WEDNESDAY WORDS: Interview with fantasy author Mitchell Hogan

Flurries of Words (FLOW) recently had the chance to sit down with new fantasy author Mitchell Hogan for a chat about himself and his new novel  A Crucible of Souls (Book One of the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence)  (Click here for UK purchase).  Here's what he had to say:

FLOW : Tell us a little about yourself and what set you on the path of writing?

HOGAN :  Hi! Ever since my mother bought me the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series when I was eleven I’ve been an avid fantasy reader, as well as science fiction. I have bookcases stuffed with far too many novels which I read multiple times. I’ve always wanted to write a novel but my life always seemed too busy with work to write consistently. I started A Crucible of Souls a looong time ago, but it’s only been in the last two years that I decided it was now or never, I’d better finish it or I would regret not doing so.

FLOW:  That was a big risk to take , particularly in today's financial climate.  How were you able to manage it?

HOGAN :  It was a big decision and one I wrestled with for a few months before deciding to take a chance. My wife’s support has been phenomenal and it’s only because of her I was able to focus on writing full time and finish my first novel. We’ve had to give up a few luxuries but we’re managing.

FLOW : Is there anyone who particularly inspired you to write, or kept you on the path of writing?

HOGAN :  Yes, definitely. I was lucky enough to send a small sample of my work to an editor at HarperVoyager years ago and her positive feedback kept my dream alive. A few other people who read some of my writing also had encouraging words, and though it wasn’t a big deal to them it made a big impression on me and was enough to keep me moving forward when I doubted myself.

FLOW :  And how did your family keep you going?

HOGAN :  My wife has been fantastic. Without her unfailing support this book wouldn’t have been possible. My mother and sisters have been very supportive as well. We’re all quite different with varied careers and interests, so my decision to write didn’t raise any eyebrows, especially as they all know how much I read…

FLOW : What were the types of books that helped get you hooked on to reading?

HOGAN :  In the early days it was Tolkien, Raymond E Feist and David Eddings. Honestly I would also read anything in fantasy I could get my hands on! Then fantasy split from the Lord of the Rings traditional tropes and evolved many different sub-genres and I explored a lot of them. One of the things which kept me going was reading a book and thinking I had better characters or magic system, and if they could get published so could I.

FLOW :--I see you are from Australia.  How does that distinct culture come into play in your novels?  How did you  keep your writing accessible to North American and other English speaking audiences?: 

HOGAN :  Honestly, I don’t think Australian influences play a big part. I mean, I read the same fantasy books that everyone else does, and my influences come from them. I wanted to write a book I’d want to read and that’s what I’ve done, and if an Australian influence comes through it’s not by design. The only conscious decision I made at Derek’s (my editors) suggestion was to use US spelling and language as most sales would be in the US. For example I couldn’t use ‘pot plant’ as it has an entirely different meaning in the US!

FLOW :  LOL! So has your skill at home brewing found its way into your work? How about pharmaceuticals?  Is your love of sci-fi and fantasy what originally attracted you to chemical engineering(after all, those are the modern day wizards and alchemists)?

HOGAN :  It’s funny, I don’t drink much and just love experimenting so I have to give away most of my brewing and have BBQ’s so friends and family drink it. I have one character in A Crucible of Souls that dabbles in alchemy but I want to write a stand-alone novel with more of a focus on it. Whether that’ll make a good story is another matter… As for chemical engineering, I sort of fell into it as I was good at chemistry at school, though if there were alchemists in this day and age I think I’d be one! But no drinking gold or mercury for me…

FLOW : Lucky for your readers! ;-)  So for someone who hasn't read any of your novels, how would you describe the type of stories that you write, what would be your pitch for the Sorcery Ascendant Sequence?

HOGAN :  I want to write novels with characters that aren’t black and white, and who face choices that are also not black and white. I want to engage the reader and get them thinking what they would do, and to be able to understand the characters reasoning from behind their eyes.

As for a pitch… traditional fantasy hero finds the world he is caught up in has disturbing depths… and the good guys don’t always win.

FLOW : Your first reader review on Amazon described A Crucible of Souls as ‘Entertainingly ambiguous.’ Was this what you were aiming for?

HOGAN :  Getting my first reader review was a bit of a shock, though it shouldn’t have been. It’s a strange feeling putting yourself out there and having someone you don’t know critique your work. The exploration of good and evil, and the blurring of boundaries and appearances is what I was aiming for. And in trying to keep as many options open as possible for the rest of the series book one came out a little more ambiguous than I thought, but I think that’s a good thing.

FLOW :What are your plans for the series ahead? How many books more to go? Can you give us a rough idea of what’s to come?

HOGAN :  There should be two more books in the series, but if I keep having more ideas like I have been while writing it might extend to three more, but I think I’d rather save some ideas for a few stand alone novels. As for what’s to come, characters and plot threads will become less ambiguous…!

FLOW : Always keep the audience guessing, eh?  What other lessons have you learned by self publishing? Why did you choose this path over the traditional route?

HOGAN :  I had an agent interested but with the state of publishing as it is at the moment I really wanted to keep control over my book and my writing. The thought of being able to do virtually everything a traditional publisher does for authors i.e. cover, editing, publishing, without signing over the lions portion of earnings was empowering. The most valuable lesson I learned was to be professional, and make your book indistinguishable from traditionally published novels. That means a great cover, great blurb, and great editing. Skimping or rushing means shooting yourself in the foot as you won’t stand out.

FLOW : You mentioned great editing, what was your process and who did yours?

HOGAN :  Firstly I had two friends read and critique my draft manuscript, which picked up a whole lot of things I missed because I was so close to it. With a long word count epic fantasy it can be hard to keep track of everything. After numerous drafts I engaged John Jarrold for a structural edit, then Derek Prior for a copy edit and proofread. Both were great but I really lucked out finding Derek, he’s been a godsend.

FLOW :  As you said, a great cover is very important.  Your cover art is particularly striking.  Did you work with an artist?  Graphic designer?  How did you find him/her?  

HOGAN :  I wanted to work with an illustrator for my book cover but at this stage of my career the cost was prohibitive. I ended up going with Damon at Damonza.com and he’s been great. I’ve received a lot of compliments on the cover through forums and even a tweet. I found him through a post he made on the KBoards forums which made a lot of sense to me. 

FLOW :  Does it depict a scene from your book? How did you decide what the composition would be?

HOGAN :  The cover is a scene from the book though a brief but significant one. I wasn’t worried about having a scene from my book, I just wanted a professional cover that screamed epic fantasy and was reminiscent of other currently popular authors. I left the rest up to Damon, as the professional cover designer, and he came back with three drafts which we tinkered with until I settled on one. The great thing is I’ll probably use one of the other drafts for book 2!

FLOW :  I really like how you formatted the photo for your Amazon author page.  What was the inspiration?

HOGAN :  Thank you! It was luck. I wanted a better avatar and found a site you could insert your photo into various images, and this one stood out for me. I like it so much I decided not to get a headshot done prior to launching my book.

FLOW : In closing, do you have any parting thoughts or comments you’d like to share?

HOGAN :  Just to thank you for this opportunity, and to also thank everyone who’s read my book and been gracious enough to give their time and provide me with feedback. And remember, it’s all about the readers. A lot of publishers forget that and over the decades many good books never found their way into readers hands and that’s a great shame.

FLOW :  We're certainly looking forward to seeing more from you in the near future.