Luke Taylor's Blog, page 2
December 4, 2015
Book Cover Reveal: Shatterpoint Bravo
The third book in the Wolves And Leopards series, Shatterpoint Bravo, slated for release in the spring of 2016, cranks up the heat, to say the least, and seals off some of the far-reaching conspiracies found in Shatterpoint Alpha whilst paving the way for the epic finale of the fourth book, Leopards, also with a planned 2016 release. Casey Sullivan gets the cover of this one. Henry Morell took the cover of Shatterpoint Alpha. Casey will have quite the spotlight in Bravo, as will Morell and a few of the other characters some of you readers have come to care about so much .
Thank you all for your love of this series! I truly hope you enjoy this penultimate installment and the upcoming summation of the series. Thank you for your support!
This cover was again made by the extremely talented Laura Gordon. Please check out her work here
http://thebookcovermachine.com/shop/
November 30, 2015
Movie Rant of the Year
I just saw Mad Max: Fury Road.
Give this woman her Oscar.
Now.
Give this woman her Oscar.
Now.
November 11, 2015
The Muiread Ebook
I am so happy to announce the release of The Muiread in ebook format for sale on Amazon for only $0.99. Here is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Muiread-Ageless...
The Muiread ebook also has a trailer, which I hope whets the appetite for adventure.
Thank you so much for reading!
Luke Taylor
http://www.amazon.com/Muiread-Ageless...
The Muiread ebook also has a trailer, which I hope whets the appetite for adventure.
Thank you so much for reading!
Luke Taylor
September 12, 2015
A SEPTEMBER TO REMEMBER: Two New Novels
I am very glad to be releasing two new novels this year with hopes of another before the end of the year.
The dense and cinematic Action/Adventure/Terrorist Thriller/Crime/Mystery/Espionage/Procedural Evening Wolves was originally written as a stand-alone book, but lo and behold it kept growing in my mind and managed to turn itself into a quadrology, called, Wolves and Leopards, the inspiration for the titles of which can be found in Habakkuk 1:8-11.
Whilst much has already been done in regards to the fourth book Leopards, and the third book Shatterpoint Bravo, the second book, Shatterpoint Alpha, has finally been released in paperback and features a tremendous cover from the extremely talented Laura Gordon, whom you can check out at thebookcovermachine.com
Shatterpoint Alpha
Insomuch as Shatterpoint Alpha follows minor characters from Evening Wolves, it picks up approximately two months after the events of Evening Wolves, inserting itself approximately five months before the very last chapter of Evening Wolves, and continues the ripples of a great many catastrophes to the fictional (Seattle, WA/Vancouver, BC) pastiche city of Crescent with the introduction of both heroes and villains that may or may not find themselves dovetailing into future books and plot lines. In truth, the quadrology is completely mapped out, and it is my distinct joy to hopefully finish the series in a manner that would bless all those who have enjoyed Evening Wolves so much, whilst being able to expand the adventures to cover more literary terrain.
I am speechlessly glad to also be releasing the Epic Fantasy, The Muiread, the first book in a planned trilogy entitled, The Ageless Duel.
Though it can be difficult to box up any sort of fantasy in a short string of words, I can only say that I have never had the privelage of such a pure and unfilitered artistic experience and felt greatly liberated as an author, to truly enjoy the gravity of my duty as a visualist and wordsmith, and if all that sounds too pretentious, then just know I had a blast writing it and absolutely love writing fantasy, especially this character-driven Epic.
The Muiread
Whilst The Muiread is deeply personal to me, it is written to be the same to the reader, allowing room for interpretation and imagination, beginning with the cover's gothic archway into highlands of mist, stone, steel and silver.
Hopefully within the year, The Muiread will also see a release in hardcover with a brand new cover and different interior formatting as to make another entirely different reading experience, for which I am very excited. No matter what sort of book it is, there’s nothing like cracking open a brand new hardcover and using the dust jacket as a book marker.
A big thank you goes to those who read these books. I am so blessed to be able to provide a little entertainment for you.
And thank you Emily May for providing librarian expertise in setting up the series information on my author page :)
Read on!
