Interview & Giveaway with Sofia Malamas

1. When did you first start writing, and was there something in particular that inspired you?

I started writing in high school. Not seriously, but that was when it started. I had a dream about a girl trapped in this weird white room with slides in the wall and a crazy cloud over her head that rained light—which would later become Evelyn in the Land of Nowhere. I wrote it down and it all ballooned from there.

2. What first attracted you to your genre when you began writing?

I have always been attracted to the fantasy genre—movies, books, TV, everything. I just could never get enough. Then my love for it super-sized when I started writing. Every element that I enjoyed about the genre: the magic, the adventure, the mystery, the romance was now all mine to control! Have you ever watched a movie or read a book and enjoyed it so much only to reach a very unsatisfying ending? That happened to me a lot, and for the first time I could decide how the story ended. Every fantasy I had ever had, every adventure I wish I could have taken, I could make a reality. How cool is that?

3. In regards to your own characters, who is your favorite to write and why?

My first instinct is to say Jerris, because he is his own level of awesomeness, but I really enjoy writing Evelyn too. As strange as it sounds, I also find it easier to write Jerris scenes, because I’m more like him. We have similar humor and our brains work the same way, though, I have to say, I am not as pessimistic as he his. On the flip side, that’s also why I love writing about Evelyn, because of her optimism, her humility and her kindness. Qualities I wish were more prominent in me!

4. What other genres (besides your own) do you enjoy reading?

I like reading every genre, because I like visiting all different kinds of worlds. I read the classics and literary fiction. I have a particular fondness for historical fiction because I am infatuated with certain periods of history, and recently, I’ve started dabbling in more science fiction.

5. As a reader I know how difficult it can be to name a ‘favorite’ book, would you mind listing your top three? (Past or present authors)

I have trouble picking top three of anything, let alone books (I can’t even decide a favorite color!), but the three that leap out in my head at this second are: Gone With the Wind, the Harry Potter books (because I look at them as one collective story) and The Time Traveler’s Wife.

6. What are some ‘must haves’ when you sit down to write? 

I am going to let you in on a little secret. I don’t think I have a lot of eccentricities when it comes to writing, but this is one: I have a “thinking” ribbon. In a nutshell, it’s a ribbon that I tie in my hair when I write. But it can’t be just any ribbon. There are a few “rules” or per-requisites it must meet, but, yes, I need a “thinking” ribbon!

7. If you became trapped as a character in a book or series, which would you choose and why? (Any book, any series, new or old) 

I would probably want to be Hermione from Harry Potter. Firstly, because I desperately wish I could go to Hogwarts (and ride Buckbeak). Secondly, how cool would it be to have Harry Potter be your best friend? And thirdly, I’d be so smart and could use magic!

Thanks for the great questions, Amy!

The Onyx Bridge:
It is not a peaceful time in the Four Kingdoms. War is imminent, but all fear the coming of the human child, whose arrival, it is foretold, will aid in the resurrection of the terrible Dark Lord Coriol, a being with the power to destroy them all. Nothing extraordinary has ever happened to Evelyn Leighton. That is, until the day she turns seventeen and is transported through a Monet painting into a fantastical world where humans are thought to be extinct. To stop an ancient prophecy from coming true and save the world she has learned to call home, Evelyn must set out on a quest to find a legendary weapon: The Sign of the Four. Reluctantly, she accepts the aid of Jerris, an enigmatic, irresistibly attractive male descendant of the Water Kingdom with sapphire eyes as dark as his past. With her life on the line, Evelyn finds herself battling more than vicious trolls and mythical lion warriors. She must also battle her own heart; a battle she cannot afford to lose.

MY REVIEW

About the Author:

Sofia holds a degree in Humanities and English from York
University. She lives in Toronto with her fellowship of a family, including her dog Pippin. She loves to travel and has a fetish for fantasy stories and everything Monet. The Onyx Bridge is her first novel. For more information visit: www.sofiamalamas.com.

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