Sandra Tayler facts for kids

Sandra Tayler, born in 1973, is an American writer who creates short stories and books for children. She also writes a popular blog. Sandra is known for helping to edit and publish the Schlock Mercenary comic books, which are created by her husband, Howard Tayler. She has written many science fiction and fantasy stories, as well as articles about parenting and how to deal with challenging emotions. Sandra also speaks at events about writing and raising kids who love "geeky" things.

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

About Sandra Tayler's Life

Sandra Owens was born in 1973. She married Howard Tayler in 1993. They have four children together. Sandra's sister, Nancy Fulda, is also a writer.

Sandra Tayler's Career Journey

Sandra started her blog to "rediscover who I was when I wasn't Mom." Her blog posts were so good that they won an award in 2009 from the Association for Mormon Letters for online writing. She later published some of her blog entries from 2011 in a book called Cobble Stones: Year 2011.

Her fantasy short story, "Immigrant," was included in a book called Ages of Wonder. This book was a collection of stories edited by Julie E. Czerneda and Rob St. Martin. Sandra also helped edit a roleplaying game book in 2009 called XDM: X-Treme Dungeon Mastery. It was written by Tracy and Curtis Hickman, and her husband, Howard, drew the pictures.

Sandra wrote two books, Hold on To Your Horses and The Strength of Wild Horses. She wrote them to help her daughter learn to "visualize and control her impulsive ideas." Roger Sutton, who edits The Horn Book magazine, said Strength was "purposive but lightened with humor." Sandra has also written articles about mental health experiences for The Mighty, a website that shares personal stories.

Sandra often speaks at different events and conventions. At the 2014 Salt Lake Comic Con, she led a discussion about parenting for families who enjoy "geeky" hobbies. In 2016, she was a speaker at the Salt Lake ComiCon FanXperience, talking about how families can share and manage what media they watch or play. At the Gen Con Writer's Symposium in 2016, she gave talks on how to publish your own books, how to write about yourself as an author, how to avoid getting stuck when writing, and how to support a creative lifestyle. In 2013, at Life, the Universe, & Everything, she suggested having a special place for creative work and using small bits of free time to create.

Working on Schlock Mercenary

Sandra Tayler is in charge of publishing her husband Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary comic book collections. She handles the editing, how the pages are set up, and the overall design.

She was also the main editor and a writer for Planet Mercenary. This is a tabletop RPG that takes place in the Schlock Mercenary world. Sandra also did the design and formatting for Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries. This book was offered to people who supported its creation on Kickstarter. It came in two versions: one with comments written by the characters and a "pristine" version without those notes. Sandra made the notes in the "defaced" version look like they were handwritten.

Sandra Tayler's Published Works

Books for Young Readers

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

Short Stories and Fiction

• "Immigrant" in Ages of Wonder (2009, Daw Books)
• "Bethan's Garden" in The Mind of the Beholder (2012, AnthologyBuilder)
• "The Road Not Taken" in 2012 Mormon Lit Blitz (2012, online only)

Roleplaying Games She Edited

• XDM: X-Treme Dungeon Mastery, editor (2009, The Tayler Corporation)
• Planet Mercenary, editor (2017)

Essays and Articles

• "The Non-Fictional Sense of Wonder" in Locus Roundtable (2011, online only)
• "Married to Depression" in Altered Perceptions (2014, Fearful Symmetry)
• "When Mental Illness Is in Disguise" on The Mighty.com (2016, online only)
• "When You're the Wife of a Man With Depression" on The Mighty.com (2016, online only)

Awards and Special Recognition

Sandra Tayler has received awards for her writing.