Christian Kallias Interview

First off, tell us a little bit about you...

 I’m 40 years old, I was born in Geneva, Switzerland. Where I reside at the moment. I’ve always had a vivid imagination since childhood and I love making up stories. It took me a while to realize that writing is the best medium for me, but after trying illustration, manga, and even trying to create video games in the 90’s, I realized writing is the best way to express myself.

Tell us about your books/What genre do you consider your books?
First and foremost, Science Fiction (for now, I intend to write Fantasy books as well). Sub-genre would be Space Opera but it isn’t clear cut. It’s more of a crossover between SciFi and Fantasy.

When did you start writing? 
I think it was around 2001. I did it more as a hobby and I wasn’t writing much at all back then. It took a burnout in 2014 for me to just delve into it seriously and finish my first book (which was only 40% written at the time) in matter of weeks.

Why do you write? 
That’s a good question. For me it’s therapeutic as well as the call of my heart. I feel happy when I create characters and stories. When I don’t write or create (I’m also a digital artist, I make my own book covers) I quickly feel sad and empty. But when I’m writing, I forget all my worries, it transcends me.

What would be your choice for a superpower?
That’s a tough one to answer really. There are so many fun superpowers. Flying would rock, super speed would be fun as well. The force is cool as well. But I think the power to address the entire planet at once would be the most appealing to me. Why? I think we need to start being much better than we are with our environment and all the inhabitants of this world (that includes the animals that we treat badly for own comfort, hurting the entire planet in the process). So while I’d love being able to fly and kick the asses of bad guys like in a comic book (who wouldn’t?), I’d rather just have the ability to telepathically communicate with every living being on this Earth and discuss ways of making this world a better place for all of us.

Who is your favorite author? 
I don’t think I have one. I enjoy Timothy Zahn, Frank Herbert, Michael Moorcock and many more.

What are you reading now?
Re-reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

Who is your favorite character to write? 
I like most of my characters so it’s difficult to answer, but I enjoy writing about Ryonna and Spiros. I do infuse some of my hopes, fears and flaws into most of my characters, so they are all interesting to write at one point in time or another.

Do you have a writing process? 
Nope. I fly off the seat of my pants really. I’ve read many books about structure, how to write better, but I still don’t use a method or a process. I’ve noticed that the most interesting things I’ve read in these books I tend to apply instinctively. So I just write on the fly.

What advice would you give to an aspiring author? 
To just do it, now (even if that means not finishing reading this interview :) ). Aspiring to something will not make you happy, doing it will.

What inspired you to pursue writing?
I’ve brushed that earlier on a little but I can develop it more here. Back in 2014 (August), I made a burnout in my day job (IT, System Expert was my title though I hated it, as I didn’t recognize myself as an Expert). That was a very mind shattering and scary experience, but in the end it was a positive one. When it happened I felt lost, overwhelmed by emotions and it made me think a lot, re-evaluate my life really. I had abandoned Engineer School when I was 18 because I wanted to create art, but then I took day jobs in IT cause that’s where I had the most abilities, and two decade flew by and I was nowhere near where I wanted to be (an artist). That realization made me dust off my first book which only had about 40k words written over the course of 11 years. About 6-8 weeks later, the 89k first draft was finished. I then knew that writing was what I was meant to do, because I realized than when I’m writing, I don’t worry about everyday things, my fears subside, I can just be and I love losing myself in the worlds I create. It gives me great pleasure and satisfaction.

What are your favorite TV shows/Movies to watch in between writing?
There are too many to list. In fact I’m cutting down on TV & Movies as I’m easily distracted (ADD) and I then easily fall into procrastination loops if I’m not careful. My favorite TV Shows are Stargate SG-1 (& Atlantis), 24, Breaking Bad and many others. When I was younger I was hooked on anime like Dragonball Z and Saint Seiya. As for movies too many to list also but amongst my favorites are Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back being my favorite), Phenomenon, The Matrix (the first mostly), Days of Thunder & Wing Commander.

What are your current projects?
To continue and conclude my current series (Universe in Flames), start a Heroic Fantasy series (The Kyrian Chronicles) based on a manga I started and abandoned back in 2003, but as a book series. And I have a few other ideas for other books and subjects I’d like to develop as well. I’m also thinking about writing novellas in the Universe in Flames series at different time periods to flesh out the universe and some secondary characters more.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to readers?
From the bottom of my heart: a big thank you for reading my books and for your support. I am a relatively new author with only three books under my belt but already having people reading my stories and getting back to me is very rewarding. I’d also encourage them to tell their friends about my books if they enjoyed them. At this time in my relatively new writing career, the word of mouth will be my most valuable promotion asset. I’d also like to tell them that they can write me anytime, I really enjoy getting their feedback and their thoughts about my books and interacting with them.


Quick Fire:Cats or dogs?
Cats

Coffee or tea?
Coffee

Favorite food?
Houmous (Used to be souvlaki with pita but I’m a vegetarian now)

Vanilla or chocolate ice-cream?
Chocolate, preferable dairy free.

What are 3 things you never leave home without?
My iPhone, my wallet & my keys.

Laptop or desktop?
Both. But desktop for long writing sessions.

Who are 3 famous people you would to hang out with?
Only 3? Steve Jobs (if he was still alive), Richard Dean Anderson (or Michael Shanks) & Michael Bay.

TV or Movies?
Both really. If I really had to chose then Movies.

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Best-selling author of Wake the Dead! On Amazon Kindle here!

All Artwork and covers of my works by William J. Kenney & Carlos Cara

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