Date Published: April 16, 2021
Welcome to DevTown.
In this city, holo ads lumber like neon giants seeking advertising targets. Men and women pop Oracle tabs in search of relief or enlightenment or both. Creatures of unknown origin stalk the darkest alleys. In the center of it all, NexDev Tower looms over the city, home to hundreds of floors of top-secret research.
And in its shadow, Shan Hayes kills people for money.
Rejecting the mechanical enhancements so popular in DevTown, Shan needs only two things: The resynth serum that can reshape her body's entire cellular structure, and her hand-cannon containing a sentient parasite capable of converting her blood into weaponized wasps.
As a hired gun for various crime syndicates, there's little of the city's underbelly Shan hasn't encountered. But when a longtime business associate hires her to track down an underling who's vanished into the neon night, Shan finds DevTown still holds secrets more deadly and terrifying than anything she could imagine.
What is the hardest part of writing
your books?
The second
act is my nemesis. The early planning stages are a blast, because you’re just
throwing ideas out there and chasing all the paths that feel good. Writing the
first act has all the exhilaration of a new adventure. Writing the end is where
you get to do all the crazy stuff you’ve been building up to throughout the
book. I even enjoy editing, because that’s when the book starts looking better
and better. But it’s usually about two or three scenes into the second act
where I start hating my book. That’s when all the flaws start popping out to me.
It gets hard to ignore those and just get the book written so I can come back
and polish out those flaws. Fortunately, I’ve done this enough that now I know
the way I feel about my book during the second act is not how I’ll feel about
it when I’m done.
What songs are most played on your
Ipod?
I’m more of
an album guy – I like hearing one artist’s vision for 10-12 songs in a row. So
these most played songs will be representative of the albums I’m playing a lot.
Alex &
Tokyo Rose – The Pact: Synthwave was the perfect soundtrack to write a dark
cyberpunk story, and Alex & Tokyo Rose’s Akuma album was the one I kept
coming back to.
CeCe Winans –
Hey Devil!: CeCe Winans is gospel royalty, and a friend recently turned me on
to her 2017 masterpiece of an album Let Them Fall in Love. Great vocals,
powerful lyrics, and a cool bluesy gospel sound.
Jon Foreman –
Side By Side: Known primarily for his work with the rock band Switchfoot, Jon
Foreman has plenty of great work as a singer-songwriter, and his new album Departures
is some of his best work yet.
Sarah Reeves –
Motions: Man, I am a sucker for this kind of pop. Love Sarah’s voice, love her
synth sounds and arrangements.
Andrew Ripp –
Jericho: I work in Christian radio, which has developed a reputation for
playing it super safe with music and keeping musical sounds inside pretty
narrow boundaries. I could go on and on about my thoughts on that, but
what I will say is that Andrew Ripp is one of the artists that have shown up in
the past few years that—at least to me—represent a fresh injection of creativity
and growth of the format. First of all, he’s an indie artist who’s spent multiple
weeks at the top of several airplay charts, but also his song is so stinkin’
good.
Do you have critique partners or beta
readers?
My wife is
always great about letting me bounce ideas off of her and occasionally
suggesting plot points. We also have a really active writing community here in the
Des Moines area that has helped by evaluating portions of my work, or even
reading books start to finish.
What book are you reading now?
I usually don’t
have this many going at once, but I’ve got 3 going right now:
David
Mogo, Godhunter by
Suyi Davies Okungbowa. I’m almost halfway through with this one, and the story
keeps getting bigger and bigger. It’s about a demigod in modern-day Lagos who
takes a job from the wrong wizard and sets all kinds of craziness in motion. Even
that barely captures it.
The Humor
of Christ: A Bold Challenge to the Traditional Stereotype of a Somber, Gloomy
Christ by Elton
Trueblood. I’ve been fascinated by the use of humor in the Bible lately, and
this is my latest bit of research. I’ve only just started it, but I’m very
intrigued.
Dear White
Christian: What Every White Christian Needs to Know About How Black Christians
See, Think, & Experience Racism in America by Aaron J Layton. The past few years
have made it more and more clear there are tons of people who experience this
country in a radically different way from the way I do. This has been another chapter
of trying to better understand the difference and how I can be part of the
solution.
How did you start your writing career?
I started
writing the book that ended up being my debut in the indie publishing world
almost 10 years ago. I’ve always liked stories, and I had an English teacher in
high school who really encouraged me to write and hone my craft. Eventually, I
just decided I was going to give myself permission to take a while and write a
full book piece by piece. By the time I finished it and published it, I was
hooked.
Tell us about your next release.
Dogs of
DevTown draws a lot
of inspiration from books like Neuromancer and Snow Crash, and
movies like Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell. It’s mostly
cyberpunk, with elements of horror and biopunk tossed in for good measure. The
story follows a killer for hire who bites off more than she can chew when she
takes a job to hunt down a missing mid-level member of a crime syndicate. She
learns there’s always a darker side to the city if you look hard enough, and
gets swept up in something much bigger than a squabble between crime syndicates.
I feel like the result is fun, weird, and occasionally thrilling…and hopefully
you’ll feel the same!
About The Author
Taylor Hohulin is a radio personality by morning, a science fiction author by afternoon, and asleep by 9:30. He is the author of The Marian Trilogy, Tar, Your Best Apocalypse Now, and other genre-bending stories. He lives in West Des Moines, Iowa with his wife, where they are owned by two cats and a dog.
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