I was lucky to get an interview with Mitchell Hogan, the author of Crucible of Lies, and a semifinalist in this year’s #SPFBO9.

Please, tell us a bit about yourself…
Hi there! I live in Sydney, Australia, where it’s difficult being upside-down all the time with everything trying to kill you, but you get used to it. During my misspent youth I managed to barely scrape by a degree in Chemical Engineering, and I’ve worked in the pharmaceutical and finance industries. I have two lovely daughters (Miss 7 and Miss 10), who, with some nudging by me, are enthusiastic about reading and who are also into playing Minecraft and Genshin Impact, so they’re on the right path! And just yesterday Miss 10 said she wanted to read Lord of the Rings, so I guess my work is done…

Why should I buy your SPFBO9 entry?
Crucible of Lies is an epic fantasy tale revolving around Zerach-Sangur, an immortal, revered, feared and God-like Emperor, who relates his humble beginnings with his would-be assassin Karrin—with an ulterior motive of course. His tale begins millennia ago when he was simply “Zah’, a small-time thief and scrounger, barely surviving and toughing it out with his sister Romi on the streets of the undercity. Zah’s life quickly changes as he is catapulted into machinations and conflicts far beyond his simple skills and origins; if his origins are indeed simple. The book is for readers who enjoy epic fantasy books with detailed magic systems, deep worldbuilding, morally grey characters, action, family and found-family, betrayal, and not least plenty of sorcery!

What got you into writing? And how long have you been doing it?
Over the years I kept notes on ideas for characters and scenes that came to me, I’ve always had a lot of ideas (ideas are the easy part, writing is hard!). And I’d written maybe a hundred pages of my first novel. Then one day I decided that if I don’t write it now I never will, and I’d regret not making the attempt. So I wrote A Crucible of Souls, which I self-published in 2013, followed by a sequel in 2014—and then I signed that series to Harper Voyager. Since then (10 years now!) I’ve written full time (13 books and 2 novellas), and I’m eternally grateful to the readers who took a chance on an unknown author.

Have you participated in the SPFBO before and where did you hear about the competition?
I entered twice before: Revenant Winds in 2018 (SPFBO 4), and Raven: Reawakening in 2022 (SPFBO 8). Both times my books didn’t make it through the initial cut, even though the reviews were good. I believe I heard about the SPFBO through Mark Lawrence on social media.

Why did you choose to write fantasy?
I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings when I was eleven, and since then I’ve been an avid reader of both fantasy and science fiction. And my science background might explain why I love well thought out and detailed magic systems. In my younger years I read pretty much every epic fantasy book I could get my hands on, and the genre is what I know and love, so I couldn’t imagine writing anything else (although for fun I did write a scifi retelling of Rapunzel!).

Which other author has had the biggest influence on your writing?
There are far, far too many to count or list. I had to stop and think about this question for a while, because sometimes I subconsciously have a tendency to skew my writing towards a particular style—not hugely, just a little, if it makes sense with the story I’m trying to write. But if I had to choose one author that’s had the most influence on my writing career, it would have to be J. R. R. Tolkien—not that I write like him at all, just that my journey into epic fantasy and writing began with him.

If you were to win the SPFBO, what impact do you think this would have on your writing career?
This is an interesting question… There’s the extraordinary honour of making it through such a tough competition, and just having more readers interested in your books. And then there’s the undeniable effect of having an incredible amount of visibility and exposure, and the opportunities that would bring.

What challenges did you face during the writing or publishing process, and how did you overcome them?
My main problem is actually getting the writing done, as ideas are the easy part! I have folders with documented ideas for many books, most of which I’ll never have time to write. But sometimes getting words on the page is tough, and sometimes it flows (for reasons unknown) and I have a good day. I try to make writing more of a habit, so I just sit down and get started even if what I write at first is terrible (because with writing you can polish a turd…), so there are less bad days and more productive ones.

I’m the same way. Ideas…no problem. Writing discipline..more of a problem.

Do you have any tips or an author app, tool, or resource that you can really recommend we try?
My main tip is there’s writing, and there’s the business of writing. The reality is to be successful (whatever success means to you as it differs from author to author), you need to be good at both. As an author, you’re the CEO of YOU Inc., and the products are your books. My advice is to join a few author communities (for example on FB there’s Author Unleashed, Author Support Network, Wide For The Win, to name a few), as there are many experienced authors who are not shy with offering advice.

And now it's time to yank out your Palantir! Let’s talk about the future. What new projects are you working on?
A while ago I was lucky enough to sign with Joshua Bilmes at JABberwocky Literary, and I’m halfway through a manuscript for him. I’m also halfway through writing two other books including a fourth book for my very first series the Sorcery Ascendant trilogy, and I’ll publish the fifth and final book in my The Necromancer’s Key series in late September.

Apps that are based on artificial intelligence (AI), such as ChatGTP and Midjourney, along with apps aimed specifically at authors, have caused quite a stir. Do you expect these new technologies will make your life as a self-published author easier or harder, and do you expect that they’ll mean you’ll earn more or less?
I don’t think many people realise just how quickly AI will get better—hardware is improving exponentially, and so is software, so there’s a double exponential improvement. Already we’ve writing competitions flooded with AI written stories, as well as many books uploaded to Amazon, and I think what happens to authors and author earnings will depend on ebook retailers responses to the growing problem. I expect companies like Amazon will determine what is going to make them the most money and head in that direction. Maybe the best we can expect is a separate “AI written” category on Amazon and other retailers, which would be incredibly hard to police, but I live in hope.

I think you might be right. Today we have AIs that basically just mimic us. And though they are rather simple (when compared to what AI theoretically could be and could create,) they are getting pretty good at writing and creating images (some will say scary good.) Let’s see what happens once we get brighter AIs that can think for themselves (if/when we allow that to happen.)

Do you have any dreams you’d like to share?
Definitely! Apart from wanting my daughters to have a happy and healthy life, I have a dream of “perfecting” foods that take my fancy in the kitchen (mostly baking). So far I’ve worked on sourdough bread, white chocolate cheesecake, sous vide steak and salmon, shortbread (browned butter ftw!), brownies (browned butter again, is there nothing it can’t do?!), and I really want to work on paella soon.

Yummy! Anything else you would like to say before we close?
Good luck to all the other SPFBO contestants! Keep working on your craft and getting those words on the page, and eventually, one day, if you keep at it, you’ll achieve your writing dream.

I wish you the very best in the SPFBO, I hope you make it to the finals this time around and that a lot of readers discover your writing.
Thanks for doing the interview!