Writer Spotlight: A. P. Howell
Welcome to the 17th installment of Writer Spotlight. This week’s focus is A. P. Howell. I’ve reviewed 12 of Howell’s pieces, nine of them individually on Inkfoundry’s “Get WYSR” feed. (In case you didn’t know, Inkfoundry is a wonderful and free resource that aggregates short fiction and poetry pieces!)
Recurring Themes:
Upending tropes
Alternative Formats
Adoptive / Biological Parents
Women Contemplating Dead Partners
Day One - May 7
A tragic accident isn’t quite the end for your husband. But the waiting is its own kind of torture.
“Bones Placed in Apposition” | WYSR Review
Two scientists study bones of what appears to be a mastodon.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories are quite different, though I noticed that the first has a main theme about grief and the second seems to touch on it briefly, when Featherstonghaugh reminisces about his first wife.
Individually:
"Stages of Pre-Bereavement” is a second-person narrative with elements of prolonged grief, thoughts of suicide, and technology that extends life through clones. Howell does a fantastic job here with the narrator’s feelings of everything being the last time for their husband, and the accompanying torture of such thoughts. Knowing someone will die soon is a terrible kind of suffering for both the sick and the sick person’s loved ones. But who would pass up the chance for a prolonged period of being with someone instead of losing them? A very well written piece on grief.
"Bones Placed in Apposition” is a historical fantasy based in the time period of the East India Company. This story holds the resentment and politicking of scientific scholars, repressed emotions, and polite barbs between academics.
Day Two - May 8
3. “Farm Boy” | WYSR Review
An overlord is asked to overturn a policy around farm boys.
4. “Changeling” | WYSR Review
Elizabet knows her child is different. But that doesn’t mean she can’t love him.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both involve an adult with the position and power to help a child and who must make a difficult choice to do so.
Individually:
“Farm Boy” has themes on upending the Chosen One trope and the oppressed becoming the oppressor. Also, the overlord is somewhat more empathetic than most.
“Changeling” echoes “Pre-Bereavement” in its themes on loss, and especially living with someone while grieving at the same time.
Day Three - May 9
5. “5:37” | WYSR Review
A haunted videotape informs Randie she has five minutes and thirty seven seconds left to live.
6. “Lakeside” | WYSR Review
She isn’t going to let the ghost ruin her evening.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both have ghost / haunting themes!
Individually:
“5:37” is a wonderful found footage haunting with themes on the importance of documentation / digitization and the the horror of on-set accidents and their cover-ups.
“Lakeside” is a cathartic atmospheric horror where the abused woman lives in freedom and doesn’t fear even the literal ghost of her ex.
Day Four - May 10
7. “Used Armor Smell” | WYSR Review
Janot’s armor won’t last forever in the firefight, even if it is new.
8. “Purple Lizard Skin” | WYSR Review
Xan meets a child in the rehab center of the hospital and comes to a difficult discovery.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both involve physical harm.
Individually:
“Used Armor Smell” incorporates elements of visceral bodily descriptions and wartime while the MC seems to be inside a mech armor suit. The main theme I would pull from this story is that war is costly in more ways than one; there is mention of the cost of the calculations that the armor needs to do to keep Janot alive, but the true cost is that of life and limb. This one did remind me a bit of “5:37” in that there is a theme here on bodily harm.
“Purple Lizard Skin” is more dialogue heavy than some of the other Howell stories I’ve read so far, which I’m always a fan of. There’s a discovery of child abuse that is very well done, which is difficult to do in a flash story. This story reminded me also of “Farm Boy” and “Changeling” in that an adult has concerns about a child who isn’t necessarily their own.
Day Five - May 11
9. “On the Beach” | WYSR Review
A Selkie woman walks the beach after spending a lifetime on the land.
10. “The Mermaid Who Declined the Sea Witch’s Offer and Is Doing Just Fine, Thanks for Asking” | WYSR Review
Two women in a coffee shop discuss working on an audiobook, and other things.
The Pairing: (Spoilers)
These two stories both involve sea-based fairytale women! (Mermaids are my childhood favorite!)
Individually:
“On the Beach” reminded me of “Lakeside” and “Pre-Bereavement - they are all three stories about women pondering the dead (or about to be dead) men in their lives, though with differing levels of happiness over the dead part. Going further with this, “On the Beach” also has reminded me of “Changeling” and “Pre-Bereavement” because of the grief element, though more so that of “Changeling” because those two stories both have glimpses of sweet happiness, whereas “Pre-Bereavement” felt more like a “I should feel happy but I don’t and feel guilty about it.”
“The Mermaid Who Declined the Sea Witch’s Offer and Is Doing Just Fine, Thanks for Asking” What a delightful alternative format story, and the dialogue was so fun! And packed with allusions to the original Little Mermaid. This one also had a disabled protagonist. For sure this story reminded me of “Farm Boy” because it upends tropes such as what is mentioned in the title.
