My Age

Let me be clear about something: I am not your average young Greek. I, unlike the majority of my peers, have a job. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I adore that job but it keeps me busy a few hours a day and it creates the illusion that I actually contribute to society and, more importantly, bring something to the table, before my parents bring in the big guns, meaning pay for the rent, the bills and anything else.  

You see, I, unlike my parents, live in Athens. My father has completely rejected the idea of a big city lifestyle; still he has no problem paying for it, when it comes to me. Seven years ago, I came here, all bright eyes, impressionable small town girl wanting to make it to the big game. Now, seven years and a financial crisis later, I’m the last man standing; all my out-of-town friends bowed out of the game, gracefully accepting defeat. My best friend, one of the brightest people I know, is currently living with her parents, prepping students for English language tests and working her way down the bottom of a gin bottle every night. Another friend of mine, ended up working in a bar, where we get to hang, every time I visit my birth town. Long story short, after the crisis, everyone who didn’t have a job or the means to live in Athens, returned home, to live with their parents. Some got jobs and some didn’t, but even those who did, are mostly overqualified for them. Remember my friend, the bartender? He has a BSc in Civil Engineering. As for my friend, the tutor? She has a BA in English Literature and speaks three languages. And that concludes the first part of my point. Don’t worry, I’m half through there!

And just to be clear, I’m not writing this to state how living with your parents sucks (which it does, but that’s besides the point), or to remind the people of their generation that it’s all their doing and now we’re the ones left shovelling their shit. I’m not here to preach or play the blaming game. I’m here because I’m tired and I believe I speak for all of us when I say that I’m sick of hearing how useless my generation is, not to mention reading articles on why everyone in Greece hates people in their twenties (I’ve attached the link below, feel free to check it out; unfortunately, it’s in Greek).

Somehow, I get the idea that there’s this image of us, stuck in the heads of the so-called adults, and, trust me when I say this kids, it’s not pretty. They think we are over attached to our stuff, obsessed with fashion, designer label clothes and partying, that we are too occupied being cool and looking good to actually achieve something substantial which can have some sort of impact in our lives and you know what? Up to some point, they are right.

I won’t pretend I don’t know what’s going on with my generation; that would be stupid. So, let’s get some things straight: I’m a material girl. I won’t deny it, I like buying stuff, just because I want them and definitely not because I need them, because they make me feel pretty and amazing, because I bloody like them! Now, that might be a crime to an adult’s eyes but for us, it’s daily routine. It’s the way we were raised.

We built on different foundations than the ones our parents did and they were the ones who provided those grounds for us. So, you see, they can’t really complain because we have learnt to be more frivolous with our money, because we like to spend, because we like Facebook, Smartphones and Dior sunglasses and because we have discovered the ultimate secret to escape them: hang in cafes with our equally unemployed pals till dinner time. You call us vain and superficial but you are the ones who created us and there’s no doubt about that.

Wrapping up, I just wanted to say that, when the financial crisis hit Greece in 2008 the whole country was still living in lala land. I, for one, was still in college and had no idea how badly my future was to be affected. I don’t think anyone of us did. We all expected to graduate and make tons of money (it’s kind of a prerequisite with my generation: tons of money and a cool job to boot!). I wanted to translate books. Do you want to know what I do now? I work in an office, handling translated articles for magazines and I get paid 200 Euros per month. Bummer, I know but still, it’s better than nothing.

My point is that, you may think that we live in cuckoo land, but we understand. We can’t change who we are; I’m sure that was the exact same lame line you pulled when your parents asked you to change and I bet you still have all those annoying traits they used to point out. I’ll tell you one more thing, I’ll tell you why you didn’t change and I’ll tell you why we’ll never do: Because, simply put, we think we’re awesome. Period.

Anger Management

Have you ever had this feeling that you just want to rip the fucking head off someone you care about? Well, that's exactly how I feel right now.

I find outrageous the thought that I actually have to apologize to people for getting to climb up the company food chain, especially when I've worked my backside off to earn that! And when this kind or attitude comes from people you thought to be your friends, well things can get pretty ugly.

In another, merrier topic, I have queried a number of agents and I'm waiting for the replies. I guess the fact that I live in a non-English speaking country will play a big part in this process, still I'm hopefully. I believe in my story and I like to think that I deserve a chance. I'm prepared to face rejections; I'm sure every author faces difficulties when he tries to start his career. I'm going to keep trying until I finally suceed.

Once again, thank you for reading. Gotta go; this entry is made from the office and now I'm off. Plus, there's a weekend full of possibilities up ahead! Cheers!

Diamonds

Things at work are moving pretty slow lately; the hr department is facing difficulties. However, the import/ export business is booming. We're currently in talks with a number of Angolian diamond mining companies interested in exporting their products. But that's boring so, I'll just skip the whole work talk. Sometimes, when I talk about my job, I feel like I'm forty years old. That sucks!

I'm currently writing the second book of my trilogy but I'm having difficulties with one particular character; I just can't get him the way I want. I was forced to rewrite many parts of the book. Having written more than 100 pages so far you can understand it hasn't exactly been a walk in the park. Long story short, I believe I have finally built him the way I want, still I have a few reservations. There are a few things I need to sort out but I can say I'm satisfied. He is a particularly complicated character and he has done some terrible things in the first book. What I'm concerning myself with these days is whether forgiveness is possible when someone horrible has changed so blatantly obviously. I think it mostly depends on the mentality of the person he seeks forgiveness from. Logically, it also depends on the crime he has commited against this person. So, I guess there is no standard rule, everything is relevant. But I'm confident I'll work it out. It's just going a bit slow because I'm writing a bunch of really important scenes that influence the majority of my characters.

I also got a twitter account :)!! I'm so excited! Ta ta for now!

Milk

I have no idea what is wrong with me lately; maybe it's the diet - i don't know but for the past few weeks I've found myself tottaly addicted to almond milk. I guess that's pretty advantageous as far as my figure is concerned but I doubt it does much good to my health...

Anyway, truth be told, things are pretty hectic here; right now, I'm working on the second installment to my trilogy, yet I find myself constantly running back to the beginning. It's like I'm stuck in a freaking time loop! There's always something bothering me and I find myself re-writing great parts of the book, which is kind of weird for me, not to mention a brand new experience. I'm having particular difficult dealing with the way characters have evolved over the years; the events of my second book occur ten years after the first one, so naturally everything is different. What's more, following the events of the first book, the characters have changed radically. I'm not sure they have all ended up where they should; I find myself constantly re-thinking their individual plotlines but I'm pretty confident I'm close to where I'm supposed to be. Also, my sister has started schetching again. She hasn't shown me anything yet (she's kind of a perfectionist) but I'm sure she will  when she feels her work is done.

Speaking of addictions, I feel the need to point out that TV series in my era are totally and utterly addictive. Personally, I find myself addicted to American Horror Story and (naturally) Game of Thrones. Also, The Vampire Diaries have become quite popular among people my age, though I really don't buy the hype, I watch them with my sister on occasions and I have to tell you, I found the fourth season kind of redundant. Otherwise, I have to admit it's fun to watch.

Anyway, I'm updating my blog from work; I'm leaving in about an hour. Tomorrow, I'm going to a Depeche Mode concert! I'll be posting my impressions here soon after. Other than that, I'm waiting for the new Star Trek movie to hit the cinemas; I'm sooooo excited, I loved the first one and I really wish the second film lives up to it!

Anyway, thanks for reading, hopefully I didn't bore you (though to tell you the truth, sometimes my reality bores me...). Ta ta for now!

Changes

I know it's been a while since I've last written but work has been crazy lately and I haven't had much time to myself. Things are kind of tough, recession and all, but I know we are going to get through this. It's just going to take longer than we had anticipated.

I think I've buried myself in work so that I have an excuse to avoid my own problems but as it turns out, they're not going anywhere. That's a shocker. Now, with the holidays coming up and my family coming to town I guess you could say I'm screwed. That's a cheerful thought before going to bed. As far as it concerns writing, I've been feeling kind of weird lately and I haven't been very productive in this area. Last week I had a thought concerning my genre. I attended the Study in the UK exhibition with my sister. She's studying to become a dietitian and we were checking out the postgraduate options. Looking at the creative writing programs got me thinking that maybe I should test myself in other genres and see if I can fare equally well. An experiment. One that was proved fruitful, since I managed to complete one short story during the weekend. I'm thinking of posting it here; it's probably not much but for someone who has never written anything outside of fantasy ever before, it's surely something.

I'll get back to you, once I've made my mind. Ta ta for now!

The Path

The reason I felt it was time I start a blog was that I believe it's important for someone to track his/ her progress. So, i start this blog for myself. Naturally i don't expect many people to follow me; i'm positive i won't be widely read (although a girl can hope :-) ). I believe that if one day i manage somehow to get published, i could look back in my archives and read my first words here. That would be kind of amazing!

I really want to find other writers who would be willing to read some extracts of my book but i don't know how or even who to ask. Plus i must admit i feel a bit intimidated by them; i don't know how i could ask them something like that. Some of my favorite fantasy authors are Carrie Ryan, Cassandra Claire and Margaret Atwood. 

Friends and relatives have already read samples of my work and i have received rather encouraging reviews (naturally some of them didn't get much - they had never read fantasy before and it was rather confusing for them) but like i said, they're friends and relatives, ergo they don't count! Despite that, i have to admit, i love the way my sister critiques my work: despite being young, she's very observant and she always tells me if something bothers her. She might be blunt (and admittedly brutal on occasions) but i know that she always means well and that what she wholeheartedly wants is for me to become a better writer.

Still, it would be nice to receive some feedback from someone outside my circle, someone who doesn't know me, someone with more experience. The last qualified individuals who took it upon them to offer me some insight on my work were my professors in college; they weren't writers and they were simply helping me with my papers.

I know a lot of people are probably expecting me to have difficulties concerning the language but i'd like to believe this won't be the case. English may not be my native language but it might as well have been. Apart from the occasional mistakes people make even in their native tongue i like to think i've got a pretty good grasp of the English language. 

Right now, i'm trying to balance my day job (a girl has got to eat, right?) with my writing and i believe i'm doing quite well. I think the fact that i actually like my job helps a lot. Last year i was forced to do a job i hated and i could barely write. I'm proud to say that this year i am quite content with my work; it's a pretty cool position in a great company and i actually like the people i work with (which is kind of a relief!). And for a person of my age and admittedly limited experience, that's a big deal...

Anyway, my point is that i'd like to think this blog is my first step to put my work out there. Perhaps i'll finally pick up the courage to send my work to a published writer :). Who knows?

Thank you for reading (if anyone is actually reading :) )

Ta ta for now!