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WORK TITLE: City Ash and Desert Bones
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BIRTHDATE:
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CITY: Salt Lake City
STATE: UT
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http://dogstarbooks.blogspot.com/2016/02/get-to-know-laurel-myler.html * https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurel-myler-1b0837b6/ *
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah.
EDUCATION:University of Utah, B.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and editor.
AVOCATIONS:Watching TV, collecting model ships, and eating sushi.
WRITINGS
Also wrote the play Conversations with Caligula, 2016.
SIDELIGHTS
Laurel Myler is a writer and editor living in Salt Lake City. Myler graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in psychology and Latin. She writes science fiction and plays. Her honors thesis was a two-act play, which was performed at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival. Her work has also been performed at Westminster College. Myler describes her writing style as driven by character and dialogue. She cites Ray Bradbury, Brandon Sanderson, and Emily Bronté as influences to her writing style. Myler has been writing creatively since she was in the fifth grade.
City Ash and Desert Bones
City Ash and Desert Bones is a western science fiction novel and Myler’s first published book. In her junior year at the University of Utah, Myler was selected to participate in an inaugural novel writing workshop in the Honors College. She began writing City Ash and Desert Bones in college in this writing workshop.
City Ash and Desert Bones is set three hundred years in the future. The United States is run by a church government called the Theocracy. The novel is set in a town called Big City, located in the desolate desert of Nevada. Big City has been mostly ignored by the Theocracy, until the government learns of the oil reserves located in the ground beneath the city. The Theocracy is in desperate need of oil, so they send two members of their policing force, called apostles, to Big City to retrieve it.
The two apostles, Reesa and Joule, are recent graduates from the Apostle Training Center, and they are paired up and sent into Big City to investigate the potential oil source. When they arrive in Big City, they are met with hostility from the locals, who have not seen an outsider in a century. As Reesa and Joule learn more of Big City, they discover that the town is under the control of creatures that the locals call “takers.” Takers are deadly monsters who seem to be inflicting something worse than murder on the locals of Big City.
Reesa begins to become close with a man she meets in Big City, Tombstone, but it soon becomes clear that he will be no help to the apostles. As Reesa and Joule become more involved in the world of Big City, we learn that they may have a connection to the takers, the mission to retrieve oil falls into chaos. A critic in Publishers Weekly commented that this “vibrant story is a fun ride for horror fans.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, September 5, 2016, review of City Ash and Desert Bones, p. 57.
UWire, July 26, 2016, Alexis Cortez, “Myler Is a Woman on a Mission,” p. 1.
Laurel Myler
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Laurel Myler
Author at Dog Star Books
Private Capital Group University of Utah
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Graduate of the University of Utah summa cum laude with two degrees in four years, writer, editor, lover of
sushi.
Experience
Private Capital Group
Receptionist
Company NamePrivate Capital Group
Dates EmployedMay 2016 – Present Employment Duration1 yr 1 mo
LocationAlpine, UT
Composition of loan summary sheets received by potential lenders, managing and greeting in-person and over-the-phone office traffic, regular office odd-jobs
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Dog Star Books
Author
Company NameDog Star Books
Dates EmployedJul 2015 – Present Employment Duration1 yr 11 mos
First novel, Desert Ash and City Bones, to be released September 2016
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Promise South Salt Lake
Prevention Specialist
Company NamePromise South Salt Lake
Dates EmployedMay 2013 – May 2015 Employment Duration2 yrs 1 mo
Planning, implementation, and evaluation of after-school programming at a community center for local youth
Mentored students in all academic subjects as well as drug and violence safety and recreation
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Company NameScheels
Dates EmployedAug 2012 – May 2013 Employment Duration10 mos
LocationSandy, UT
Provided unparalleled customer service as a member of a sales team and a self-monitoring individual
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Education
University of Utah
University of Utah
Degree Name Honors Bachelor of Arts Field Of Study Classics and Classical Languages
Dates attended or expected graduation 2012 – 2016
Activities and Societies: National Society of Leadership and Success
Graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA
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University of Utah
University of Utah
Degree Name Bachelor of Arts Field Of Study Psychology
Dates attended or expected graduation 2012 – 2016
Activities and Societies: National Society of Leadership and Success
Graduated summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Get to Know Laurel Myler
Dog Star Books welcomes new author Laurel Myler! Laurel is a Salt Lake City native graduating from the University of Utah with a degree in Psychology and Latin. She enjoys British lawn sports, collecting model ships, manga, and watching trash TV with friends. Her work has been performed at Westminster College and the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival. City Ash and Desert Bones is her first novel. You can find her on Twitter @victorylaurels.
