November 5, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

Interview with Pantelis Kodogiannis, leading actor of First Line

Hello peeps, and welcome to an interview with a difference! This time, I have a special guest from the magical world of cinema! I feel all starry-eyed with Pantelis Kodogiannis sitting across from me on the hot seat. Everyone who’s been following Effrosyni’s Blog, knows of my posts about the repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles – a cause very close to my heart. Earlier this year, I had the pleasure to watch the movie First Line (Greek title: Promakhos) and was astounded by the passionate performance of Pantelis Kodogiannis. In the movie, he plays a lawyer who fights this great cause in court (an imaginary scenario, of course). As serendipity would have it, Pantelis read my articles about the Marbles and friended me on Facebook. I was so delighted to meet the real man behind the role that I had to invite him here for a chat. I hope you will enjoy meeting this passionate Greek living in L.A. as much as I have!

Hello Pantelis and welcome to my blog!

Hello Effrosyni! It’s great to be here!

Pantelis, I must say, the passion of your performance in Promakhos was remarkable. It moved me beyond words as I also share the same passion where it comes to the repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles – a matter that remains indelible and particularly sensitive in the Greek psyche for the past 200 years. To me, your astounding performance felt like you played the part of that fully committed lawyer with original feelings of your own… am I right to think that?

The job of every actor is to perform with passion. An actor’s passion for acting connects him to the passions of the character that he is portraying. In Promakhos (The First Line), I had a lot of commonalities with Andreas, the lead character of the film. Like Andreas, I am a Greek who deeply desires to see the Parthenon Marbles repatriated to Greece and the Greek people. Additionally, like my character, I am an attorney (I was a practicing attorney in New York for a large law firm before becoming an actor). Andreas exhibits his desire for the return of the Parthenon Marbles and approaches the law in a manner that is very different from me as he is overly confident and in some ways arrogant; nonetheless our commitment to this cause is impregnable, passionate and potent.

Photography by Panos Golfis

The scenes of chaos in Athens with the fires and the riot police felt very realistic. I was very impressed your production team managed to film such scenes at the heart of the metropolis! How did it feel to act in the midst of such dramatic scenes?

Shooting the riot scenes was quite a rush because we knew that what we were doing had not, to our knowledge at least, ever been done before (meaning shooting a film during a real riot). The production team was outstanding in making certain that everyone was safe and secure; however, I would be lying if I said that it was not stressful as we did not know what was going to happen during the shoot. We did not know if authorities or rioters would stop us and safety was a huge concern. In one of the opening scenes of the film for instance while I am walking between the rioters and the line of policemen, a rioter throws a large piece of marble at the shielded policemen. It came pretty close to hitting me instead.

What? Oh my goodness!

Ah yes… Additionally, some rioters in that same scene thought I was a politician. and our assistant director (Maria Lainas) overheard them plotting to throw something directly at me. Luckily, she explained to them what we were doing. Interestingly enough, they were so interested in the film, we invited them to take part in another scene in the film. Appropriately, they “fought” head to head with riot policeman in the scene (and the only scene depicting a riot that was staged). I enjoyed talking with them a lot and hearing their perspective, the frustration, disappointment that motivated them to participate in the riots in the first place.

I must admit that shooting scenes among the riots in Athens also caused me much pain. Seeing rioters and police clash, the center of Athens being destroyed, historic buildings being burned and covered with graffiti, was disconcerting, Effrosyni. All I kept wondering, is “How did we get here? How do we put an end to all of this frustration, pain, anguish, destruction, violence?”

Indeed, Pantelis. And it’s hard work these days, even to the biggest optimist to imagine an improvement on things any time soon. How do you feel about the crisis and the political situation in Greece? Do you see any light at the end of the tunnel?

The crisis in Greece is gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. Greece and her people have endured great hardship since the beginning of the crisis. The most disappointing thing for me is that Greece and her people have so much untapped potential. I lament the fact that this potential has not been seized upon, harnessed, nurtured, developed.

Photography by Panos Golfis

You’re absolutely right there. I totally agree…

As for the political situation, I am not optimistic to be quite honest. Too many elections, political upheaval/unrest and not enough action in my humble opinion. I hope this will change. Many Greeks I speak to tell me that politicians in Greece have destroyed Greece. My answer to them is that politicians are a reflection of the electorate that votes for them. This goes to one of the deeper messages of Promakhos (The First Line) in which we use the words Thucydides (Pericles’ Funeral Oration to be exact): “Make [Athena] your goddess and lover.” To me, Thucydides (Pericles) is saying to the Athenians: Respect Athens (and by extension Greece, as Athens is the soul of Greece), act responsibly, civically and nobly, wipe out corruption, elect responsible and civically-minded politicians, hold elected officials accountable, etc… When we as Greeks begin to live by these words and worship and love Athena, her land, her people, then we will begin to flourish again. Much like in the age of Thucydides, Greeks today need to live by these words.

