GREETINGS, BOOKWORMS! I’m Aisha Kandisha, Head Librarian at Kandisha Press. Join me in the dusty stacks of the library I will never leave again as I chat with some of my favorite Women in Horror. Today we feature author S.E. Howard!
S.E. Howard grew up in the heart of the Bluegrass state, and has worked as a newspaper reporter, travel writer, and magazine editor. Her horror short story, “You’ve Been Saved” was adapted for film in the 2022 independently produced anthology Worst Laid Plans by GenreBlast Films. Other horror titles include the novella Prairie Madness with Unveiling Nightmares, and her novel-length debut The Vessel with Wicked House Publishing, to be released in 2025. Find out more at www.sehoward.com and www.facebook.com/sehoward.author.
What do you believe are your strengths in writing? And when you feel you need to improve on a particular writing skill, how do you go about it?
I feel like my biggest strength as a writer is character development. My stories tend to be really character-driven and I think that’s because I have a bad habit of getting attached to my characters while I’m writing. I often find myself so emotionally invested in them that I go through a kind of “mourning” period whenever I finish a manuscript. I genuinely miss them. I’d like to think that’s reflected in the work, that my readers are able to identify and empathize with my characters as much as I do, that they feel as real to readers as they so often do to me.
I think one of my biggest weaknesses as a writer is I have a tendency to be long-winded. Lately, I’ve been trying to focus on short stories more than longer works, and that’s really helped. Most anthologies and short story calls have specific word-count limitations, so that forces me to curb my tendency to go on and on in my narrative. It’s given me more discipline, not just in terms of self-editing to get rid of unnecessary words once I’m finished, but to recognize them as I’m writing, and eliminating them at the time.
What are your thoughts on the book industry today, or more importantly, about the book community?
From what I’ve seen, the book community (like any) has its good points and not-so-good ones. For the most part, it’s an incredibly positive and supportive space where readers and writers can interact in positive ways, which I love. It’s amazing that we have so many opportunities to get to know one another, and I’ve met so many wonderfully talented friends along the way. When I see people or posts that seem to be veering toward negativity, I do my best to ignore them. I don’t have time for that, and I’d much rather focus on making connections with people who share my interests and who want to engage without all the drama.
Do you feel it is getting harder or easier to make it as an independent author these days?
Definitely harder. Even ten years ago, the market wasn’t this saturated. Strategies that were effective back then don’t even make a dent today in terms of sales. It can be so discouraging, because you feel like you’re one small voice lost in an overwhelming chorus, all of us screaming our lungs out into this vast void and never being acknowledged or heard. Even so, I try to stay positive. Fortunately, I have a “day job,” so I don’t rely on income from my writing to pay the bills. That makes a huge difference, and it helps me value what means the most to me—connecting with readers who enjoy my work.
Tell us about your work. What story are you most proud of?
I feel proud of each of my stories for different reasons. With “Prairie Madness,” I’d never written anything set in the American Old West before and wanted to try my hand at it. But I didn’t want to just slap a couple of characters on horses with hats and six-shooters and call it a “western.” I wanted to make it authentic, which meant putting in the work to research the time period in which my story was set and learning about all the details that make up the world in which the story takes place. Everything from politics to food, from the slang people used, to what they made their clothes out of – I wanted to learn about it, because even if it didn’t make its way into the story in the end, it helped me build a realistic setting in which the story takes place, and believable characters who inhabit it.
The same is true for “The Vessel,” which centers around a young man who survived a childhood abduction, and who gets drawn into a supernatural mystery when he’s forced to confront his former captor in prison. I pulled inspiration for the premise from real-life stories of abduction survivors, like Steven Stayner and Shawn Hornbeck. I researched not only the stories of how they were taken, but what life was like for them once they escaped and returned home. I wanted the experiences of my main character to be as true-to-life and authentic as possible.
What are your upcoming works and plans for the future?
I have short stories in several upcoming anthologies that I’m really excited about, and plans to self-publish some things throughout 2025. I have a novel, “The Vessel” coming out from Wicked House Publishing this spring that I think readers will really enjoy, and hope to work on some longer projects later this year. You can always keep up with my latest and greatest through my website (www.sehoward.com) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/sehoward.author).
I’m just starting to build my footprint in the horror community, but as my backlist grows, I hope that my readership will, too. I’ve written long enough to know I’m never going to make a living at it, but that’s okay. I love to write, and I hope that shows through my work. Connecting with readers, hearing that they’ve enjoyed my work, is worth more than anything to me, and makes everything I do worthwhile.
KANDISHA PRESS 
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