Howard, with his musician wife Leslie, moved to Portland from New England in 2006 to begin semi-retirement from a career of academic and entrepreneurial medical research. Once settled in Portland, he started a custom wood-working business, Green Bench, which is still ongoing. In 2015, he and his friend and fellow writer, Woody La Chapel, founded SpearPoint Publications. Their intent was to provide another option for individuals, especially senior citizens, to publish their creative writing. As of 2019, SpearPoint has published nine books, seven of which are by Howard and/or Mizeta Moon, the pen name for Woody. In addition to Survival, the books are: Embracing Evil; Aliens, Fish Tales & Flying Hooves; Snapshots: Flash Stories From Random Lives; Monkey Casserole: 33 Selected Short Stories; Word Storms: Original Fiction; Danger Wears Pantyhose.
Mizeta is dedicated to teaching others that being one's true self is not only desirable, but attainable with courage and conviction. Her hope is that by showing the world that cross dressers are are normal people with the same needs and dreams as their neighbors and co-workers, the prejudice and derision they face daily will fade from society and others will feel inspired to escape the confines of cultural limitations. Mizeta has written both poetry and short stories over a span of forty-plus years and plans to continue releasing more of her work through SpearPoint Publications in the years to come. She posts, on a monthly basis, an essay focused on social issues on the SpearPoint Publications website and is Director of the Gresham (Oregon) Seniors' Writers Group.