Author Interview: Soulla Christodoulou

About the author:
Born in London to Greek Cypriot parents Soulla Christodoulou spent much of her childhood living carefree days full of family, school and friends. She was the first in her family to go to university and studied BA Hotel & Catering Management at Portsmouth University. Years later, after having a family of her own she studied again at Middlesex University and has a PGCE in Business Studies and an MA in Education.

Soulla is a mother of three boys and an adult fiction author. Both her novels Broken Pieces of Tomorrow and The Summer Will Come are available on Amazon alongside her collection of poetry, Sunshine after Rain.

She is a compassionate and empathetic supporter of young people. Her passion for teaching continues through private tuition of English Language and Children’s Creative Writing Classes. She offers writing services too in support of businesses, authors and students.

Her love of writing has connected her with a charity in California which she is very much involved in as a contributor of handwritten letters every month to support and give hope to women diagnosed with breast cancer. One of her letters is featured in a book ‘Dear Friend’, released on Amazon in September 2017.

When asked, she will tell you she has always, somewhere on a subconscious level, wanted to write and her life’s experiences both personal and professional have played a huge part in bringing her to where she was always meant to be; writing books with happy endings and drinking lots of cinnamon and clove tea!

She is currently working on a third novel, Trust is a Big Word, (title may change) about an on-line friendship which evolves over time into an illicit relationship.

What inspires you to write romantic fiction?
Life has a habit of not being lived in a straight line and the bumps in life can knock us sideways for an hour, a day, a week, months or years. Love is the constant which gives us hope, gives us the energy to keep going, provides us with the confidence to believe in our selves and romance too is a part of that. Whether it be a romance with ourselves or life or someone special love is always at the core; family, friends, siblings, sons, daughters, lovers. Romance to me means a happy ending…it means finding that alignment where you and your life and love are not only in harmony but moving and changing in the same way along the same path. It makes people happy, makes them smile, gives them the confidence to shine.

Tell us about how you write.
I become aware of a constant recurring thought or image in my head and when I give it time it evolves into something bigger…my stories so far have begun with a single idea. I then jot down notes which may take the form of random sentences or a whole paragraph, or single words or phrases. Once I have a more developed idea in my head and in the form of handwritten notes I type "Chapter 1" and begin.

Do you listen to or talk to to your characters?
I'm not sure that I do…but aware of a voice which pushes its way to the surface of my consciousness which can often drive the story in a different direction whether it be a plot twist, a u-turn in the character's behaviour or thoughts.

What advice would you give other romance writers?
Romance is about making the reader feel good; its about giving them a few hours of escape to a world of love and kisses and dating and passion and boy meets girl. I think I would say stick to what you know and enjoy reading yourself. Don't try to be clever. Romance has been around forever and will continue to be read for eternity so go with your gut instinct and write what you would love to read.

How did you decide how to publish your books?
I chose to publish my books myself as an Indie author just to see if I could actually do it! I did a lot of research on traditional publishing, Indie publishing and of course Hybrid publishing and knowing where I was on my writing journey chose to self publish. It has given me the opportunity to gain experience in so many areas such as marketing, promotion, book cover design, formatting, collaboration and building my social media platforms. That's not to say I wont do things differently if the opportunity arose and felt right but for now I'm happy to be in control.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
I think as time goes on the snobbery that exists between the indie and traditional publishing industry will diminish. I've read some incredible books by indie published authors and with the growth in social media more and more readers are turning to indie published books to satisfy their thirst for new authors who are doing things their way.

Which romance sub-genere(s) fit your stories best?
coming of age, historical fiction, modern romance

My books are available in the following formats:
eBook, Print