Continuing the One Book Interview’s gaelic theme (last week we featured an Irish author living in Prague), today, we have an author and poet who lives deep in the heart of Ireland (Where the Fianna dwell).
Good people of the Internet, may I present the fabulous Fiona Cooke Hogan.
Name one book:
1 – everyone should read
The Lord of The Rings by JRR Tolkien. No question, a masterpiece of world-building, language creation and old lore, rich with wonderfully believable historical detail. This book awoke the writer in me and has continued to stay in my heart ever since I first read it at age 11.
2 – you would take with you if you were going to be marooned on Mars
Well, I couldn’t be without Tolkien, could I? But I would also squeeze in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, another fabulous tome of a book about magicians in England during the Napoleonic era, filled with wonderful stories on faerie, The Raven King and just a joy of quirkiness and lyrical beauty.
3 – you took a chance on and were pleasantly surprised by
Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre. I don’t normally read a book just because the arts reviewer in the Sunday paper says it’s got potential, but the blurb sounded interesting. A lonely teenager caught up in a high school shooting and it’s funny! A crazy, hilarious yet poignant piece of modern writing. Well worth the borrow, download or physical purchase.
4 – you’ve written that is your favourite
Death Comes Calling by FB Hogan. A small collection of dark fiction in the style of Edgar Allan Poe and HP Lovecraft, I wrote these stories during October of last year and published the novella just before Hallowe’en. These stories were a labour of love, gothic horror is by far my favourite genre and I am presently writing a horror set in Victorian Britain.
5 – that has influenced you most as a person
The Lord of The Rings by JRR Tolkien. I admit to being a Tolkien obsessive (I have his words in elvish tattooed onto my arm, yes, seriously). Every year I dust down my old paperback copy and escape into Middle Earth. His writings fuelled a longing for creativity, for belief in myths and legends and a huge love of nature. I see his Shire in the fields and the forests as I walk and can only hope that my writing reflects my love of nature as well as his cleverly crafted words.
6 – that has influenced you most as a professional
The Stand by Stephen King. This book is huge, it’s dark, dystopian, allegorical and yet hopeful. King’s forte is to put ordinary individuals into crazy, bizarre situations and watch how they perform, this never fails to impress me. A consummate professional, he writes every day. I would like to think I could create such a masterpiece were I as disciplined in my writing habits.
7 – of yours that prospective readers should start with if they want to get to know your work and where they can get it.
The Lights Went Out and Other Stories by Fiona Cooke Hogan. A quirky mix of genres, this book is a good place to get a feel for my writing with short and longer stories ranging from romantic fiction, fairy tales, humorous and supernatural pieces.
You can find Fiona at: http://unusualfiction.wordpress.com
Fiona Cooke Hogan is a Laois based writer, poet and blogger. She has been writing since childhood and takes inspiration from her everyday life and experiences. Her novel “Martha’s Cottage” will shortly be out on Kindle and she is currently working on her second: a horror story as yet untitled. When not scribbling away she is an avid reader and self confessed addict of Tolkien, Game Of Thrones and The Walking Dead. She dreams of playing one of the undead in a George A Romero production.
Leave a Reply