Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Say Hello to International Author KOSTAS PARADIAS

Please say hello to KOSTAS PARADIAS! He is an international author from Greece, who brings us an amazing childhood story called "Something in the Sandbox", featured in this year's anthology, An Honest Lie Vol. 4: Petulant Parables. Having read the story as an editor, I can say this is a must-read story, that is family friendly, with a Neil Gaiman-ish flair to his storytelling voice.

Let me get on with the interview. I know this is not your first work. Can you tell us a little about your other sites and pieces?

I have a blog called Shapescapes, where I showcase some of my short stories for all genres and ages, called Fairy Tales from Far Away, as well as my first English novella, called Stone Cold Countenance. I also try my hand at reviews, every week there and publish my Greek Science Fiction novel weekly.

Future projects are aplenty. There’s a limited comic book series (which is complete and I am currently in the process of submitting to various publishing houses) called Post Rapture, there’s a webcomic series that’s coming soon on my blog, there’s a science fiction novel that I’m translating into English which is to be the first in a series, there are short stories aplenty (mostly horror though) that I am looking to publish in certain anthologies and, weather and money permitting, a video game script.

As for my social accounts, I have a Facebook page under the name Konstantine Paradias which I use to present any anthologies with free submission I happen to stumble upon so I can help people also find something that will help them realize their dream. I pretty much do the same thing on twitter, @KonstantineP.

You sound incredibly busy! Now, you're from Greece, and the publisher is in the United States, and distribution is world-wide. Can you tell us a little bit more about your Greek background, specifically writing and publishing in multiple languages?

To be a Greek writer is to bear a particular kind of burden. You see, the literary scene (and market) in Greece is fairly limited, which means that it has very few and narrow windows of opportunity, as well as a very small audience you can present your works to.

Not to say that there aren’t any creators worth mentioning. The influx of fiction from foreign writers and artists has given rise to a great number of aspiring authors, who wish more than anything to showcase their work and present new genres and ideas to the Greek public to the audience, but find that the publishing scene in Greece has yet to develop.

As a result, I turned to English. But to write in a language that isn’t your mother language is a difficult (though certainly not impossible) task. I started off very soon, at the age of 13 to be specific, when my mother convinced me to read H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds and I suddenly realized that I needed to learn more about the wonderful world of fiction so I could experience it in its original form. So I put my all into studying and comprehending the English language, even though I know I have a very, very long way to go yet.

As an editor, reader, and author, I can say with some authority that your second-hand command of the English language is superior to most of the native-speakers, as well as many published authors. Do you think you have an advantage as a multilingual author?

In this day and age where we’re at the cusp of achieving a global culture thanks to the vast and mind-boggingly fast methods of communication available? How can you possibly not be multilingual?

Allow me to elaborate: as I said, the English language is a perfect machine that allows the melding of other languages into a cohesive whole and also the new common tongue. To an English native speaker, these properties are lost, because he (or she) takes the language for granted. But to a Greek, it’s his chance to reach out and communicate with the world through his works.

But knowing a foreign language does not merely give a man the advantage of communication. It also allows him to think differently. It is said that Russians can see more colors, simply because their language has more words in its vocabulary for colors, therefore allowing their brains to adjust to the idea and, in fact, see them. Do you see where I am going with this?

A language, no matter how well-known or well developed, does not just allow you to restructure your ideas. It allows you to restructure you perception of reality, to understand things from a different viewpoint and in fact, see things from a completely different perspective than before. It gives you a certain kind of clarity that you could never possibly achieve through your mother tongue.

It also turns any travels to foreign countries into cultural walks through the kitchens to meet the chef, instead of brief, casual glances at the menus, with faceless waiters hovering over you.

That is truly an amazing way to look at not only different languages, but also vocabulary within existing languages. A larger vocabulary can certainly open your mind beyond additional colors. Do you think it is better to make the reader see your viewpoint, or that you make the reader see theirs?

Both. Some stories work for me as a means to present my feelings and opinions about people, situations and ways of thinking. Sometimes, I feel so strongly about those things that I absolutely can’t find it in my heart to distance myself from them, no matter how hard I try.

But sometimes, stories work as a mirror. I find that I can write better when I use someone else’s viewpoint. That I can actually make a much better story when I let the viewer fill in the blanks. These are also the stories that can be so much more than meets the eye.

You are a deep-thinking man, chock full of both intellect and humor. I'm afraid I haven't showcased your humor, so let's ask you something fun and see what comes out. Can you tell us about the last time you were pulled over by a police officer?

It happened about two years ago, just a week before I was to be enlisted in the army. I and some friends of mine had hit the clubs and since I had lost the rock-paper-scissors contest, I was to carry the burden of designated driver.

I started on the long drive home at about 3 a.m., with a carload full of good friends who were too drunk to even stand up straight, feeling strangely cheated in my sobriety. It was at that point that we were asked to pull over by a traffic control officer, who immediately began administering tests.

Despite the fact that I had not touched a drop, the officer did however put me through the entirety of the test curriculum (starting with the reverse recitation of the alphabet, all the way to walking in a straight line and touching my nose with the tip of my hands), with my severely inebriated friends laughing uproariously at their sober driver. I was so nervous that I thought that any minute now, the officer might change his mind and take away my license. I guess it is true how they say that innocent men are the ones that usually bear the greatest guilt.

Well, there you go, Dear Readers! I'd like to thank KOSTAS PARADIAS for taking the time to answer my questions, and for being a good sport about the answers. Be sure to check back later to catch his story, "Something in the Sandbox" in An Honest Lie Vol. 4: Petulant Parables!

KOSTAS PARADIAS BIO
Konstantine Paradias is a jeweler by profession and a writer by choice. His lifelong dream has been to publish a series of children’s books, since he considers it to be one of the loftiest achievements an author can have.

His short stories in Greek have been published by the fantasy and science fiction magazine Universal Pathways (Συμπαντικές Διαδρομές), while his work in English has been published in the Open Hearts Anthology, Vol4: Petulant Parables.

He writes science fiction short story reviews for the website bestscifistories.com and a series of comic book reviews for his own blog, (Shapescapes) and is in the process of publishing a webcomic, titled Aeternum.

His first e-book, Stone Cold Countenance is available for purchase on Bibliocracy and it’s only the first of many that are in the works.

- Eric


Eric W. Trant is a published author of several short stories and the novel Out of the Great Black Nothing. He is currently represented by Debrin Case at Open Heart Publishing. See more of Eric's work here: Publications

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