Super happy to feature Ash Howell in the Micro Q&A today! One of Ash’s stories, “Chaos Theory,” was included in a recent roundup. I love the immediacy and urgency of “Chaos Theory,” but the emotional core of the story is what sold me on it. A gorgeous flash! Ash’s other work is equally phenomenal.
Huge thanks to Ash for answering my questions!
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Myna: Tell us about your writing. Is there a specific genre or theme you like to explore? How would you describe your writing style, in general?
Ash: I think a lot about identity. Internal identity, externalized identity, perceived identity, and the intersections between them; how rooted or unrooted they are in our physical existence, and how that can change over time; the ways in which we can or could modify our own bodies, and how perceived identities can be imposed on our bodies; how understanding others’ internal truths can change our own.
Also, if there’s a villain, it’s almost always capitalism.
Myna: Can you tell us about the upcoming anthology, New Year, New You? What’s your featured story about?
Ash: Probably about one month after meeting each other and spending a week on an island, my Viable Paradise 2023 cohort decided we should Kickstart a short fiction anthology. When Victor Pope proposed the theme “New Year, New You”, we also decided to put the entire Kickstarter and production plan together in under two months for a January 31st launch. The anthology is a testament not only to the skill of the authors and the diversity of speculative fiction found within, but also to the energy and bullheadedness tenacity of the editing, marketing, and publication teams.
My story, chat_transcript_elsie_user260916_2089-12-13T21-18-32.661Z, centers around NuYou, a WHO-endorsed body replacement service in the year 2089. Terminal illness is a relic of the past, most disabilities have been “cured”, and your insurance company is going to raise your premiums dramatically if you don’t get regular “updates”. Of course, like any technology, there have been some buggy releases.
Myna: Which of your stories is your favorite?
Ash: An impossible question. But I can share a few: the story in New Year, New You was such tremendous fun to write. My flash piece Chaos Theory in Lightspeed was written with a lot of feelings that sit uncomfortably close together. I’m also very fond of Forte/Foible or At the Center of Percussion in Baffling Magazine, which you are free to read however you like but a non-mobile device is strongly recommended.
Myna: Tell us about a recent accomplishment or share some happy news with us!
Ash:I’m thrilled to tell you that I and three of the other authors contributing to New Year, New You are 2024 finalists in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association’s Unpublished manuscript contest. Myself, C.R. Kellogg, Neil Flinchbaugh (speculative fiction) and Brigitte Winter (paranormal) are all finalists this year.
Myna: What’s next for you?
Ash: I’m currently working on a queer, anticapitalist cassette-punk fantasy novel. If anyone tells you to try writing a novel, they want to sell you something.
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Ash Howell (they/them) is a speculative fiction writer living on the shores of Lake Michigan. They are a 2023 alum of Viable Paradise and an associate member of SFWA, and their work has appeared in Lightspeed, Baffling Magazine, Astrolabe, and elsewhere. They are currently working on writing a novel and keeping houseplants alive. Both of these things are tremendously difficult.
Find them online at https://www.ash-howell.com/ and https://bsky.app/profile/ash-howell.bsky.social
New Year, New You: A Speculative Anthology of Reinvention: https://new-year-new-you-anthology.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
Cover art by Melinda A Smith
Myna Chang 
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