This week I am delighted to welcome Effrosyni Moschoudi to my blog to talk about her writing and her unusual spin on myths and mystery, and her life in Greece during the crisis.

Thanks for joining us, Effrosyni. Tell us a little bit about yourself and when you started writing. 

I was born and raised in Athens, though my mother’s family come from Corfu, an island I still have strong links with and which has been an inspiration in my writing. Having studied computer science, I worked for 20 years in IT in the hotel and airline industries. In my early 30s I spent two-and-a-half years working in England. After losing my full-time job in Greece due to the crisis, I decided to start writing full-time.

I have been writing all my life! I have vivid memories as a child, sitting on a stool before my open bedroom window, looking up at the starry sky with a notepad and pencil in hand, writing poems about the beauty of the sight. In my 20s I started writing love poems and I also set the foundations for much later, when I finally wrote my debut novel, The Necklace of Goddess Athena, published in 2014.

This is a novel with an intoxicating mix of Greek mythology, time travel and romance, set in Athens, which became an Amazon #1 best seller in the Greek and Roman category. What is the book about and what was its inspiration?  

The story is about two young time travellers from Ancient Greece, Phevos and his sister Daphne. They arrive in modern-day Athens, not knowing why their mysterious father Efimios, an unsung hero of the ancient world, has sent them to the city. They only know they are there in the service of the goddess Athena and they will be guided by certain signs. It is only when the pair become involved with two orphaned siblings who live in the foothills of the Acropolis, that the reason for their time travelling becomes clear, as they set out to uncover some ancient family secrets.

I think the book derived from my desire to explain to others the essence of ‘Greekness’. I can imagine that Greeks may seem insanely quirky to the rest of the world, seeing how loud we can be, how huge our food culture is and how devoted we are towards our parents and children. I sought to write a fantasy that bares the Greek soul. My story’s backbone is the Greek triptych, ‘Country, God, Family’. This is what defines us as a people and has saved us in difficult times. My main character Efimios, from ancient Greece, is a symbol of this triptych.

 

Your second novel, The Lady of the Pier (The Ebb), is set in England and Greece. Why did you choose these two different locations?

This book combines my love for both Corfu and England. It is set in Brighton in the 1930s and in Corfu in the 1980s. The part of the story concerning one of the heroines, Sofia, who adores her grandparents and their village in Corfu, brims over with autobiographical elements as I used to spend my summers there. As for Brighton, I became fascinated with the West Pier and its history during my time in England. I felt it was a shame that this magnificent landmark no longer existed and I wanted to bring it back to life through my story.

You obviously have a great love for Britain and a superb grasp of the language, but as a native Greek what makes you want to write in English?

Ever since I was little, I had a huge affinity for the English language. I watched a lot of English and American TV series and wanted badly to speak it. I started private English classes in Athens when I was 10 and from the beginning the language mesmerised me. I started writing poetry in English in my teens and when I finally started writing my first novel, it made sense to write it in English. Besides, the book market is miniscule in Greece right now, so writing in English as an indie author has given me more creative opportunities.

Greece has recently experienced a disastrous five-year economic crisis. How has it affected your life and work?

The crisis has seriously affected my life, as it has everyone’s. Five years ago I lost my job at Athens Airport, where I was purchasing Airbus parts for an airline. Although the home budget for my husband and I has now shrunk, and with it our social life, travel and fun outings, we lead a comfortable life and still enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

We have not been blameless as a nation, however. There has been a huge amount of corruption in this country and ineffectiveness in the political system and the public sector, which has to be fixed. In a way it’s as if the country has suffered from a serious disease and the current situation (with austerity and reforms) resembles a painful healing process. I think the country will come out of the crisis stronger than before.

Most foreigners adore Greece and many have come here to live, and to retire. What do you think it is about Greece that still attracts them? 

Actually, I have first-hand experience of this! My husband Andy is British and has lived in Athens since 1999. It only took him a couple of years to decide that he feels like a Greek, even before he learnt enough Greek to communicate properly. His family visit us occasionally and they all adore Greek food, the beauty of our islands and the open-heartedness of the people. We have many foreign friends who feel that way about Greece as well and plan to retire here. When I was living in England in my thirties, I loved the place and the people but I missed the summer heat and the landscape here. I couldn’t live outside of Greece again.

Where do you currently live in Greece and what makes it special for you? 

I live in a quiet, picturesque town with a tall mountain range on one side and the seafront on the other, about 20 miles from Athens city centre. I spent time here with my family as a child, so when I married it made sense to live here. It’s idyllic. I can look out my kitchen window and see the places where I used to play as a child back in the 1970s. That is precious to me beyond words. The other benefits are of course that the beach is close by, which is wonderful in the summer.

Tell us a bit more about your latest book?

My latest book The Lady of the Pier – The Ebb is part of a trilogy and was published in 2014. It’s a historic tale and also a tragic love story set in two time frames, in England and Corfu, with two very different heroines, Laura and Sofia. Laura has ambitions to become an actress in Brighton’s West Pier theatre and is drawn to two very different kinds of men. Sofia is also searching for love and is lured by the charms of a flirtatious British tourist on holiday in Corfu. Although the women are separated by time and place, they are connected in mysterious and, occasionally, paranormal ways. I am currently working on the second and third parts of the trilogy which I plan to publish this year.

You have a new website. What will readers find there? 

In my new website, http://www.effrosyniwrites.com, readers will find information about my books, including downloadable free excerpts. It also has a blog, with author interviews, book reviews and tips for indie author.

Where to buy Effrosyni’s books:

The Necklace of the Goddess Athena

Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I5GXHCO

Amazon (UK) : https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I5GXHCO

The Lady of the Pier – The Ebb 

Amazon (US): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LGNYEPC

Amazon (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LGNYEPC

Connect with Effrosyni  

Blog: http://www.effrosinimoss.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoreffrosyni

Twitter: https://twitter.com/frostiemoss

Thanks for spending time with us Effrosyni and I wish you great success with your writing career.

Things Can Only Get Feta

For details about my two travel memoirs (Things Can Only Get Feta, and Homer’s Where the Heart Is) recounting our adventures in the Mani, and for reviews and articles, please visit the Greek books page on the www.bigfatgreekodyssey.com website

A new edition of Things Can Only Get Feta has been published. Visit Amazon UK to buy the Kindle version or the paperback version.

If you like the book please think about leaving a review on Amazon. It will be very much appreciated.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

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