Dennis E. Taylor built software for 35 years before trying himself as a sci-fi author. His first novel Outland earned him some “Starbucks money” on Amazon, but his second book We Are Legion made him a best-selling author. Dennis retired as an engineer and became a full-time writer.

In this episode, we talked about the parallels between writing software and writing books, Dennis’s process of coming up with ideas and turning them into reality, working with agents, and writing audio-first books.

Segments

[02:30] Introduction

[04:42] Transition from software engineering to writing

[07:37] Primer on Dennis's books

[12:02] Parallels between writing software and writing books

[16:10] Where do ideas come from?

[19:41] The process of writing

[22:38] Writing for an audio-first format

[27:28] Narrating a book

[30:43] Engaging with fans

[32:06] Doing research for sci-fi

[36:17] Making money with books

[38:58] Dennis's favorite authors

[41:04] On following the best practices in writing

[44:22] How writing has changed over time

[46:06] Advice for aspiring authors

[47:10] Where is the Bobiverse series going?

Show notes

Where to find Dennis

• Audible profile

• Amazon profile

• Twitter/X

Books

• Bobbiverse #1: We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

• Bobbiverse #2: For We Are Many

• Bobbiverse #3: All These Worlds

• Bobbiverse #4: Heaven’s River

• Outland

• Roadkill

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