'Book 101 Review' by Daniel Lucas Featured Me As A Guest!

 

Book 101 Review YouTube Channel: Book 101 Review.

It was a delightful experience Daniel! Thanks again for reviewing me in Podmatch:

Den of Discussion with Menelaos Gkikas!

This has been my Writer's Interview with Mr. Douglas Robbins at his podcast "Den of Discussion". 

Being interviewed as a writer by a writer, we talked about the role of storytelling in changing lives, the pandemic and war crisis, political communication and verbal and psychological abuse as well. 

Talking about my sources of inspiration, my advice to novices and creatives in terms of creativity and digital marketing as well as my indie publishing journey and where you can find my books and my site! 

Be aware folks that due to technological restrictions and inconsistencies with laptops, you just have to put the iPhone at your ear after the 4.50 minute to better listen to this interview (or you can simply watch it on TV) but I hope you will all enjoy myself talking with Douglas as well as the lengths we reached. 

I had a wonderful time talking with you Douglas, thanks a lot! 

Have a great time with it, folks!

When Magic Truly Happens Screenplay Adaptation - Informative Meeting

This has been an informative remote meeting with Indian entrepreneur, leading ghostwriter, screenwriter and publisher Pinaki Gosh and writer, digital marketer and transformational leader Menelaos Gkikas, in terms of discussing the parameters, nature of collaboration and execution of transforming a short story fairytale fantasy entitled When Magic Truly Happens into a screenplay adaptation. 

Collaborating with an experienced Indian writer that created the screenplay, this means we hereby discuss the potentials of the story (in terms of genre, narrator's voice, plot, writing format, characters, setting) so that short story to film portrayal would be as effective as possible. This video is published for educational and creative writing purposes and I hope you'll enjoy the discussion and find it useful!

 

Meet Menelaos Gkikas, Author of The Words of Emily Logan at Waking Writer!

Waking Writer is the website of Berneta Haynes, attorney, public policy consultant and published author! Below is my conducted web interview, enjoy and click at the links to find out more:

What inspires you to write? 

So far, I’ve been influenced by the entertainment industry, fairytales, the stuff that dreams are made of and inner illusions as well as practicing article writing in many areas. Additionally, my creative writing projects are being subconsciously directed by what ‘luck’ means for me…!

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Influenced by discussions with my teachers, one can be considered a writer from the very moment he has completed 3 or 4 projects independent from the medium of publicity. Nevertheless, this seems more like a milestone and not the complete writing journey… Writing is chaotic, complex, uncertain, multi-dimensional, tiny as well as gigantic, a sequence of stimuli taking place in our brains and projecting onto the paper.

My writing journey began in 2007 when I first built my presence on the web. During this period, there have been lots of upheavals, educational opportunities, creative initiatives and more.

What is the biggest thing that people THINK they know about your subject/genre that isn’t so?

I have written a fairytale fantasy entitled When Magic Truly Happens globally published as an e-book and paperback. As Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, a British science fiction writer, science writer and futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host, declared “Magic is just science that we don’t understand yet.” As creators, we can be undermined by our impulse to put labels on everything and this is what makes me say people think they know and make assumptions. It takes a lot of patience and insistence to get to know a writer really well…

What is the most important thing that people DON’T know about your subject/genre that they need to know?

To learn the price of using magic…! Magic in fairytales is not a human weapon but a divine one. It’s equivalent to biting the forbidden fruit.

How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?

I am a writer, digital marketing specialist, and transformational leader who harnesses AI and technology to deliver high-impact digital solutions as interdependent rings of a chain. This means that I collaborate with digital distributors to make my books reach places all over the globe. I also used Hollywood’s #1 screenplay coverage service, WeScreenplay, for my romantic drama The Words of Emily Logan. I’ve also learned that validation is not a matter of book reviews. However, they can help sales.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Not to judge so they won’t be judged as well…

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

Fairytales play with symbols! Objects, talking beasts, bridges in spacetime, magical melodies, specific laws of nature and many more constitute the elements on which stories are being written. Allegories and messages for children are important as well. But as a general canon, it’s the overall feeling of fairytale fantasy that made me feel satisfied. It’s an adventure for those who seek to find a way to leave their world behind!

