Today’s special guest is fantasy author Konstantina P to chat with me about her new spec-fic fantasy, The Trial Show: The Resistance Rises.
Bio:
Konstantina was born in 1988 in Korinthos, Greece, and soon after her family moved to Lefkada where she grew up until 2006 when she relocated to Athens for her studies. She has a BSc in Physics, an MSc in Materials Science, a PhD in Physics and a second PhD in Engineering. In 2013, she got her Diploma in Scriptwriting for TV, Film, Stage, Radio.
In 2020, she moved to Coventry, UK, where she currently lives. She keeps busy teaching in higher education and researching energy materials towards a greener future.
Welcome, Konstantina. Please tell us about your current release.
The Trial Show is the first book in the “Resistance” series. It comes after three years of hard work since, as it is self-published, I had to do pretty much everything myself until it reached the final stage and was ready for the editors and designers. I can say that it is my favorite amongst the stories I’ve written so far, because it includes some unsubtle comments about today’s society and how it revolves around the media.
The story also comes with an award under its belt! It was an “Official Coronet Selection” at the “Queen Palm International Film Festival,” in the “Best Feature Script” category.
What inspired you to write this book?
The basic motto when writing this book was “Turn off your TV.” It is sad how opinions and beliefs nowadays are so biased and that they can be so easily manipulated by a news article with no substantial evidence or deep research.
On the other hand, I wanted to write a spy thriller/action story in which the protagonists are not the usual type you find in this type of books. Hence the LGBTQ+ romance between the leader of the revolution and his second-in-command.
Excerpt from The Trial Show:
“You do realise it’s suicide, right?” Maybe if I say that word enough times, it’ll shake him. However, this time, it only gets him to move his feet off the table.
“I don’t see any other option here. We need to open people’s eyes.”
“The same people that condemned Wood?” I can’t help but ask. He seems to forget sometimes that people don’t always want to be saved. It’s one thing to fight united against the government, and a totally different thing to fight the government and rouse the people. We’re too few. We can’t be the spark that will ignite the revolution and, at the same time, the soldiers that will carry the battles on their shoulders.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about!” Jay screams. There’s no reasoning with him. “People send other people to death row because they’re too damn curious to turn off their fucking TVs! What kind of justice is that?”
He has a point here, but this particular mission is not about the common good. “Carver is not exactly innocent. He did kill civilians.”
“He was making an example. And now we need to make one, too.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. He’s so over the line that maybe it’s time for me to let the string attaching us together snap. “Using more violence?”
“We have to! They poke us? We poke them right back!”
What exciting story are you working on next?
My next book is a historical fiction novel about a Native American tribe before first contact. And of course, if everything goes according to schedule, “Resistance” book 2 is also in the works.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I don’t think there was a particular moment when I told myself “You are a writer. This is what you do.” I kind of always liked to write; even won a competition in high school. I have an image of tiny me chasing my mother around trying to read to her I poem I had written. It was, obviously, a bunch of nonsense.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
As much as I wish I could, I don’t write full-time. I actually work in higher education and in materials research. Usually, I write late into the night and on weekends It’s easier since I moved to the UK. The rainy weather and long winter nights help to stay indoors and write.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I don’t think I have one. Unless not drinking coffee counts?
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was really young, like 8-10 years old, I wanted to be an archaeologist. That changed when, at 15, I experienced my first big earthquake which led to lots of reading and me falling in love with physics. Eventually, that was the career path I followed.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
A huge thank you to everyone who reads my stories! And If you do, please remember that a rating or/and a review makes a huge difference for an indie or self-published author.
Links:
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