Alex Howard
Alex’s journey encapsulates everything from scribbling poetry on London commutes to writing best-selling novels. He discusses his transition from TV production to earning a PhD and flourishing in a diverse creative career across various sectors.
Name: Alex Howard
Degree course: MA English Literature, MSc English Literature, PhD English Literature
Year of graduation: 2010, 2013, 2019
At the moment
What is your current role, and how did you get there?
I am author of The Library Cat and The Ghost Cat, the latter being a Times and USA Today bestseller. Before this, I spent a good 10 years writing poetry (often on the commute into London!) where I worked as a runner for various TV production companies. I seemed to be making more progress getting stuff published than I was moving up the TV ladder, so I took a leap into the dark by leaving London and returning to Edinburgh to write a screenplay. It was only meant to be for a two-month sabbatical. However, the screenplay went nowhere and I quickly ran out of money, leaving me marooned on friends’ couches in Edinburgh. I was fortunate enough to secure full funding for a PhD and, in the six or so years that followed, I experimented with a ton of creative writing styles while writing up my thesis on Philip Larkin. I also got a part-time job in a box office, which would go on to be key.
It was during a bout of procrastination that the idea came for The Library Cat. It wasn’t all smooth sailing though. After The Library Cat got published, I wrote a middle-grade novel, a Young Adult (YA) novel and another screenplay, all of which went nowhere. I was beginning to think I was a one-hit wonder! These projects did, however, get me noticed by agents and allowed me to hone my skills. No writing is wasted; it can always be recycled, filleted, repurposed…
It took a while to find peace in the fact that I probably wouldn’t work full time in any one job. I punished myself, thinking that I lacked resilience or staying-power. But the truth is my mind doesn’t work that way, and probably never will. I pursue what I like to call “a tapas career”: novelist, theatre professional, social media influencer, magazine editor, dementia expert. Each one interacts with the other in a Venn diagramme sort of a way. It provides life with a richness and colour, and safeguards my income should any one of those pursuits go south, which is always a possibility these days.
I now work 3.5 days a week as a magazine editor and creative engagement coordinator for a big theatre, and spend the rest of the time writing novels (usually on a deadline!)
What inspired your interest in this field?
While I read a fair amount as a kid, I wasn’t one of those voracious readers you hear about. I did, however, love stories and would lose myself in imaginings of my own creating. I was also very much interested in things – machinery, inventions, technology etc. – and how things worked. Studying English literature at university changed my life – suddenly a whole world opened up to me in which ideas and the mechanics behind ideas interlaced. I loved drilling down to find out what it is about a given poem, novel or play that made it leap off the page. Of course, what I didn’t realise was that all this analysis was quietly honing my own skills in the background as a soon-to-be writer.
Career journey
What were some key milestones in your career journey?
I remember getting a poem accepted in The London Magazine. That sounds very small, but for me it was colossal. My little words in print! And in such a respected magazine!
Another occasion came when my first ever university tutor, the now-author Dr Tracey S. Rosenberg, gave me a good mark for an essay. I had genuinely felt out of my depth in the first months of my English degree: I wandered up and down Clerk Street questioning whether I’d have the intellectual ability and wherewithal to complete the course. My imposter syndrome was sky-high. Everyone felt so much brighter, so much more knowledgeable about the world and life. However, Tracey clearly saw something buried in my garbled thoughts about James Hogg and Roland Barthes, and it gave me such confidence that she recognized it.
As for my other career as a theatre professional and magazine editor: a woman called Dawn Irvine really helped me. Like Tracey, she saw my enthusiasm in helping members of the dementia community. I think she saw something in me that liked to make people feel good and drew out their stories; made them feel comfortable and safe. She entrusted in me the writing of a little newsletter.
A few years later, and I was able to grow this into an established quarterly magazine with a 4,000 yearly circulation around Edinburgh. Again, just a little moment of trust and faith, but it meant the world for me and my confidence.
How did your time at the University shape your professional path?
