Beasts and Creature

Margot has quit noise music, painting and friends so she can smoke crack and space out with her cat Clarence in a rented room while working by day as a nursing home housekeeper. Margot just wants to be left alone, but she gets sucked into the drama of her eccentric dealers, and after witnessing a murder, is pulled into a dysfunctional relationship with a charismatic and violent woman. Margot tries to break free and make a life for herself, but as other players close in and dark secrets come to light, she must choose between the killer she's grown to love, and a life of authentic relationships and artistic fulfillment.

Set in the grimy pre-smartphone days of Bush era Cleveland, Beasts and Creature could be called a mystic crime novel or a noise romance. Underground Rust Belt artists and enigmatic criminals run with Margot into darkness, often clutching at ghosts, sometimes slipping into radiance.

"Beset by whiny, abusive exes and dueling crack dealers, a disenfranchised but self-aware artist struggles to stay alive and achieve her dreams in this lyrical, exciting tale. Bright, gentle, crack-addicted Margot is an utterly unique and compelling heroine to root for. Howland is an original, and this book is a crooked beauty."

-- Clemintine Guirado

Cover art and design by David Russell Stempowski