Wise words… Do you feel that we could benefit from the crisis in some way as to build a better future? Learning from any past mistakes, for example?

I think the first step in solving any problem is to identify and recognize that there is a problem. Greece’s entry into the EU and the common currency brought considerable prosperity and security to the country and its citizens. However, everyone, politicians and citizens alike, looked the other way and did not address systemic and endemic problems within Greece, i.e. corruption, tax-evasion, a bloated government sector, a corrupt and sluggish judiciary. While times were good, everyone turned a blind eye to these issues. I am hoping the crisis will serve as a wake-up call to all Greeks. Greeks must change, transform and rebuild. Rather than looking at it as a negative I hope that Greeks rise to the challenge and see the great opportunity that lies before them to rise and rebuild.

I wonder, have you always wanted to be an actor?

Yes, since I was young.

Photography by Panos Golfis

What other acting have you done? And are there any current or future projects you’re happy to talk about?

I have been in numerous plays in theaters in Los Angeles and have shot a few commercials, short and feature films. Promakhos (The First Line) was my first major role in a feature film. Currently, I have several projects in pre-production. In early spring of 2016, I will be on the Los Angeles stage again; filming for my next film is due to begin this summer. As both projects have not been officially announced, I unfortunately cannot share more with you at this time.

I fully understand and good luck with everything! Tell us, Pantelis, how does it feel to be Greek but never having lived here full time? How Greek do you feel living in L.A.?

Being Greek is a state of mind in my opinion. It does not matter where you live or happen to be. I feel Greek wherever I am. My soul is Greek. I always think about the words of Melina Mercouri who, when asked in an interview what her weakness was, simply responded “My country.” I understand that sentiment entirely. Perhaps because she was forced to leave Greece and live in exile. When you are away from Greece, you always yearn for it. Even if you are not in it, it is always inside of you. Greece is my weakness too. My love. My everything. I cannot imagine that ever changing.

Tell us a little about your part of the world. Is there a Greek community in L.A.? What do you do for fun when going out?

There is a sizable Greek community in Los Angeles. As with other Greek communities around the world, it primarily centers around the Church. Unlike many other Greek communities, the one in LA does not have a distinct neighborhood or area (such as Astoria in NYC or Bayswater in London). Like LA itself, the Greek community is really spread out. As such, Greek life centers around events held by the Church, the Greek consulate, friends, family, etc. Sadly, there is no place where Greeks regularly congregate where you know you will definitely run into fellow Hellenes. That being said, I see my Greek friends regularly and we make it a point of seeing each other quite often.

Do you have family in Greece and where, if I may ask?

Yes, my immediate family has repatriated to Greece and they live in Chios. I have extended family in the US, Greece (Chios, of course, and Athens) and Australia.

Any hobbies or interests that you enjoy in your spare time?

I jog, swim, take acting classes when I am not doing theatre or film work. I enjoy cooking. I like to spend time with friends and go to the beach. I am definitely a water person.

What types of movies do you enjoy mostly? Can you tell me three of your favorite movies and what you love about them?

As a cinephile, I like all kinds of movies. That being said, I definitely prefer dramas. It’s difficult to chose three but I will tell you that three of my favorite movies from the last ten years would be “A King’s Speech,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy.”

The performances by Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush in A King’s Speech were truly remarkable. Their chemistry was just spot on. I really like the message of the story – overcoming personal hardship and adversity through trust and friendship. You see the this mutual appreciation and bond develop between theses two characters as the movie unfolds. Very inspiring.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was really eye-opening because it’s a story about a man that had everything a man could want in life: a brilliant career, fame, fortune, children, love, etc., that comes to an abrupt end. It’s message about appreciation, not taking things for granted, enjoying the moment and living life to the fullest, these are all things that speak to me and I think about all the time.

I really enjoyed Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy because of the writing and character development. Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, etc. all delivered excellent performances. I really enjoy movies that are dialogue and character-driven. The Cold War/spy twist was intriguing. I enjoy watching the film several times to pick up on the clues weaved throughout the script that is supposed to aid the viewer in identifying who the spy is. Sadly, I did not guess right the first time.

