TUESDAY TALK CATCHES UP WITH AUTHOR AND EDITOR FIONA HOGAN, CHATTING ABOUT HER WRITING JOURNEY AND SOME INTERESTING DINNER GUESTS…

Hi Fiona and welcome. Can I start, as always, by asking you a little about yourself?

Hello, lovely to be here. My name is Fiona Hogan and I’m a writer, blogger, editor and mother of five living in the beautiful midlands of Ireland. I’m an Indie author with four books currently on Amazon. I’m a Tolkien obsessive and zombie freak.

Who are your favourite writers and have they influenced your own writing in any way?

I discovered the joy of Tolkien as a child and am reminded of the Shire in the lovely fey countryside around where I live – I am constantly delighted and in awe of the huge scope of world building and complexity of characters in The Lord of the Rings and if I could ever write anything half as good I would be happy indeed. I also grew up on a diet of gothic horror and this has heavily influenced my own horror writing (my favourite genre), I owe a lot to H P Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe.

As a writer you don’t restrict yourself to a single genre. Once you have completed a novel, how do you decide what comes next?

I’m always writing short stories – horror or contemporary fiction so there is usually a horror collection around Hallowe’en. I have a romantic comedy in with a publisher and I recently started a sequel.
I have notebooks filled with story ideas and character snippets and often wake up at night to write ideas down in the notebook by the bed. I’m very lucky that I am never stuck for a story idea.

What prompted your decision to become an editor?

It was an organic process. When I finished my first book, I knew that although I had done my best with editing, it needed a pair of professional and fresh eyes to give it a clean sweep. I have been through the Independent Publishing route and know that there are so many things needing outsourcing – cover design, editing and often formatting. So, I began to take proofreading and editing courses and get as much experience as possible. I love it, I love being involved in the writing process and helping writers’ work to become as good as it possibly can.

Beach or city? What’s your favourite holiday location?

Beach – Moving to the sea is a huge part of my masterplan. Although recently I have been on some amazing city breaks in winter, with my girls – Brussels, London and Paris.

Are you able to tell us a little about what you are working on at the moment?

I am currently working on a short horror piece, the sequel to my novel Martha’s Cottage (with publisher), a horror novel and a screenplay.

You are about to hold a dinner party and can invite four famous celebrity guests (dead or alive). Who would you invite and why?

Tolkien obviously – he could sit at the head of the table. I’d have Neil Gaiman so I could pick his brains. I always wanted to play a zombie in one of his films – so, George A Romero. My last guest would be Anne Rice – she deserves a place, having written one of my favourite characters – Lestat de Lioncourt.

Bio

Fiona Hogan is a writer,blogger and editor living in rural Ireland. An Indie author, she has four books on Amazon – The Lights Went Out and Other Stories and What Happened in Dingle as Fiona Cooke Hogan ,and Death Comes Calling and The Nightmare under the name F. B. Hogan. Her latest novel – Martha’s Cottage is in the process of being published. A horror enthusiast, Fiona is addicted to horror short films and anything of the zombie genre. She is obsessed with Tolkien and likes a bit of Neil Gaiman.

Amazon Author Page
Fiona’s website – Unusual Fiction
Author Facebook Page
Twitter
The Editing Hub Website
The Editing Hub Facebook Page

Book Links
The Lights Went Out and Other Stories
What Happened in Dingle
Death Comes Calling
The Nightmare