“We are but single notes in the discord, strings plucked once, sound and resonance Hear us fade...” —From Death in Hilton Head, an unpublished epic poem by Rex Nightly It is June 2029. The state of California. In San Francisco the uncontrolled forest fires are moving closer burning all that is in its path to … Continue reading A review of “Hear Us Fade”, a new novel by David Hogan
Congratulations to David Hogan for winning the 2nd place in the 2020 San Diego Public Library Short Story Contest! Betimes Books published Hogan’s debut novel, The Last Island, in 2013. The novel was a finalist in the San Diego Book Awards, and the e-book version was a bestseller in Australia and the U.K. Hogan's stage … Continue reading Award-winning short story by David Hogan
Jackie Mallon, author of Silk for the Feed Dogs It was a copy of The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy. A certain someone knew I'd appreciate the paperback's many idiosyncrasies: the title, so goofy and slapstick-sounding, in direct contrast to the elegant Hitchcockian blond stretched out nude on the cover in an image by Erwin Blumenfeld, a fashion photographer … Continue reading Christmas nostalgia : Our authors about the best book gift they have ever received (Part 1)
Vote for your favourite Betimes Books cover for a chance to win a print copy of one of our books! The Prize Draw is open to people aged 18 and over who provide their email address by voting for their favourite cover and would be happy to provide their postal address if they win. Please … Continue reading Christmas Prize Draw!
Colin O’Sullivan: The Last Island covers important issues like “environmentalism, animal rights, and the costs of capitalism”. What made you want to write about these issues? David Hogan: I believe that these are among the paramount issues of our time, and that our responses to them will shape the future. So it would’ve … Continue reading “A quixotic endeavour with an unclear goal”. Colin O’Sullivan interviews David Hogan.
Excerpt from David Hogan inspiring novel The Last Island “You’ll be the first person to see this,” she whispered. She grabbed the red towel from the steps and threw it in the water, then pushed me in after it. She began to call Yukon from the steps, whistling and slapping. Shortly after, there was the … Continue reading Summer read: A woman, a dolphin and a marble figurine
David Hogan: You're in the long tradition of writers leaving Ireland in order to write about it. Is there something unique about the country that pushes you away while at the same time drawing you back? Colin O’Sullivan: The Irish have always been a migrant race as you know, for many reasons too long to … Continue reading Writing, reading, music, and “far-awayness”. David Hogan interviews Colin O’Sullivan
Why do I write? I write because I am a prisoner. I write because there exists, beyond the walls of my preconceptions and just outside the barriers of my inventiveness, another story. It’s not wholly personal or cultural or factual. It’s not religious or utopian. Nor is it political. It’s all of these things, or … Continue reading Why do I write? by David Hogan
****The Last Island Review by Victoria Weisfeld "I can’t remember what circuitous path of weblinks took me to David Hogan’s website, but it looked interesting enough that I ordered his book. Unlike a best-seller or a famous author about whose work the reader starts with a set of assumptions, I knew nada about Hogan … Continue reading A new review of David Hogan’s novel THE LAST ISLAND
David Hogan’s The Last Island is currently on promotion in Australia.
When I was 17 years old, I dove into a swimming pool and broke my neck.
Until that moment, I’d been relentlessly active, my days taxed with dread of missing something somewhere. I was on the student council and participated in a wide variety of school clubs. I always secured a part in the school play and rode a unicycle in talent shows. I ran cross-country in the fall, track in the spring and was co-captain of the basketball team in between. I was an honor student who worked full-time in the summer and caddied most weekends in the spring and early fall, except on certain Sundays when I served as an altar boy. I’d never had a drink or a smoke, and I rarely swore. Yet that pleasant summer day, for reasons still unclear to me, I plunged into a six-foot deep above-ground pool and slammed the top of…
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"A shooting star zipped across the sky. I watched it streak behind the mountain on the other side of the island as I thought about the woman against the opposite side of the concrete wall, so very different from me – or anyone. She was a genuine being, pure in spirit and without pretense, willfully … Continue reading A single kiss
Valentine's Day gift ideas for Him or Her: http://viewbook.at/TheLastIsland http://viewBook.at/KillarneyBlues_OSullivan http://getBook.at/ForeversJustPretend http://getBook.at/SILK_Mallon
The Last Island is currently on promotion in Australia. "A full white moon glistened above and lit my way along the dusty road back to the cove. The walk was pleasant, and I took it leisurely, thoughtfully, kicking up rocks and staring at the sky, until I turned off the road into the unpaved path that led … Continue reading Love to travel? Read from THE LAST ISLAND by David Hogan
Not one of my three sisters is a loud, dirty, boozy girl. That’s probably a good thing for them -- as well as me. But if one or two or all of them were, I would give them this book if only because Dylan Thomas, that loud, dirty, boozy poet, said I should. Even without … Continue reading Today: David Hogan’s choice
Christmas is not always magic but good books always are. Whether you love or hate Christmas, you might enjoy a good story. Our collection GIFTS: NINE BITTERSWEET CHRISTMAS STORIES is free on Amazon this week: getBook.at/FREE_GIFTS
A limited print edition of GIFTS is now also available here: http://www.bookdepository.com/Gifts-Betimes-Books/9780992967444 Free delivery worldwide!
From “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” by David Hogan: “It’s because of this spark that Mary called her brother, Brendan, back to Boston just before Christmas when he’d have preferred to be with his own family. It’s because of this spark that Brendan is now gathering leaves on this grey and bitter December morning. … Continue reading Excerpt from GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by David Hogan
Our Christmas collection "Gifts: Bittersweet Christmas Stories"from all Betimes Books authors is now available as e-book for only 0,77£/0,99$ here Read it in PDF format here or contact us to receive a free PDF or Mobi copy of GIFTS! For a print collector edition, click here!
“I don’t understand these people trying to help animals when there’s so much human suffering in the world. Shouldn’t they be helping humans instead?”
I was asked this question at dinner the other day. One of the characters in my novel, The Last Island, is an animal rights activist. The questioner thought that her passion, like that of many other animal activists, was misplaced. I answered the question as best I could at the time, but after some thought I realized that my response was inadequate. I’ve since come to a new conclusion.
Simply put, the advocacy of animal rights is a matter of compassion. Compassion is a practice, not a resource. It’s not limited and can’t be depleted. Like any other practice — meditation, prayer, kindness, love – it’s something within which one can grow and improve. Given that, compassion for animals does not displace or re-direct compassion…
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About THE LAST ISLAND in a Greek American newspaper The Greek Star: http://www.thegreekstar.com/index.php/art-literature/item/2455-book-review-the-last-island Novel Explores Themes of Redemption, Escape, Love, Our Flawed Nature Playwright David Hogan offers an intriguing novel, “The Last Island,” based on a fictional Greek island in the Sporades. The Bostonian who lived in Athens for many years and has spent much … Continue reading “Hogan’s adept storytelling makes us ponder our spiritual essence.”
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