I’ve only watched A King’s Speech and loved it for the same reasons. Thanks for the recommendations of the other two. Will definitely seek them out. This is a book blog so I have to ask! Are you a reader and if so, do you have any favorite genres or authors?

I am most definitely a reader. I like most genres and read a wide array of books. For instance, this past summer I read Andre Agassi’s autobiography “Open.” I am currently reading Hierocles’ Commentaries on the Golden Verses by Pythagoras. As for favorite authors, I can tell you I have read several books by Milan Kundera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Nikos Kazantzakis.

I’m reading Christ Recrucified by Kazantzakis these days. Although the language is very hard going in Greek, I find it absolutely magical. It transports you right there at the center of the story. On to the next question; I expect an actor needs to be in a good physical condition, always ready for active, physical roles. Do you exercise and are you into healthy eating and all that?

I certainly do attempt to exercise and much as I can and tolerate (*laughs*) As I stated before, I jog/swim roughly 3-4 times a week. I’m pretty vigilant with what I eat as well. Thanks to my Greek upbringing, I enjoy eating a lot of legumes. Moreover, I try to cook and avoid eating out as much as I can when I am home in Los Angeles. It makes eating healthier much easier.

Other than any friends or family, what are the three things that you miss the most from Greece when in the States?

The light (particularly the Attic light), Chios, hearing my name being pronounced correctly without hesitation.

Love the last one. Believe me, being there, done that, bought the t-shirt that says ‘Rosa Moschaudi’! Many people called me that when I lived in England (*laughs*) Name your three most favorite delicacies in Greece. Mine is souvlaki in any form or combo. You?

As a proud Chian, first, and foremost, would be masticha (if that counts as a delicacy). Pasticcio and kopanisti would round out the top three. There are at least 20-30 more though, I must admit. Souvlaki is definitely in the top 10.

I had masticha once in its raw form – as taken off the tree; it was delicious! Definitely counts for a delicacy (*smiles*) If you could have one superpower what would it be?

The ability to fly.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned so far in life the hard way?

That life is not a dress rehearsal. Do everything you want to do, say everything you want to say, feel everything you want to feel. I lost my father at a relatively young age and did not get the chance to spend enough time with him, ask him what I should have asked him, say to him half of the things that I wanted to say and should have said to him.

If you could choose another profession, what would that be?

I already have two professions – can I choose another Effrosyni?

Be my guest!

Definitely an architect. I love architecture.

What are the things in your life that you’re most grateful for?

My parents, my sister, my nephews, my cousins, my friends, my thirst for knowledge.

Aw, lovely answer. How would you like to be remembered?

I would like to be remembered as a good father, husband, son, brother, uncle, friend. A respectful, just, kind and beautiful soul.

I have the feeling you’ll get your wish, Pantelis. Have you brought any photos to show us? As you know, I tend to pester my interviewees for photos of their own!

Yes, I have brought one to show your readers. It’s from a beach bar I enjoy going to in Chios.

Oh… marvelous! Thank you so much for being here with us today, Pantelis. For a cinephile like me, it’s been a rare treat!

Thank you too, Effrosyni, I really enjoyed our chat!

Pantelis Kodogiannis was born in Saratoga Springs, NY. He studied Political Science and Latin at Vassar College and received his J.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles. He was a corporate lawyer on Wall Street for seven years before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. Pantelis attended the Beverly Hills Playhouse under the direction of Milton Katselas. He is a founding member of The Renegade Theatre and Film Group in Hollywood, California, led by his mentor Frances Vennera. He has performed in several plays, films and commercials. Most recently, he played the lead in the film, The First Line (Promakhos), where he portrays an attorney who sues the British Museum for the return of the Parthenon Marbles.

Like Pantelis’ Facebook fan page

See more production and behind the scenes stills from First Line here

Interested to find out more about the Parthenon Marbles?

Read these popular blogposts by Effrosyni:

Why is Lord Elgin an abomination to the Greeks?

What are the Parthenon Marbles to the Greeks?

3 FREE books for you! Sign up below to receive them instantly!

NEW! Clean Christmas romance. Single mother Cathy Roussos gave up on love long ago, and veterinarian Alex Rallis doesn’t believe in it, but one magical Christmas on a Santorini farm might just change everything…

Check it out on Amazon Read a FREE sample!

A clean romantic suspense short read with an unreliable narrator that’ll keep you guessing! Vera is losing her mind over famous actor Yannnis Ksenos, except, she isn’t just a fan… Now, she plucks up the courage to ring his doorbell… Visit Amazon

For my delicious Greek recipes, go here.

