Howard Tayler

Tayler was born in Florida. In 1985, he moved to Utah (his home as of 2020) to attend Brigham Young University. After studying there for two years, he volunteered to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) before returning to BYU to finish a bachelor's degree in Music Composition. ==Career==

Tayler co-founded an independent record label called Sanctus Records and co-authored a guide to administering GroupWise. He was a guest of honor at many genre conventions, including Balticon, CONduit, LepreCon, and Life, the Universe, & Everything. His wife, Sandra, is also a published author. ==Works==

In March 2000, Tayler, with co-authors Ross Phillips and Tay Kratzer, composed the guidebook Administering GroupWise 5.5 to assist system administrators in managing Novell's GroupWise. Tayler's most well-known work is his webcomic, Schlock Mercenary, a comedic webcomic following the tribulations of a star-travelling mercenary company in a satiric, mildly dystopian 31st-century space opera setting. From its debut on June 12, 2000 to its conclusion on 25 July 2020, the comic was updated daily, began to support its author, Running weekly since February 10, 2008, this 15-minute writing tips podcast featured notable guests including Steve Jackson, Phil Foglio, Brandon Mull, Tracy Hickman, and Patrick Rothfuss. Schlock Mercenary Main series: • Schlock Mercenary: Under New Management, , May 2006, The Tayler Corporation • Schlock Mercenary: The Blackness Between, , November 2006, The Tayler Corporation • Schlock Mercenary: The Tub of Happiness, , December 2007, The Tayler Corporation • Schlock Mercenary: The Teraport Wars, , October 2008, The Tayler Corporation • Schlock Mercenary: The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance, , June 2009, The Tayler Corporation • Schlock Mercenary: Resident Mad Scientist, , July 2010, Hypernode Press • Schlock Mercenary: Emperor Pius Dei, , July 2011, Hypernode Press • Schlock Mercenary: The Sharp End of the Stick, , June 2012, Hypernode Press • Schlock Mercenary: The Body Politic, , August 2013, Hypernode Press • Schlock Mercenary: Longshoreman of the Apocalypse, , June 2014, Hypernode Press • Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel, , December 2014, Hypernode Press • Schlock Mercenary: Force Multiplication, , August 2016, Hypernode Press • Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia, • Schlock Mercenary: Broken Wind, • Schlock Mercenary: Delegates and Delegation, • Schlock Mercenary: Big, Dumb Objects, March 2021, Hypernode Press • Schlock Mercenary: A Little Immortality, Related works: • Strohl Munitions Activity and Coloring Book, no ISBN, Jan. 1, 2009, The Tayler Corporation Short fiction • "Flight of the Runewright" (novelette), December 2012 in Space Eldritch, , Cold Fusion Media • "Extraordinary Zoology" (novella), July 2013, , Privateer Press • "Heartfire" (novelette), September 2013 in Called to Battle, Volume One, Privateer Press • "Fall of the Runewrought" (novelette), November 2013 in Space Eldritch II: The Haunted Stars, , Cold Fusion Media • "Scrap Ante", March 2014 in Iron Kingdoms Excursions, Season One Volume Two, , Privateer Press • "Mouths to Feed", April 2014 in Iron Kingdoms Excursions, Season One Volume Three, , Privateer Press • "Call of the Caber", June 2014 in Iron Kingdoms Excursions, Season One Volume Five, , Privateer Press • "An Honest Death", July 2014 in Shadows Beneath, , Dragonsteel Entertainment • "Mind Over Matter" (novelette), December 2014 in Called to Battle, Volume Two, , Privateer Press Games • XDM X-Treme Dungeon Mastery (illustrations, written by Tracy Hickman and Curtis Hickman), , July 20, 2009, The Tayler Corporation • Planet Mercenary (with Alan Bahr and Sandra Tayler), , June 5, 2017, Hypernode Media Non-fiction • Administering GroupWise 5.5 (with Ross Phillips and Tay Kratzer), , March 20, 2000, McGraw-Hill ==Awards==

Tayler won the Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards Best Cameo Award in 2001, and was also nominated for Best Comic, Best Writing, Best Other Character, and Best Science-Fiction Comic the same year. He won WCCA Outstanding Science Fiction Comic in 2004, and was nominated for the same award in 2005 and 2007. He was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story for Schlock Mercenary four times: The Body Politic (2009); The Longshoreman of the Apocalypse (2010); Massively Parallel (2011), and Force Multiplication (2012). Tayler, Dan Wells, Brandon Sanderson, producer Jordan Sanderson, and Mary Robinette Kowal (2011) were nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Related Work in 2011, 2012 and 2013 for the fourth, sixth and seventh seasons of Writing Excuses, a podcast for aspiring authors. ==References==