Meet Liam Hogan

Every Friday, we meet a member of the BFS and peer deep into their soul (or, at least, a form they filled out). Want to be featured? Email us: online@britishfantasysociety.org

Name: 
Liam Hogan (he/him)

Which region are you based in? 
Just moved to Shropshire (from London)

• If you write, which genre: 
  Sci-fi (tick)
• Fantasy (tick)
• Horror (tick)

…all in short story length. I’m yet to tackle a novel!

Are you drawn to any specific SFFH sub-genres? 
Don’t tell, but I do like a little steampunk, on occasion. And the odd apocalypse. And there’s often a little darkness in my short stories.

Your influences

Tell us about the book/film/thing that got you into SFFH: What was it? How old were you? What impact did it have on you?

As a 9-year old kid, I entered the local paper’s “Cousin Chris” writing competition, which gave you the start of a story about a pixie and then asked that you finish it. Despite my terrible handwriting I won the best possible prize – book tokens! From an early age I answered “what do you want to be?” as author. I guess I got there, eventually.

How does that early influence show up in your work (writing/agenting/publishing/editing/reading) now?

A love of books meant raids on the weekend second hand book stalls, and I frequently gravitated towards the 10p paperbacks of science fiction. Asimov featured strongly, a writer who kept it simple and loved the occasional pun – a weakness (or perhaps strength?) I share. I class myself as an ideas-driven short story writer, and I doubt I would be if I’d only ever read long form or just literary vignettes.

Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?

Anywhere and everywhere, from reading science articles to visiting museums. to open submission themes  and odd thoughts as I cross the road. And obviously, I still read, and most of it is speculative to some degree.

Who do you look to as a genre hero? Why?

Kurt Vonnegut, in particular his The Sirens of Titan. Another at times deceptively simple writer, but full of ideas and humour and what-ifs? His non-fiction – commencement speeches and talks – are also wonderful, particularly his “Shape of Stories”. A must watch! Beneath the droll delivery there are, as ever, hard diamonds of truth. 

Your work

You’re stuck in an elevator for 60 seconds with that hero, and they want you to describe your work. Give us the pitch.

I would probably fail miserably, as I’d want to hear Vonnegut talk, not talk at him! But I’d tell him my stories are full of quirky ideas and devoid of classic heroes. I’d tell him the title of my dark fantasy collection – Happy Ending Not Guaranteed.

What are you working on right now?

There are, as ever, too many things in my “working” folder, though I’m trying to tease one of my favourite characters – a witch with a spider familiar – into a slender collection of eight (of course!) short stories.

Thinking about all the stories/work you’ve done, what sticks out most in your mind? Why?

I have a soft spot for any number of them, from those that have been read by actors at Liars’ League to those that have won awards – but perhaps “White Goods”, because it is a little more literary than I usually write, and comes from a wide mix of influences, from my mother watching the Apollo landing late at night, to an afro-futurist short film I saw at the Wellcome Collection. It also features a protagonist who the world (her father) wants to force into a particular box – fantasy, or Sci-Fi? Why not both? she plaintively thinks.

Where and when do you create/are you at your most creative?

I’m not, I admit, a morning person. But other than that, I’m creative when the ideas are flowing and the distractions not too numerous. That can be on public transport, with the A6 notebooks I filled on my daily commute when I had one (my handwriting still atrocious and worsened by the jolt of the underground and the haste to get an idea down), or at my desk, tapping away at a keyboard. I sometimes feel I should stick at the keyboard late into the evening when the day hasn’t been very productive, but then along come the distractions…

What’s the best advice you’ve received about creativity?

Every story has a natural length, at which adding or removing words weakens it. And all writing advice is suspect (including this!) because what works for one writer needn’t work for another. And only you can tell your story.

(Pictured: Liam’s newly set up writing space)

What’s your writing soundtrack?

CD albums get randomly chosen based on my mood and what I haven’t listened to for a while. I like blues like John Lee Hooker, jazz singers like Eartha Kitt, and more raucous music from the likes of The Pogues or Blur or Carter USM.

The Quick-Fire Round

Sci-fi, fantasy or horror?
Fantasy (but why not both?)

Quiet or loud?
Quiet

Dark or light?
Dark

Strict lines or genre blend?
Blend

Awards or bestseller?
Bestseller – for the readership, not the money…

Fiction or non-fiction?
Fiction (non-fiction for inspiration)

Poetry or prose?
Prose

Plotter or pantser?
Pantser

Reading or listening?
Reading

Notebook or computer?
Computer

Favourite SFFH book of all time?
The Sirens of Titan, Kurt Vonnegut

Last book you read?
Leviathan Wakes (first in the expanse series, by James S. A. Corey)

Any SFFH author on auto-buy?
Not quite – but Natasha Pulley, Alix E. Harrow, and Magnus Mills come close.

Favourite podcast?

I love the Youtube Trope Talks series (Overly Sarcastic Productions) which isn’t strictly a podcast, but perhaps the closest thing to one that I regularly follow.

The Home Stretch

What’s the best thing about being part of the SFFH community?

The utter surprise and delight to find that someone who has written a book you love is so often willing to engage with their fans. The people who hold it all together and seem to know everything and everyone.

Time to plug your stuff! Where can we find you and your work? What have you got coming up? Consider this your advertising space.

My dark fantasy collection, previously mentioned, is Happy Ending Not Guaranteed, from Arachne Press. There’s a forthcoming science fiction collection from Northodox Press, “A Short History of the Future”, featuring 42 (of course!) “retro” SF shorts, including those that have been in Analog, and in NewCon Press’s Best of British Science Fiction, which should be out in March 2025. Otherwise, every story I’ve published since 2008, including those pending, is listed in my “Biblioblography“, with links where it is free to read.

For social media, I’ve drifted towards BlueSky.