Planning to visit Greece? Check out my FREE guide to south Corfu!

October 7, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

Why suffer bullies and haters?

A few days ago, I turned on the TV during my lunch break at home and came across a very upsetting interview. The hostess of a popular daytime show had a Greek female author as a guest but, unlike the run-of-the-mill chat that I expected, the author, whom I choose not to name, spoke about the cyber-bullying she’s been subjected to for the past few years.

This author is one of very few in Greece who are very prolific, very popular, and who sell books like hot cakes. Note: this is a country where people don’t read and it’s very difficult to make a decent living as a writer. This lady was in tatters and visibly upset as she relayed her story. Her bullies seem to act as a group, pouncing on every single post of her books on any Greek site that hosts her work, filling the comments with obscene lies about her and trashing her work with vulgar words. But that’s not all. Her bullies have also been threatening to hurt her physically unless she stops writing, something that caused this poor woman a terrible sense of insecurity, enough to block her from writing completely. At the moment, she is in the middle of writing a novel but is unable to continue, saying the bullies have won and lamenting she has to stop writing all together. The moment she rests her hands on the keyboard, they start to shake, the fear induced in her by her bullies paralyzing her.

I won’t talk about this any more, because to watch her talk about all this has upset me a lot. I’ll only say the good news, i.e. that she’s found the courage to talk to a lawyer and is associating with the Greek police authorities (the all-singing-and-dancing Electronic Crime Division that is working miracles every day here, be it catching child pornographers, bullies, and even saving the lives of teenagers who plan to commit suicide). I sincerely hope they catch her bullies soon and that they get prosecuted and punished severely, so that this author can continue to share her gift with the world and live her life as she has chosen.

This shocking interview came to my attention, as serendipity would have it, at a time when I experienced a couple of hits of bullying towards me on Twitter and Facebook. Of course, by comparison, these are laughable accounts, but still, they always manage to leave a very bitter taste in my mouth.

Let me tell you something: bullies come in all forms and grades of nastiness. They don’t have to threaten to hurt you physically. It’s still bullying if they call you a nasty name, or if they disagree with you on a tweet or FB post and tell you so in a tactless, disrespectful or rude way. Some people may call them trolls, others haters, but I like to squeeze them all into the category of ‘bully,’ simply because I think they all have the same darkness inside and the same motives when they do it.

Whether we like it or not, these people love the internet. Every indie author will have to deal with some type of nasty comment sooner or later. Having been bullied in school at the tender age of 10 and having found the courage to speak up and get rid of the problem, I know first hand that bullies are cowards. They hide behind a front of bravado or act like they are the cat’s whiskers, but they have problems in their lives you wouldn’t imagine, their sense of self suffering from all sorts of problems.

In my 30s, I got bullied by a Greek young man online. We became email friends having met in a forum. At first, I didn’t know he hated Greece and the Greeks with passion although he was one! When he started to talk offensively about Greece and its people, saying he was ashamed to be Greek, of course I told him I didn’t agree with him and that’s when he started to threaten to hurt me. I stopped emailing at once and he got over it eventually and stopped writing too, but it was pretty scary for a while. He erupted with so much demon-like hate, just because I had a different opinion to his… Can you wrap your head around that? I bet you can’t and that’s okay because normal people can’t.

The guy’s profile? a single guy in his 20s living with a very oppressive mother. Pent-up anger was his number one problem because he couldn’t stand up to her. He dreamed of moving abroad but suffered from panic attacks so he was nervous to leave his house, let alone the country he despised. That’s right. A coward AND an antihuman in need of psychiatric help. He lived in misery so he hated everybody. If only Hitchcock were alive today, another Psycho could be given to the world! I laugh… but it’s anything but laughable.

Anyway, where was I? Yes. My experience with bullies. I even made reference to this worldwide phenomenon in my debut novel, The Necklace of Goddess Athena, portraying a schoolboy who was an introvert having been bullied for years (but, of course I gave that story a satisfying ending!). I’ve included this theme in my book hoping it may inspire someone one day, even one suffering schoolchild, to find the courage and to believe in themselves enough to fight back.

So, what do I do when a bully/hater takes a shine on me? This happens only online, of course, and in this case, I have a single, and very effective strategy, which I’d like to share with you today:

First step: if someone comes across as simply awkward, be kind and give them the benefit of the doubt, even if it means acting stupid, like you didn’t perceive the offense.