Tell us about your first Dog Star release!
Three hundred years in the future, a tiny town called Big City in the middle-of-nowhere Nevada is finally getting apostles. The United States is run by a church government called the Theocracy and apostles, acting as liaisons, are how they police it all. A brand new pair has been sent to Big City to retrieve the desperately needed oil from the reserves under the land. Little do they know that the town is under siege by beings the locals call “takers.” Reesa, one of the apostles, is a sort of Frankenstein's monster created by the takers out of dismembered pieces of Big City citizens, only she doesn't know it yet. Everything pretty much goes to hell as soon as she arrives.
Who and what were your influences for this book?
This book is a strange sort of conglomeration of all kinds of weird media I’ve consumed and internalized over the years. I can point to Rango and Back to the Future: Part III in particular. Bits of it also come out of my own frustrations and education, particularly a psychology class I took my junior year of college called “Sensation and Perception” (which happened to be both frustrating and educational).
Describe your writing process, especially for this manuscript.
Every day, I typically wake up an hour earlier than whatever time I need to start getting ready and use that time to write. This could be drafting, experimenting, editing, you name it. I also keep a journal on me to jot down any notes that pop into my brain during the day.
This manuscript was unique in that I composed it as part of the novel workshop course in the Honors College at the University of Utah. When I woke up, nine other people were waking up with me and working on their novels in their homes. We met weekly and workshopped regularly. My peers became a backboard for ideas and a tremendous support structure. Those friends kept me going when I wanted to give up.
Why sci-fi/speculative fiction?
Honestly, because I hate dealing with reality. I think there’s a bit of an escapist, an imaginer, in all of us, and mine tends to dominate my thoughts. Writing for me is a refreshing break from the day-to-day trudge, and it wouldn’t really be a break if I wasn’t off in some alternate universe messing around with some other reality. I’ve had a great love for fantasy and science fiction since childhood. I blame The Twilight Zone.
What do you hope readers will take from this book?
I hope I’ve captured a bit of the beauty that is the hopeful hopelessness of mankind’s existence. We’re funny little creatures rolling around on the surface of a giant rock hurtling through space and everything we do is at once redundantly useless and tremendously important. Not everything has a happy ending, but that doesn’t make a life any less valuable.
Can you leave us with a teaser?
Here’s how it all begins:
“Reesa did not know it yet, but when she stepped from the coach she was putting her foot down in the dirt where she would die, or that she was many different pieces of seven people who already had. The crystal white sole of her shoe set down on the ground with a crunch. The sound made her feel like she was stepping out of a time machine to the past. Away from the skyscrapers, away from the lights, away from everything she knew, to a tiny desert town too far west to warrant a dot on a map. Big City was certainly not what its name implied.”
LAUREL MYLER
Laurel Myler western science fiction author
Laurel Myler is a graduate of the University of Utah where she studied Psychology and Latin. Her hobbies include watching TV, playing fetch with her cat, collecting model ships, and eating sushi. On the weekends she moonlights as a Howard Jones impersonator. Her work has been performed at Westminster College and the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival. This is her first novel.
INTRODUCING LAUREL MYLER
Laurel Myler western science fiction author
Laurel Myler is a debut author and not many people know her or her work yet. So I thought I would take the time to introduce you to her and get to know her a little better myself with a short interview.
Her book, City Ash and Desert Bones launches September 21st! Publishers Weekly says, “…the vibrant story is a fun ride for horror fans…” Pre-order here (advance copies are already shipping).
