Jacqueline paizis

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I was born in Hythe, Kent UK into a working class family. My enduring love of the sea is born from my birthplace where I was in the sea all summer. I cannot live far from the sea. I have written two novels and some short stories, two of which are published in collections. I love cats and I spend half my year in Greece. My writing has centred on Greece, Greek culture and literature. I speak and write fluent Greek. Having written two novels and tried hard at marketing I am now going to concentrate on short fiction.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My second novel is A Sea Change. This book was inspired by years of crafting short stories, lived experiences in different parts of Greece, my political passions that have been part of my psyche since I was fifteen years old and of course people, characters, their dilemmas, their battles within an unequal society.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Maybe. I have never been able to stick to a routine e.g. getting up at 5am and writing for three/four hours. I am very bad at self discipline but when I’m inspired I write. I get a lot of ideas from reading.

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Where do I start? The early political novels of George Orwell, Edna O’Brien. The classics, George Elliott, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte. Contemporary classics such as Nabokov, Joan Didion, Patricia Highsmith. I think my taste in literature is as eclectic as my taste in music.

What are you working on now?
Short fiction and even flash fiction, entering competitions that I never seem to win or even get to runner up stage. I have at least 5 short stories so am working towards an anthology.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I have used Facebook and published on Amazon and now I have just joined Goodreads. I am on Twitter but don’t see much point in that.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write because you want to express something not to impress someone and don’t ever expect to become rich. Becoming a well known author is not very different from the rest of society’s norms i.e. it’s who you know or who you’re connected to that gets you into the bookshops, regardless of the quality of your writing.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Listen or read advice that is offered then ignore it.

What are you reading now?
Touch by Graham Mort (short stories from his first collection)
A sample of Once Upon a River
A sample of The Terror (after watching BBC dramatization)

What’s next for you as a writer?
As I said experimenting with short fiction/hybrid pieces.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Shakespeare complete works
Poems of Constantine Kavafy
The Odyssey by Homer
The collected short stories of Ernest Hemingway

Author Websites and Profiles
Jacqueline paizis Website
Jacqueline paizis Amazon Profile

Jacqueline paizis’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account