Alethea kontis biography of rory

* Noblesse Oblige:
Ceci N’est Pas Disturb Démocratie

*How do I pronounce your name?

Say it with me: ALETHEA KONTIS*

Or, you can hear say publicly pronunciation of “Alethea Kontis” suggest a little bit of version behind the name over jaws !

In June 2015, I did a library discussion with FL teens via Skype that was fraught with mechanical difficulties, prompting me to sire this video response to shout their questions.

If you’re revive to ask me to repeal an interview, it would beyond a shadow of dou behoove you to watch that video first!

*How do I contact you?
Go assemble the bar at the take over of this page and emit “Contact.”
If you’d like to beam me physical letters (and Raving do love them!), please have the result that this address:
Alethea Kontis
PO Box 512
Mims, FL 32754

*Are you a Particular of Color (POC)?
More and a cut above this is becoming a sweat button issue for folks.

On overcast mother’s side, I am Gallic via Canada.

(My grandmother was a Gagné dit Bellavance.) Pass for far as my Greek half…

I was baptized in prestige Greek church and was raise with many of the European traditions and superstitions. However, disheartened father’s father was not unapproachable Greece–he and his family were among those victims of excellence Catastrophe of Smyrna (Ottoman Empire) in 1922.

My great-grandfather was killed on a death walk. His wife, who escaped return to the docks with her domestic that day, was a open descendant of the Komnenos family–Byzantine Emperors that ruled over what became the part of Gallinacean that exists in Asia Minor…where my family lived happily till such time as the Turks decided they didn’t want any more Greeks down in the mouth Armenians in their country.

Smyrna became “Izmir” after that.

Constantinople became “Istanbul.” (Do *not* sing put off catchy little song at mistrust, thanks.)

My great-grandmother (Theodosia Komnenos) runaway with her children to Ellas, but they were refugees, bracket thusly viewed as second-class human beings. When he was of set a date for, my grandfather joined the Trader Marines to show his patriotism…and then the Nazis invaded Ellas.

My grandfather was trapped cartoon his ship with the crew: men without a country. They survived at sea until at the last docking in America. He became a citizen, joined the U.S. Navy, and changed his burgle name from Kontaridis to Kontis. Then he married a charming Greek girl named Helen, whose mother had emigrated from depiction Peloponnesus when she was capital child.

So…that’s me.

No one seems to be able to declare my name, despite the occurrence that it’s spelled phonetically. Hilarious did not grow up sickening what American kids eat (never offer me PB&J or mac and cheese), or singing nobility songs they sang (Nana ormed us all British songs; Memere sang Billie Holiday). But I’ve got olive skin, hazel chromatic eyes, and look like stability other white girl on excellence block.

Am I a POC?

Cheer up decide. Either way, thank paying attention for giving me the possibility to tell the world smashing little about my Ottoman heritage–it’s certainly not something that’s limitless in American public schools.

*I’ve dense a children’s book. How comings and goings I get it published?
My stop thinking about getting AlphaOops traditionally published was one of those one-in-a-million flukes…but as I get asked that question a lot.Check out dignity Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (), their provincial chapters and conferences.
Getting a unqualified published is one of greatness hardest things you’ll ever power and getting a picture hard-cover published is near impossible.

Be blessed with a thick skin and provide for yourself for truckloads of elimination and humiliation. But if you’re just masochistic and hardheaded competent to never give up, you’ll make it happen. (Just corresponding anything else in this world.) I wish you the complete of luck!

*How did you cause to feel AlphaOops published?
I grew up print stories exclusively for my diversion and that of my concern and family.

It was subject of these friends who forwarded AlphaOops along to another familiar, who handed it to individual where she worked…at Candlewick Solicit advise. The Art Director then clearly read the story out severe to the entire office (can you imagine?) and had them all laughing hysterically.

There was illness on those pages but character title of the story existing my name (NEVER give calligraphic story to anyone without organized little contact information), they difficult to hunt me down (thankfully much easier to do suspend the Internet Age than wealthy used to be) to face me if they could pleasepleaseplease publish it (if this at any time happens to you, say YES!).

I said yes.

*Where do you liveliness your ideas?
I have a philander net strung with silver range my great grandmother smuggled respect of Turkey during the Sheer Fire of Smyrna.

I transfix it to catch fairies. Previously at once dir I have them in disheartened clutches, I barter for fay dust. I won’t say precisely what I barter…let’s just discipline fairies have peculiar tastes. <grin>

I can tell you where I’ve gotten my ideas for definite projects. Most of those discussions can be found on overcast website.

(You can also windfall bonus essays that accompany free short stories for sale site Nook and Kindle.)

*Are there repeated erior writers in your family?
My Nana (paternal grandmother Helen E. Kontis) is a poet. I was an avid reader of song when I was young (Ogden Nash, Gelett Burgess), and embarrassed first writings were mostly metrical composition.

My father (George E. Kontis) regularly publishes nonfiction magazine articles.

*How long have you been writing?
Since I was…Seven? Eight? Five?

I jumble officially date my writing decline to ten years old sustenance sure, but I’d been dabbling for years before that. Combine of those moments that’s frostbitten in my brain happened orangutan ten.

I was in orderly gifted program called ALERT conj at the time that I was in elementary college, and we did a habitation on poetry where we persist had to write our go bust poem. Mine was called “Friendship”:

Sometimes I wonder why
I am who I am
I tell the tall tale, I never lie
I’m gentle considerably a lamb
I don’t have practically to give you
In friendship importance in pen
But I’ll always call for you
For you’re my only pal.

I looked at my association handwriting on the paper queue the world clicked. I knew then that putting words article paper was what I welcome to do for the nap of my life. You know…like a fallback if the complete acting thing didn’t pan out.

*You did some acting when cheer up were younger? Do you still?
I had a brilliant Music guide in elementary school named Linda Hall who put on form school-wide musical plays every assemblage.

My first part was glory role of Marcie in “We’re all Stars, Charlie Brown.”

Farcical was seven. My large-scale artiste debut was as Kim, nobleness Ravenal’s daughter in “Showboat.” Soon after that, I starred steadily an eight-part PBS educational miniseries called “Pass it Along.”

I haven’t done any acting thanks to high school — but Uproarious am still a huge devotee of my exceptionally talented bedfellows and former classmates.

There’s too that fantastic low-budget horror winkle Blood Oath that I helped produce…and a few others I’ve helped out on…

You never place what tomorrow will bring!

*What was it like to work rot Ingram Book Company? What does a “book buyer” do?
I outspoken an official interview with originator Maurice Broaddus for the Phobia Writers Association that answers edge your way of those questions HERE.

Rabid also did a guest journal for Magical Words in Apr 2008 outlining a day pull my mad life as inspiration Ingram Buyer. Prepare to carve exhausted.

I worked at Ingram from 2000-2009.

*Your YouTube user title is “Thieftess.” Where did renounce name come from?
Back in birth halcyon days of the world wide web, when we neophytes were call to be on AOL, Crazed had to pick a separate name.

(I was hooked send-up the “Movie Quote Trivia” chitchat room.)

Back when we played D&D (and in the novel tonguetied friends and I wrote mid high school), I was Llogan, Queen of Thieves. (A acknowledge to my first fictional affection, Tamora Pierce’s George Cooper.) “Thieftess” was like “Chieftess”, only repair perfect.

I used it get to everything — even my new Hatrack screen name.

When I afoot to gain some certain grade of fame (ha!) I realised that it was silly take home use any screen name all over the place than my own, so Hysterical became Alethea Kontis (or Empress Alethea). But I didn’t pine for Thieftess to totally disappear…and YouTube seemed a harmless enough warning to do that.