What is your most recent creative project (title and/or description)?
Although I mostly write crime novels (adult and young adult), in December 2021 my first children’s book was published in Greece. It was titled The Replacement Santa Claus and I had the opportunity to work on it with my wife who illustrated the book, so there was a lot of joy in this departure from my usual type of writing.
What new projects are on your current horizon?
I am very excited because in 2022 two books of mine are coming out in Greece and I am currently translating one of them for the English market – a comedy, as I believe that with all that’s going on in the world we all desperately need to find reasons to laugh. I have also co-written, with three other screenwriters, the pilot episode and the outlines for a mini-series based on a bestselling crime novel of mine in Greece, and we have already a couple of major Greek stars attached to the project, which we will soon start shopping around.
Why do you love what you do and what inspired you to begin?
I never intended to be a writer until I was 21, saw a shocking event at a political demonstration in Greece which was transmitted live on TV and then I heard a bunch of people discussing it. They all seemed so certain about their (contradictory) opinions that I thought of the idea that someone may have committed that act for reasons that no one may know. I then started asking myself many questions about who that person might be and one thing led to another until my first novel was born. The process of writing was amazing to me, and having the book quickly accepted by a well-known publishing house was even more amazing. When I held the book in my hand, I thought that this is what I will be doing for the rest of my life.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given that you try to incorporate in your approach to work and creativity?
‘Don’t think when you write.’ Meaning, of course, don’t overthink. Let the writing flow in the first draft and then you can rewrite as much as you want.
What are you reading at the moment? Would you recommend it and why?
The Sawdust House by the always excellent David Whish-Wilson, which I can’t recommend enough. The book truly transports the reader to another era with an extremely interesting character as the protagonist, an Irish-Australian convict who is considered to be the father of American boxing.
When and where do you feel most creative?
I get most of my new ideas in the shower.
What’s your guilty pop-culture pleasure?
I have many and I don’t feel guilty about them! The latest would be watching season 2 of the TV series Emily in Paris, which has very-very little substance but is really fun to watch.
Find Pol’s Literati listing here.