Second step: If they send you a second negative remark that is awkward/tactless/demeaning/rude (either in reply to your comment or at any other time in future), then that’s strike two and this is as far as I am willing to put up with it. This is also where I press the blessed BLOCK button. Whether it’s on Twitter or Facebook, it’s a couple of clicks away and then they’re out of your life like magic. Never hesitate to use the block button.

If someone uses obscene language, whatever you do, don’t answer, not even once. Simply block them. If you answer, they’ll feed off that like a starved jackal being thrown a t-bone steak and will only follow you around for more.

For some reason, most of my unfortunate encounters with rude people who disrespect the opinion of others happen on Facebook, so I’d like to share with you my own understanding of what the Facebook wall (private page) is:

I see so many people put up with ‘friends’ who comment on their posts against everyone else’s opinion in a demeaning, rude and patronizing way. Why does the owner of that Facebook wall put up with it? By humoring that one friend, aren’t they allowing them to harass everyone else? What I do with friends like that is–you guessed it–block them. Mind you, it’s never happened with someone I know from my personal life, like a family member or a friend or ex colleague. It only happens with people I’ve never met and hardly know anything about. Yes. I am an author so I have swung the gates open to my Facebook private page. I allow anyone to be my friend as to spread myself thin and market my books. The only cautionary measure I take is to only friend: a) authors b) people who I have mutual friends with c) people I meet in FB groups I frequent. Never hesitate to block ‘friends’ who you don’t know personally. Friending them on Facebook is not a lifetime commitment. If they misbehave, throw them out and protect your decent friends from the nastiness they brought in with them.

Think of it this way: your Facebook wall is not a public playground for anyone to come in and speak their mind tactlessly or rudely. Your Facebook wall is like your HOME. People can walk into it because you have allowed them to. It’s a private place, so whoever enters must enter with courtesy, otherwise they should be thrown out the door.

Have you noticed, I wonder, that on your Facebook wall you can actually delete other people’s comments?

YES! Why? Because it’s yours and you can do whatever you want with it. It means you own people’s comments under your own posts. It means YOU decide if they should be getting away with rudeness inside your house.

Sadly, a few of my Facebook friends let their rude buddies run wild. It’s happened to me four times now, which has stopped me from commenting in these people’s posts again, just in case I find myself the target of their ill-mannered friends. Do you see the problem they have here? I am not commenting on their posts any more, so they miss that extra bit of oomph when it comes to their message reaching that bit further. If these people are authors, won’t they be missing out if a few of their FB friends get put off enough to do the same?

Life is too short, folks. We should have no tolerance for any awkwardness or nastiness from others. As Robert Pattinson recently called the haters who trash his girlfriend with racist remarks, ‘They are demons who live in basements.’ What a wonderful way to portray them and I couldn’t agree more.

Make no mistake. It takes nothing to attract the attention of a hater. The other day, all I did is RT an author friend’s tweet about their book and this Greek young man replied to me and my friend with a tweet in Greek that referred to my mother’s female anatomy. That’s right. It’s nothing but the mindless, random response of an amoeba. These people are sub-humans, thriving on nastiness and ugliness and craving it, like vampires crave blood (sorry, couldn’t avoid the association after mentioning Rob!) Don’t waste time trying to suss them out. Decent human beings like you and me simply cannot. Just steer clear from them and let them be. The universe will eventually catch them to bite them where the sun don’t shine and that’s all we need to know.

If anyone’s bullying you or just being rude online, I hope this post inspires you enough to use the block button (or to seek help with the authorities if it’s gone too far.)

Take it from me: birds sing more happily after you press the block button. Enjoy the heavenly chirping and keep the demons out!

Are you an author needing help with promotion? Check out my FREE, cracking good tips and resources: http://effrosyniwrites.com/for-authors/

3 FREE books for you! Sign up below to receive them instantly!

NEW! Clean Christmas romance. Single mother Cathy Roussos gave up on love long ago, and veterinarian Alex Rallis doesn’t believe in it, but one magical Christmas on a Santorini farm might just change everything…

Check it out on Amazon Read a FREE sample!

September 17, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

A journey through time to the Brighton seafront

Today, I will be taking you all with me on a virtual journey through time to one of my favorite places: the seafront at Brighton, England – the infamous seaside town where the legendary West Pier once stood. The Pier, that was opened in 1866, has always fascinated me; hence, it’s no surprise that I wound up writing a romantic trilogy, The Lady of the Pier, telling its story while utilizing the Pier itself as the ultimate symbol of wistfulness, nostalgia, and lost opportunities.

