Young author gave up TV at age 7 to pursue writing, and has recently finished his third novel

When he was just 7 years old, Joshua Taylor's parents told him if he could go without television and spend that time writing instead, then they'd consider publishing his work.

At 18, Taylor now has four self-published books with no plans to stop anytime soon.

That time without TV is what Taylor calls the catalyst for his love for writing.

"Ever since that moment, it just clicked naturally," Taylor said.

He comes from a family of writers and credits his parents for his exposure and access to "hundreds of books" as a kid. Taylor's mother LaKenya and father Adrian have both published books of their own, for which Lakenya credits her son's passion.

"It stems in Joshua. I didn't really think I would write books," LaKenya said. "He motivated me because he's trying to put together something to help younger people and adults."

For Taylor, writing his own books was a hobby that began at an early age. His first published work was a children's book called "The Humming Bird's Song" which his mom said he originally drafted 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 versions of the first two books in the series. All of Taylor's works can be purchased on Amazon.

He first developed the Epic series storyline when he was 11 years old and began publishing the historical fiction books shortly thereafter. In a collision of past and future, the plot follows high-school aged protagonist Ted who must navigate a dangerous situation that arises when the computer he is using for historical research becomes corrupted.

Those same figures from history come to life, as a corrupted version of themselves, to wreak havoc on present-day New York City.

Taylor said he will soon be releasing a collector's boxed set of the books, under his own design, and plans to send out manuscripts.

"I plan to push out a book every month just to have a new, fresh take on different things and different views I have," Taylor said.

He has always had an affinity for words and their meanings, and he even used to read dictionaries just for the purpose of broadening his vocabulary.

"He's a genius," LaKenya said. "We knew that since he was a baby."

But while he's invested in his love for words and creative writing, Taylor is also passionate about the arts, dance and travel.

He's on the dance team at Saxony Lutheran High School where he is a senior. After high school, Taylor plans to attend college to study acting and dancing, and he's particularly interested in the River Campus at Southeast Missouri State University.

Although most of his travel experiences have taken place in car trips to many of the states, Taylor's interest for adventure reaches far beyond the United States borders.

He'd like to study abroad someday, and he's been particularly interested in the University of Tasmania in Australia.

"I think around [age] 11 I started looking at colleges, and I started looking up different programs that I enjoy, including journalism and acting and theater," Taylor said. "One of the [places] that came up was the University of Tasmania."

He may be young, but Taylor said he hopes he can serve as proof to writers everywhere 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," Taylor said. "We have such great role models that we just strive to achieve more and more than what we have before us."