I feel honored that NICHOLAS ROSSIS
decided to stop here today with her blog tour. Mr, Rossis is the author of
"Runaway Smile."
If you enjoy writing, write!
Ever since I remember myself, I have
enjoyed writing. At school, many of my classmates dreaded essay-writing,
whereas I could count on my essays to be read in class. So, when I finished
highschool, I figured I’d try writing for a living.
Expecting words of praise, I showed one
of my short stories to a career councillor who was a family friend. Instead of
the expected thumbs-up, she told me in no uncertain terms that I had no future
in writing, and I had best focus my energy on a “proper” career.
So, I became an engineer, then an
architect, then a web developer.
In 2009, I decided to try again my hand
at writing. A newspaper had a segment called 9, that included a short science
fiction story each week. Usually, these were translated into Greek, but every
now and then you would see a story written by a Greek. So, I submitted my
story, not expecting much.
They published it, and sent me a cheque
for 150 euros. I was ecstatic. I quickly wrote another couple of stories and
submitted them, but the newspaper had by then ran into financial trouble and
discontinued that segment. So, I sent one of the stories to a short-story
competition, and won. The story was (traditionally) published in an anthology
called Invasion.
I then started working on my novel,
Pearseus, which turned into a series. I first published that on Amazon in late
2013, certain that I was missing something: surely someone would call my bluff.
Amazon would take a look and go, “hey, you’re not an author. What are you
playing at?”
Instead, people bought Pearseus and
reviewed it. They said nice things about it and actually paid to read my work.
Wow. People liked my work. This really
was an eye opener, and I continued to write and publish. I’ve learned a lot,
developed my voice and interacted with hundreds of wonderful people.
Then, yesterday, the funniest thing
happened. Remember that councillor I mentioned at the beginning? Apparently,
she read Runaway Smile and asked my mother for my phone number – remember, this
is someone I had not talked to in over 25 years.
Her first words were, “I wanted to
congratulate you on your book. It’s absolutely wonderful. It’s clear that this
is where your future lies. Don’t give up writing, it’s who you are and what
you’re meant to be doing.”
Needless to say, I almost dropped the
phone with surprise. All I could say was “aha,” and “thank you.” Then, I hung up
and turned to my wife. “You’ll never guess who that was…”
If you want to see what this woman was
talking about, why not read my children’s book, Runaway Smile, online for free
and make up your own mind?
Book Blurb
I woke up this morning and I had lost my
smile and it wasn’t my fault and I looked everywhere and it was gone. Then I
met a workman and a king and the best salesman in the world and a clown and
no-one wanted to give me theirs. At school, I asked Miss to give me hers, but
she gave us a pop quiz instead, and then no-one was smiling and…
From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis,
author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's
books
A little boy wakes up in the morning and
realizes he has lost his smile. After spending the entire day trying to find
it, he learns the truth behind smiles: the only real smiles are the shared
ones.
Contact Information
I’m all around the Internet, but the
best place to find me would be my blog,
Anyone interested in my books can check
them out on Amazon:
Also, people can read for free both
Pearseus: Schism, on Goodreads and
Other places to connect with me include
Brief bio
Avid reader. Web developer. Architect by
training, holder of a PhD in Digital Architecture from the University of
Edinburgh. Most importantly, author.
Nicholas loves to write. He has
published Runaway Smile, a children’s book, and the Amazon best-selling epic
fantasy series, Pearseus. The fourth book in the series is currently edited,
and expected to be released mid-February.
