Good morning Christina and welcome. Can I start, as always, by asking you a little about yourself?
Thank you for having me! I’m Christina, contemporary fiction author of Lost in Static, and all-round busy mum of three.
How did your writing career begin?
I’ve always loved writing, and I had tens of notebooks hidden under my desk at school where I used to pen stories instead of paying attention to lessons…
Who are your favourite authors and have they influenced you in any way?
Tough question! I’ve always been a fan of Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – I grew up re-reading them regularly and, although I write contemporary fiction, mystery and clue-planting are traits that I’ve taken from them. I’ve also always been a fan of adventure – Alexandre Dumas being a case in point. And, more recently, I’ve really enjoyed Gillian Flynn’s writing (although I wasn’t the biggest fan of Gone Girl…). But I love discovering new authors and new styles of writing – and I take something away from every book I read (even if it is a tip of what to avoid in my writing).
What draws you to the characters and situations you write about?
Life. I like characters that are raw and face adversity head on. Yes, there is romance and happiness in life, but there rarely is a nicely ties-up ending to any of our real-life stories. Life is messy, and I love it for inspiration.
I also love playing with perspective. My debut novel, Lost in Static, was all about looking at the same events from four sometimes very different points of view. Memories, culture, background, education, friends, and so many other factors affect how someone sees things. I loved playing with that by throwing my characters into situations that could be interpreted very differently. My current work in progress plays with the changes in perception with age.
How do you spend your chill out time?
I wish I had chill out time! I’ve got a job, three young kids, and my writing, so chilling out is rare. But watching/ playing sport or enjoying nature with my children is wonderful.
Can you tell us something about your current WIP?
It’s a suspense novel about how life experiences change how you look at things… It’s also about isolation, not belonging, and the rise of the right. All in all, a much darker novel than Lost in Static!
And lastly, you are planning to spend a year on a desert island away from civilization. What four ‘must haves’ would you take with you and why?
My immediate family (husband and children), a football (with pump), a first aid kid, and books.
Lost in Static
Sometimes growing up is seeing someone else’s side of the story.
Four stories. One truth. Whom do you believe?
Callum has a family secret. Yasmine wants to know it. Juliette thinks nobody knows hers. All Ruby wants is to reinvent herself.
They are brought together by circumstance, torn apart by misunderstanding. As new relationships are forged and confidences are broken, each person’s version of events is coloured by their background, beliefs and prejudices. And so the ingredients are in place for a year shaped by lust, betrayal, and violence…
Lost in Static is the gripping debut from author Christina Philippou. Whom will you trust?
Links
Lost in Static is available from, amongst others, Amazon UK, Amazon US, and direct from the publisher, Urbane Publications.
Author Bio
Christina Philippou’s writing career has been a varied one, from populating the short-story notebook that lived under her desk at school to penning reports on corruption and terrorist finance. When not reading or writing, she can be found engaging in sport or undertaking some form of nature appreciation. Christina has three passports to go with her three children, but is not a spy. Lost in Static is her first novel.
Christina is also the founder of the contemporary fiction author initiative, Britfic.
You can connect with Christina on her website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google+.
JO LAMBERT 