We met David Howells through an email he sent to Sir Wally at the Sci Fi Book Nook. He introduced us to Lexy, his lovely kitty, and we asked him for an interview, to which he graciously consented.

If you are "new", was getting started diffcult?

No. Once begun, I either channeled, or opened up a primitive section of the brain that (once vented) refused to let me sleep past 4AM, holding my ego hostage until another chapter was mapped out. What was difficult was to stop writing in order to get the kids ready for school, get breakfast started, and get myself off to work.

If you are not new, was getting started difficult? (*grin*) What tips do you have for prospective writers, based on your experiences.

You know you're writing from your inner heart when the story takes you places you never dreamed of, sometimes in outright defiance of your plans for how the story was supposed to go. Second, my mentor Harry Chapin once wrote in one of his songs, "...just write about your feelings, not the things you never did. Inexperience, it once accursed me, but your youth is no handicap. It's what makes you thirsty."

Do you base your characters on people in our life or that you have known?

Like a dream, my characters are composites of self and significant others. Names, with only a few exceptions, are collages of those who label people who have played roles in my life worth thinking about. Same with the personalities. The menu of strengths and weaknesses is finite. Individuality is in part the balance of how each strength and weakness is measured in the individual.

Is there a character that is most like you?

Oddly, the character most like me is Vanessa. Many of my female patients tell me that I have an unusual understanding of women, and Vanessa is an expression of that understanding. She is also tagged with my 'God-Awful' propensity for puns.

(Past, Present and Future Blend into a Supernatural Suspense Thriller of Ghost Boosters and the American Civil War...)

Who is your favorite author(s)?

For character development and understanding of foreign cultures, it's hard to beat Tom Clancy. For picturesque wording and the ability to make fantasy become real, my favorite is Anne McCaffrey for her Dragonrider series. For culture creation and interaction, Tolkien is my main man.

We know you are owned by Lexy...tell us about her and a little about your personal life...whatever you feel compelled to share...birthplace, where you reside now,etc. Do you have other pets?

I am a recently remarried father of two. Born in Savannah GA, my folks moved around the country a lot until dad landed in IBM's big blue pond in the Hudson Valley. My first career had me running a nuclear medicine department and assisting in managing a wonderful folk music coffeehouse in St. Louis. Switching to chiropractic, the attending hobbies expanded into being a volunteer EMT on Hurley Rescue, a Sunday school teacher, a medieval heavy weapons fighter and lecturer (middle schools) with the SCA, leading the cherub choir of two to five year olds in church, volunteering in a reading mentor program at JFK Grade School, playing folk music, raising kids, being an author, and playing servant to Princess Lexy the Cat, who is also served with Stinky the Pug, Willie the Whiner, and Harley the Barrel-bodied. Lexy's Queendom is Hurley, NY, whose current claim to fame is to have the largest number of colonial vintage stone houses in America.

That's it, my new friend. Be well.

David

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