I was born and raised in Athens, Greece. I went to an international school where everything was taught in English. Growing up with three different languages and cultures around me (my dad is Greek and my mum is Polish) was very beneficial, but it also gave rise to some identity issues, feeling unable to really completely fit in anywhere, being unable to truly feel at home. Studying in England was great, but there was a lack of European culture. I now live in Munich, Germany, and the fit feels right :-)
I’m obsessed with stories. These can be in the form of either a book I can’t put down, or a film, TV or anime series I can’t tear my eyes away from. I work in film & TV production. In my spare time I read and write. My bookshelves are filled with YA fiction, particularly fantasy and dystopian series. My DVD collections are mostly films of fairy tales, rom coms and superhero action movies.
I’m super sensitive, but I only show that side of me to people I trust. To anyone else, I appear (and often am) indifferent.
Despite the fact that I danced lots (from ballet lessons as a child to trying every type of dance that existed while at university) and therefore trained my balance, I have a mild tendency towards clumsiness. I’m 6ft tall, and so I rarely wear heels. Perhaps because I don’t wear them often and haven’t mastered the skill of walking on mini-stilts, I’m a little wobbly when I do wear them and so my klutz-factor rises with them on. A friend of mine once called me "Bambi" when she saw me trying to tackle heels.
I write fantasy YA fiction. It’s my favourite genre to read - magic powers, other worlds, etc. But I especially like it when there is a love story and/or self-discovery occurring in the background of all the action, which is the case in my own work. I love fantasy because the world in my imagination is so much more interesting than the one I live in, and I want to share my imaginary adventures with others. I’d be out there fighting evil dragons and demons with superpowers if I could, trust me.
AW: Tell us about your book….
I’ve written a YA fantasy e-book trilogy, titled “Ambrosia Chronicles”. The third and final volume of the series will be published soon. Book 1, “Ambrosia Chronicles: The Discovery”, starts the trilogy off with low fantasy. The level of fantasy rises as the story progresses so that Book 3 ends in high fantasy.
The story starts when Alex is reunited with her high school crush, Ian; a pleasant surprise after enduring the mundane and gruelling first year law school exams. Soon after this encounter, she discovers that Ian is part of a suspicious organisation that she herself becomes involved with when she witnesses something she shouldn’t have. Alex is forced to go on the run, entrusted with the protection of a heavily sought-after little pouch. She must rely on the protection of Lucas, her arrogant and mysterious rescuer, in order to reach the organisation’s headquarters in one piece. But she quickly learns that Lucas is just as dangerous as the people who are after her.
A large influence in the creation of the main characters of “Ambrosia Chronicles” comes from my own experiences when I first left Athens to go study in the UK. The cultural differences, the closed-mindedness of some people and the open-mindedness of others, the struggle of being a single girl not interested in a one-night stand but something more than that while in college, befriending people and disliking others, further shaping of character as everyone (well, most people) evolve from adolescent to actual adult - all of these things and so much more lie in the foundations of Alex’s character. She’s shy, quiet, she has a confident outgoing best friend she can tell anything to, but deep down she’s lonely and a little depressed with the boring routine of her life, unsure where she fits in. My inspiration for this book essentially comes from a craving I personally had while at law school to just break away into a fantasy world and live adventure after adventure.
The fantasy elements in my story are inspired and fused with Ancient Greek & Norse mythology. What if all those stories that are myths and legends to us actually took place? I’m not saying that Perseus who slew Medusa lives among us now, but what if there was a world where he actually lived and actually slew Medusa all those years ago? I grew up reading various interpretations and retellings of these stories, and so I wanted to do something of my own with them.
AW: Do you have a favorite character and why that one?
Ooh… Tricky question… Hmmm. I suppose my favourite character is Emma. She’s so confident, beautiful, and fiery, but she’s also got the brains to back it up, most of the time! And when that doesn’t work, her best friend Alex is usually able to help her out. She knows what she wants and she’s not afraid to say it. Her directness often leads to embarrassing revelations where Alex would want the earth to swallow her (I would too), but Emma just shrugs her shoulders and accepts it, acting like she intended the revelations. She’s very strong. Like Alex in the story, I look up to that confidence and strength, but whereas Alex has to search for it inside her sometimes, Emma has it in bucketfuls.
AW: What project(s) are you currently working on?
I’m working on a couple of different things at the moment. I’m drafting my next fantasy series, doing lots of research and building up the stories of the main characters. I’m considering writing a comedy influenced by all the funny things that have happened in my life on set of film and TV productions.
AW: Do you have any interesting writing quirks you want to tell us about?
AW: Do you have any interesting writing quirks you want to tell us about?
It’s not a quirk, but it’s something I have noticed that I do when I write - I write fantasy best when I’m alone and undisturbed. I become unsocial, introverted and a hermit, behaving like the world I’m drafting is much more worth my time than the one I currently live in. It has led to misunderstandings in the past, since I stop talking to everyone so that I can focus better. I’m more social when I’m writing a cosmopolitan or urban plot, funnily enough.
AW: Do you have any advice for writers out there?
I’m still a novice, so no, no advice from me just yet, but I’ll be grateful for any I can get from other authors!
AW: Where can we find you?
My website is http://kcsimos.wix.com/
I also have a blog solely for the Ambrosia Chronicles series, called “The Mytholian Corner”. Each entry provides information about a different mythological artefact, food, character, creature or location that is either present in or has influenced the series somehow. Updates and reviews are also posted there: http://kcsimos.wix.com/
I can be found on Goodreads: https://www.
The official Facebook Page for Ambrosia Chronicles is https://www.facebook.com/
I also have an Instagram account where I frequently post photos, mostly of food I have cooked (I LOVE cooking & baking): https://instagram.
AW: And of course we have to know, where can we find your book?
My book is available on Amazon, iBookstore, Nook B&N and Kobo. My website provides links to each of these ebook stores, so you can easily click the link of your choice there: http://kcsimos.wix.com/
0 comments:
Post a Comment