Day Six - May 12
11 & 12: (Novelette) “The Relative Position of Dead Things in the Dark”
Xan enlists her sister Baschimeh’s help with searching a shot-up ship for valuables.
This sci-fi novelette focuses on the complicated sisterly dynamics between Xan and her adopted sister Baschimeh and some comedy through descriptions of avoiding annoying family members. There’s also elements of body horror and the dread of encountering an assassin. The adoption aspect reminded me of “Changeling.”
Day Seven - May 13
13 & 14. (Novelette) “Adamere in Swan”
Beset by bounty hunters, Baschimeh encounters kindness in an unexpected place.
This novelette comes before “Dead Things in the Dark” and features the same set of characters, specifically how they met. The sisterly dynamics that I noted above crop up here as well; I can see how these two immediately hit it off. I especially loved the scene where they are pointing out constellations. We get more backstory about Baschimeh and how she clawed her way out of the planet she was born on. I liked the fight scene with the bounty hunters, too, there was a lot of suspense.
Emmie’s Personal Favorite: “Stages of Pre-Bereavement”
Summary!
If I were to summarize Howell's style in one sentence, I would say she writes in a variety of genres as well as alternative formats, and employs themes on grief, guilt, and adoption / childcare, and upends classic fairy tale tropes.
Interview Questions
What are the themes you tend to return to the most in your work overall? Why do think that is?
Howell: In my short fiction, I often hit on parenting. Part of that is because I am a parent (adoptive and gestational), and part of it is that parent/child relationships provide good material. There are lots of feels to mine, different ways to present relationships, and a source of motivation. A parent/child relationship can be sketched out pretty efficiently—whether focusing on love, anxiety, expectations, ambivalence, politics, etc.—and that’s especially useful in short fiction, where every word counts.
2. What is one of the characters in your short stories/flash pieces that you relate to the most, and why?
Howell: The narrator of “Stages of Pre-Bereavement” is my anxiety from a decade ago. I was constantly imaginging something bad happening to my husband. This story was a bit of an exorcism. (And also the first story I’d written for a while where I ended up thinking hmmm, I should try to get this published.)
3. How has your writing evolved since you began?
Howell: I’ve kind of cycled around, where my brain will be set on different lengths: flash, short stories, longer works. I think I have a better sense now of what belongs in a story and what needs to go. I have become increasingly unsentimental, murdering my darlings at the slightest provocation.
I’m still working on pacing and plotting in longer works—it’s harder for me to get a handle on the proper shape of a novel or series—and figuring out what’s effective. Often, the answer is still an editorial bloodbath; but sometimes you need to add words, which is kind of alien to a process that grew out of writing short fiction.
4. Do you tend to start writing a story idea out of a particular element, like character, setting, or point of view?
Howell: Usually it’s a character, with a generalized setting or situation. My default POV is close third. I read a lot of it during my formative years and it’s how I start to get into the head of a character—even if I later end up deciding to write the story in first or second person or present tense or whatever. In my short fiction, character and stakes are pretty firmly entwined from story conception. The world can be built out not just with what the character knows/observes but with their opinion about it.
5. What short fiction author do you look up to? Why?
Howell: There are so many. P.A. Cornell and Jennifer Hudak, who also often hit on family themes. Premee Mohamed basically can’t miss, especially at novella length. (I am old enough to reflexively think of novellas as a thing you see one of in a magazine TOC, though with the novella boom of the past decade I own plenty published as standalones.) Thomas Ha does subtly unsettling very well.
One thing I enjoy about being a member of Codex in particular is seeing references to stories being written (or sometimes drafts of them) and the submission process…and then eventually you see the story out in the world. The celebration isn’t just about the publication and the story’s new life in readers’ minds, but everything leading up to that point.
6. Anything else you’d like to say about your work?
Howell: Just that I’m happy to be able to write—and happy people sometimes read it. Especially given the state of the world and the perennially broken publishing industry, creative acts (and engaging with that creativity) remain important. We’re all in this together, and there’s something comforting and very human about sharing stories.
I really appreciate your work on this series, Emmie. Short fiction can be published and then disappear so, so easily. Reviews and index sites like InkFoundry can help readers find their stories.
7. Do you have any piece, listed here or otherwise, that you would like to promote?
Howell: My latest is “Femme Prédetrice” in Animal Noir from Little Key Press. It’s an anthropomorphic noir pastiche; I’ve done noir before, but not anthro. This fall, I’m releasing a space opera, Corners of the Deep Dark. That means more Xan (the MC of “Purple Lizard Skin”) and a chance to see if I’ve figured out the writing-longer-fiction thing.