Interview with R. J. Howell, Author of “Fragarach”

The following is an interview with R. J. Howell, author of the short story “Fragarach,” which appears in Neon Druid: An Anthology of Urban Celtic Fantasy (available now on Amazon in digital and paperback).

1) What inspired you to write your Neon Druid story, “Fragarach”?

Primarily, the open call. I stumbled across the posting on Duotrope calling for submissions for a Celtic urban fantasy anthology. I’d just finished writing the first Clay Atwater story which was, unfortunately, a novella and far too long, so I sat on it. A few days before the deadline, I’d been browsing fantasy images on Pinterest, looking for future inspiration, and I’d come across an image of a guy holding a glowing sword in one hand and a cell phone in the other. Somehow in my brain, this connected with the Clay story and premise of being challenged to find random objects by an ankou…