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.
Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?
If I could choose one thing for readers to come
away with, it would be, “Man, that was fun and weird.” But for the ones who
want to dig a little more, there’s a thread running through about the value and
inescapability of connection, both to other people and to your community. Sometimes
it can feel like life would be easier if the only person you had to worry about
was yourself, but not only is that just not a practical way to live, I believe
it’s an incomplete way to live.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Lately, the hardest thing has been finding the
time to sit down and focus for long enough to chrunch out very much at all. I absolutely
love my day job, and the more I’ve grown and taken on more responsibility, the
more time and creative energy I’ve been spending on the thing that pays my
bills. I still love writing, and it’s been really valuable for my mental
health, but I’m having to learn how to write in those little 15-minute windows
you get throughout the day.
How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
Dogs of DevTown will be my seventh full-length book. I also have three shorter works
floating around, so the grand total will hit 10 on April 16. I’m
usually really excited about a book I’m just about to release, so if I’m
excluding Dogs of DevTown in the running for my favorite, I’m going to
go with Tar. I’m incredibly proud of how the story flows and how it explores
its themes—both in ways I planned and in happy accidents.
If You had the chance to cast your main character from
Zoe Saldana. She brings such an understated intensity to her
roles—a power-under-control vibe—that really matches up well with how Shan
conducts herself in Dogs of DevTown.
When did you begin writing?
I’ve been writing stories since my pre-teen
years. My junior high friends and I all enjoyed writing, and occasionally we wrote
each other into our stories. After I got married, I decided to come back to
writing and kick it up a notch, so I committed to spending a little time every
day on a real, full-length novel until it was done. I shopped it to some agents
and couldn’t get any nibbles, so I self-published and loved the experience. I’ve
been an indie author ever since.
How long did it take to complete your first book?
Alpha was one of the
longest writing experiences, because I hadn’t streamlined any pieces of the
process. It was about a year and a half from the first outline to having that first
paperback on my bookshelf.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
I
tend to think of Stephen King that way. I started reading It for the
first time as I was starting to write Alpha, and it was my first
experience with King outside of the occasional movie based on his work. I was
blown away that you could write such an intense, creepy story with such a
compelling structure, and yet still pack an emotional punch with the
characters. I read On Writing next and really loved his down-to-earth
style and simple, actionable advice. I also listened through his Dark Tower
series on audiobook as I was writing my Marian trilogy, and that ended up becoming
a heavy influence, both for that trilogy and other books that came after.
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
Minus the part where I muddle through the
middle and hate what I’m writing, the rough draft is such a blast. Getting to
dive in and explore the world I’d been dreaming about, to me, is where the most
joy comes. A close second is that phase around a year after releasing a book
when I’ve had some distance from it and get to look back at it with fresher
eyes. I find a lot of the stuff I worried about doesn’t matter quite as much,
and there’s something worth being proud of.
Describe your latest book in 4 words.
Neon noir with
zombies.
Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the
future for your writing?
I’ve started outlining a sequel to Dogs of
DevTown. It’s not so much a progression of the existing story as it is a
fresh adventure for the same characters in the same setting. This has been a
fun sandbox to play in, and I’m looking forward to poking around DevTown a
little more.
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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