1) Welcome Sofianna! First of all, I will take you back a few years and ask you what was the trigger to start your journey in the field of writing?

SP: I've always written (and painted, it's true, but I didn't have time to continue). I used to write screenplays, but these things are more difficult to implement, on a professional level, unlike children's fairy tales where anything can happen and no one will deal with your project in terms of... budget and possible interference or censorship.

If we now combine my love of childhood and being a kindergarten teacher and writing, I quickly realized that this would be a good fit for me… glove, so doing the right studies, I started writing my first fairy tales in 2015. Then I also started blogging, uploading, initially, classic fairy tales. Then I added books and sections on theater for children and separately for adults. 

 

2) How easy or difficult is it for you to turn the thoughts that run through your head into writing?

SP: Very difficult, as I am, among others, a mother of small children and especially boys, and time is automatically limited. How could it be otherwise? There is a word file with a download of ideas that I have to find the time to put in order, do the corresponding research and when the inspiration comes to me, start little by little...

 

3) Are there any writers who have possibly influenced your writing style?

SP:  I appreciate some only subtly. However, I admire certain authors, Greek and foreign, and I read their books with pleasure again and again and many times I wonder: How did they imagine all this? I think they may have been influenced by their experiences as well as artists of other genres.

 

4) Logic or emotion? Which of the two plays a dominant role in your writing?

SP: Because these are books addressed to children or those who feel like children, in a way, we rely on emotions. We want them to emphasize these things, to express them and based on them to proceed, as long as this is possible, so that they develop, achieve their goals and become creative people, which is also my pursuit. Sooner or later, of course, as they grow, they will also realize the essential role that logic plays in our lives and can help them cope with various dilemmas that they will be asked to face. 

 

5) "The Amphimirror", a book that gives us very important lessons about being and appearance. You, how important do you think the first is and how much is the second?

SP: The most important thing, of course, is what everyone is, their personality. The "appearance", most of the time, fools the other person, but, unfortunately, it is what will "attract" you to someone-ah, the first impression, that is, (our protagonist, Dionysia, knows this and that's why she wants, among other things, to lose the extra pounds and become more liked). The "being", however, will keep every relationship at the end.

​

6) What was the most difficult thing for you during the writing of the book and what did you enjoy the most?

SP: There was nothing that particularly made it difficult for me. Ideas come, fortunately, many and different. What I enjoy (in every book) is the illustration stage, where all my characters and the setting, which only in my mind have some mental form, take flesh and bones in collaboration with experienced illustrators and become reality on paper. It is a stage of particular interest to me, because, together with the text, they can take off the fairy tale.

 

7) Many people think, wrongly in my personal opinion, that writing for children is something easy. What is your opinion?

SP: It's not very easy, by any means. First, the child will see the book or keep it to read it several times, if he likes it already or if he doesn't like it he will throw it away and go to the next one, so he is the strictest judge. This is not a stereotype, it is true. Besides, the parents, mainly, are the ones who buy, in most cases, so, after the young readers, we have to respect and attract them equally, with material worth studying and giving to their children. After all, the well-kept book can, among other things, be a valuable resource and a means of creative and quality employment as well as strengthening the parent-child and child-teacher relationship. 

 

8) Really, we all have a little bit of magic inside of us? Do patience and effort pay off?

SP: Of course, we all hide a little magic! I wish, of course, that we could use it where it would fit. I'm sure it would make our world more bearable... Yes, of course, it pays off, it may be slow, but it pays off... Patience and effort are needed in all aspects of our lives.

 

9) What advice would you give to a new writer who is now taking his/her first steps?

SP: To follow his/her dream! To have the knowledge he/she needs, the right partners, to do the required research and if he/she has a complete "package" and believes in himselfherself and his/her work, to approach the publishing houses and have the patience we were saying, because he/she will surely need it. Here his/her efforts will be rewarded! He/she can, of course, try on his/her own.

 

10) Would you like to share with us your future plans? Is there anything you are preparing at the moment?

SP: I am in the stage of illustrating a fairy tale that compares life in the 60s and today, I have completed a fairy tale about a taboo topic that concerns us, more or less (!), I am finishing writing a fairy tale with the theme is the life of Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White in Athens in '21 and I am thinking of starting the writing of "Ice Wonder No. 2, Reloaded"... the return to the North Pole, which will deal with climate changes and their consequences... We have a future, that is, still…!

Sofianna, thank you very much for your time and we wholeheartedly wish you every success in your project!!!

​

For the Authoring Melodies team

Dimitris Bonovas

 

Source: Authoring Melodies, February '22.