Dan Howarth didn't set out to write a novel about far-right violence tearing communities apart. He set out to write what he knew — the north, the landscape, the idiotic magnificence of men — and the wound was already open. Lion Hearts is the book that nearly broke him during the writing, nearly got him an agent three times, and has now landed him on the 2026 British Fantasy Award shortlist for Best Novel. Sometimes the book that costs the most is the one that matters most.
Dan Howarth is a British author of gritty northern weird fiction published under his own Northern Republic Press. His work sits at the intersection of place, folklore, and the social fault lines running through contemporary Britain. In this conversation, he and Daniel dig into writing location with precision rather than excess, the case for the novella as the perfect literary form, what indie publishing actually costs (financially and creatively), and why knowing who you are as a writer takes longer than most people think.
💀 What we get into:
- Why Dan writes British, specifically northern British, horror — and how place becomes character in his fiction
- The screenwriting lesson that changed how he edits: if you can't say it in two lines, say it better
- Character passes vs plot passes — Dan's practical approach to keeping voice consistent across multiple POVs in Last Night of Freedom
- How both Territory and Drone accidentally became novellas, and why he thinks it's the perfect form for both writer and reader discovery
- The case for traditional publishers taking novellas seriously — and why Eric LaRocca's Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke is the proof of concept
- Three to four years into running Northern Republic Press: what he'd tell his earlier self about brand identity, cover consistency, and knowing what you stand for before you publish
- Lion Hearts — the BFA-shortlisted novel that's not quite horror, not quite crime, and is one of the most politically raw things he's written
- Why being indie means the book you couldn't place anywhere is also the book that gets you on award shortlists
- The practical realities of self-publishing: proofreading, cover design, budgeting, and why there's no excuse for an unprofessional book in 2026
- What's next: another novella, The Beacons, and a pipeline of four or five books already queued up
Links & Resources:
Dan Howarth website: https://danhowarthwriter.com (verify exact URL)
Dan Howarth on social media: @DanHowarth20
Northern Republic Press: https://www.northernrepublic.co.uk
Paul Stephenson / Hollowstone Press: https://paulstephensonbooks.com/
Vicky Brewster: https://vickybrewstereditor.com/
https://danielwillcocks.com/writers
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📚 About Dan Howarth
Dan Howarth is a British author of gritty Northern Weird horror fiction with a strong focus on societal issues and tinged with folklore and the supernatural.
He is the author of Last Night of Freedom, Lionhearts (which was recently shortlisted for Best Novel in the 2026 British Fantasy Awards), Territory, his new novel Drone and the short story collection, Dark Missives.
His short fiction has been published in numerous places including Weird Horror Magazine, Chthonic Matter Quarterly, The Other Stories podcast and Motives Unknown: New Northern Crime from Dead Ink Books.
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