What one person from history would you like to meet and why? 

“Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts!” These were the words of Draco Malfoy when little Harry Potter came for the first time at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. And who is the chosen one from the cinematic universe of J.K. Rowling? Emma Watson, for lots of complex reasons! First of all and contrary to many Greek artists, I admire Emma for the fact that she has been entangled with projects different from her acting career, including campaigns, activism, big companies, and ambassador opportunities. Secondly, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry partly mirrors the nature of my education as well. An extensive pattern of complex science, art, writing magic, artifacts, and transcendental realism including meditative writing. Furthermore, I believe it would be beneficial to learn from an actress who has spent her entire childhood around magic, since I have started acting lessons myself at the cultural center of my town!

If there was one thing you could do to change the world, what would it be?

To stop making the majority of people think they can change it! The only way to do it for sure is to become a top-level politician…

Source: https://wakingwriter.com/2021/12/08/meet-menelaos-gkikas-author-of-the-words-of-emily-logan/

Being Interviewed at Book Goodies Network - Menelaos Gkikas!

About Menelaos Gkikas:
I studied Industrial Management and Technology at the University of Piraeus, and I continued my studies with an MBA specializing in Marketing, at City University of Seattle. I attended Public Relations Seminars at the Hellenic American Union. I am a Michigan Proficiency holder and my first book was entitled “Mathematical Models”. My quests and concerns have led me to literature and social networking. I have my own blogs on the internet, a Writing Forum about Art and Fantasy entitled “Writer’s PlayBook”, and I have attended seminars on Creative Writing, Screenwriting as well as topics related to Social Media, Digital Content, Communication and Conflict Management. I am active in the area of Social Networking on Social Media and Digital Marketing, and I daily develop my own Creative Portfolio. I have creative experience in Business Game Simulations and I am data-driven. I also deeply believe in lifelong learning.

In 2018, I got a complete certification from Google Digital Garage in Digital Marketing. Following that in 2020, I attended Google Web Academy in another two areas such as YouTube Creators and Google Analytics. I have self-published a romantic drama screenplay entitled The Words of Emily Logan in September 2019, in Greece, and the fairytale fantasy entitled When Magic Truly Happens is my second creative writing effort.

Currently I attend online lessons in Elements of AI from the University of Helsinki and I have completed IBM AI Learning classes; AI Concepts and Deep Learning from CognitiveClass.AI.

What inspires you to write?
I am deeply inspired by the stuff that dreams are made of. My visions, my hopes, my dreams for the future, my alter egos, my personal chemistry with my characters, my avatars in parallel universes denote to me the fine line of my materials, the piece of art that if being written, it will make me proud. Nevertheless, I believe that inspiration can come from anywhere; a photo, a feather, a book, a landscape, nature, by believing in the world’s fairytale. These last thoughts depend especially on the temperament of the writer and it is essential to filter stimuli to come up with selective and quality material.

What authors do you read when you aren’t writing?
Bearing in mind my multi-faceted education and my creativity I read everything. Literature, coaching books related with creative writing and the creating a mindset side of screenplays, management, pioneering books from Amazon, including many world-renowned authors such as Philip Pullman, Exupery, Tolkien, lots of Greek writers, plus whatever clicks at my soul at a specific given moment, it can be anything.

Tell us about your writing process.
Writers live through a role, that may not be necessarily their own… Nevertheless, they have to fit the mission. This means I am a firm believer as Kingsley Amis said, that the art of writing is the art of applying the seat of one’s trousers to the seat of one’s chair. What it means for me, analytically. Projects for a writer, are his intellectual children. Feeling less than deep admiration about them, won’t function. That’s why I believe it is important that although the past is the key to future, I should take bold steps of what I envision, including bridging the two. Although inspiration comes from my subconscious, I am trying to deal with my work as conscious as I can. Thinking, psychologizing, argumentation, solid steps, experiences, narration and plenty of work management can help me a lot. It’s where dreams mingle with reality. If I could summarize the above in a unifying statement, I would say that creative writing always finds me, I don’t find it. I am deeply influenced from an inside-out process.

