Constantina Maud's Blog, page 11
October 31, 2018
Meet the Nations: The Hydrians
Three done, one to go! And today’s post introduces none other than the protégé Nation of Hydranos itself ~ 
October 22, 2018
Meet the Places: Plesthepolis
Greetings to all you book-travelling souls!
Whether you’re in transit among the pages of some magical land or not, today our journey across the countless, secret-filled nooks of Cosmos takes us to a Khoan stronghold: yes, Plesthepolis.
And what more thorough way to be introduced to that city’s background than an excerpt from Hydranos itself–here we go!
(Note: Plesthepolis map copyright by me [© Konstantina Koutsoupia 2018] — All other photos in this post are CC0 Public Domain.)
“What should one remember and say first, though, about the Plesthean Land? About that [image error]land, which was born out of the toil of its children, adorned with the waves of Toxaris and bearing the name of the younger daughter of foremother Harmos… The land which grew up and spoke different words to the world, owing to the voice of people-loving Dranos and of those who found him to be right; even if that voice found her own, more hospitable country where Dranos had set foot on as a settler, there were still echoes of his teachings back in motherland Plesthepolis… No words can be enough for that place, which came of age receiving as a [image error]gift land that once belonged to Protomedousa Hydria, a land that had become useless to the sea-folk… Has anyone ever heard of such a ‘gift’? Yet the whole world––even the sister Khoan countries under the counsel of envy, which always tends to prevail among them––believed that Plesthepolis owes eternal gratitude for this. As if this ‘gift’ is the sole reason for her rise to grandeur…
Truth be told, of course, that former Halian land called Centryphalos became Drys, the great harbour, and there settled the capital city of Plesthepolis too. From the old [image error]Plesthean centre on Grand Isle only an ancient mansion remains now, along with a mysteriously silent forest… lying in the care of ‘lifeless’ Drys; of the Aesson of Silence, who during the battle against Olyon transformed herself into a tree, as did many other Aessons too, back then in the dawn of this world’s History… Such were the glorious origins of that country, whose growth attracted even more envy, if possible. And [image error]Plesthepolis, as if fed by it, just wouldn’t stop developing; and only blooming, never withering…
Crop farmers, geographers, merchants, sailors… Τhe Plestheans prosper on a land, before whose beauty the sun beams, sometimes even forgetting why. It loses track, one would say, along with the children playing carefree by the[image error] fertile banks of Campylos. And afterwards, that same sun winds down in the vast embrace of the valley of Minor Harpe, the source of life to the organism of the Polis.
And since I got as far as Harpe, the backbone supporting that land since forever… let me tell you that on those unmarred [image error]mountaintops, the Plestheans’ and––by tradition again––all Khoans’ hospitable vein has proved itself, and still does. Because, as it’s already known, self-governed Aerians dwell there… Centuries ago, some hundreds of that nation rebelled against their leading country’s xenophobic ways and were thus expelled, not only from its own mountains but from those of the other Aerian Poleis as well. And it was meant to be that only the Plestheans would give them shelter, by initiative of the then Aristos Pasilostos… Intermarriages took place, as to people from other nations too that have decided that life is better there; among the Plestheans, who, unable to live as long as a hundred and ten years old Hydrian might, love life so dearly…[image error]
Plesthepolis is harmonious. Plesthepolis is Harmony. It has whispered to its children right from their mothers’ wombs that only balance can and must be the plummet for anything they build throughout their lives, either spiritual or material. The Plestheans try. And if they get tired, they take long walks along the peaceful waters caressing the shores of that land; their land…”
Should you wish to continue your journey and find out what hides beyond that river, check out my novel Hydranos for more!
October 14, 2018
New Book Review of ‘Hydranos’!
Hello everyone! Things have heated up this week in the review front of Hydranos and I’m sharing with you one of the most thorough and humbling reviews the novel has received up till now. All feedback is of course always most welcome and constructive, however I cannot but acknowledge and embrace the reviews that take the time and go that extra mile. So, thank you very much for this, Mischa ~
You can find her amazing review here.
Looking forward to your thoughts on Hydranos, too! Should you grab your copy, don’t forget to leave your rating and review on Amazon and on Goodreads.
Happy reading ~
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October 5, 2018
Quotes from ‘Hydranos’
Bright greetings to all you wonderful, creative souls out there! So, I’ve decided to put together a post with some quotes from my recently published novel Hydranos–or to be more precise, to organize in one blog post the image quotes I’ve uploaded these past few months on my Instagram account.
I’m well aware that generally quote territory can sometimes be a battlefield, between those who find meaning in them and those who regard them as pretentious. On that note, let it be said that this post certainly doesn’t claim a piece of the transcendental cake of time-resisting dictums or the like. It’s just a blog post, with just a few words that express, however, the very core of the personality of Hydranos’s heros.
Disagree with them at your own peril ~
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Do you have a favourite out of these quotes? Let me know in the comments below!
If you want more and feeling supportive, check out Hydranos and the story it has to tell you. And if you do, don’t forget to leave your rating and review on the novel’s Amazon page!
Happy reading ~
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October 1, 2018
Meet the Nations: The Aerians
Social occasions may have joyously intervened, but here’s the new Nation portrait post from The Age of Stones universe, as promised ~ 
September 28, 2018
‘Rite of Passage’ – Short story published by Kingston University Press
Been meaning to put together this post ever since I received my author’s copy of the “Conversations” anthology — my short story “Rite of Passage” has been selected and published in it by Kingston University Press!
