About Taylor

Hi, I’m Taylor, and I’m addicted to fantasy. As a child, I got hooked on Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain, went through a serious Lord of the Rings nerd phase as a teenager, and as an adult I got hooked all over again when Game of Thrones came out and I devoured the books. I love epic series like S.A. Chakraborty’s Daevabad trilogy, Melissa Caruso’s Swords & Fire trilogy, and Brian Staveley’s Chronicles of the Unhewn Throne; historical fantasy like Guy Gavriel Kay; and folklore-inspired fantasy like Katherine Arden’s Winternight trilogy and Naomi Novik’s Uprooted and Spinning Silver. I also once read all of Wheel of Time to impress a guy (it must have worked, as we’re married).

I’ve also been writing fantasy ever since I can remember. I’ve had drier spells during school and university, but I never could quite kick the habit, and I’ve started writing more seriously as an adult–even while completing a PhD in Ancient History, although I only admitted it to my supervisor after I was done! My fantasy is often inspired by my historical interests: I love charismatic usurpers, crumbling kingdoms, and kings and queens who are convinced of their right to the throne.

I was born in the snowy mountains of New Hampshire (where September and October are paradise on earth and almost make up for the weather the rest of the year…). But I’ve spent most of my adult life living in Europe, first studying on the windy shores of Scotland, then in the rolling green hills of Devon. Now I live near the ‘mountains’ (i.e. slight inclines) of windy and green Denmark. I’ve been a jack-of-all trades (AKA ‘humanities’) schoolteacher, a university librarian, a copyeditor, and a PhD student overly obsessed with the dynastic legitimacy of Roman emperors like Constantine (and ancient coins. So many coins). My life currently revolves around attempting to speak Danish and explaining why I decided not to pursue academia.

My dream is to one day have one of those two-story libraries with a movable ladder to reach the top shelves. I’m trying to slowly convince my husband of the benefits of backyard chickens. And eventual publication might be nice too.