For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
It’s important for fiction literature writers to balance a sense of chemistry with their characters. That’s why talking to them, meaning try to portray important aspects and discuss options is essential. Nevertheless, figuring out how would they feel, meaning to listen to their emotions and thoughts is important as well. That’s why I believe that the writer’s interaction with his characters should take place and be fostered on many levels. The deeper you are willing to get with them, the richer you will come out at the exit.

What advice would you give other writers?
To not rush into conclusions that are based on limited information and believe me, this can go too far…

How did you decide how to publish your books?
Firstly, as a primordial thought I believed in the power of the world-wide-web also dealing with the potential of lower costs. It’s not just that I wanted to be a writer, I had to find the way and the means to do that. Bearing in mind I was a digital marketeer and had graduated from lots of Google Academy classes, plus having seen the potential of the global markets of Dan Brown’s books in his website, I wanted to bet on that power. Nevertheless, this has been a research and creativity that took me years including my own education, so my advice to what new authors should explore, whatever they choose to be their pathway is to know deeply where something begins and where it ends, especially when it has to do with both publishing and the internet.

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
Good literature offers different perspectives than screenplays. The same goes if it is to compare physical markets and the internet. Balancing dreams, market research and optimization of the writer’s decisions will determine to a great extent fostered global trends. Our societies are being digitalized and this means that although we act in the physical space, we thing digital (phygital). I do not believe the internet and AI will override traditional commerce but it's important for all creators to remain contemporary.

What genres do you write?: Drama and fairytale fantasies, so far.

What formats are your books in?: Both eBook and Print

Website(s)
Menelaos Gkikas Home Page Link
Link To Menelaos Gkikas Page On Amazon

Your Social Media Links
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube

Source: https://bookgoodies.com/interview-with-author-menelaos-gkikas/

Menelaos Gkikas - My 5th Interview at My Book Place!

Tell us about yourself.:
I am a writer, digital marketeer and transformational leader who recently completed a circle of lessons around artificial intelligence. My first book back in 2004 was entitled “Mathematical Models”. I have been thinking of literature since I existed in the army. I still remember the first script I wrote back then and I would feel delightful to bring it to life at its original dimensions, perhaps it can work as a screenplay! I am passionate with books and my library, reading all sorts of things. I have self-published 2 projects, a romantic drama entitled ‘The Words of Emily Logan’ and a fairytale fantasy entitled ‘When Magic Truly Happens’. The Words of Emily Logan is a screenplay. I have also completed the first draft of a second screenplay entitled ‘Krista’s Instinct’. Though I believe I can have lots of alter egos in art, I also believe in homogenizing all these multiple identities including my education in one, that is the belief in the world of letters.

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?:
I grew up in a city of Athens, Byron, in Greece. If it is to search deep in my childhood to answer this question, I would say that our country is our childhood years. Nevertheless, here I will put emphasis on the family and private school aspects. As a result of both of my parents working, I spent a lot of time with my grandmothers and aunts. Exciting years that I still remember very often nowadays, full of love, adventures, protection and religious experiences. In terms of my parents the atmosphere and love were partly the same. There was joy, safety, plenty of excursions and wonderful Christmas experiences at home and in hotel occasions where I still remember the discussions with Santa Clauses. At home, my dad used to ring the bell at the balcony when the gifts were under the tree to make me believe Santa Claus came for Christmas. The beloved atmosphere was accompanied with the fact that during my first 6 years at school, I had been given the role of one of the best students that is actually one of the main themes of this question’s answer. The themes of love, Christmas, school performance, religious messages and feeling powerful as a child are present in both of my published books. Having been given the role of the best and getting accustomed to different data have been motifs for both of my books where the characters not only achieve goals while children and teens, but prove the difference that growing up in the real world outside the home experiences requires resilience and durability when they actually realize how tough the world is and that they may not be always the best. Where data start to differ… Conclusively all the above elements took me 42 years to even dare to reimagine but have been present in my writing in terms of portraying the beautiful side of the world and not themes that may be dark, metaphysical, purifying and often revolutionary!

