Author/Artist Taryn Skipper
Taryn Skipper started writing and illustrating picture books a decade ago after a previous decade selling commissioned art and portraits in watercolor and oil. She has written, illustrated and published three childrens books and two tenth-anniversary special editions, and illustrated two others. She signed with Splinter Press for her debut novel for young adults, and continues to write for children and adults while taking limited art commissions.
She’s taught at conferences and other events and won first place in the double-blind Storymakers first chapter contest, as well as runner up in the Aurora Contest for unpublished manuscripts.
Taryn sits on the board of the Storymakers Author Guild as Finance Co-Chair for the Conference, having served previosuly as President of the Whitney Awards for two years, and webmaster for the previous two years.
She graduated with a double bachelors in Philosophy and International Studies with a minor in Spanish and concentrations in Logic and Russian. When she’s not writing or painting, she practices real estate for select clients and enjoys travel, practicing martial arts, rock climbing and hiking with her family in the breathtaking Colorado mountains around her.
See her feature in Shoutout Colorado
Upcoming Events
- February 13-15, 2026
- LTUE SFF Symposium, Provo, UT
- Solo Presentation: Hook, Line, and Sinker: Reel in Readers with a Winning First Chapter
- Panel: Build Yourself Up with Your Artwork and Gain Confidence as an Artist
- Panel: Alternative Sources for Learning Illustration
- Panel: Writing Character Arcs That Truly Change the Soul
- Moderator: Avoiding or Fixing Unearned Writing
- Public mass book signing
- LTUE SFF Symposium, Provo, UT
- February 27-28
- Storycon, SLC, UT
- Volunteer, publisher attending
- Storycon, SLC, UT
- April 17-19
- Pikes Peak Writing Conference, Colorado Springs, CO
- Workshop: Strong Character Voice: What It Is, What It’s Not, and How to Achieve It
- Workshop: Time to Get Creative: Time Management and Productivity for Writers
- Workshop: Book Clubs for Writers: Why and How
- Workshop: Make It Make Sense: Logic, Logical Fallacies and Character Motivations
- Pikes Peak Writing Conference, Colorado Springs, CO
- May 14-16
- Storymakers Conference
- Class: Don’t Fear the Feedback; Crave the Critique
- Public mass book signing
More to come!
(Sept: FanX)
- Storymakers Conference
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This is the infamous newsletter where I share funny (or embarassing) stories, book news, unsolicited advice, and language errors I catch in the wild. I would love to see you there!
Previous Events
2025
- Late January, 2025
- Book release
- The Bear, the Box and the Boy: The Coloring and Activity Book. 108 pages, AC Skye
- Book release
- January 29, 2025
- The Missing Link Writers Group
- Presenter (remote)
- The Missing Link Writers Group
- February 13, 2025
- LTUE (Life, The Universe, and Everything) SFF Symposium
- Panelist: Why Does Utah Produce So Many Successful Authors? (as a non-Utah-based participant)
With: Dave Doering, Shelly Brown, Taryn Skipper, Jessica Day George, Jennifer Nielsen, J. Abram Barneck - Presenter: More Than a Pretty Facet: Jewelry in Worldbuilding
- Panelist: Why Does Utah Produce So Many Successful Authors? (as a non-Utah-based participant)
- LTUE (Life, The Universe, and Everything) SFF Symposium
- February 14, 2025
- LTUE
- Moderator: Dynamic Action Poses: The Anatomy of Movement in Comic Art
- Author paricipant: Mass Book Signing
- LTUE
- May 9, 2025
- Storymakers Conference
- Panelist: Creating a Successful Writing Group
- Storymakers Conference
- May 10, 2025
- Storymakers Conference
- Author Participant: Mass Book Signing
- Storymakers Conference
- August, 2025
- Book Club
- host of guest author, TBD.
- Book Club
- September 5, 2025
- Book club event
- September 25-27, 2025
- FanX SLC
- Solo presentation on Formal Logical Structure for Character Arcs
- Panel: Illustration
- Panel: Avatar: The Last Airbender
- Panel: Schitt’s Creek
- FanX SLC
- September, 2025
- Book Launch Event
- Between Tungsten and Gold, Splinter Press
- Book Launch Event
- October 2, 2025
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- Book Launch Party, Castle Rock, CO
- 6–8 pm, Sudden Fiction Books
- Book Launch Party, Castle Rock, CO
- October Book Signings
- November, 2025
-
Black Friday book signing, Colorado Springs, CO
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2024
Thursday, Feb 15 2024
LTUE (Life, The Universe, and Everything) SFF Symposium
- Panelist: Jewelry for Worldbuilding
- Moderator: Illustrations: Seeing through the Artist’s Eyes
- Moderator: Looking for Group: Finding a Writing Support Network
Saturday, February 17
LTUE
- Panelist: Making Butt-in-Chair Time
- Panelist: How to Run a Book Club
- Moderator: Lipreading Isn’t Everything: Writing Deaf and HoH Characters
Friday, May 10 2024
Storymakers Conference
- Class Instruction: Time to Get Creative: Productivity and Time Management for Writers
Whitney Awards Gala
- Opening remarks
Saturday, May 11
Storymakers Conference
- Panelist: AI for Writers
- Mass Book Signing
Past events include school presentations on writing and illustrating, readings, juried art shows, art nights, painting classes, and presentations on time management, AI for writers, etc.
