Episode 22 Conversations over Milk & Cookies - Nicholas C. Rossis
Welcome to Episode 22 of Conversations over Milk & Cookies hosted by Kindle Ninja.
What is this madness, you ask?
It's my way of supporting members of the RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB.
We interact with them everyday, directly through tweets, or indirectly through re-tweets, but we don't really know much about them. Their personalities really don't shine through in 140 characters.
All the EPISODES of Conversations over Milk & Cookies can be found HERE. Or you can just look to your right and you'll find the Quick Links.
BOOK 3 of PERSEUS IS OUT: 'MAD WATER'
Nicholas is the Rave Reviews Book Club's Social Media Director.
Let's get to know Nicholas in more than 140 characters, shall we?
KINDLE
NINJA: Welcome to Conversations over Milk and Cookies. How
do you like your cookies? Chewy? Crunchy? Crumbly? Something else?
Is it possible to have some
that are crunchy until dipped for a second or two in tea, then they become
deliciously soft and moist? The chocolate chip ones, please. Yes, that one.
Thank you (dunk, sip).
Kindle Ninja: Chocolate chip cookie is popular among my guests here. I see you prefer tea over milk.
Do
you think dunking Oreos in a glass of milk is manly?
Mmph (gulp).
Sorry, that’s a good cookie.
Yes. If it was good enough for our forefathers – and, as you know, they always
did that before rescuing fair dragons from evil maidens – it’s good enough for
us.
I’d assume I’m the person
you’d want to drink Milk with, but who’s the person you’d want to have tea with?
Well, the queen of course.
I’ve always wanted to ask her where she shops for hats.
Failing that, Philip K. Dick
would be an awesome companion, too. But I’d watch the tea for vitamins. As you
may know, all his hallucinations started after he experimented with huge doses
of water-soluble vitamins. Can’t have that in my tea (sip).
Kindle Ninja: I assure you there's nothing of that sort in the cookies and milk. I'm not sure about the tea though ;)
Has
your adorable dog Meli ever eaten your manuscript?
Well, my manuscript is typed
on my PC, so she would have a hard time chewing harder (heh heh) disk. Besides,
she’s a notorious grammar Nazi, so I doubt she’d eat anything not proofread.
A previous dog has eaten the
equivalent of a 50 euro bill, though. Does that count?
What’s
the HARDEST part of being the Rave Reviews Book Club Social Media Director?
Quite frankly, nothing! It’s
great fun, and I get to work with a lot of awesome people. The only problem I
can think of is the perpetual lack of time that seems to characterize us
writers, and it’s a lot of work maintaining such a busy club’s social presence!
Thankfully, I have the help of two wonderful ladies (hi Marlena, hi Kathryn)
and, of course, Michelle (our tweet expert) and the entire board behind me.
Writers
are very interesting (and sometimes quirky) people with strange rituals. What
is your strange writing ritual?
Damn, I must have fallen
asleep during that part of my writer orientation course. I haven’t got any, but
I promise to come up with something for the next interview.
What
would you consider as your 15 mins of fame?
I have been interviewed on
magazines and the television (ages ago), but the weirdest story has to be the
arrest of a serial killer that I happened to assist, even in a most roundabout
way.
This was back in 1993. I was
in the navy (Greece still has conscripts, and I served for 23 months). I was
secretary to a naval base Commanding Officer. One day, I was filing away my reports,
when out of the blue, a number of MPs (military police) filed into my office
and asked me to call a certain sailor. As soon as he arrived, they arrested him
and dragged him away in handcuffs.
That evening, the TV
announced the arrest of three people for multiple ritualistic murders. I had
been serving with this person for months, and had no idea.
How
important is the choice of character names in your novel (or any novel for that matter)
Very important, and not that
important at the same time. I’m not sure how the names pop into my head.
Sometimes it’s like the characters simply come and introduce themselves. Other
times, I choose the name through various bouts of free association.
When I want to imply culture
or race, I occasionaly consult online services that offer common names for specific
cultures, genders etc. In fact, I have written a blog post about this, called Naming your characters the easy way.
If
your novel “Pearseus” would be made into a movie, who do you want to play the
main character/s?
I
would love Mark Harmon (from NCIS) for the part of Parad, the stoic general,
even if the latter is Indian in origin. And Indian Harmons, I wonder?
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I
imagine Teo Altman being played by Danny De Vito. For some reason, I’m
convinced that he would be able to bring out the character’s more unsavoury
parts. And Meryl Streep would make a great justice Styx. Anna Hathaway would be
perfect as Gella, and Sol has the golden hair of Daryl Hanna.
And
who will direct the movie?
I love Verhoeven’s work;
dark and powerful. I might answer his call…
Kindle Ninja: Good choice.