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Things that you own end up owning you… As a web creator dealing with time management, I should focus on being less intellectual and more kinesthetic, meaning to deal with the entire, social, organic sense of being a writer, acting or even better predicting and not just trying to understand everything before by studying it…

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I can drill this advice from what I am doing this period. The case, my artistic debut, my first project in other words, has been submitted to the best Hollywood office, to provide script coverage and foresee in the long run its movie potential… The advice, if you writers believe that creative success comes without hard work, without torturous advices and plenty of sweat, pressure, notes, tones and lots of transformations, you are completely mistaken, even if we’re talking about the first or your sixth work. Writing is all about rewriting!

What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Be yourself! All other roles are taken…

What are you reading now?
I am not actually reading but planning to read the book of a Greek writer, Helen Galinou, ‘On a black background’.

What’s your biggest weakness?
I always try not to be heterogeneously defined… To not quest my fairytale into the stories of others…

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Little Prince of Antoine de Saint-Exupery. A book with lots of messages about vanity, children and grown-ups, death and resurrection, numbers, the fact that the universe listens, passions, although being written for children it can speak to the heart of everyone!

When you’re not writing, how do you like to spend your time?
Reading, the web and plenty of thinking.

Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
A Greek writer named Pashalia Travlou had written the essay “Lovers of writing”. I use the phrase writers are lovers! It talks about the mapping of complexities of the creative process. A journey to the soul of the lover of writing. It’s been years but I still remember notions such as diligence, psychodynamics, the difference between the writer and the litterateur, the characters that are our avatars in parallel universes. Although written with a folkloric attitude it still is the best mirror of where I embarked on, when I decided to start writing.

What has inspired you and your writing style?
I am deeply inspired by the stuff that dreams are made of. My visions, my hopes, my dreams for the future, my alter egos, my personal chemistry with my characters, my avatars in parallel universes denote to me the fine line of my materials, the piece of art that if being written, it will make me proud. Nevertheless, I believe that inspiration can come from anywhere; a photo, a feather, a book, a landscape, nature, by believing in the world’s fairytale. These last thoughts depend especially on the temperament of the writer and it is essential to filter stimuli to come up with selective and quality material.

What are you working on now?
Although the first draft of Krista’s Instinct has been completed and I will come to that in the future, I decided to quest my cinematic dreams by submitting The Words of Emily Logan for screenplay coverage evaluations at WeScreenplay, Hollywood’s #1 script coverage business. So, evaluations, my thought laboratory and rewriting have been my recent thoughts. I am also looking forward for my next project.

What is your favorite method for promoting your work?
Being an omni-channel campaign builder has been my creative initiative so far, including using tools and websites targeting digital marketing efforts. Some will say that writing the next project is the best marketing method, even though I’m fond of creating a balance of lots of things.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Having dealt with three projects and being entangled with the thoughts of five, I believe reorganization is where I should focus after. Meaning, to think of the future, of how I’d like to proceed and what it means to be a writer is important.

How well do you work under pressure?
Focus is still an issue…

How do you decide what tone to use with a particular piece of writing?
Positive or negative tones and their fluctuations exist as a result of the written word, not the physical communication because there, you can’t hide. I try to have a well worked mind before I combine the two.

If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be?
There comes a time where we have to choose between what the world wants us to be and who ‘we’ truly are…

Menelaos Gkikas’s Author Websites and Profiles
Website
Amazon Profile

Menelaos Gkikas’s Social Media Links
Facebook Page
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube Account

Source: https://mybookplace.net/author-interview-menelaos-gkikas/

My 4th Author Interview at Pretty Hot Network!

Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am a writer, digital marketeer and transformational leader who recently completed a circle of lessons around artificial intelligence. My first book back in 2004 was entitled “Mathematical Models”. I have been thinking of literature since I existed in the army. I still remember the first script I wrote back then and I would feel delightful to bring it to life at its original dimensions, perhaps it can work as a screenplay! I am passionate with books and my library, reading all sorts of things. I have self-published 2 projects, a romantic drama entitled ‘The Words of Emily Logan’ and a fairytale fantasy entitled ‘When Magic Truly Happens’. The Words of Emily Logan is a screenplay. I have also completed the first draft of a second screenplay entitled ‘Krista’s Instinct’. Though I believe I can have lots of alter egos in art, I also believe in homogenizing all these multiple identities including my education in one, that is the belief in the world of letters.

What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
As I have said above my second self-published project is a fairytale fantasy, a short story entitled ‘When Magic Truly Happens’ where it mingles Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. What inspired it. First of all, I wanted to create a title that bangs! Secondly, I was obsessed with another fairytale which has initiated a series of trailers in YouTube, dealing with bears at Christmas. The initial story with bears entitled ‘When Magic Really Happens’ has dominated the web and it has been my motivation, in terms of just altering the title even though the story is original and unique.

Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Things that you own end up owning you… As a web creator dealing with time management, I should focus on being less intellectual and more kinesthetic, meaning to deal with the entire, social, organic sense of being a writer, acting or even better predicting and not just trying to understand everything before by studying it…

What authors, or books have influenced you?
Antoine de Saint-Exupery, having written The Little Prince has been a major influence. As a writer, he has proved how can an aviator, not being primarily a writer, managed to write a fairytale that has influenced the entire world. A small story, easily digested, with plenty of messages, proves that life can create the best stories ever… Also, one of my major influences in fiction literature has been Philip Pullman, having written the trilogy ‘His Dark Materials’. It’s amazing in there how scientific and pseudo-scientific elements have been unified with epic fantasy, storytelling and entertainment plus performing acrobatics between religion and philosophy.

What are you working on now?
Although the first draft of Krista’s Instinct has been completed and I will come to that in the future, I decided to quest my cinematic dreams by submitting The Words of Emily Logan for screenplay coverage evaluations at WeScreenplay, Hollywood’s #1 script coverage business. So, evaluations, my though laboratory and rewriting have been my recent thoughts. I am also looking forward for my next project.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
Being an omni-channel campaign builder has been my creative initiative so far, including using tools and websites targeting digital marketing efforts. Some will say that writing the next project is the best marketing method, even though I’m fond of creating a balance of lots of things.

Do you have any advice for new authors?
I can drill this advice from what I am doing this period. The case, my artistic debut, my first project in other words, has been submitted to the best Hollywood office, to provide script coverage and foresee its movie potential… The advice, if you writers believe that creative success comes without hard work, without torturous advices and plenty of sweat, pressure, notes, tones and lots of transformations, you are completely mistaken, even if we’re talking about the first or your sixth work. Writing is all about rewriting!

What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Be yourself! All other roles are taken…

What are you reading now?
I am not actually reading but planning to read the book of a Greek writer, Helen Galinou, ‘On a black background’.

What’s next for you as a writer?
Having dealt with three projects and being entangled with the thoughts of five, I believe reorganization is where I should focus after. Meaning, to think of the future, of how I’d like to proceed and what it means to be a writer is important.

What is your favorite book of all time?
The Little Prince of Antoine de Saint-Exupery. A book with lots of messages about vanity, children and grown-ups, death and resurrection, numbers, the fact that the universe listens, passions, although being written for children it can speak to the heart of everyone!

Author Websites and Profiles
Menelaos Gkikas Website
Menelaos Gkikas Amazon Profile

Menelaos Gkikas’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile
Twitter Account

Source: https://pretty-hot.com/menelaos-gkikas/