Keith in 2010, soon after a bout with cancer. He looks much better now.

It’s that time of year again, Keith Taylor fans. Keith turned seventy-nine on December 26. The DMR Books Blog has a long tradition of celebrating that event—just click the ‘Keith Taylor’ tag below to check out the numerous DMR posts from the past. Just the other day, by happenstance, I stumbled upon a video from January 2025 wherein Justin from the Monsters, Madness and Magic podcast interviewed Mr. Taylor. Since even an uber-fan like myself missed this one for months, I thought I should bring it to the attention of y’all.

Justin has been doing Crom's work with Monsters, Madness and Magic. He's interviewed everyone from Michael Moorcock (3x) to D.M. Ritzlin to Her Hotness, Sybil Danning. The podcast is on several platforms. Thus, it was about time he interviewed the mighty Australian fantasy author, Keith J. Taylor.

The first thing that impressed me was seeing Keith Taylor live. I've never seen him in the flesh nor on anything like a Zoom call. Despite him going through another round of cancer fairly recently, Keith looks much better than his photo from 2010. In fact, he looks ten years younger than that ancient photo. Good for him.

To begin the interview, Justin asks Keith about his early readings in SFF. Alfred Bester's classic, The Stars My Destination, and Burroughs' Pellucidar are both mentioned. Also remembered are sword-and-sandal films, along with Son of Sinbad.

Then comes Keith's first encounter with the fiction of Robert E. Howard. That occured when he picked up the landmark Ace 'Double', Conan the Conqueror/The Sword of Rhiannon. Soon after that, Keith picked up the Gnome Press editions of The Coming of Conan and The Sword of Conan. While there are differences, his initial contacts with REH's fiction are eerily similar to my own. Mr. Taylor goes on to talk about the Lancer Conans of the late '60s, along with the classic Solomon Kane editions from Centaur Press. As it turns out, Keith is a huge fan of Solomon Kane, likening him to the pulp hero, the Shadow.

The conversation then turned to memories of Keith's childhood and his young adulthood. He was mobilized as a part of the Anzac task force sent to South Vietnam in 1966. He served as a medic, but paid a price all the same, developing Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma as a result of exposure to Agent Orange out in the bush.

Justin asked Mr. Taylor about inspirations for Felimid mac Fal. Keith named Poul Anderson's Cappen Varra and REH's Donal the Harper from 'Tigers of the Sea' as literary progenitors. The conversation moved on to the bardic poetry within the Felimid novels and also Keith's appreciation for Celtic music. The first published Felimid adventure, 'Fugitives in Winter', was mentioned by Justin, who noted that it was technically a werewolf story. That led to a short discussion about 'Reflections Upon the Winter of My Soul' and Karl Edward Wagner. That segued into talking about Poul Anderson's underappreciated 'Operation Chaos' stories.

The discussion then veered back to Robert E. Howard and how his fiction influenced Keith to delve into Celtic history/mythology--much like my own experience. That brought up the (then) forthcoming Felimid novel, Bard VI: Sunspear, and also the Felimid tale in Samhain Sorceries, 'Night of the Burning Ghost'. From there, Keith's 'Danans' novels (pronounced 'day-nuns') were briefly discussed.

Justin then asked Mr. Taylor about how he approaches writing his stories. It turns out Keith clung to typewriters for years, though finally giving in to the inexorable advance of computers. He said he still composes first drafts by hand, in order to avoid the digital siren-call of the Internet. As he put it, "I start writing on the computer and suddenly I'm on Youtube and I'm going, 'How did that happen?!?' "

The conversation then veered over to Michael Moorcock and, from there, Keith's Kamose the Magician, which then led to glowing praise for Clark Ashton Smith. Speaking of Klarkash-Ton brought up H.P. Lovecraft. Mr. Taylor opined that he was a fan of HPL's 'Dreamlands' tales--especially those concerning Randolph Carter. In addition, he praised Lovecraft's short novel, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, noting its "subtle layers".

The discussion then turned to Keith's forthcoming Mythos novel, Damned from Birth. It is a sequel to Robert E. Howard's 'The Thing on the Roof', a yarn that held a special place in the heart of REH and one that Lovecraft praised, despite naysayings from others.

Justin then asked about future projects. Keith said he'd like to write a tale about Gudrun Blackhair's lieutenants, Decius and Ataulf--known to all Felimid fans from Bard II. Also, Keith has a detective novel in the works set in eighteenth-century Galway. REH would approve.

Since that interview aired, Bard VI: Sunspear, has been published. I need to review it but haven't yet. Rest assured, any Taylor fan will enjoy it.

Justin's interview also reminded me of an important fact: 2025 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Felimid mac Fal's debut in print. That deserves a separate post.

Meanwhile, here's the breaking news on Damned From Birth, straight from a Keith Taylor email to yours truly:

"I’ve spent this year almost exclusively, revising one novel – DAMNED FROM BIRTH – and creating a sequel, BLACK HOOF’S TREAD. The publishing house SpeakingVolumes is bringing them both out early next year. That has kept me so busy through 2025 that I’ve barely even looked at my own Facebook fan club web page. I might even turn those two novels into a trilogy in the future, by taking the protagonist down to Mexico in 1912 to tangle with a German spy ring which is also an occult order. (With a nod to John Buchan, as well as to REH, of course, I’m calling the society The Black Stone.)"

That should give Keith Taylor fans something to chew on! I've been privileged to read the first few chapters of DFB. I can say that it's pulp-style Mythos horror-adventure in the tradition of Robert E. Howard, Brian Lumley and A. Merritt.

In closing, referring back to Justin's interview, I have to say that--while Keith has an Aussie accent--it certainly isn't a thick Aussie accent. I've known Aussies that were way worse. Also, Keith uses the term "offsider" a few times. From what I gather, that is Oz-talk for 'buddy' or 'sidekick'.

Anyway, all DMR Books readers of good taste should visit Justin's Youtube channel, which can be found here.

Happy birthday, Keith! May you see many more.