Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a Greek writer and I have -to date- published my work in some of the most important Greek publishing houses.Two novels, a collection of short stories, a poetry collection, a poetic composition dedicated to the great Greek poet Giannis Ritsos, a political essay and many educational books. My profession, after all, is a teacher of the Greek language in public education.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book is a novel entitled “The Chip of Knowledge”. Its central conception is what the title suggests, the existence of a tiny device that will implant in the minds of people all the existing knowledge, in a version completely free from any ideological charge. What prompted me to write this is the tendency of modern people to believe that somethingclearly false is true. For example, being convinced that they live in a democratic society, when in fact what they are experiencing is an oligarchy. So I wrote a science fiction novel with strong doses of political realism.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Something that characterizes the way I write is that I prepare my material for a long time and, only when I am absolutely sure of the structure and the final form of my work, then I start writing it. That is why the writing period is rarely longer than nine months.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Many. First of all, all the great ancient Greek writers, with Homer first, who is the father of literature. Also, all the great philosophers and the political science of the modern great Greek professor George Kontogeorgis. If I have to dwell on three writers who defined the way I see my works, they are the Portuguese José Saramago, the Italian Italo Kalvino and the Greek Pavlos Matessis.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working on a biography, a textual genre that I am dealing with for the first time and that has excited me. This is the biography of the first female astrophysicist in Greece, who also became the first female Vice President of the European Astronomical Society (EAS), the European NASA, while she also worked at NASA itself.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I think the Amazon platform is currently unbeatable.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Do not keep in mind the potential readers and their supposed requirements when writing, because that way it is certain that they will never meet them.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Learn to subtract instead of add.
What are you reading now?
The book “The theory of revolutions in Aristotle” by George Kontogeorgis.
What’s next for you as a writer?
With the publication of my latest novel “The Chip of Knowledge” in English by the London publishing house Ontime Books and its distribution throughout the English-speaking world, my goal is to get to know the international public.
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?
Sigmund Freud’s “Culture as a Source of Suffering”, Epikouros’ “Opinions” and Edward Wilson’s “The Meaning of Human Existence”
Author Websites and Profiles
Vaggelis Kaliosis Website
Vaggelis Kaliosis Amazon Profile
Vaggelis Kaliosis’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile