Featured Interview With T.I. Nikolaos
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Hello, my name is Nikos, I was born and raised in Greece where I still live by the way, though I do hope to travel a lot in the future. I think I should also "copy/paste" part of my Goodreads bio here, because I don’t think I can give a better description of myself, it will just be the same in a different order if I don’t. So I’m a sci-fi, philosophy and history fanboy, trying his hand on his favorite genre and his second favorite language! A History graduate, with teaching education on a multicultural scale. Bilingual. Secular Humanist. Avid gamer for the past 20 years. Writer, collector and teller of tales. Writer of the novel "The End of History: The World behind Walls". Star wars fanatic and occasional baker!
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
It started at age eleven with Harry Potter, and then it went on to Lord of the Rings as I hit puberty, though I'd rather say that I love stories rather than just books, because of course books are a great way to tell stories, but one of my favorite characters ever written is a character from a videogame. If anyone has played Knights of the old Republic 2, they know who she is. “When” I started is a little complicated. The first time I ever started thinking of this World of mine, I was about twenty years old, studying at the University, but at that time I never considered writing it down. I kept everything in my mind and I would toy with the characters as they formed. Then at some point I started writing in a bus, simply because I had a lot of free time, but I didn’t get serious about it until 2018 when I had finished my very very very slow writing of the 3rd or 4th chapter and I realized that, at that point, my notes were all over my room, and their story and World had grown so big that I just had to write the book. And then the book was not enough… so now it’s a series.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I don’t really have a favorite author (sorry) I mean there are many great ones (I could just mention Tolkien and be done with it) but the whether or not I will read a book has more to do with the story and its characters. I usually just read the blurb and if it seems interesting I buy the book. Even if I have read something from the author before, it does not mean I am guaranteed to buy again. I can’t buy a book only for the collection. When it comes to genre I have to go with whatever Star Wars is. Technology, magic, adventure, etc. Though there is no magic in my book… If I ever were to put magic in my story I would just write a Star Wars story… and then I couldn’t publish, so… Next up inspiration! I don’t know that there is a “who” there. Anything I have ever learned (I studied History, Archeology and Social Anthropology) at the University has played a part. Characters from other stories, books, movies and Videogames. Conversations on morality have triggered entire chapters, and even my (mandatory) service in the army, and my martial arts training have inspired a great part of the story.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The latest, is my only book so far. It is the first of a series called The End of History, The World behind Walls. It is a Futuristic story where the Earth’s Civilization is Built around the Mediterranean Sea. Only Five Great Cities hidden behind Great Walls are left resembling our Civilization. Outside those Walls there are plenty of humans living in a post-apocalyptic "kind of" wasteland, though the closer they live to the walls the better their Conditions, because they can trade certain things with the People inside. Now, the people on the inside are mostly Civilians. They are the improved versions of us, thanks to their medical, and overall technological advances. They are faster, stronger etc. than the average human, and they have access to a wealth of information and education. The only thing they do not have access to is History. No person living within the walls is allowed to freely research the events before the rise of this current civilization… and of course then someone does and that is where the Book starts going. I honestly tried my best to incorporate my favorite aspects of all my favorite stories here. There is enough dialogue on matters of ethics and logic, moral dilemmas, action, adventure, fight scenes, hopefully interesting characters, secrets and plots and secret plots!