What happens when your father drunkenly humiliates you at your eighth-grade graduation? What happens when your closest friends in early childhood are the letters of the alphabet, each with its own personality, who visit you in bed? What happens when your mother, while walking out the door for good, tells you "I wish I were a knitter instead of a needlepoint artist so I could have solved you in the womb"? Fifteen-year-old Clayton Clevinger is what happens. When Clayton meets Shiny, whose mother is in prison for burning down a house and burning up a dog, all in the name of love, and whose aunt suffers from an inability to feel any negative emotions, Clayton's life takes a turn for the even weirder. On Account of Because tells Clayton's story with humor both light and black. This debut novel by Keith Howard explores subjects ranging from Goofus and Gallant, death by caffeine, addiction to recovery from addiction, Rota Fortuna and Lawrence's dictum to trust the tail not the teller. It also has a mouse.
About the Author: Keith Howard is a writer, educator, nonprofit leader and drunk. Keith has published short stories and essays on topics ranging from baseball to education to adoption to politics. On Account of Because is his first published novel. He began his career as a print journalist, writing straight news, features and a humor column, then moved into radio and theater. For eight years, he directed and acted with the Clearway Improvisational Theater, which performed before more than 100,000 people nationwide. He is comfortable as a public speaker and has numerous appearances to his credit. From 1988 until 2004, Keith ran alternative high schools, until leaving education to pursue a writing career. He holds a master's degree in educational administration and is certified as a school principal, reading specialist, English teacher and elementary teacher. In the previous paragraph the phrase "pursue a writing career" is code for "finally started drinking the way he wanted, culminating in homelessness, despair and a taste for stolen dollar-store mouthwash." Keith got off the streets and into recovery in 2007. From 2012 until 2017, Keith was executive director of Liberty House in Manchester, NH. There he worked with formerly homeless veterans, brought in a significant amount of money and won PR battles with the universe. Today, Keith lives in a tiny white box in the Great North Woods of New Hampshire on the property of 45 North, a retreat center for veterans to which all profits from this book will be donated. He is working on a memoir, a novel and keeping warm.