INTRODUCING LAUREL MYLER
How Did You Come Up With The Idea Behind City Ash And Desert Bones?
I wish I had a solid answer for this. I honestly don’t know. Vague rumblings of it had been floating around in my head for some time before I started putting anything to paper. For me, stories are typically born out of the characters who populate it, so they introduced themselves and I built a world around that. Very bizarre, I know.
You Wrote City Ash And Desert Bones As Part Of A College Program. Can You Talk A Little Bit About That Process?
My junior year at the University of Utah, I was chosen to be part of the inaugural Novel Writing Workshop in the Honors College. I was one of ten students, and the workshop was led by Dr. Michael Gills. Every morning the ten of us were required to wake up, check in online, and then write for an hour. We turned in ten pages every week, and met Fridays for three hours to discuss the craft and workshop each others pieces. We also had a list of some twenty-two novels to read over the summer. It was the single most challenging and rewarding experience of my education. This class broke me, but I put myself back into something even better.
How Did You Get Started Writing?
I’ve been writing since I was in fifth grade and my mom bought me this notebook with purple and brown stripes on it. I thought it was the most beautiful thing on the planet, so I felt obligated to fill it up with “good stuff” rather than school work. I think I still have it tucked away in a closet somewhere.
City Ash science fiction novel coverYou’ve Also Been Involved In Some Plays, Correct? What Do You Enjoy About Drama. How Does It Contrast With Novel Writing?
Yes! I wrote a two-act play for my honors thesis at the University of Utah, and it was performed at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival this summer. I live for drama. My ideal job title is writer/producer. There’s something special that happens when you’re not the only person representing your work. Suddenly, eight (or more) other people have input and creative control over the final project and I truly feel like my work is magnified and bettered through the interpretations of others. Script writing comes a lot more naturally to me than novel writing does, mainly because all I have to write is dialogue, and dialogue is my favorite thing to write.
Are You Working On Any Other Writing Projects Right Now?
My current writing project is kicking my butt. It’s another novel, completely unrelated to the first, but also set in the future where circuses have become the main form of entertainment. It’s very large. And deals with a lot of heavy topics. And has been a mountain of joyous research. At the rate I’m going, I’ll have caught up to the actual timeline of the book before I finish it.
As A Debut Author What Has Been Your Favorite Part Of The Publishing Process? Which Part Did You Like The Least?
My favorite part of the publishing process was seeing the cover art for the first time. Brad Sharp’s artwork is absolutely stunning. That was the moment it became officially real for me.
The thing that’s been hardest is the fact that I’m practically an infant when it comes to publishing, and I’m still learning how I write, what I write, and where my weaknesses and strengths are. It’s been nearly two years since I started writing City Ash and Desert Bones and a year since I finished it. I have grown and changed tremendously as a writer in that time and even now I still have so much more to learn, so it’s strange to see a piece of writing that feels so far away and almost alien going out into the world to represent me. It is, however, thrilling to see the progress I’ve made.
Tell Us 3 Surprising Facts About Yourself.
I am a supertaster, which means I have more fungiform papillae on my tongue and taste things more intensely than your average human. It is not, contrary to the name, a super power.
King Henry VIII is my first cousin fourteen times removed.
In my life, I have been mother to four hamsters, five canaries, four parakeets, two cats, and a boatload of fish.
Are There Any Other Authors Or Works That Were Particularly Influential On Your Novel?
It may not be particularly obvious looking at the novel, but Ray Bradbury, Brandon Sanderson, and Emily Bronte were big influences. Still are and always will be.
City Ash And Desert Bones Has A Unique Setting, Sort Of A Future Wild West. Do Places Inspire You? If So, Which Places Have Been The Most Inspirational?
I am absolutely inspired by places. I love to travel, so when I’m not currently travelling I’m saving up for and planning the next trip. Every place has its own feeling to it, its own little quirks and energy. England (north and south) has perhaps inspired me the most of all the places I’ve been. Some of the novel I’m currently working on takes place there.
