1 Tell us a little about yourself.
I was born and went to school in Mozambique. Living my formative years in the confines of strict convents and boarding schools, I escaped by dreaming of faraway exotic places, and it created a deep curiosity about life and people. Feeling the need to liberate my inquisitive mind from conformist restraints, I took refuge in libraries and bookstores, leading to an avid interest in reading, storytelling, and a lifelong obsession with the written word and books.
At age fourteen, I joined my family: father, mother, and a younger brother in South Africa, where I continued my schooling. Now able to read English, I quickly went through most of the classics, discovered ancient civilizations, and became fascinated with various mythologies; a love I have kept to this day. After my father left the family, I went to college to study Interior Design, but the pull of my true calling took me into Creative Writing. I followed that with Scriptwriting.
Raised in a culture where meddling is a synonym for ‘caring’, I became a spectator of human nature. Quiet and shy, I preferred recording conduct, rather than participate in what I call ‘familial mass hysteria’, building a treasure-trove of relationship observations from which I eventually drew backgrounds for the characters in my novels.
What got you into writing?
I had a wild imagination while growing up and often fantasized about other worlds, especially dreaming about great princess escapes and hero rescues. I loved reading and the new worlds were exactly what I was looking for in my getaways. I would also sit reimagining and ‘fixing’ the plots; it was then I realized that what I really wanted to do was tell my own stories.
That's great. A lot of writers know from a young age that this is what they want to do. Share a short excerpt from your novel.
She gazed at her Jack Russell sitting on Mrs. Brown’s windowsill, glad the kind woman had offered to look after the little rascal whenever she was out. She tapped the glass and there was an instant pricking of ears and wagging of tail. She smiled at the furry face staring back at her, ‘Coco, go play.’ Instead, Coco hopped around, pawed the pane, and licked it. Poor Mrs. Brown, another slobbered window to clean.
Coco had been a gift from Sams, and generally, she regretted accepting anything from him, because every time she did, he felt entitled to some part of her life. She was convinced Sams was a freak of nature, because he was that one thing so many men wanted to be but were not, and she could not remember a time when he had not been number one at just about everything he had put his mind to throughout their school years. As far back as she could recall he had always been good-looking, smart, charming, and excelled at sports, especially rugby. A lot of idolatry had flown around that school. He thrived on it, she found it disturbing.
Her heart dropped as she reached her car, there was a deep dent and crack on the Beetle’s front bumper. She peered at it, poked it, gave it a kick then looked around; trying to find someone who might explain it, but there was no one in sight. Now, when exactly did this happen, here, or at some parking lot? Her father had bought it just two months previously.
‘Ugh,’ she uttered. It was a new car with a scar and she with no idea how it had been inflicted. She felt like crying but what would that accomplish? She should have known then that this was not to be a normal day but ever the eternal optimist she set forth into it as if it were an adventure.
The damaged bumper returned her thoughts to Sams. Once, when they were still learning how to drive, he had taken his mother’s car without permission and gone over to her house. She hated it when he turned up unexpectedly because he was constantly looking for things she did not intend giving him.
He sort of kissed her... She labelled it sort of, because she had been unresponsive. However, when he forced his tongue into her mouth, she became responsive, by pushing him away and locking herself in her bedroom. Sams did not understand or accept rejection easily and left in a huff. She should rephrase that, he tried to leave in a huff but proceeded to scratch a long ugly line all the way down the car’s side as he drove past the gate, so instead, he left in a furious mood.
Athina, do you have any helpful advice that you have been given that you can share with us?
The most helpful advice. Write with your heart, edit with your mind, and never lose sight of your dreams.
What are you working on presently, Athina?
I am working on a family saga. In book one, ‘All I Ever Wanted’ will cover two modern-day families, who have been feuding with each other for sixty years, but fate crosses their path once again. Book two, will be about the beginning, and how the feud came about.
That sounds very interesting. I like books that switch from different perspectives. I think it really gives more to the story. Is When Dani Smiled a stand-alone novel or part of a series?
It is a stand-alone novel, but I see all my stories as part of something. I write about young women with ideas and fledgling careers. They find and create chaos in their own lives, and it is the journey of figuring out what to do, overcome, and who to let into their lives that creates the story.
1 What is the easiest part of the writing process? What is the hardest?
When the ideas come thick and fast, it is easy to not move for hours, to become engrossed in writing and nothing else matters. But the hardest is when you realise you have created plot-holes and now must either change, delete, or add, for things to make sense again. Sometimes, it takes a while to make things fit.
I agree, when you get going sometimes with speed comes some inconsistencies. I always advise new writers not to be afraid to rewrite if the need arises. What brought about the idea for your book?
‘When Dani Smiled’ is based on a young woman’s fashion designing college days. I used to listen to the stories she told, and knew that I would use it as the basis in a future book. Of course, everything in the story did not happen to one particular person, I just gave the main character all the combined troubles she mentioned throughout her three years at college, then added Sams’ obsession, and Dani falling in love with the heir of a prestigious fashion house.
1 Is there something you learned from writing your first book?
Yes, perseverance is key. And a lot of editing. A story is never ended until it is published, because there is always something to add, delete, or change. One just has to know when to let go.
Athina do you have aby hobbies aside from writing?
As I come from an Interior Design background, I love beautiful things, so I have taken up art. My favourite is Acrylic Pour Painting. And I am trying out furniture flips.
Interior design? That would come in handy around my house. I am so bad at picking out colors. Many times I have to repaint because one a room is done, I am not happy with it. Athina, do you think you will ever write in other genres? I know some authors just stick to one area.
Definitely, and I am incubating a fantasy. I have worked and reworked scenes in my head already, and put down on paper parts of it.
2 What advice would you give someone who is considering publishing? Should they consider traditional or self-publishing?
I see a distinction between traditional, indie, and even between self-publishing and vanity publishing. We would all like to be traditionally published, but the industry is not ready for the avalanche of writers that the world has become. In the end, the decision is the writer’s alone, and if they wish to keep trying until they are accepted by the big five, by all means.
Otherwise, going indie may be the solution. Many indie publishers maintain as high a standard as any traditional publisher, and those are the ones new writers should look for.
Self-publishing on the other hand can mean anything from terrible to excellent, so it depends on who is involved in the process. If one only wants to publish fifty copies of grandpa’s war adventures for family purposes, self-publishing is the way to do it. But, if possible, have the work edited by a professional. It is the atrociously badly written and unedited works that have given the industry such a bad name, and why people and bookstores resist self-published books,
Happy Reading!!
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