Ansel “Al” Taylor [He/They] grew up in Central Florida and always had a passion for storytelling. Growing up, his biggest sources of inspiration were after-school cartoons, and books about monsters that lurked in the dark. Ansel always had a morbid curiosity for horror, and that curiosity helped define his writing style. 

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            While he occasionally dabbles in hardcore fantasy or science fiction, Ansel much prefers to write within the “magical realism” realm. He feels that the best stories utilize aspects of home—reminding us of where we come from and how we became the way we are. “Coming-of-age” stories are, by far, his strong suit. That being said, he’s a firm believer that coming-of-age stories don’t have to be for young adults, sometimes the most interesting ones are about thirty-year-olds figuring themselves out rather than fifteen-year-olds.

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            When your pillars of writing are change and monsters, you tend to create some pretty absurdist stories. Ansel leans into dramedy, rather than confining himself to any one tone. He’s a scriptwriter at heart, but throw him at any problem, and he’ll write his way out of it. Though, by far his favorite stories to write are about queer people, creatures, cryptids, and Florida.

 

            In the future, Ansel hopes to write for movies and television, but for now, they’ll settle for working on their thesis—an eight-episode miniseries about a set of siblings discovering their tourist town has a bit of a witch problem. To read about SWAMPLAND, check out the page linked below.