Howard was born in New York City in 1950. He received a B.A. in English from Clemson University in 1971. He has worked almost exclusively as a writer since 1975, when he did a 3-year stint as a Madison Avenue copywriter. Later he wrote weekly opinion columns and worked as a reporter for two Florida newspapers. He has written two books and a dozen screenplays, two of which are currently under options. He has received over 50 awards for writing, including Writer's Digest awards for screenwriting and short-story writing. He currently lives in Huntington Beach, California with his wife and son.