Celebrity
/ Author / Famous Person you’d take to another planet should Earth become extinct.
My wife, Electra. I know
she’s only famous within a very close circle, but she’s all I need!
How do you feel about
doughnuts without holes?
Funny you should ask! I was
on the island of Lefkada the other day when we came across this place that had loukoumades – traditional doughnuts
without holes – served with Nutella, crushed almonds and soft ice cream. I took
a picture just for you. Yummy!
Kindle Ninja: Glorious doughnuts! Don't ever show this to Danica Cornell. LOL She loves doughnuts + chocolates.
What’s
the book you wished you’d written?
Jonathan Livingston Seagull,
by Richard Bach. My hair always stand on end whenever I read it!
What’s
the book that positively shaped you?
The Tao Te Ching. My translation of it into Greek reignited my passion
for writing, and its teachings, with which I first came into contact as a teen,
has shaped my entire philosophy.
What
would you rather be doing now? (instead of answering these questions).
The only thing more fun than
this is writing my book. Nothing compares to that (just don’t tell Electra
that)!
Kindle Ninja: Well, if you give me more of those loukoumades, nobody gets hurt.
What
do you do to decompress?
You remember our dog, Meli? We
are blessed in living very close to a number of natural reserves, so we take
her for long walks. As we have a pick between sea (a 20’ drive) or forest (a
10’ drive), we’re really spoilt for choice!
If the weather is too hot or
miserable, I practice my Tai Chi. It’s like meditation, only you get to shake da booty, as you kids say (did I
just say that?). (Kindle Ninja: I'll pretend you didn't).
Finally, I meditate and pray
daily. It helps me ground myself.
What
bizarre food have you eaten?
Erm, I’m not all that
adventurous, but I have tried crocodile. Does that count? It wasn’t bad at all,
either, I’d gladly have it again.
If RRBC members were to raid your fridge, what
would they find in there?
A lot of veggies! Electra
tends her own garden, so she brings in basketfuls of them.
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We eat as much as we can,
and BBQ the rest, sprinkled with olive oil, lemon and oregano. We then make
them into paste and preserve them in the freezer. That way, whenever we wish to
have spaghetti in the winter, we add a couple of spoonfuls into our (again,
self-made) tomato paste and have a great instant tomato sauce.
She also makes jams and
preserves, so there is a small army of jars of all shapes and sizes filing up
in there!
Kindle Ninja: Pls. adopt this ninja. I review books for food (that kind of food!).
On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you
about life right now?
I’m doing what I love and
get to meet lovely people every day, albeit digitally. I hope some day to make
a living out of it, but as far as excitement goes, this is pretty exciting as
it is! So, 10.
Nicholas Sparks or Dan Brown?
Like most people, I have a
sunshine and a midnight side to me. I prefer reading and watching films that
feed the former. The Notebook, for example, was haunting and moving, but also
very depressing. So, I’ll go for Brown.
J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer?
That’s easy: Rowling. Having
lived in Edinburgh, I went to the same café as her (Nicholson’s), so it has to
be her.
Funny story: While living
there, I once received an email from an Austrian student who asked me if I
lived near the café where Rowling had famously written her books. I had never
met this guy, nor did I know him; this was completely out of the blue. Still,
ever helpful, I decided to humour him and answered that, yes, I did.
He then asked me for
Nicholson’s details. Since I passed it every day, I went ahead and got them for
him.
In his next email, he asked
me to grab something from Nicholson’s and post it to him. I asked him what his last
slave had died of.
For some reason, I never
heard back from him.
Ninjas
or Greek Gods?
Ninjas. But only if they’re
the Kindle kind. Besides, I’ve been on Mount Olympus, but could not locate the
gods. They must have taken off by now…
Thanks
for your time. Hope you enjoyed the Q&A.
Meh, who wants to spend
hours talking about themselves… Oh, who am I kidding? It’s a blast!
Brief Bio: Nicholas C. Rossis
Avid reader. Web developer.
Architect by training, holder of a PhD in Digital Architecture from the
University of Edinburgh. Now, author.
Nicholas loves to
write. His first children's book, Runaway Smile, is currently being
illustrated. Mad Water, the third book in his epic fantasy series, Pearseus, will be published on July
15th, 2014, unless he's caught for murdering his deadline-ignoring
illustrator. He has also published The Power of Six, a collection of short
sci-fi stories.
He lives in Athens, Greece,
in the middle of a forest, with his wife, dog and two very silly cats, one of
whom is always sitting on his lap.
Purchase links
Pearseus: http://nicholasrossis.me/pearseus
The Power of Six, six plus one
science fiction short stories:
Website
and social media links
