{"id":46144,"date":"2023-04-26T20:14:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T03:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/?p=46144"},"modified":"2023-12-30T08:29:33","modified_gmt":"2023-12-30T16:29:33","slug":"interview-kat-howard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/interview-kat-howard\/","title":{"rendered":"Author Interview: Kat Howard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Kat Howard at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kathowardbooks.com\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.kathowardbooks.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">kathowardbooks<\/a> is a celebrated fantasy writer and editor best known for her Locus Award-nominated novel, &#8220;Rose and Rot.&#8221; This week, we spotlight <a href=\"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/?p=46144&amp;preview=true&amp;_thumbnail_id=46147\">the release of &#8220;A Sleight of Shadows,&#8221;<\/a> book two in her Unseen World series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We sat down and chatted with her about her writing, influences, and the advice she gives to her clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Be sure to pick up both books today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\"><h2>Our Interview<\/h2><nav><ol><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#about-kat-howard\">About Kat Howard<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#i-focus-on-the-magic\">I Focus on the Magic<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#what-influences-your-work\">What Influences Your Work?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#strong-interesting-powerful-women\">Strong, Interesting, Powerful Women<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#tools-not-requirements\">Tools, Not Requirements<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#all-the-characters-want-something\">All the Characters Want Something<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#kat-howard-talks-about-books-of-magic\">Kat Howard Talks About Books of Magic<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"about-kat-howard\">About Kat Howard<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Kat Howard is a writer of fantasy, science fiction, and horror who lives and writes in Minnesota. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-rounded\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/a\/92825\/9781534426818\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image-6.png\" alt=\"\u00a9Kat Howard\" class=\"wp-image-46146\" width=\"241\" height=\"362\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image-6.png 300w, https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/image-6-200x300.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 241px) 100vw, 241px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Her novella, <em>The End of the Sentence, <\/em>co-written with Maria Dahvana Headley, was one of NPR&#8217;s best books of 2014, and her debut novel, <em>Roses and Rot<\/em> was a finalist for the Locus Award for Best First Novel. <em>An Unkindness of Magicians<\/em>&nbsp;was named a best book of 2017 by NPR, and won a 2018 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ala.org\/news\/press-releases\/2018\/02\/yalsa-announces-2018-alex-awards\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alex Award<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her short fiction collection,&nbsp;<em>A Cathedral of Myth and Bone,<\/em> collects work that has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award, performed as part of Selected Shorts, and anthologized in year\u2019s best and best of volumes, as well as new pieces original to the collection. She was the writer for the first 18 issues of The Books of Magic, part of DC Comics&#8217; Sandman Universe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kat Howard&#8217;s new novel, <em>A Sleight of Shadows, <\/em>the sequel to <em>An Unkindness of Magicians<\/em>, came out on April 25, 2023. In the past, she\u2019s been a competitive fencer and a college professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<iframe sandbox=\"allow-popups allow-scripts allow-modals allow-forms allow-same-origin\" style=\"width:120px;height:240px;\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&#038;OneJS=1&#038;Operation=GetAdHtml&#038;MarketPlace=US&#038;source=ss&#038;ref=as_ss_li_til&#038;ad_type=product_link&#038;tracking_id=jzlitstack-20&#038;language=en_US&#038;marketplace=amazon&#038;region=US&#038;placement=1596066792&#038;asins=1596066792&#038;linkId=f0041a56ca54c67797b3ed578a7069b8&#038;show_border=true&#038;link_opens_in_new_window=true\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find her Kat Howard @KatwithSword on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KatWithSword\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Twitter<\/a>&nbsp;and on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/katwithsword\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a>. She talks about books at <a href=\"https:\/\/epigraphtoepilogue.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Epigraph to Epilogue<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks for chatting with us, Kat!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"i-focus-on-the-magic\">I Focus on the Magic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>LitStack: There is a decidedly symbolic aspect of wealth and privilege in your <em>Unseen World<\/em> series. Those in the Unseen world have a hierarchy they will kill to protect. How many elements from our world inform your fiction?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I was writing the Unseen World books, I wasn\u2019t specifically trying to write a one-to-one analogy between our world and that one. My focus was really on the magic\u2014how it worked and the ramifications of that. At the same time, I live in this world, and I try to be aware of what\u2019s going on. So I think it\u2019s completely logical for what I observe and think about to make its way into my fiction, and I think that the presence of those preoccupations is likely to look more obvious when I\u2019m writing something that takes place in a world that is so close to our own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<script\n      src=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/widgets.js\"\n      data-type=\"book\" \n      data-affiliate-id=\"92825\" \n      data-sku=\"9781534426818\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-influences-your-work\">What Influences Your Work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>LitStack: There have been varying influences in your previous work\u2014from the folk and fairy tale hints of <em>Roses and Rot<\/em> and the more contemporary elements in your <em>Unseen World<\/em> series. What prompts your choices in deciding what to write and how those influences will appear in your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With <em>Roses and Rot<\/em>, the fairy tale and folklore elements were ones I chose to directly engage with. It\u2019s a Tam Lin retelling, and that was part of what I knew I wanted to do when I began writing the novel. Some of my short stories are direct retellings as