But, don’t let me get all misty. We have an exciting journey ahead of us and time is pressing for us all. For our first stop, let me take you to April 1997 . . . this is when I made my first trip to Brighton on a weekend break (at the time, I was working in Northamptonshire, England). Back then, albeit derelict and out of reach, the West Pier still stood and so, these photos, the only ones I have of the Pier and me in the same frame are precious to me like gold.

(Click on any image to enlarge)

Here are more pictures from that short break I had in Brighton; except for the one picture of the Royal Pavilion and its sublime minarets, all the rest are from the seafront. I hardly wandered away from there throughout my stay in town. You can also see the Brighton Pier, which still stands today, being more recent than the West Pier, and which back then was called Palace Pier.

(Click on any image to enlarge)

: The West Pier in 1997

: View of the West Pier from Brighton Pier

: View of The West Pier from Brighton Pier

: The Royal Pavilion

: Palace Pier (now, Brighton Pier)

The West Pier in 1997: at the pier head, you can see the theatre (the Pavilion) and to the right, the Concert Hall.

I took the following photo with two takes on an old film camera and then glued them together, so excuse the ugly seam (and poor resolution for that matter!). Still, I hope it gives you a good idea of how the seafront looked from the site of the West Pier back in 1997. You can see the Brighton Pier in the distance and the historical Metropole Hotel (big brown building) in the foreground.

I was lucky to return once more to Brighton, in New Year’s Eve in 1999, to see The West Pier, more or less, in the same condition. Sadly, I never returned after that. Since the arson attacks and the devastating storms that took place between then and now, all that remains of the West Pier today (as I write this in 2015) is a skeletal ruin of its once magnificent theatre (the Pavilion) at the pier head.

(Below image provided courtesy of Ben Nuttall)

The remnant of the theatre is commonly referred to now by the locals as The Old Lady of Brighton, or The Grand Old Lady of Brighton. When I first heard the names a few months ago on Twitter, they brought shivers down my spine since my trilogy is about a spirit attached to the Pier, called The Lady of the Pier. This peculiar coincidence made the story in my head become more real, somehow.

But, let’s forget the past and return to the present time for a while, before I propel us all into the future, shall we?

As I said earlier, the last time I visited Brighton was in 1999, so I was a bit stuck trying to find free images of Brighton’s seafront to post on this site. On the spur of the moment, I visited Twitter and searched for the hashtags #WestPier and #Brighton. I spoke to a few amateur photographers who posted stunning photos of the seafront, and two of them were happy to let me present them on this blog and post their images. One of them is a local of Brighton, Ben Nuttall, the other, as chance would have it, is a fellow Greek called Barbara Mama, visiting Brighton on a holiday break.

Without further ado, I’m delighted to present to you Barbara Mama, an engineer from Athens, and the wonderful photos she took of Brighton’s seafront during her recent holiday in this historical, British town.

(Click on any image to enlarge – following images provided courtesy of Barbara Mama)

Stunning huh? I was delighted to see the Brighton Pier is as popular as ever and that there’s also a big ferris wheel standing on the seafront now. Fantastic!

Before I press my magic buttons to offer you all a glimpse of the future, I must tell you this: the West Pier, or rather what’s left of it, is owned by the West Pier Trust, which nowadays looks to the future with bright hopes. Why? Well, an exciting landmark is being constructed as I write these lines in the same place where the entrance to the West Pier once stood. It’s a revolving, observation tower called i360. Its architects are the same people who brought the world the infamous London Eye. The purpose of the i360 is to give tourists a bird’s eye view of Brighton’s seafront while celebrating the West Pier and keeping its memory alive. The i360 opens in 2016 – not long now!

Here follows a short introduction of Ben Nuttall in his own words. Ben has been kind enough to include in the photos he sent me, a few from the construction of the i360. You’ll be amazed to know that when Ben doesn’t get approached by weird Greek authors pestering him for his photos, he has the BBC itself emailing him to ask for his latest video of Brighton’s extreme weather! No kidding!

My name is Ben Nuttall. I’m 26 years old and live in Hove with my partner and our two cats Chester and Maggie. I moved here 4 years ago for work from Canterbury in Kent and love the vibrancy of Brighton & Hove. Everyone is very chilled out and there’s always something to do. I’m very much an amateur photographer. All the pictures you see here were taken on my iPhone 6 Plus, while out and about during my daily life. I use an app called VSCOcam to capture most of these pictures and add slight edits to them. You can view more of my photos on my Instagram page: Instagram.com/irbenji or on my Twitter: twitter.com/irbenji

And now, here are Ben Nuttall’s amazing photos! Check out that artistic black & white one of the stormy sea. Is it me, or does it resemble a painting? Stunning!

