Sandra Tayler Explained

Sandra Tayler (born 1973) is an American short story and children's book writer and blogger. She edits, formats, and publishes her husband Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary comic compilations and related works. She has published science fiction and fantasy short stories, essays on parenting and mental illness, and has presented at conventions on writing and geek parenting.

Her blog, One Cobble at a Time, received an award in 2009 from the Association for Mormon Letters.

Biography

Sandra Owens was born 1973.^[1] She married Howard Tayler in 1993^[2] and they are the parents of four children.^[3] The writer Nancy Fulda is her sister.^[4]

Career

Tayler began blogging to "rediscover who I was when I wasn't Mom." Her blog entries received the Association for Mormon Letters award for online writing in 2009. She published selections from her 2011 blog entries in a compilation entitled Cobble Stones: Year 2011.^[5]

Her fantasy short story, "Immigrant", was published in Ages of Wonder, an anthology from Daw Books edited by Julie E. Czerneda and Rob St. Martin. She edited the 2009 roleplaying game book, , written by Tracy and Curtis Hickman and illustrated by her husband, Howard.

Taylor wrote Hold on To Your Horses and The Strength of Wild Horses to help her daughter "visualize and control her impulsive ideas."^{[6] [7]} Roger Sutton, editor-in-chief of The Horn Book, said Strength was "purposive but lightened with humor."^[8] Two of Tayler's essays have been featured on The Mighty, a website that spotlights experiences with mental health issues.^[9]

Tayler has presented at many conventions. She moderated a panel on geeky parenting at the 2014 Salt Lake Comic Con.^[10] She was a panelist at the 2016 Salt Lake ComiCon FanXperience about how to share and moderate media consumption.^[11] At the Gen Con Writer's Symposium in 2016, she presented on self-publishing, writing author bios, how to avoid writer's block, and how to support a creative lifestyle.^[12] In a presentation at Life, the Universe, & Everything in 2013, she recommended setting aside a physical space for creative work and working in small bits of time as they become available.^[13]

Schlock Mercenary

Tayler directs the publication of her husband Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary comic compilations, completing editing, layout, and design.^{[14] [15]}

She was the primary editor and a contributor to Planet Mercenary, a tabletop RPG set in the Schlock Mercenary universe.^[16] She completed the formatting and design for Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries, which was available in two editions to Kickstarter backers: a "defaced" version with comments written by characters and a "pristine" version without handwritten comments.^[17] Tayler formatted the notes in the "defaced" edition using handwritten notes.^[18]

Works

Books

• Hold on to Your Horses (2008, The Tayler Corporation)
• Cobble Stones (2012, Hypernode Press)
• The Strength of Wild Horses (2014, Hypernode Press)

Short fiction works

• "Immigrant" in Ages of Wonder edited by Julie E. Czerneda and Rob St. Martin (2009, Daw Books,)^[19]
• "Bethan's Garden" in The Mind of the Beholder (2012, AnthologyBuilder,)
• "The Road Not Taken" in 2012 Mormon Lit Blitz (2012, online only)^[20]

Roleplaying games

• , editor (2009, The Tayler Corporation,)
• Planet Mercenary, editor (2017)

Essays

• "The Non-Fictional Sense of Wonder" in Locus Roundtable (2011, online only)^[21]
• "Married to Depression" in Altered Perceptions edited by Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, and Robison Wells (2014, Fearful Symmetry)^[22]
• "When Mental Illness Is in Disguise" on The Mighty.com (2016, online only)^[23]
• "When You're the Wife of a Man With Depression" on The Mighty.com (2016, online only)^[24]

Awards and recognition

Year	Organization	Award title, Category	Work	Result	Refs<	-- Use the template below for each row
YEAR	ORGANIZATION	TITLE, CATEGORY	WORK	or	REFERENCES-->
2009	Association for Mormon Letters	Award for Online Writing	One Cobble at a Time website		[25]

External links

• One Cobble at a Time, Tayler's blog
• Folksinging in the Owens family, a collection of family folk songs collected by Sandra Tayler

