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Howard Michael Gould

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.howardmichaelgould.com/

Twitter

HowardMGould

Genre

Mystery, Humor and Comedy

Member Since

July 2017

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Howard Michael Gould is a screenwriter and playwright, and was head writer and executive producer of several network television series. His debut detective novel, LAST LOOKS, was published by Dutton in 2018. A sequel, BELOW THE LINE, will follow in August, 2019.

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Popular Answered Questions

What inspires you to write?

Howard Michael Gould Thanks for the question. Answering a similar question below, I said that I don’t think in terms of inspiration, I think in terms of process and…moreThanks for the question. Answering a similar question below, I said that I don’t think in terms of inspiration, I think in terms of process and treating it as a job. But having experienced the release of my first novel, I’d like to amend that.

Hollywood writing is always conditional: your script may or may not get produced, and even if it does, you’re at the mercy of so many collaborators and overseers and by the end it may bear no resemblance to what you intended.

But as a novelist, especially with the positive response LAST LOOKS has gotten, I now sit down to work every day believing not only that what I’m writing is going to see the light of day, but that it will reach readers essentially unmediated, and that there are even people who’ll be looking forward to it.

If not actual “inspiration,” that’s at least giving me an unexpected and very pleasant tailwind.(less)

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How do you deal with writer’s block?

Howard Michael Gould The blank page (well, screen) terrifies me. I know many fine writers start with a grain of an idea and just start writing sentences and paragraphs and…moreThe blank page (well, screen) terrifies me. I know many fine writers start with a grain of an idea and just start writing sentences and paragraphs and “let the characters surprise them” and see where it all goes. Their process is based on a sort of mystical connection with the muse, or at least the unconscious. Many books far greater than my own have been written that way, of course, but if I tried to work that way I’d be so debilitated by inferiority and self-hatred that I’d never produce a page.

For better or worse, I spent much of my early career writing for series television, where unproductive days are an unaffordable luxury. It was there that I learned the value of extensive outlining and then extensive rewriting, both habits which I brought with me when I turned to fiction and which have, for me, completely eliminated writer’s block.

On my second novel, in fact, I spent as many months outlining as I spent “writing” the first drafts of the manuscript. I’m addicted to an index card software program called, as it happens, Writer’s Blocks, on which I play around with my story until I truly believe that every problem is solved and every question is answered and the character moves within every chapter have been arranged. Then I transfer those rough cards (hundreds of them) into Word, where I turn them into present tense prose, “pre-writing” each chapter, each scene, including bits of dialogue and any details I happen to think of. (The present tense is no doubt another vestige of my years in Hollywood, where formal outlines as well as screenplays are written that way.)

Anyway, this isn’t prose that I’d ever share with anyone, but it’s functional, more or less grammatical, and clear enough that I could put the file away and pick it up ten years later and still understand how the entire novel would work. And it’s thorough: for my second novel, the outline came in at 67 single-spaced pages, or about 40% as many words as the manuscript it yielded.

The “real” sentences and pages come last. At that point I’m just fleshing out and giving life to the hundreds of bits of story which I’ve already assembled. I try to write each paragraph as well as I can as I go, but I know that when I’ve gotten through the chapter I’ll go back and do a second pass on the computer and then a third with red pen on a hard copy before moving on, and that later on I’ll no doubt take several more passes before I ever show it to anyone. So I never find myself crippled by perfectionism, either.(less)

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Combine Editions
Howard Michael Gould’s books

Average rating: 3.68 · 154 ratings · 44 reviews · 3 distinct works

	Last Looks: A Novel 3.69 avg rating — 153 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Below the Line: A Charlie Waldo Novel did not like it 1.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Diva 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2003	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Howard Gould rated a book it was amazing Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I wrote the first ever senior thesis on Philip Roth at Amherst College, in 1983-84. Roth was fifty at the time, and my advisor (who, as it happened, later became a reader of Roth’s early drafts as Roth was revising toward publication) thought it a go ...more
Dec 16, 2018 06:07AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Howard Gould rated a book it was amazing Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I’m enjoying Goodreads, but as an author, I’m self-conscious about giving traditional star-ratings and reviews. (Do I give my friends all fives? What does it mean if I don't rate somebody's book? And so on.) Instead, I’ve listed with five stars a num ...more
Nov 13, 2018 05:53PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Howard Gould liked Jean's review of Last Looks: A Novel: "This was a fun read. I thoroughly enjoyed the lens through which our modern cultural caprices were viewed and acknowledged in a tongue in cheek reflection by the outlier ex cop turned minimalist. Very enjoyable and I hope for more!"
Oct 21, 2018 10:04PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Last Looks by Howard Michael Gould. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Last Looks by Howard Michael Gould <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Howard Gould liked Kristin Hayek's review of Last Looks: A Novel: "This was a fun, fast-paced mystery I thoroughly enjoyed! I listened to the audio version and the narrator used different voices and accents to make it an easy and entertaining listen. I give it two thumbs up! 👍🏻👍🏻"
Oct 01, 2018 12:33PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Last Looks by Howard Michael Gould. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Last Looks by Howard Michael Gould <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Howard Gould liked Patricia's review of Last Looks: A Novel: "Last Looks introduces the reader to ex-LAPD cop and minimalist Charlie Waldo. When I started this book I thought I was going to hate it. When I got about a third of the way through the book I was hooked. Waldo started out seeming like a weird 1970..." Read more of this review »
Oct 01, 2018 12:32PM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Last Looks by Howard Michael Gould. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Last Looks by Howard Michael Gould <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Howard Gould rated a book it was amazing Christopher Durang Explains it All for You by Christopher Durang	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 27, 2018 09:35AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Christopher Durang Explains it All for You by Christopher Durang. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Christopher Durang Explains it All for You by Christopher Durang <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Howard Gould rated a book it was amazing The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 27, 2018 09:31AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Howard Gould rated a book it was amazing Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 25, 2018 05:05PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Howard Gould rated a book it was amazing Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior by Phil Jackson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 10, 2018 11:38PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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