City Ash and Desert Bones
Publishers Weekly. 263.36 (Sept. 5, 2016): p57.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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City Ash and Desert Bones
Laurel Myler. Dog Star, $14.95 trade paper (198p) ISBN 978-1-935738-87-9
Myler's debut is part Wild West, part dystopian future, part gory horror, and wholly rooted in the haphazard gusto of 2 lst-century fan fiction. The gritty details are envisioned down to the last sand-dusted blob of guts, but the world-building is a handful of allusions--Leonardo DiCaprio, Frankenstein, Tombstone, and more--all cobbled together. Apostles Reesa and Joule, newly graduated from the Apostle Training Center, are chosen by the Theocracy to pair up, marry, and go to Big City, a one-saloon burg in the Nevada desert that's rumored to have a cache of oil. Why hydrocarbons would be important 300 years hence is never explained, nor is why the government would send two raw recruits to investigate this crucial resource. But so it is, and the apostles get a hostile reception from townspeople who haven't seen outsiders in a century. They're hiding a secret scourge: "takers," bizarre mucous monsters who can kill with a touch--and, possibly, do much worse. A handsome loner named Tombstone tempts naive Reesa into curiosity that rapidly unfolds into a nightmare. The writing is raw and under-edited--this is a freshman outing that doesn't quite grow into its ambition--but the vibrant story is a fun ride for horror fans nevertheless. (Oct.)
Myler is a Woman on a Mission
UWIRE Text. (July 26, 2016): p1.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Uloop Inc.
http://uwire.com/?s=UWIRE+Text&x=26&y=14&=Go
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Byline: Alexis Cortez
Alexis Cortez on July 26, 2016 at 4:00 pm
Recent U grad Laurel Myler is a woman on a mission. Myler left the U with a bachelor's degree in psychology and an honors degree in Classics- a major that studies Greek and Latin - and is already putting her knowledge to work. This summer she will be mounting a play she wrote, directed and staged at the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, and Myler credits her studies at the U for inspiring this "passion project," as she calls it.
The play, "Conversations with Caligula," which revolves around a character battling mental health issues, combines Myler's love of theater with her studies of psychology and storytelling in both Greek and Latin literature. As the main character navigates their own emotions and mind, the audience will get to watch how other actors on the stage become pivotal to the storytelling of what it feels like to have a mental illness and live in a society that isn't always understanding of this struggle.
Myler began tinkering with the idea of the play in high school, and used her honors thesis to bring it to life, writing, directing and staging it all on her own. "It's been an adventure and a half!" Myler laughs.
Myler's passion for this play stems from a longstanding passion for mental health awareness. "Mental health is a health issue; it's not something that is fundamentally wrong with that person. Your mind isn't healthy. It has nothing to do with your fundamental make-up as a human being," Myler explains. "There is a still a lot of stigma. Mental health gets walked all over sometimes."
As part of the Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival, the production is sure to enjoy a variety of audience members, and Myler hopes that it will ignite conversation. As the festival's website proudly declares, one of its many purposes is to provide art that is "unique and original... unrestricted, uncensored and unadjudicated."
Myler's piece works to fill those expectations.
Her goal is to provide the audience with an opportunity to share the mind of someone who has a mental health issue and to understand how positive or negative interactions can affect someone dealing with one. "There are ways we can help," Myler insists. "Stop talking for a second and just listen to somebody who's actually dealing with that problem... just understand and to be there and support them in what they say they need."
Myler, though she is currently taking a year off, has plans to continue her education in grad school. Even with this break, she's keeping busy. She not only has her upcoming play drawing on her time, but a book release as well; a novel titled "City Ash and Desert Bones," which she wrote during the course of one of her Honors courses. "I'm kind of terrified, but this is life, right?" Myler says. "The U was a great place fo me to develop who I wanted to be."
Myler's play will be running July 29-Aug. 7, 2016 at the following locations:
The Fringe Factory
2234 Highland Drive
Westminster College Jewett Center for the Performing Arts
1200 East 1700 South
Sprague Library (Kids Fringe)
2131 South 1100 East
Myler's book, "City Ash and Desert Bones," will be hitting bookstands in September 2016.
a.cortez@dailyutahchronicle.com
@alexiscortezxx