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I’m sharing this incredible thrill with all of you dear ones, since this holds a further special meaning for me. After venturing into the rough yet rewarding waters of independent publishing, this time my latest literary piece has been traditionally published! (under my full legal name and not my pen name ~)
I cannot thank Kingston Writing School and the British Council enough for this unique opportunity. The editing and publishing team have really put together a wonderful medley of stories ~
Taking also this chance to address especially the talented aspiring authors among you, I would like you to know that no form of publication, be it traditional or independent, is what truly makes someone a writer. Nor is simply picking up a pen and letting sparkling words or challenging-for-the-sake-of-challenging scenes drop on the paper. When you have written something, and then you read that something through a reader’s eyes, and you feel every sentence of your story pound against your very heart truer than truth itself… then, and only then, you know that you are irrevocably a writer.
Warmest thanks once more to all of you who honestly and actively support me and I hope to keep giving it back to you tenfold through heartfelt storytelling.
Much love ~
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(Anthology link on Goodreads)
September 23, 2018
Meet the Nations: The Khoans
Once upon a time there was an unknown yet strangely familiar world, where humanity was split into four Nations… heeding four primordial Stones, which were not stones.
Until a night came, when a super-centenarian leader who was unable to die, ultimately met his unforeseen end… and Hydranos, the Stone of the watery realm of feelings, took flight.
If you ever found yourself in that mystical land, which of the four Nation would you belong to?
Take the new quiz here and see with whom of the main heroes of ‘Hydranos‘ you share a common heritage… and perhaps a destiny too. ~
Share your quiz result in a comment below!
This post presents the Khoans: the Nation of the Earth, the People of the Body.
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Having Khoa as their ‘patron’ Stone, Khoans are the most heavily fragmented nation. Torn by civil strife and rivaling ambitions since the beginning of history, it is as if the Khoans were given the daunting task to find the golden balance of good and evil within the human existence. Earthly are the hues prevailing on their appearance, as are the major qualities of their temperament too. The principles they’ve built their societies around are strength, endurance, steadfastness, calmness, beauty and harmony. A sense of grounding and homecoming is close to a Khoan’s heart, as it is sometimes also a goal just barely out of reach. And even though throughout history their nation has been the most easily swayed by their dark side, the Khoans can take pride in being the most battle-wrought warriors on Cosmos.
Principal virtues: Forbearing, devoted, patient, steadfast, calm, caring
Possible flaw: Inflexibility
Types of governance: Monarchy and feudalism, democracy
Heroes in ‘Hydranos’: Drynoe, Agathon, Adeimos, Pheidon, Skemmos (half-Khoan, half-Pyrrhian), Aristomachos
Take the quiz to find your Nation and don’t forget to post your result in a comment below! ~
September 18, 2018
‘Hydranos’ – Review by Lia Mela
Best,
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September 15, 2018
[Book Review] – Hydranos
Honoured by lovely @filming.pages, for her reading and reviewing Hydranos!
September 12, 2018
Meet the Places: Helicasteros
Are you in the mood for an ocean-sprinkled, colour-infused journey?
Because if yes, I have just the destination in mind ~
Without further ado, here follows an excerpt from my novel Hydranos , initiating you to the dreamlike land of Helicasteros… Enjoy your stay!
(Note: Helicasteros map copyright by me [© Konstantina Koutsoupia 2018] — All other photos in this post are CC0 Public Domain.)
“[…]It was a sublime seashore; a magnificent, endless coast that faded along with the potential of the human eye somewhere far in the east. Green-clad mountains like real [image error]Nemonts at one end reached down to the shore to dip their foot there, while at the other end their peaks touched the sky. And the sky admired itself, mirrored more beautiful than ever in a sea looking nothing like its demented self of the night before. A sea putting even the clearest apatite to shame…[…]Helice is a city, about which few of one’s words do actual justice to the truths one’s eyes behold. And things back then were no different from today. The scents were the first to initiate the city’s visitors into its rhythms; flowers, thousands of flowers, voluntary offerings from the neighbouring Minys Nation of the Land of Iss… […][image error]
The flowers of the Minyes of Iss always made the local or distinguished, wandering perfumers rich and intoxicated the alleys of Helicasteros; with the Market, of course, being the centre of all this, swarmed every day with all kinds of peddlers and artists. Stretching out along the harbour as far as the eye could see, the famous market always buzzed with life and was every now and then supplied with new arrivals, which sought to benefit from its unique cosmopolitan [image error]streak and often even ended up settling permanently in the Polis of the Arts. Being the meeting point of the four capitals of Cosmos, Helice had soon become the centre, primarily of arts. With the Festival of Nyphaos as its highlight, artists from every corner of the world streamed into the city and their masterpieces made her radiate even more[…]
Thus, the four friends had hardly turned around the first corner of a neighbourhood when they were attacked by colours, scents and music. Clad in their light and sometimes rather elaborate clothing, thus putting together a polychrome,[image error] flamboyant medley, the Helicasteriots were walking, chatting, trading, dancing, singing… In short, they waited for no specific festive occasion, their streets were flooded with music around the clock. Each house was painted in a different colour than the one next to it, the shutters and doors in a different shade than the walls, until there were no more rainbow hues left and it all started again from the beginning… Curtains of coloured beads or shells hang from the lintel of any open [image error]door; and the clothes hanging from the ropes, which were tied from one balcony to the one across it, were like true welcoming flags… […] And the alleys, looking more like corridors than streets in the way they suffocated between the tightly packed rows of houses, didn’t help; crowd came and went there, a dense and slow-moving crowd… Despite all this, after a relatively short time the young Plestheans reached almost at the cape’s end, near the edges of a small grove. There, they saw Adeimos approach one of the last houses and knock on the coral-hued wooden door […]”[image error]Should you want to continue your journey and find out what hides behind that door, check out my novel Hydranos for more! (rhyme unintended ~)
