Showing results by author "Steve Howard" in All Categories

The Iron Kingdoms is a land dominated by mighty warcasters, arcanists who command the terrifying war machines called warjacks. While these epic figures lead armies and shape the futures of their nations, other powerful individuals, no less skilled, forge their own destinies in steam and steel.

Sixteen historians, all members of the Society of Independent Southern Historians, have come together to write this truthful history of America specifically for home-schooled students. Herein is a history that is truthful, concise, yet comprehensive, written especially for students of middle school and high school age and for the parents who provide guidance through the home school educational approach. The 40 student lessons in this book present 278 years of our history.

These are a collection of fly fishing articles I originally wrote for the online news app News Break in 2021. These are just my experiences fly fishing mainly in Washington State, but also in Northern California, Oregon, and British Columbia. Most of these stories took place between 1994 and 2012. Though I do give some advice about techniques, places to fly fish, and gear, this is all based on my own experience and isn’t meant to be a how-to-style fly fishing book. I think anyone that fly fishes or anyone that is thinking about taking it up will enjoy this book.

“Stuck” happens. Every business gets stuck from time to time. We fantasize about running up the smooth, upward trajectory of growth—but there are hurdles, there are setbacks, and there are pits of quicksand along the way. How we launch and build momentum may work for a season, but change and complexity materialize, throwing fistfuls of sand into the gearbox. In short, growing pains are a normal part of running a business. Who knew there were so many ways to get bogged down by people, process, financial, and marketing issues? If your growth trajectory is stalling out, welcome to the 99...

Satori in the Slipstream is a collection of dark flash fiction and short stories. Many of the stories are set in Japan and deal with challenges young adults face. There are also several stories about soldiers dealing with the aftermath of war. Homeless and the brutality of living on the streets is also a major theme in this collection.

In his fourth collection of poetry Steve B Howard explores similar themes that were visited in his past collections.

A small collection of short stories, flash fiction, and haibun. A young man escapes from a rough life through his passion for fly fishing. A man reflects on how fly fishing, anger, and meditation have impacted his life. An old man tries to decide whether to try and reconnect with his son or chase his dream of catching a trophy salmon. A businessman who had little time for family bitterly reflects on his life while on a fishing trip. A man fly fishing in the high desert of Eastern Washington tries to capture in words the powerful spiritual beauty of the land and sport.

I started writing poetry in about 2004. I never really thought of myself as a poet, but I received a lot of positive feedback for the stuff I wrote, so I continued writing and publishing it. So, this is pretty much all my poetry and haiku with a few haibun thrown in here and there from about 2004-2021. I'm a big fan of Charles Bukowski, so if you like his work you'll probably like some of mine as well. Enjoy!

A very short collection of humorous and up lifting stories. A teenage boy tries to put the moves on a girl at the bus stop. God as a movie director has a rough Hollywood style meeting. Two men return to the scene of a past family tragedy and find love and laughter there. And finally, an epic adventure that only ten year old boys can dream up even as they live it, surviving the perils of hunting Santana, the Killer Rooster near a small village in Mexico. Read and laugh along with the hilarious characters that inhabit this silly little stories.

I wish I could tell you this was going to be one of those "How to Write, Publish, and Sell Millions of Books" type rags, but like me I imagine you're tired of getting burned by them. Truth is, if any of those kinds of books actually worked every writer on the planet would have bought their copy, followed the directions, and would now be happily counting their money as their book sales rocketed into the stratosphere. This ain't that type of book. This one is more like a combo of Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, Pressfield's The War of Art, with a dash of King's On Writing stirred in for ...

This is a work of Tricktion, some truth and a lot of fiction Also, it is some truth and some fiction that has been tricked out to make it a more interesting read. Some of these stories I experienced firsthand, many of them I heard second, third, and even fourth hand, if there is such a thing. All of them have been altered if for no other reason than to preempt any potential lawsuits or even attempted murders if revealing some of them happens to really piss off those that were involved. Most of these stories happened well over twenty years ago, so I have to rely on my far from perfect memory...

In the spirit of Bukowski Diet of a Destitute Poet drags its knuckles raw and bleeding through a furnace or emotional upheavals and let downs. Driven by themes such as the lonely and uncertain life of a writer, the tiny sparks of love a poet clings to, the relentless pressure from society to give up the creative life and conform, as well as the depression that underlies each and every word in this collection. If you're not afraid to be a little broken up emotionally and battered around by some seriously brutal imagery then dive deep into this one and swim through its dark and dire waters.

New Interpol detective Cantor Silva tracks a mysterious rogue AI that is hunting and killing humans via the secretive and dangerous Dark Net in 2080 Nagoya, Japan. Relying on the help of fellow Interpol detective Fujimura, tech specialist Sequim, and Gamma, a Retro-Narcotics dealer Cantor must stop it before its killing spree spirals out of control. A gripping Blade Runner like Cyber Punk series that will appeal to fans of Neuromancer, Altered Carbon, and other Cyberpunk classics.

New Interpol officer Cantor Silva continues tracking a murderous AI through the Dark Net. Using here primary paid informant Gamma, she tries to find the mysterious genius Korpa Blythe to determine what he is connection to the AI might be. Despite her efforts the AI continues its murder spree even extending its reach to include Cantor and her associates as well. A gripping Blade Runner like Cyber Punk series that will appeal to fans of Neuromancer, Altered Carbon, and other Cyberpunk classics.

In this collection of short stories from author Steve B Howard a young woman decides to return to a temple in Japan where she once found peace, a Japanese solider during WWII searches through the ruins of Hiroshima for his family, a young skateboarder desperately tries to deal with his drug addiction, as well as several other stories. Also included is an excerpt from the up coming thriller novel series, The Yakusa Hunter.

In the first short story of this collection, Fate of the Follower, a bar fight in the Old West goes bad. As two cowboys sit outside the saloon in the desert sun licking their wounds it becomes apparent that they are standing on the doorstep of hell itself. For those readers brave enough to open this short story collection, several other spooky stories like the one above await. Enjoy all the creepy and scary horror stories this little collection has to offer.

A collection of short stories about those that fight and lose for nothing. Drunken and drugged up lost causes, poor and pitiful men, backstabbers, liars, and thieves haunt these sad pages as the sorrowful stories of battered men unfold. Read these stories that take place in America, Africa, and Afghanistan.

"Sublime, thought provoking, captures the Japan experience beautifully. Great read." -Tim, screenplay writer, producer, director Broken, blistered, and busted tales about life in Japan. Take a look into the darker seedier side, an old woman waits to die in the summer heat, a homeless man flees Japan rather do prison time, an old man argues with his wife and things go really bad. These stories and many more.

This is some of the most popular stuff I wrote and published in 2021. These are some of the short stories, essays, and poetry that bubbled up into my brain and made it onto the page and out into the world. Enjoy.

Former Sumo Wrestler Bigu Edee turned private detective is hired by the Japanese mob to track down high end club hostess Saya. But as Bigu Edee digs deeper into Saya's disappearance he realizes that he is being asked to do much more than simply locate Saya. Saya's Run and many other stories make up this wonderful little collection.