(All images provided courtesy of Ben Nuttall)

Before I go, to say I’ve had a bit of exciting news from Brighton recently. The Chief Executive of the West Pier Trust, Rachel Clark, bought a copy of The Ebb, book 1 in The Lady of the Pier trilogy, and posted about it on the news page of the West Pier Trust website, recommending it to its members! Yippee! You should have seen me bouncing about like a kangaroo the day she emailed me to let me know. To find out more about the West Pier’s history, to see old photos of its heyday, and to hear the latest on the i360, visit the West Pier Trust site. If you love stories about the past, it will fascinate you! To keep up with the progress of the i360, follow these great Twitter accounts or check out these hashtags:

#Brightoni360 #i360 #westpier #Brightonbeach #Brightonpier #Brightonwheel #Brighton

Last but not least, here is a shout out, with heaps of gratitude on my part for the two amazing photographers who made this post possible today. Thank you, Ben and Barbara, Barbara and Ben!

#SO #WW These wonderful tweeps!

Do you love Brighton? Would you enjoy reading about the West Pier’s history through WWII?

Check out my compelling paranormal romance trilogy, The Lady of the Pier!

FOR MORE INFORMATION GO HERE

3 FREE books for you! Sign up below to receive them instantly!

NEW! Clean Christmas romance. Single mother Cathy Roussos gave up on love long ago, and veterinarian Alex Rallis doesn’t believe in it, but one magical Christmas on a Santorini farm might just change everything…

Check it out on Amazon Read a FREE sample!

A clean romantic suspense short read with an unreliable narrator that’ll keep you guessing! Vera is losing her mind over famous actor Yannnis Ksenos, except, she isn’t just a fan… Now, she plucks up the courage to ring his doorbell… Visit Amazon

For my delicious Greek recipes, go here.

Planning to visit Greece? Check out my FREE guide to south Corfu!

July 22, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

A post about summertime!

Hello All! Today, I’m on a holiday mood, seeing that I’m off to Corfu for a week soon, so before I go, I thought I’d write a little post about my favorite season… Every year, I tend to hibernate during the winter and start coming alive in the spring. But, I love the summer more than any other time of year, and this is no surprise, seeing that I’ve spent most of the summers of my earlier life in an earthly paradise.

This is a a photo from the old quarter of Moraitika, my grandparents’ village on Corfu; this very tree and the lanes around it were my stamping ground where I played dodgeball, hide-and-seek, and a few games of cards with my cousins and friends as a child and teenager. Mind you, I even hung up my gran’s sheets from that very tree one year–couldn’t have been older than thirteen–to create a scene and a curtain as to produce a little play that I wrote. The other kids and I never advertized it and only did the show for our own pleasure. One of the village boys, Pakis, offered to participate as spectator. Before the show, I asked Pakis to pay his ticket. He reached inside his shorts pockets and handed me all its contents: 11 drachmas. After the show, we all went to the shop at the square and I used that money to buy everyone sweets. I believe Pakis had the most! That is just one of the myriad sweet memories I have from my childhood in the village, a place I love so much that I had to write a book or two set in it.

And, after showing you my favorite village corner, on the right in this picture, you can see my beloved pyramid-shaped mountain that is mentioned in The Ebb (book 1 in my trilogy). The locals call this mountain Mataouna. You can also see the sports pier on the beach at Moraitika – now you know what Sofia’s pier looks like in the book!

I will spend a week there as of this Friday, and hope to catch up with lots of people I love, but most of all, with my beloved 91-year-old grandmother, Antigone. She called me yesterday to say my aunt Danda brought her a cabbage from her garden knowing grandma would love to treat me to my favorite meal, Lahanodolmades (cabbage leaves stuffed with mince and rice in egg and lemon sauce). If you haven’t tasted this meal, take it from me, you haven’t lived! If you’re ever in Greece, try to find a restaurant that serves it… your taste buds will be grateful.

Speaking of food, I’d love to share another of my favorite Greek summer recipes that I recently posted on Effrosyni’s blog: GEMISTA (peppers and tomatoes stuffed with rice). Another yummy Greek meal I can’t get enough of!

Well, this is it from me! If you’re going on holiday this summer, whether it’s the sea or the mountain you’re headed for, make sure to relax and unwind, connect with family and friends and not so much to the internet! Our lives are always so hectic, we deserve to unplug from the greater world every now and then, if anything, for old times sake.

