Darklight On...Eleni Konstantine: Fact Sheet

Name:  Eleni Konstantine

Writes:  Fantasy and Paranormal fiction

Current mood:  Looking forward to RWAus's Clayton's conference in August (I am on the conference team).

Reading:  Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer, The Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh

  

Music listening to: Alternative Rock mix.

Watching: SG:U - final episodes are airing in the next month or so *sniff, sniff*, Sons of Anarchy (Showcase)

Favourite spec fiction TV shows: Anything by Joss Whedon (all hail), Star Treks (All hail Gene Roddenberry), Stargates, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural, Firefly, Farscape.

Favourite spec fic movies: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Star Wars (original trilogy), The Princess Bride.

Quote: (makes me laugh)

"Begin the unnecessarily slow-moving dipping mechanism!" - Dr. Evil, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

Authors who inspired me to write:  Judy Blume, Roald Dahl, David Eddings, Jennifer Roberson, Diana Gabaldon, and many more.

Web hang outs:  Dark Side DownUnder, Eleni's Taverna, Eleni's Library,  my website, Twitter, SARA, the RWAus blog.

Working on:  I'm actually taking a break from actual writing, but I'm undertaking Angela James' 'Before You Hit Send' Self-Editing Workshop. Though a couple of my short stories are beckoning me to work on them *grin*

Plotter/Pantser?:  Mainly a pantser. My first draft is what I call my skeleton draft. It is where I work out what the story is, and where it is going. I go back and layer it. Having said that, I do have certain sign posts, which grow and change as I go along. Though, I have, with the help of my Bootcamp friends, the plot for a trilogy (well, the first half anyway). I'm sure when I actually start writing it, it will grow and develop and take me in directions I wouldn't have thought of. This trilogy, however, has been in my head for a long time, so it may go easier than others.

So I'm able to adapt for the needs of the story. 

Sourced from here.

Fave character: A dragon named Flora, who just makes me laugh. Oh, and there is the drunk wizard. 

Currently out there: My flash fiction story, Mirror, Mirror!, on the Mindflights website.

What's next: A flash fiction story, Dragon's Quest, to be on the Antipodean SF e-zine in June.

Writing tips:

• "Never give up, never surrender". OK, so that was a quote from Galaxy Quest. But it is so true. 

• Go for your dreams. Do not be left wondering 'what if?'

• Join a writing group that suits your needs, whether this be a large group like Romance Writers of Australia and Romance Writers of America, or smaller critique groups, or even just a critique partner. The best thing I ever did was do the first Bootcamp offered by RWAus. We got along so well, that almost 4 years later, we are still a group. The advice, the support, the friendship were what I needed at the time to get back into my writing after a hiatus due to illness.

• Set goals.

• Set up a routine - write, write, write, read, read, read (or a any combination of those *wink*). 

• Don't be crushed by negative criticism. We need to have thick skin in this industry. I had someone say one of my short stories was 'pedestrian'. Each to their own. Privately get mad, get sad - for about five minutes and then forget about it. So that means being professional, and not responding to the person doing the criticizing. 

• Same goes for feedback from critique partners - while it might not be negative, it may not be what you wanted. So ask yourself, do I agree? If so, use the feedback. If you don't, why not? Sometimes, feedback can make you think if you are doing what you need to achieve in a scene.

• Which brings me to, stick to your voice. Don't let others dilute this. Keep that spark that makes your writing fresh in there, and don't overpolish (says one who has done this). Love what you write! 

• You are you, so don't compare yourself to others. That way leads to misery. So beware, beware.