Interview from Carol Grayson’s Blog
Hello Eleni, you´ve written a SciFi book entitled Unison. Tell my readers more about your book and yourself, please.
My book, Unison, is an allegory of my own spiritual journey that began after my spontaneous kundalini awakening. It literally turned my life upside down in that it challenged my world view. Giving up everything I ever believed in was quite traumatizing. I spent years journaling, questioning, thinking and healing. During this time I got married, had two daughters and then had to deal with a cancer diagnosis. This was what really strengthened my spiritual resolve. I survived and got back into writing after taking a few years off.
Unison revolves around a scientist who learns he’s reliving his life. He uses this foreknowledge to try to stop himself from inventing technology used to enslave his people. To do that, he must first save himself and his girlfriend from an elder who keeps killing them and who wants to breed slaves using his technology. But looming underneath all his struggles is something far greater than he realizes, and if he can make it past these obstacles, he’ll uncover a hidden truth about his origin. At it’s very essence, it’s a story about love and redemption.
I’d like to mention my editor told me she normally doesn’t read my type of book, but she was hooked. I was glad to hear that because I want Unison to be appreciated by people who don’t typically read science fiction. In the end, I feel a good story is about strong characters who find themselves challenged, and as we read about them, we feel their pain, cheer for them and want them to win. I firmly believe if you can do that, genre becomes less important. I know it does for me as a reader.
When did you decide to start writing and how did you develop your world? What influenced you at the most?
I’ve been writing poetry since I was a child, and I started screenwriting in my twenties. But it wasn’t until I began to write novels that I found my true calling. Something about the format allows me to connect more with the story world in that I could get into all the details I couldn’t in a screenplay. Unison actually started out as a screenplay with only two characters, and now it’s a full blown epic with three more books I’ve all ready outlined.
I develop all of my story worlds while meditating or exercising. It allows me to quickly connect to my right brain. I won’t start writing until I can picture everything first. Sometimes the pictures come out so clearly it’s like I’m watching a movie. Another new novel I’m working on, Sunrise,” is very surreal, and I’m getting a lot of cool visuals in my meditations. I blog about my writing of Sunrise on my website.
Do you think that women are writing another kind of Science Fiction than men do? Can you imagine to write other genres as well?
I don’t think there’s a difference between men and women who write sci-fi, and I don’t limit myself in genres. My next release is a supernatural thriller. I’m also plotting two other novels that would be considered dramedies. What does link all of my work together is that they’re all under the umbrella of visionary fiction in that the character’s mind and spiritual growth drive them forward, but it’s never done with proselytizing and because I write allegorically, the spiritual aspect is not in your face. For instance, in Unison, I was inspired with the eight lifetimes of Shri Ganesh where he had to get over his eight weaknesses. I thought it was the perfect vehicle for my story, and I used that as the driver for my main character’s inner-journey.
Do you have favourite author?
There are too many good authors out there, but I appreciate Douglas Adams, Margaret Atwood, Ayn Rand, Stephen King, Robert Anton Wilson and George Orwell…to name a few.
Can you image to write with a co-author? If so, which one would you prefer?
I’ve worked with other writers on screenplays, and I prefer to work alone because when I begin a book, I know exactly where everything needs to go. But it might be fun to work with another writer. I just finished reading Margaret Atwood’s, The Penelopiad. It would definitely be fun to write some poetry with her!
What are your plans for the near future?
To release as many of my screenplays as books, write new ones and maybe one day publish other visionary authors. I’m also a musician and composer. I’d like to write music to accompany Unison. I’ve all ready started writing lyrics. It’s only a matter of finding time to put it all together. In addition to writing, I homeschool my daughters and that takes a lot of time as well. I sometimes marvel that I find time to write!
Thank you for taking the time for this little interview.
Any time!
