Author interview - Chrystalla Thoma

I have had computer problems recently so have been un able to make any postings. Fortunately, we have an interview today with recently published author Chrystala Thoma. She's got a fascinating story, and that doesn't even include her book. Thanks for joining us today Chrystala.

Please give me a general biographic background to introduce you to the readers. It can be anything you want to share: where you grew up, education, interests, employment experience, age, marital and family status, publication history etc. Whatever you feel comfortable with.

Hi dear James, thanks for hosting me today!

I bear the name of both my grandmothers (Chrystalla), which is a typical name here in Cyprus. I am Greek Cypriot, and until the age of 10 I knew about 7 words of English. Boy did that change later! J I left Cyprus to study languages and translation when I was 18 (back then there wasn’t a university here yet). I studied in France, then in England and Germany where I did my PhD in linguistics and translation. There I met my husband, Carlos, who is Costa Rican, so we moved to Costa Rica for a few years. Since summer 2010, we live in Cyprus. Like every self-respected author, I have gone through different sorts of jobs – from answering phones in KFC here in Cyprus to teaching English and French to children, from being the guide for Cypriot tourists in Disneyland-Paris in France to teaching linguistics at university students and working as a freelance translator. Right now, I work as the European countries officer and Magazine editor for the Thalassaemia International Federation.

When did you first decide to become a writer? What was that like?

I’m not original in this: I decided I wanted to be a writer when I was about 10. And then seriously decided it again when I was 12 and wrote my first novel. It was a wonderful feeling, like going home after wandering aimlessly for years. But it didn’t last, because I was discouraged by everyone I knew. Not because I was a bad author (for my age!) but because in the Greek world at least there is no money in being a writer. What it was like? Like falling from a cliff. Scary.

Who were the writers who inspired you when you were younger?

One huge influence was Jules Verne, another was Michael Ende (The Neverending Story, Mirror in the Mirror, Momo). It was obvious from the start I was into science fiction and fantasy, lol! My first stories and novels were fantasy as well.

What kind of obstacles did you face when you first began writing? How did you overcome them?

Well, let’s see… The first obstacle was in my mind: since writing in Greek isn’t really going to be a career, and since Greeks don’t go much for fantasy and science fiction, which incidentally are the two genres I really like, then the solution is to write in English. My English isn’t bad, heck I even have a BA in English literature and translation. But, for some reason, I was certain that no author can write in any other language than their mother tongue. So I had to get over that mountain of preconception and fear. My first attempt at writing a story in English (from scratch – not writing the text in Greek and then translating) was scary. But after that it got better and better. Perseverance I think is the word – mulish stubbornness. I want to do it, so I can. J

How long and how many drafts does it usually take to finish a novel?

Ooh, such a precise question, looking for a precise answer… Horribly many? Countless, I guess. My problem is that once I write the first draft, I let it rest too long. So when I return to it, I rewrite it completely. And so on and so forth. So I have a piece of advice here, which I formulated in the past year after one such experience: never let your writing rest for too long (for more than, say, two months). Unless you want to write a different story from scratch. There, I said it. Too much resting is bad for the dough, er, story.

What kind of obstacles did you face when you first published? How did you overcome those?

Oh my, very good questions. Hm… Well, I mostly published short stories in journals, and there the main obstacle is of course getting accepted. Now, for my urban fantasy novella, Dioscuri, my main problem was promotion. My publisher is excellent, so I had wonderful editors and a great cover – so my part was to promote, promote, promote. Make a trailer, do interviews, get reviews, post on the readers’ groups, write posts about the story. And believe me this takes up more time that the actual writing or editing of the story. I haven’t really overcome this problem. I have dropped out of the readers’ groups, but try to participate in the Six Sentence Sunday (a project where many authors post on their blogs each Sunday six sentences from a story they are publishing or currently working on) and try to post as much as possible about my stories.

What are your thoughts on self publishing vs. the traditional route?

Actually this is a topic that has been a lot on my mind lately. With the soar in sales of self-published books in electronic format – be it on Kindle, Pubit, Smashwords, Mac or any other format – the image of self-publishing has completely changed, due to the lack of publishing costs. I would love to try both the traditional and the self-publishing routes. I am very happy with my publisher and would like to submit more work to them – but would also love to self-publish a couple of things, see how it goes. What I particularly like about the self-publishing route is that the author has total control on everything – from the cover to the price.

What are you working on currently? Can we see a bit of it?

Right now I am working on a retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. According to one myth from Crete, the Minotaur is Asterion, supposed to be King Minos’ son, but in fact his wife Pasiphae begat him with Poseidon who appeared to her in the form of a bull. Here are the opening lines (mind, though, that this is the first draft):

Asterion paced the length of the room, back and forth, fists clenched at his sides. The bull mask grinned at him from its perch on the altar, the golden horns sparkling in the candlelight, the gem eyes glittering.
“You must do it,” said a gravelly male voice.
“Or what? The world ends? Chaos will fall on us?”
“And if I said yes?”
Asterion halted. Bitterness welled in his mouth. “I can’t do it, silene. I can’t be his vessel for his gruesome sacrifice. I won’t kill them. I don’t owe Poseidon anything.”
The silene shook his shaggy head, long animal ears drooping. “He is your father.”

This story is set in the same world, in an Athens where the old gods have woken again, as my published novella Dioscuri, available now through MuseItUp Publishing here: http://tinyurl.com/497ftpr

What advice do you have for aspiring novelists?

Write what you’d love to read. Persevere. Revise. Rewrite. Don’t ever give up.

Where do you see yourself ultimately taking your career?

I am working on a couple of science fiction and fantasy novels right now. I hope to publish some the traditional way, and some through self-publishing. And I hope one day to be able to concentrate fully on writing – so if anyone has a fortune they don’t need, please mark my email address and make me your inheritor. Please, and thank you. J

My blog:

http://chrystallathoma.wordpress.com/