By Associated Press - Sunday, January 28, 2018

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) - An 18-year-old from southeast Missouri now has four self-published books with no plans to stop.

Joshua Taylor’s parents told him when he was a child that they’d consider publishing his work if he could go without television and spend that time writing instead, the Southeast Missourian reported.

Taylor now said that time without TV was the catalyst for his love for writing.

“Ever since that moment, it just clicked naturally,” he said.

Taylor comes from a family of writers and credited his parents for his access to “hundreds of books” as a child. Mother LaKenya and father Adrian have both published books of their own.

“I didn’t really think I would write books,” LaKenya Taylor said. “He motivated me because he’s trying to put together something to help younger people and adults.”

His first published work was a children’s book called “The Humming Bird’s Song” LaKenya said he ban writing at 7 years old. The book was published in 2010.

Taylor’s most recent release is the third novel in his Epic trilogy, called “School’s Out,” as well as updated version of the first two books in the series. He first developed the series storyline at 11.

Taylor said he hopes he can be proof to writers that “young writers can be as deep and complex as a modern-day Stephen King.”

“Since I’m young and I’ve written all these books, a lot of people have the misconception that the books are specifically for young people or that the books may be immature or choppy,” he said. “We have such great role models that we just strive to achieve more and more than what we have before us.”

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Information from: Southeast Missourian, http://www.semissourian.com

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