Luke
The dense and cinematic Action/Adventure/Terrorist Thriller/Crime/Mystery/Espionage/Procedural Evening Wolves was originally written as a stand-alone book, but lo and behold it kept growing in my mind and managed to turn itself into a quadrology, called, Wolves and Leopards, the inspiration for the titles of which can be found in Habakkuk 1:8-11.
Whilst much has already been done in regards to the fourth book Leopards, and the third book Shatterpoint Bravo, the second book, Shatterpoint Alpha, has finally been released in paperback and features a tremendous cover from the extremely talented Laura Gordon, whom you can check out at thebookcovermachine.com
Shatterpoint Alpha
Insomuch as Shatterpoint Alpha follows minor characters from Evening Wolves, it picks up approximately two months after the events of Evening Wolves, inserting itself approximately five months before the very last chapter of Evening Wolves, and continues the ripples of a great many catastrophes to the fictional (Seattle, WA/Vancouver, BC) pastiche city of Crescent with the introduction of both heroes and villains that may or may not find themselves dovetailing into future books and plot lines. In truth, the quadrology is completely mapped out, and it is my distinct joy to hopefully finish the series in a manner that would bless all those who have enjoyed Evening Wolves so much, whilst being able to expand the adventures to cover more literary terrain.
I am speechlessly glad to also be releasing the Epic Fantasy, The Muiread, the first book in a planned trilogy entitled, The Ageless Duel.
Though it can be difficult to box up any sort of fantasy in a short string of words, I can only say that I have never had the privelage of such a pure and unfilitered artistic experience and felt greatly liberated as an author, to truly enjoy the gravity of my duty as a visualist and wordsmith, and if all that sounds too pretentious, then just know I had a blast writing it and absolutely love writing fantasy, especially this character-driven Epic.
The Muiread
Whilst The Muiread is deeply personal to me, it is written to be the same to the reader, allowing room for interpretation and imagination, beginning with the cover's gothic archway into highlands of mist, stone, steel and silver.
Hopefully within the year, The Muiread will also see a release in hardcover with a brand new cover and different interior formatting as to make another entirely different reading experience, for which I am very excited. No matter what sort of book it is, there’s nothing like cracking open a brand new hardcover and using the dust jacket as a book marker.
A big thank you goes to those who read these books. I am so blessed to be able to provide a little entertainment for you.
And thank you Emily May for providing librarian expertise in setting up the series information on my author page :)
Read on!
Luke
August 3, 2015
The Stormlight of Sanderson
The time has finally come for me to embrace the Tolkien of our modern age who is quickly (and do I mean quickly!) re-writing literature's conscious palette for epic fantasy and all of its entangled and intertwined sub-genres.
Given the task to complete Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time Series may pale in comparison to what Brandon Sanderson has the capacity to accomplish whenever it is that history will finally look back on his work with the seemingly uncompromising reverence it does Tolkien, who managed to change the lives of well over a billion imaginations a thousand times over and leave a distinct mark upon the landscape of a fictional canon we hold in such high esteem. I would venture to say if there be a filmmaker brave enough to tackle Sanderson's work, let him or her too be a master visionary, adept at manipulating the tools of the medium to transmute paper and ink to the vivid now of sight and sound, lest the filmmaker shame themselves by showing Sanderson's superiority as a dual-wielding architect of words and thoughts capable of transcending the generations where film fails as a dated commentary of the age in which it finds itself seeking box office success rather than artistic merit and everlasting shelf-life.
As a grateful new fan of this gifted and hard-working American writer, I saw it not an indulgence but a necessity to buy The Way of Kings and The Words of Radiance in hardcover; with the knowledge my library will forever hold the combined excellence of Sanderson and Whelan in their finest form.
For those who have entered The Stormlight Archives and found the empty spaces on the shelves where more tomes will some day find themselves, let us all take a moment to consider we are in the midst of the journey that others will one day look back upon as one of history's literary triumphs.
