This is the latest and last in my series of Guest Posts where I’ve posed some deeply serious questions to some awesome writers. My questions are in bold. I am aware that it’s not actually Summer any more, but whatever, you’re not the boss of me.
Who are you and what have you done with the Real Jay Hogan?
Jay Hogan is my pen name just to keep trolls at bay and also to keep privacy for myself and my family. In my life I’ve been a registered nurse working in Intensive Care, a nursing lecturer, a counsellor and supervisor and now a writer.
If you had to describe yourself in terms of a soft drink, which would you be and why?
I hate all soft drinks, anything with fizz actually, except champagne lol. So maybe a Pinot Gris, fruity with a dry sense of humour ☺
Are you a Think Everything Through Before Acting person or a Great Idea Let’s Try It! Person?
Both probably. I’m quite spontaneous but then I also won’t go into anything new that’s important, without checking it out pretty thoroughly.
What got you into writing?
I have always written. I wrote plays in school, had some poetry published in my twenties and thirties, wrote theses and articles at University, and then tried fiction but I couldn’t seem to find my stride in the right genre. I tried to write what I liked to read, but at the time that was mostly thriller and detective fiction, and I found I liked reading it but disliked writing it. It wasn’t till I took my snobbish view off the romance genre that I found a home, particularly mm romance. And yet I’ve always known I am a relationship person. I taught it, counselled it, I was even a family planning educator, so duh, right?
What do you like Reading?
Across the board. I still like thrillers and detective novels and mm romance, but I particularly like quirky characters regardless of genre.
What’s the earliest story you can remember reading and loving?
The Nancy Drew Mysteries. Lord of The Rings in terms of a book having a real impact on me.
What are you reading right now?
John Sandford’s Virgil Flowers books. And I love anything of T.J. Klune and Amy Lane
Are you a stop reading at the end of the chapter, mid chapter, or just whenever reader?
Just whenever if I can stop!!
How do you organise your personal library? (alphabetical, Dewey decimal, what’s your system?)
It’s a mess lol. You really don’t want to know.
Writing: What do you do/where do you go for inspiration?
Just lots of reading in and out of the genre I write in. Plus a lot of stuff I’ve gleaned from things I’ve experienced as a nurse in particular.
Do you believe in a divine muse, and if so, what’s yours like?
Not really. I believe in just getting into that study and writing every day. Just discipline. Even if you throw it out, keep writing.
What does your physical writing space look like?
I set up an office with a desk space and I keep it kind of routine. I need a defined space. I’m not a coffee shop writer. I need time and space and quiet and routine. I find when I sit at my desk, my mind knows now what is required of it. Too much change and I can’t concentrate.
Are you more a ‘write drunk, edit sober’ Ernest Hemingway, or a ‘shut the door, eliminate all distractions and write for a set amount of hours’ Stephen King?
I try and write three to four hours a day, door open, dog at my side and usually the cat too. I keep it as much to the morning as I can because I’m pretty useless after three pm. Editing I can do all day anytime, but writing is the morning for me.
Open up your skeleton closet: can you tell me about an abandoned project of yours which seemed awesome when you started but you’ll likely never return to?
My first book ever about a serial killer abducting girls with eating disorders. I know, I know. But everyone needs a little bit of weird in their head right? Needless to say it never got picked up, thank goodness, lol.
Any advice for anyone looking to start writing?
Write. Just start and do it and keep reading. Don’t wait for right time, write place, just discipline and do it. I think of the first couple of books you write as equivalent to going to university. You are learning if you can do it, if you can actually finish a book, and even if you like it.
Favourites: Star Wars or Star Trek?
Both
Hogwarts or Narnia?
Hogwarts
Ideal holiday, price and time no concern, where would you go?
South Africa Safari. I love watching wild game doing their thing
If you could plan perfect meals for a day, what would each be, and would you snack?
Kettle fry potato crisps and pork crackling in answer to all.
Imagine you won one of those ‘grab a cart and spend five mins in a store’ competitions. Which store would you want to win it for, and what goods would you be shoving in the cart first?
Gourmet food store or kitchen equipment store
Favourite song to sing at Karaoke?
You do not want to hear me sing.
Favourite song to sing in the shower when no one else is home?
Anything by Queen
What’s your favourite quote?
Just do it.
Pokemon: if you were a trainer, what pokemon would be in your team? (you get 6)
What’s pokemon?? Lol No, seriously I have NEVER even looked at one.
—-
Jay Hogan is a New Zealand author writing in m/m romance, romantic suspense and fantasy. She has travelled extensively, living in a number of countries. She’s a cat aficionado especially Maine Coons, and an avid dog lover (but don’t tell the cat). She loves to cook- pretty damn good, loves to sing – pretty damn average, and as for loving full-time writing -absolutely… depending on the word count, the deadline, her characters’ moods, the ambient temperature in the Western Sahara, whether Jupiter is rising, the size of the ozone hole over New Zealand and how much coffee she’s had.
You can find Jay at:
Facebook
Twitter
Check out Jay’s book, Crossing the Touchline: A New Zealand MM Romance-Contemporary, out now!
Amazon
Dreamspinner press
Jamie Sands - Author 