as a tool to discover new recommendations, especially outside of her genre. She also acknowledges the immense pressure that came with writing her second duology in the shadow of the Shepherd King’s success. She views this as a “champagne problem,” a difficult but fortunate challenge.
To manage the pressure of performance anxiety and the desire to constantly one-up herself, Gillig has learned to practice self-care and grace. As someone who has been in therapy for five years, she has worked on letting go of what she cannot control. She believes that a creative process requires freedom, and worrying about a book’s success is counterintuitive to that. When she was sick with COVID-19 and struggling with debilitating brain fog, she learned to give herself permission to simply not create. Instead, she focused on physical rest and watching “comfort shows.” She realized that she needed to be physically healthy to be mentally healthy, a simple but profound truth. This period taught her that it’s okay to take a break and that not every moment has to be productive, a valuable lesson for a creative person on a tight deadline.
A World Lived-In: The Role of Beauty in Storytelling
For Rachel Gillig, beauty and grooming are not just incidental details in her writing; they are essential layers of characterization that make her worlds feel “lived-in.” She makes a point of including details about her characters’ appearance and hygiene, such as “getting dirty” and “taking baths,” because she believes it adds a layer of “grittiness” and realism to her stories. This approach is evident in her latest book, The Knight and the Moth, where she uses visual markers like gossamer versus armor to not only differentiate characters but also to reflect a character’s changing worldview. She also intentionally gave all the diviners in the book different hair colors to show that, despite being forced to look alike, they are still all unique individuals.
Gillig also has a particular fondness for writing about prominent noses in her characters, a feature she believes is often overlooked. She says that a nose can be a beautiful and distinct feature that can also indicate a character’s nationality or a past experience, like a broken nose from a fight. In The Knight and the Moth, she also highlights the beauty of an aged face, with wrinkles and lines, through the character Maude, who serves as a foil to the young, cloistered diviners. By writing about older characters and real-world features, she is able to create a more authentic and immersive world that reflects the complexities of human life.
Her Everyday Beauty and Wellness Essentials
When she’s not writing, Rachel Gillig focuses on a streamlined beauty routine with high-quality products. She is a recent convert to the Japanese brand Tatcha, and her essentials include the Dewy Skin Cream, Overnight Indigo Repair, and the Silk Serum. For her lips, which get dry easily, she loves the Tatcha Kissu Lip Mask and the new tinted lip sunscreen. She also prioritizes sun protection and has been using the Beauty of Joseon Daily Relief Sunscreen for years. To keep her skin soft and hydrated, she also uses the Dr. Ceuracle Vegan Kombucha Tea Essence Toner.
Her daily makeup routine is minimal, often consisting of just a few products. She is not a fan of wearing foundation and prefers to play with lip color. In her author headshot, she is wearing Nars Starwoman lipstick, a bold orange-red shade she loves. On a day-to-day basis, she might use a lip stain, noting that the women in her family always had their lipstick on, even if they didn’t wear a lot of other makeup. She also loves to play with blush and enjoys the sheer finish of products like Ami Colé’s Desert Date Cream Blush. For her, makeup is a fun tool to play with, and she appreciates women who wear it, regardless of their skin texture.
A Holistic Approach to Health and Happiness
Rachel Gillig’s wellness routine is designed to support her busy life as a writer and a mother. She makes it a point to stay hydrated while she’s writing, a habit that helps her combat the fatigue of being sedentary for long periods of time. She also values sleep immensely, never taking it for granted after a period of not sleeping well after her son was born. To stay active, she walks a lot and has recently gotten back into mobility stretches with Yoga With Adriene on YouTube. This practice helps her combat the aches and pains that come with sitting at a desk for long hours and serves as a reminder to pay more attention to her body’s needs as she gets older.
When it comes to her bathing routine, she is a “shower person” and uses an exfoliating glove to scrub her skin. She is not picky about her soaps and will even use Dr. Bronner’s for both hand and body wash. Ultimately, her self-care philosophy is about accountability and giving herself grace. She acknowledges that it can be difficult to make yourself a priority, but she has found that creating a checklist and tracking her habits, like taking her vitamins and working out, helps her stay on track. This intentional approach, from her writing to her wellness, is what allows her to create captivating worlds while still taking care of herself.