Given the task to complete Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time Series may pale in comparison to what Brandon Sanderson has the capacity to accomplish whenever it is that history will finally look back on his work with the seemingly uncompromising reverence it does Tolkien, who managed to change the lives of well over a billion imaginations a thousand times over and leave a distinct mark upon the landscape of a fictional canon we hold in such high esteem. I would venture to say if there be a filmmaker brave enough to tackle Sanderson's work, let him or her too be a master visionary, adept at manipulating the tools of the medium to transmute paper and ink to the vivid now of sight and sound, lest the filmmaker shame themselves by showing Sanderson's superiority as a dual-wielding architect of words and thoughts capable of transcending the generations where film fails as a dated commentary of the age in which it finds itself seeking box office success rather than artistic merit and everlasting shelf-life.
As a grateful new fan of this gifted and hard-working American writer, I saw it not an indulgence but a necessity to buy The Way of Kings and The Words of Radiance in hardcover; with the knowledge my library will forever hold the combined excellence of Sanderson and Whelan in their finest form.
For those who have entered The Stormlight Archives and found the empty spaces on the shelves where more tomes will some day find themselves, let us all take a moment to consider we are in the midst of the journey that others will one day look back upon as one of history's literary triumphs.
June 8, 2015
Book Haul June 2015
Traditionally I buy three kinds of books. First edition hardcovers, used mass-market paperbacks , and literary fiction and nonfiction soft-covers when loitering in the supermarket.
And as the summer is coming around I thought it best to stock the shelves with books new to me.
Fantasy First!
Ann Marston's Rune Blade Trilogy; Kingmaker's Sword, The Western King, and Broken Blade. CJ Cherryh's The Faded Sun Trilogy; Kesrith, Shon'jir, and Kutath. Dennis McKiernan's Hel's Crucible Duology; Into the Forge and Into the Fire. Margaret Weis' Dragonlance: The War of Souls Trilogy; Dragons of a Fallen Sun, Dragons of a Lost Star, and Dragons of a Vanished Moon. Raymond E. Feist's The Riftwar Saga; Magician Apprentice, Magician Master, Silverthorn, and Darkness at Sethanon, and then a couple of extra beginnings of his other series, that being Krondor's Sons 1 and 2; Prince of the Blood, and The King's Buccaneer. The first book in The Chaoswar Saga; A Kingdom Besieged. The first book in Legends of the Riftwar; Honored Enemy. The first book in the Riftwar Legacy; Krondor the Betrayal.
I also was very happy to find first edition hardcovers of my favorite fantasy series to date, Stephen R. Lawhead's Song of Albion Trilogy; The Paradise War, Silver Hand, and The Endless Knot.
Also a couple of modern and historical nonfiction/memoir softcovers; Vicki Croke's Elephant Company. Thomas Buergenthal's A Lucky Child. Chris Kyle's American Sniper. And Sarah Thebarge's The Invisible Girls.
And still waiting on my shelf is K.M. Weiland's Western A Man Called Outlaw, and Heather Osborne's Historical Romance The Soldier's Secret.
I will do my best to review every one! Thank you writers for writing, thank you readers for reading.
Let us all continue the endless enjoyment of storytelling, book writing, book collecting, and sharing!
I hope you all can find some shade this summer and enjoy one of my books as well!
And as the summer is coming around I thought it best to stock the shelves with books new to me.
Fantasy First!
Ann Marston's Rune Blade Trilogy; Kingmaker's Sword, The Western King, and Broken Blade. CJ Cherryh's The Faded Sun Trilogy; Kesrith, Shon'jir, and Kutath. Dennis McKiernan's Hel's Crucible Duology; Into the Forge and Into the Fire. Margaret Weis' Dragonlance: The War of Souls Trilogy; Dragons of a Fallen Sun, Dragons of a Lost Star, and Dragons of a Vanished Moon. Raymond E. Feist's The Riftwar Saga; Magician Apprentice, Magician Master, Silverthorn, and Darkness at Sethanon, and then a couple of extra beginnings of his other series, that being Krondor's Sons 1 and 2; Prince of the Blood, and The King's Buccaneer. The first book in The Chaoswar Saga; A Kingdom Besieged. The first book in Legends of the Riftwar; Honored Enemy. The first book in the Riftwar Legacy; Krondor the Betrayal.
