The Author - Daniel J. Hogan
Visit the Daniel's official website www.danieljhogan.com
Click here to read Daniel's blog on Livejournal.
Biography
Hailing from Detroit Rock City, Daniel
J. Hogan set forth at a young age to carve his own destiny out of the
untamed Michigan frontier. But then his mother decided it wasn't a good
idea for a young child to play with knives, so that set him back a few
decades.
Schooled in the
finest public institutions the suburbs of Detroit had to offer, Daniel
J. Hogan eventually finished the first grade and excelled
satisfactorily through the rest of his days as a student. After proving
to his father, Dr. Prof. Rutherford Hogan Sr., that he could stop
eating paste long enough to actually learn something, Daniel J. Hogan
was sent off to the cheapest state university his parents could find in
Michigan (aka "The Mitten State").
Now,
with a degree in bubble gum machine repair in hand, Daniel J. Hogan is
poised to make his name in the world as a fledgling fantasy author.
After years of research, hundreds of spelling errors, and thousands of
cups of coffee, he has finally finished his opus, The Magic of Eyri.
Drawing on experiences from his own life, Daniel J. Hogan (who apparently really likes seeing his name everywhere), put finger to keyboard for months on end to construct (in his own words) "...an amusing little jaunt into the world of...wait a mo', I have another call."
Influences
"There are many influences I drew upon while working on this little book. First is just my love of fantasy and mythology, but there are other specific works and people who influenced me along the way and over the years. Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and L. Frank Baum's original Wizard of Oz story really sparked me to write The Magic of Eyri. I had always wanted to write something, but after reading those two books, I really got my act together.
Adams was the first author I ever read who mixed a genre of fiction (in his case, sci-fi) and comedy and I was amazed by it. I had read comics over the years with that style, mainly Larry Elmore's hilarious SnarfQuest and Jeff Smith's amazing Bone series, but I had never read a novel that did that. I am a big fan of genre comedy, and sci-fi comedy is one of my favorites - because you can do ANYTHING. Just look at shows like Red Dwarf, Futurama, or even Mystery Science Theater 3000 (all favorites and big influences) - they got away with all kinds of stuff.
Fantasy comedy is great too, just look at the aforementioned SnarfQuest, Bone or the Monkey Island video games - all hilarious. Terry Pratchett is to fantasy comedy what Douglas Adams is to sci-fi comedy (both British too...hmm), and interestingly enough I didn't even start reading Pratchett books until I was done with the 2nd draft of Eyri.
Some people may be quick to say I'm trying to be the next Terry Pratchett, but I'm honestly not worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as him. As I said, I was already done with the book before I even read a Discworld novel - but now, after reading him for the first time a few months ago, I can't get enough. He didn't influence me to do a fantasy-comedy-adventure story, but he did influence me to keep going after I realized there would be people out there who would 'get' my goofy story and he influenced me not to include a map of Eyri in the book, which I thought was an amazing concept.
Baum's Oz books really blew my mind when I first read them in the spring of '05. You'd think someone in their mid-twenties would enjoy reading something other than children's fairy tales, but I think he really created something special with the Oz books. After reading the original Wizard of Oz, I never looked at the film the same way ever again. I don't know what it is about his stories, but they just grab on to me and never let go.
My story is at heart a satire of both the fantasy genre and other pop culture. Therefore you'll find more than a few things that look or sound familiar, but it is because I'm either tipping my hat to something or poking fun at it (or both). If you think you find a reference to something, email me! I like it when people get my obscure references (a trick I picked up from Mystery Science Theater 3000).
Some other influences of mine include but are not limited to: Various video games, pulp fiction novels, heavy metal, British sitcoms, comic books and comic strips, world history, cartoons of the 1980s, Ray Harryhausen movies and Yngwie Malmsteen album covers."
- Daniel J. Hogan, 4/1/07