well, and in those cases, again, those influences are there on purpose and from the beginning. But in other cases, the influences come in while I\u2019m writing\u2014either because I make the connection in my head and decide to play it out on the page (or drop it in like an Easter egg) or as a result of the sort of background of life and story and interests that comes out in writing organically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<script\n      src=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/widgets.js\"\n      data-type=\"book\" \n      data-affiliate-id=\"92825\" \n      data-sku=\"9781481451178\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"strong-interesting-powerful-women\">Strong, Interesting, Powerful Women<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>LitStack: What I enjoyed most about your series (aside from the gorgeous language and wonderful world-building) was how powerful the women in your stories are. This, I&#8217;ve noticed, has been the case in much of your work, but in the <em>Unseen World<\/em> series, it is the women who make the biggest impact, magically speaking, and seek and find revenge, and ultimately, sacrifice the most. What draws you to bringing such empowerment and strength to these characters?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank you so much! I enjoy writing strong, interesting, powerful women because I know many strong, interesting, powerful women. And that\u2019s not to say, of course, that people of other genders can\u2019t embody some or all of those qualities as well, because of course they can and do, both in fiction and in life. But in my own fiction, I enjoy turning my focus and spotlight on women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<script\n      src=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/widgets.js\"\n      data-type=\"book\" \n      data-affiliate-id=\"92825\" \n      data-sku=\"9781481451208\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tools-not-requirements\">Tools, Not Requirements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>LitStack: I&#8217;ve read that you took some time from your dissertation to attend Clarion and at the conclusion of that workshop, you knew you wanted to take a serious approach to writing. Where do you think you&#8217;d be if you hadn&#8217;t attended Clarion? Would you still have found your way to writing professionally? Would you recommend these types of workshops to new writers?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had never written seriously before I applied to <a href=\"http:\/\/clarion.ucsd.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"http:\/\/clarion.ucsd.edu\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Clarion<\/a>\u2014my application portfolio included a couple of the first short stories I ever wrote. So it\u2019s quite likely that if I hadn\u2019t applied, I wouldn\u2019t be writing at all. I wasn\u2019t someone who always knew I was a writer; I was someone who never thought I could be. After Clarion, I finished my dissertation and taught as I was beginning my writing career, and so I imagine I would still be in academia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it\u2019s hard to know whether to recommend the workshop environment without knowing the writer in question. Clarion was wonderful for me, but I was in a very fortunate position to be able to attend, and not everyone is. Workshops, or an MFA, or any formal study at all are tools\u2014they aren\u2019t requirements. Use what helps, but don\u2019t feel like you need to have anything more than a story to tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<script\n      src=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/widgets.js\"\n      data-type=\"book\" \n      data-affiliate-id=\"92825\" \n      data-sku=\"9781481492164\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"all-the-characters-want-something\">All the Characters Want Something<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>LitStack: What&#8217;s the best and worst writing advice you&#8217;ve received and what do you tell your clients to avoid when you edit for them?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is another one that I think is really dependent on the writer\u2014I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything that I would tell all of my editing clients to universally avoid (or do, for that matter.) As an example, when I was first starting out, I saw a lot of advice about how finished drafts should always be shorter than rough drafts, sometimes even giving percentages to cut. I draft very skeletally, and if I aimed to cut from a first draft, I\u2019d have nothing left!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One piece of advice that I have found to be very useful comes from Neil Gaiman, at Clarion, who said that when you\u2019re stuck, it can help to consider what your characters want at that point in the story. All of them want something, even if it\u2019s just to get out of the scene alive. So if you consider what they want, and what they would (or wouldn\u2019t) do to get that, and what other characters\u2019 wants might be in opposition, that can help a great deal in getting unstuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:27px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"kat-howard-talks-about-books-of-magic\">Kat Howard Talks About Books of Magic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:27px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Vertigo Writer Kat Howard Talks BOOKS OF MAGIC at New York Comic Con 2018\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WbhCxqwTXUM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:26px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<script\n      src=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/widgets.js\"\n      data-type=\"featured\"\n      data-full-info=\"true\"\n      data-affiliate-id=\"92825\"\n      data-sku=\"9781401299040\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<script\n      src=\"https:\/\/bookshop.org\/widgets.js\"\n      data-type=\"featured\"\n      data-full-info=\"true\"\n      data-affiliate-id=\"92825\"\n      data-sku=\"9781779503008\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:24px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-small-font-size\"><em>As a Bookshop and Amazon affiliate, LitStack may earn a commission at no cost to you when you purchase products through our affiliate links.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kat Howard at kathowardbooks is a celebrated fantasy writer and editor best known for her&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":46156,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[9350],"class_list":["post-46144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-author-interviews"],"authors":[{"term_id":9350,"user_id":3,"is_guest":0,"slug":"tstate","display_name":"Tee Tate","avatar_url":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/cd9f89f6b095efe70391e37be4f8226c.jpg?ver=1777325269","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46144"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.litstack.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=46144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}