I also was very happy to find first edition hardcovers of my favorite fantasy series to date, Stephen R. Lawhead's Song of Albion Trilogy; The Paradise War, Silver Hand, and The Endless Knot.
Also a couple of modern and historical nonfiction/memoir softcovers; Vicki Croke's Elephant Company. Thomas Buergenthal's A Lucky Child. Chris Kyle's American Sniper. And Sarah Thebarge's The Invisible Girls.
And still waiting on my shelf is K.M. Weiland's Western A Man Called Outlaw, and Heather Osborne's Historical Romance The Soldier's Secret.
I will do my best to review every one! Thank you writers for writing, thank you readers for reading.
Let us all continue the endless enjoyment of storytelling, book writing, book collecting, and sharing!
I hope you all can find some shade this summer and enjoy one of my books as well!
May 30, 2015
Evening Wolves
Evening WolvesEvening Wolves is an ensemble terrorism and crime action/adventure story and many readers have made comments to me about the rich cast of characters involved in the 192,000 word tale.
The truth is, they were naturally occurring in the environment in which they were found, in no way premeditated or pre-designed, knowing that the plot's conflict itself would demonstrate their many qualities and characteristics and work with the plot to leave a lasting impression upon the reader.
Creating a series to follow the events of Evening Wolves, I found myself gravitating toward certain characters whilst various other readers were making a strong case for the return of their favorite minor or major character.
So in anticipation of the release of the series newest installment, I though it'd be cool to host a poll.
Thank you for reading and thank you for your votes!
I hope you all enjoy the next stepping stone in the continuing adventure!
The truth is, they were naturally occurring in the environment in which they were found, in no way premeditated or pre-designed, knowing that the plot's conflict itself would demonstrate their many qualities and characteristics and work with the plot to leave a lasting impression upon the reader.
Creating a series to follow the events of Evening Wolves, I found myself gravitating toward certain characters whilst various other readers were making a strong case for the return of their favorite minor or major character.
So in anticipation of the release of the series newest installment, I though it'd be cool to host a poll.
Thank you for reading and thank you for your votes!
I hope you all enjoy the next stepping stone in the continuing adventure!
May 17, 2015
Inspiration Station: Names
I have always been inspired by names.
Such contain threads of commonality, nationality and universality that transcend the ages of history and yet still somehow possess rights of individual personality and originality. I must reference Shakespeare’s “...what is in a name...” with creative license, because when living the everyday inspired existence of a writer, I encounter names that demand, if not at least a second thought, a definitive right to print.
Let me explain.
When I was a young writer, I remember buying a brand new Play Station Two, and the only game we were able to purchase with it was Fifa 06.
For clarification, Fifa is an international soccer game and I have always loved international soccer and continue to watch it as much as possible (for anthropological studies and sporting enjoyment in equal measures) and not only did I enjoy the game but was taken aback by the bank vault of strangely beautiful new names I’d never seen before.
List upon list of foreign names, new spellings, consonant groupings; worlds of meanings within worlds contained by the digitzed face that represented a character, an idea, a nationality, a history, a race, a set of skills, a way of thought, a personality type, and on and on.
In a name I saw a facial tic, a way of holding a pen or removing a jacket; a penchant for black coffee and english muffins with bitter marmalade. Voices, hairstyles, walking gaits. Love of pets, trendy apartments, a fear of heights, superstitions; hopes and dreams.
All within a name.
So subsequently I furiously began to craft lists separated by distinguishing factors, keeping in mind that a certain genre or style of project merited the choosing of one name over the other. Sci-fi stories were as quick to steal names as crime thrillers, and suddenly my lists were full of crossed-out lines, as if these commodities had been purchased in auction by higher powers.
Heavily invested in study of the French language at the time, I was particularity drawn to the French names and attempting to pronounce them authentically. I recall writing a police procedural with a character named Jean-Remy Mezaque; and suddenly, without any real knowledge of the French culture, the plot of my burgeoning police procedural began to suffer under the weight of an existentialist detective in a gray world of ambivalent co-workers, secret government societies, and psychological investigations.
