Interview with Maria Nestorides

I recently connected with Maria Nestorides on Twitter. She promotes her short stories there, so I read a few of them and enjoyed them immensely. She's a very talented writer who is skilled at drawing the reader into a story and weaving entertaining, realistic tales.

I wanted to find out more about Maria and her writing, so invited her along to my blog for a chat.

INTERVIEW WITH MARIA NESTORIDES



Hello, Maria. Welcome to my blog. Please introduce yourself.

I had a very interesting childhood because my family relocated every couple of years. I’m of Greek-Cypriot and Greek descent but was born in London, grew up in various places in the Middle East, went to university in New York and now live in Cyprus.

That's a lot of moving around :)

I’d like to believe that I’ve become quite adaptive in my approach to life because of moving around so much. I am happily married and have two teenage children, a pet dog, and a full time job, which leaves precious little time for writing (or anything else, for that matter). Despite that, I’ve written quite a few short stories, managed to complete an MA in Creative Writing in 2011 from Lancaster University and I have a romance/suspense novel in progress (that is taking far too long to complete) which is set in Morocco and is set on a rose farm.

That novel sounds interesting. Hurry up and finish it, so I can read it :)

Do you have a day job or write full time?

I work full time but try to make time every day for my writing, which is more often than not, very difficult to do. I also go through some phases when, whatever I do, there doesn’t seem to be any time to write or even think about writing. I then have to discipline myself, get my act together, and start again. I believe that we can achieve anything we really, really desire, as long as we put our mind to it.

It is very hard to find time to write with a day job. I often find myself staying up too late and regretting it in the morning!

What’s your favourite genre to read?

My favourite genre to read is romance, although fantasy comes in a very close second. I love the emotions that a good book can provoke and being swept away in that fantasy world. I know I’ve got a good read ahead of me when I can’t wait to get my hands on the book at any opportunity I have. That’s the reason I read most of my books digitally: my book is available to me anywhere, anytime.

What’s the best time of day for you to write?

Early morning, when my brain is alert and I’m still fresh and raring to go. I’m a morning person as far as getting anything done, goes. By the time the evening comes, I’m ready to call it quits and just vegetate on the sofa with my book.

Hahaha! I'm the complete opposite. I often write late into the night.

Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what type?

I do! I love listening to music when I write, and actually create playlists for each story I work on. The type of music I listen to depends on the story and sometimes, even what part of the story I’m writing. Sometimes, if the particular part of the story I’m writing is upbeat, I’ll listen to something happy, but other times when there’s a lot of emotion brewing around I’ll listen to something mellow or even sad. But most definitely music plays a big part in my writing process. Right now, for my novel-in-progress, I’ve created a playlist on Spotify that I keep adding more songs to as I go. For this story, I’m listening to songs that are gut-wrenchingly emotional.

Wow. That is really fascinating. It definitely seems that music is part of your creative process. Awesome. I can't listen to music when I write, I get too distracted by it and start singing along or dancing LOL :)

Apart from writing, what are your favourite pastimes?

I love spending time with my husband and kids. I’m very aware that I’ve only got a short period of time with my kids until they leave home and go off into the world to begin their own lives, so I really milk it whenever I can.

I also love reading, listening to music and singing in the car. I enjoy spending time with friends, I love a good meal and a glass of wine (or two), and I also really enjoy meditating and getting in touch with my spiritual side.

What’s your favourite book, and why is it your favourite?

I can’t say that I have one favourite book, but ranked among my all-time favourite books are The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho (The reason I love this book is that it makes me see the ‘bigger picture’ of things and it helps me leave that little everyday bubble that I sometimes get trapped in).

We have that book in common :) I've often said that The Alchemist is the book that inspired me to write my first novel. It's a wonderful story, isn't it? So simply written but with so much depth. I really think it's a life-changing book.



Also, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (because I’m given the opportunity to live in a world where nothing is what it seems, animals can speak and anything is possible).

The Chronicles of Narnia were among my favourite childhood books :)



...and the Harry Potter books by JK Rowling (because I can be Hermione and unlock doors with a wave of my magic wand “Alohomora!” and fight shoulder to shoulder with Harry while riding on a thestral).

I've never read any Harry Potter (probably the only person in the world who hasn't!)

I also adore Lisa Kleypas’s historical romance books because I love being swept away by a love that is all-consuming. She is always my favourite go-to romance author when I need my romance fix.

I've never heard of her. Will have to check out some of her books :)

What type of music do you prefer to listen to?

I love music so much that I don’t think there’s a type of music I can honestly say I don’t like. What makes a piece of music or a song stand out for me is the depth of emotions it elicits in me, that spine-tingling feeling. That’s the key. It might be the melody or it might be the words (although, more often than not it’s the melody that haunts me and makes me want to listen to a song over and over again). But in general, if you scan through my playlists you’ll find an extremely diverse variety of musical styles.

I'm like that too, I have quite diverse tastes in music although I lean more towards Heavy Metal and Rock.

When writing a novel or story, do you think word count is important? If so, what is the ideal length?

The only reason that I would say that word count is important is because it is so important to be able to write what you want to say with economy and by that, I mean, every word should be absolutely necessary. That’s why I love writing short stories. It makes me think about every word, every sentence, every paragraph, and whether it is absolutely necessary.

Very true.

What do you enjoy most about the writing process?

What I enjoy most about the writing process is also the part that frustrates me most, almost as if it’s the flip side to the same coin. I love that when I start creating a story, it takes on a life of its own. On the other hand, sometimes it breaks away from my control and takes me on such major detours, that I have trouble finding my way back!

Hahaha! :)

It's been wonderful to find out more about you, Maria. Thanks so much for joining me today and answering my questions. I'm looking forward to reading more of your work.

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Author links:

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/mnestorides/

Google Plus:
https://plus.google.com/1141830228331...

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mnestorides

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...


You can find Maria's stories at the following links:

Story Shack:
https://thestoryshack.com/authors/mar...

Inkitt:
https://www.inkitt.com/mnestorides?re...