There is something about Edinburgh being such a hotbed of former literary greats that leant a rigor to my literary ambitions here. As well as that, the faculty staff on the English Literature course were all brilliant. They turned me from someone who had lots of little ideas, into someone who could express those ideas; then into someone who could express them well, with elegance and flair. I really think intellectual writing can help creative writing; I don’t think one snuffs out the other by any means. Both centre around using language in nimble ways to convey meaning; and that meaning can just as easily be a well-expressed critical idea as it can a memorable fictional character.
I also became a tour guide on the Royal Mile during my time as a student, a National Trust volunteer, a crisis line call handler and Fringe actor! I was never a big one for the societies at university (except for Nightline which I volunteered at during the PhD years); however, that didn’t matter. Edinburgh offers so much to students as a city, as well as just a university. So you don’t like the vibe of ChocSoc – well what about Beltane? The galleries? The Burryman who skulks the strand at South Queensferry every second Friday in August? There’s cultural opportunity tripping over itself here. The connections and friendships I made, both within the university and beyond, have stayed with me and brought me so many opportunities.
Can you share a standout achievement or moment you’re proud of?
Seeing my novel The Ghost Cat in the window of a bookshop on Broadway was pretty special, as well making the Times Bestseller list here in the UK. Equally, I can remember helping someone on the crisis line through a difficult time; it was a tough call, but I know it was a turning point for them. I’m also very proud that I managed to build a fully signalled G-scale computer operated model railway on the ceiling of my flat when I have next-to-no skills in geometry. I’ll let you pick which one of those is most relevant!
Industry insights
What trends or innovations are shaping the future of your industry?
Social media, and a dash of entrepreneurial spirit, can take you a long way in this day and age. My advice would always be, ‘just do it anyway’. So if you’re getting nowhere with applications (and I never did!) start living your dream job yourself. Make your career path your pastime. In the end, your enthusiasm will get you noticed; your hobbies will become monetised. Sitting, as I do now, on both sides of ‘the application table’ as an author and commissioner of articles, I see what a skill it is to be one of those people who finds compelling language, and ways, to share their interests with the world. No matter how cooky or odd the hobby, we live in an age where it can find an audience. Interested in the animation style of Pokemon? Start a blog. Love crocheting characters from the Marvel films? Film yourself doing it; stick it online. You don’t need to show your face if that bothers you. Just do it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do applications and check job websites, but you’d be surprised how your passions can dovetail into a career if you simply live them.
Alumni wisdom
What do you wish you had known at the start of your career?
I wish I’d had more realistic expectations about what a ‘PhD’ would get me. I don’t regret my PhD – I adored those years studying a poet I love. However, I also received full funding, worked another job and pursued my interests (and thank goodness I had!) For a good two years, I applied for academic jobs at the end of the PhD and got nowhere. I had figured, wrongly, that I could wind up in an academic career largely by the strength of my grades and funding. The reality is, the entry level ‘qualifications’ for an academic career are various and (frustratingly) amorphous. My advice, if you want an academic career, would be to find an academic who can tell you straight up the job chances in your field. I’d thought an academic career was the steady, secure option – how wrong I was! Academia is full of short-term contracts, rabid competition and dead ends. Pursue a PhD by all means, to develop your writing skills, earn money and find out more about a beloved subject; only pursue an academic career if you’re wedded to that career path and have done your research.
What advice would you give to students or alumni looking to enter your field?
Build your skill set and pursue a wide range of experiences. Don’t wait until you have everything figured out – just get started. If you decide you want to work in museums, throw yourself into it – volunteer, give guided tours, and immerse yourself in museum and heritage sites to gain as much hands-on experience as possible. Along the way, take every opportunity to learn from colleagues. This is a sector built on collaboration and exchange, and those early experiences will give you both the confidence and the practical knowledge to grow.
Are there any books, podcasts, or resources that have influenced you?
- The Publishing Rodeo podcast is excellent for a background into publishing.
- Novelista by Claire Askew is a great, basic how-to on writing. It taught me the importance of always asking the question: What’s at stake?
- I could list a billion books that have helped me, but I have to put Orwell, Dickens and Emily Brontë as excellent craft go-tos: the first for world-building, the second for character and the third for atmosphere.
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