All of this came from the set of French names I’d been working with.
For another example I'd crafted a semi-medieval sci-fi western on Mars in which the protagonist was sort of a cross between Leona Lewis and Daniela Ruah. I gave her the name Jone. Joan is a form of John, perhaps one of the most common names of modern times, yet, Jone perfectly captured the ethos of her character. She was alone in her journey to find her way off the planet, alone after losing her parents, alone for having been born on a space ship in orbit, alone in siding with the underdog against the corporations regulating planetary life like medieval robber barons (the names of which I'd re-tooled from real companies whilst watching the stock market ticker on CNBC.)
Without her name, Jone didn't really exist to me; her addiction to the painkiller Nocona and her ability to fix anything. But carrying such enigma in those four letters, she strode out of the swirling sulfides of red dust and detritus into my mind, demanding that I write her adventures worthy of that by which she was called.
In summary, I’d encourage you writers of any genre to think about every name you come across, even that of inanimate objects or corporate entities, animals and far off lands.
For what is in a name? For me, I guess just about everything.
Such contain threads of commonality, nationality and universality that transcend the ages of history and yet still somehow possess rights of individual personality and originality. I must reference Shakespeare’s “...what is in a name...” with creative license, because when living the everyday inspired existence of a writer, I encounter names that demand, if not at least a second thought, a definitive right to print.
Let me explain.
When I was a young writer, I remember buying a brand new Play Station Two, and the only game we were able to purchase with it was Fifa 06.
For clarification, Fifa is an international soccer game and I have always loved international soccer and continue to watch it as much as possible (for anthropological studies and sporting enjoyment in equal measures) and not only did I enjoy the game but was taken aback by the bank vault of strangely beautiful new names I’d never seen before.
List upon list of foreign names, new spellings, consonant groupings; worlds of meanings within worlds contained by the digitzed face that represented a character, an idea, a nationality, a history, a race, a set of skills, a way of thought, a personality type, and on and on.
In a name I saw a facial tic, a way of holding a pen or removing a jacket; a penchant for black coffee and english muffins with bitter marmalade. Voices, hairstyles, walking gaits. Love of pets, trendy apartments, a fear of heights, superstitions; hopes and dreams.
All within a name.
So subsequently I furiously began to craft lists separated by distinguishing factors, keeping in mind that a certain genre or style of project merited the choosing of one name over the other. Sci-fi stories were as quick to steal names as crime thrillers, and suddenly my lists were full of crossed-out lines, as if these commodities had been purchased in auction by higher powers.
Heavily invested in study of the French language at the time, I was particularity drawn to the French names and attempting to pronounce them authentically. I recall writing a police procedural with a character named Jean-Remy Mezaque; and suddenly, without any real knowledge of the French culture, the plot of my burgeoning police procedural began to suffer under the weight of an existentialist detective in a gray world of ambivalent co-workers, secret government societies, and psychological investigations.
All of this came from the set of French names I’d been working with.
For another example I'd crafted a semi-medieval sci-fi western on Mars in which the protagonist was sort of a cross between Leona Lewis and Daniela Ruah. I gave her the name Jone. Joan is a form of John, perhaps one of the most common names of modern times, yet, Jone perfectly captured the ethos of her character. She was alone in her journey to find her way off the planet, alone after losing her parents, alone for having been born on a space ship in orbit, alone in siding with the underdog against the corporations regulating planetary life like medieval robber barons (the names of which I'd re-tooled from real companies whilst watching the stock market ticker on CNBC.)
Without her name, Jone didn't really exist to me; her addiction to the painkiller Nocona and her ability to fix anything. But carrying such enigma in those four letters, she strode out of the swirling sulfides of red dust and detritus into my mind, demanding that I write her adventures worthy of that by which she was called.
In summary, I’d encourage you writers of any genre to think about every name you come across, even that of inanimate objects or corporate entities, animals and far off lands.
For what is in a name? For me, I guess just about everything.
