Some Thoughts with ... Gregory Kontaxis

1.- What made you choose self-publishing?
Traditional publishing is a bit convoluted, especially for an author who writes in a different language. I knew that I needed an agent to represent me. I spent some time trying to get an agent and find a publisher in the UK or USA. By asking around, I heard that publishers will not invest easily in someone who doesn’t write in English. Thus, I decided to self-publish. Besides the practical difficulties of traditional publishing in my case, I loved the idea of working on every aspect of my book. I loved every part of the process; finding an artist for my cover, working on the formatting, picking an editor, and marketing my book to the right audience. Practically, it’s the same as having a business and you try to market your own product. I also love the freedom of self-publishing on word count and things that publishers have strict rules for.

2.- What inspired you to write The Return of Knights?
Many books and movies inspired me to write this book. Authors like Tolkien, GRRM, JK Rowling and Sanderson were huge inspiration to me. 

3.- It is unusual to see Greek people writing fiction taking inspiration from Greek mythology. How do you feel about this?
It is not usual to see Greek people writing fiction with some inspiration from Greek myths. How do you feel about this? The Greek audience is unfortunately small and mainly interested in romance. Thus, most Greek authors tend to write for this genre. However, in recent years things started to change and more people read crime and fantasy novels. Greek publishers choose to translate novels by foreign authors and not support Greeks that much in those genres. I am one of the few that dared to write fiction accompanied by Greek mythology and to my surprise the Greek audience was very receptive. I feel that more authors from Greece should start writing what they love, as I did and stop trying to write stories that sell more.

4.-  How was the process of writing this first novel? Which part of the whole process do you find more challenging?
The hardest part was creating a realistic medieval society. I had to read a lot of history to develop my story. Also, my novel has many characters and I had to develop each of them separately without ending up with a very long novel. I spent a lot of time working on this and I am happy with the result.

5.- From all the characters you created for The Dance of Light series, do you have a favourite?
My favourites are Elliot and John. It’s a tie between them for different reasons. Elliot is arrogant but at the same time a nice person who needs to fight himself to evolve. On the other hand, John is one of the most controversial characters in the story. Writing about him always makes me smile.

6.- What does Gregory Kontaxis like to do in his free time?
I read many books and watch a lot of movies. I also love to travel around the world and meet new cultures.

7.- Could you tell us some books that were part of your process to become an author?
There are many books that I love and were part of this process. Some of them are Harry Potter, The Stormlight Archive, The Lord of the Rings, and The Song of Ice and Fire

8.- What can we expect from Gregory Kontaxis in the future?
 I am working to complete the second part of The Dance of Light series. I plan to publish it in English in May/June 2024. I also have some ideas about prequels and novellas that I will work on in the future.