Notes and References

1. Web site: Tayler. Sandra. Birthday-- The day after. One Cobble at a Time. January 5, 2017.
2. Book: Tayler. Sandra. Call. Anglea. Hold on To Your Horses. 2008. The Tayler Corporation.
3. Web site: Tayler. Sandra. Halloween. One Cobble at a Time. January 5, 2017.
4. Web site: Fulda. Nancy. Hold on to Your Horses by Sandra Tayler. Nancy Fulda: The Author's Official Website. January 5, 2017.
5. Web site: Tayler. Sandra. Cobble Stones 2011 by Sandra Tayler paperback. schlockmercenary.com. 2 February 2017.
6. Web site: Hines. Jim. Sandra Tayler Talks About The Strength of Wild Horses. Jim C. Hines. January 17, 2017.
7. Web site: Tayler. Sandra. Books that can help ADD kids and their parents. One Cobble at a Time. January 17, 2017.
8. Web site: Sutton. Roger. Selfie Sweepstakes Reviews: The Strength of Wild Horses. The Horn Book. January 5, 2017.
9. Web site: Sandra Tayler – The Mighty Contributor. The Mighty. January 5, 2017.
10. News: Johnson. Chandra. Why costumes are no longer just for Halloween. https://web.archive.org/web/20170119050423/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865610662/Why-costumes-are-no-longer-just-for-Halloween.html. dead. January 19, 2017. DeseretNews.com. September 12, 2014.
11. News: Ramirez. Alexandria. How 'geeky families' can love tech but also set limits. https://web.archive.org/web/20160707150307/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865657478/Open-communication-setting-guidelines-strategies-for-media-in-the-home-panelists-say.html. dead. July 7, 2016. January 5, 2017. DeseretNews.com. July 5, 2016.
12. Web site: 2016 GenCon Symposium Schedule v2.3. GenCon. January 5, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170105192324/http://genconwriters.com/docs/2016GenConSymposiumSchedulev2.3.pdf. January 5, 2017.
13. Web site: Tayler. Sandra. Structuring Life to Make Room for Creativity. One Cobble at a Time. 30 January 2017.
14. Web site: Bliss. Rodney M. The Power Behind The Schlock Mercenary Throne: An Interview With Sandra Tayler. Rodney M Bliss. January 5, 2017. December 15, 2015.
15. Web site: Tayler. Sandra. About Sandra Tayler. One Cobble at a Time. en-us.
16. Web site: Tayler. Sandra. Books. One Cobble at a Time. en-us.
17. Web site: Tayler. Sandra. Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries. One Cobble at a Time.
18. Web site: Tayler. Sandra. When a Project Doesn't Work. One Cobble at a Time. January 5, 2017.
19. Web site: Publication: Ages of Wonder. Internet Speculative Fiction Database. January 5, 2017.
20. Web site: Day Five: Sandra Tayler: The Road Not Taken. Mormon Lit Blitz. Sandra. Tayler. February 20, 2012. January 5, 2017. January 19, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170119050349/http://lit.mormonartist.net/2012/02/day-five-sandra-tayler/. dead. mdy-all.
21. Web site: Sandra Tayler–The Non-Fictional Sense of Wonder. Locus Online. October 6, 2011. Sandra. Tayler. January 5, 2017. January 18, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170118230321/http://www.locusmag.com/Roundtable/2011/10/sandra-tayler-the-non-fictional-sense-of-wonder/. dead. mdy-all.
22. Web site: Publication: Altered Perceptions. Internet Speculative Fiction Database. January 5, 2017.
23. Web site: When Mental Illness Is in Disguise. TheMighty.com. February 1, 2016. February 3, 2017. February 5, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170205101105/https://themighty.com/2016/02/when-mental-illness-is-in-disguise/. dead. mdy-all.
24. Web site: When You're the Wife of a Man With Depression. TheMighty.com. January 21, 2016. February 3, 2017. February 5, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170205100752/https://themighty.com/2016/01/when-youre-the-wife-of-a-man-with-depression/. dead. mdy-all.
25. Web site: AML Awards 2008 – 2009. January 6, 2017. Association for Mormon Letters. January 11, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170111125423/http://associationmormonletters.org/blog/aml-awards/aml-awards-2008-2009/. dead. mdy-all.