C.C. Hogan's Blog, page 11

Fantasy Recipe: Rough, Chunky Tavern Bread

Well, I have already covered soup and stew, but in your crackling warm tavern in your fantasy world, one of the mainstays of the food offering is bread.

Not for us is that pappy cotton wool rubbish sold by supermarkets, but a fresh, crunchy, rippable, herb-filled wonder that you could almost dunk in your beer!

Do your fantasy heroes care for the common man?

As much as I enjoyed Lord of the Rings and even Eddings' Belgariad, I was always puzzled by the fact that when the heroes won the war, what the people ended up with was an absolute monarchy with no votes and no say. It may have even been Feudal.

So, if we are lovers of democratic rights, should this appear in our writing?

Fantasy Recipe: Hot Tavern Smoked Soup

One of the things we miss in the modern gastro pub is the big bowl of spicy soup, a hunk of bread and a big frothy beer.

In poor communities, as you get to pumpkin season, vegetable soups flavoured with a bit of fat and perhaps a bit of peppers and chilli were a warming treat that would be welcome in any tavern. Well, here is a recipe...

YouTube Interview

Would you believe I have been interviewed?

No, many others would not either.

Here it is, though ....


https://youtu.be/CxnU_DMalbc

Interview with C.C. Hogan - myself

One of the problems with being a complete nobody is that no one ever asks nobodies for interviews.

That is not surprising really since who would want to read about a nobody? Still, I fancied being interviewed and since I have been in the media for years, I decided to do it myself. Thoroughly shameless.

Monkey Number 100030338732 - NOW was FREE!

For just five days starting today, my ebook of short stories is FREE.

Yep, Reduced to nothing, nada, zero on Amazon for Kindle - click below to find out more

Note: No longer free - but reasonable!

Monkey Number 100030338732 - NOW FREE!

For just five days starting today, my ebook of short stories is FREE.

Yep, Reduced to nothing, nada, zero on Amazon for Kindle - click below to find out more

What do you use for writing inspiration?

I am not talking about your muse, whoever he/she is (oh, I would love a muse!), or the bloke you saw sitting on the train, or the dead tortoise you tripped over, I am talking what you surround yourself with.

Sustenance, flavours, moments of joy. What is yours?

Should you have Sex in your Story?

Just about every book has some level of romance in it, even if it simple someone hankering after some romance. But should your story have sex scenes?

Sometimes it seems that there is more and more pressure to put at least a bit of graphic content in books. But are we doing ourselves any favours.

Useful Word Alternatives for Writers

I am often getting stuck on yet another way to describe something that is beautiful or running out of sensible alternatives to "she said" during complicated dialogue.

So, on this page, I am going to collect together some useful lists that I have found to help us all along.