Till we speak again, have fun this summer whatever you get up to!

3 FREE books for you! Sign up below to receive them instantly!

NEW! Clean Christmas romance. Single mother Cathy Roussos gave up on love long ago, and veterinarian Alex Rallis doesn’t believe in it, but one magical Christmas on a Santorini farm might just change everything…

Check it out on Amazon Read a FREE sample!

A clean romantic suspense short read with an unreliable narrator that’ll keep you guessing! Vera is losing her mind over famous actor Yannnis Ksenos, except, she isn’t just a fan… Now, she plucks up the courage to ring his doorbell… Visit Amazon

For my delicious Greek recipes, go here.

Planning to visit Greece? Check out my FREE guide to south Corfu!

May 14, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

The secrets of a strong password

You’re on the internet every day, and while you’re having fun, learning, connecting, or doing a job or a hobby, you know you’re in a vulnerable position every single moment. The internet can be a dangerous place, especially for those who roam the cyberspace carelessly. I am talking about security. Obviously, you know the basics. You have a series of passwords for an endless list of sites, because you know that using the same password everywhere is asking for trouble. And of course, you take precautions by keeping your passwords secure. But how much do you know? And more importantly, how strong would your password prove to be if a hacker were to target you? Would it hold or would it fail you, allowing the intruder to wreak havoc with your website, your blog, or your social media accounts?

How long do you think it would take a hacker to find your password?

Here’s what Bloomberg says:

If your password is 6 characters long (lowercase only), it would take a hacker just 10 minutes to crack it.

BUT:

If your password is 9 characters long, and it contains upper and lowercase characters, numbers and special characters (e.g. $, &, *, etc), then it would take 44,530 years to crack it!

TIPS TO MAXIMIZE YOUR SAFETY ONLINE

Generally, your password should be a minimum of 8 characters long, and it should contain upper case and lower case characters, numbers and special characters.

Don’t use words that can be found in the dictionary. Don’t use family member names, pet names, as well as the most absurd password in the world: the word ‘password’ itself! (Oh yes, you won’t believe how many people combine laziness and stupidity, enough to choose this!)

The trick is to use a catchphrase you love, or a song title, then type one letter for every word to make up your password. Say, for example, you love the song “I wanna dance with somebody who loves me” by Whitney Houston. Your password then could be:

iwdwshLM

Note I added two uppercase characters in the end to make it harder for that nasty hacker! Now mix it up by adding a few numbers (no birthdays or special days!), then add some special characters and you’re done! Isn’t that a beauty?

iwdwshLM3265#$%

Let that hacker then try to break into your account. If it takes him 44K years, he and his great grandchildren can die trying, right?

I can’t tell you how many alerts I have received from Wordfence, the free WordPress plugin I have installed on this site.

It seems every now and then hackers will try to take control of my site from various IP addresses all over the world (mainly Ukraine, Russia, and China, for some reason). Do you think I’d still be here posting this, my peace of mind intact, if my password was something stupid like ‘ilovecake’? No, of course you don’t. If you have a WordPress site like me, do yourself a favor and install Wordfence. It’s free, and it’ll tell you all about the threats you’ll be happily bouncing, as long as you have a strong password.

Also, occasionally, people I connect with on Twitter send me very strange tweets, and then a day later they’ll write and apologize, saying their account had been hacked. Why risk it? Why go through that?

Here are some more tips:

Never type in a password from a device you don’t own, like in an internet cafe. A hacker could get your password by detecting your key strokes.

Never type in a password from your own device using a free wifi hot spot. Anyone could steal it from you via the wireless network, but of course, they could also be looking from behind your shoulder.

Careful how you dispose of any notes with your passwords on them. The stories of ‘dumpster-diving’ we all hear from time to time are absolutely true!

Don’t leave paper notes lying around in a public place containing your password and whatever you do, do not store them electronically in a file on your computer. They say this is like hiding your house key by hanging it outside your front door and I couldn’t agree more.

Unless, you’re Einstein or maybe a savant like Dustin Hoffman from Rain Man, you’ll never be able to remember all these passwords by heart, especially as you’re required to change them periodically. So where should you keep them? Personally, I keep them all in one place, in a pocket-sized notebook that I use only for this purpose. I keep it near my desk and make sure to record there every change of password at once, so that I don’t forget.

Of course, there is still a minor risk by keeping this little book in my study, I know, but if an actual robber breaks in and chooses to take this instead of my TV and my stereo, I’ll take the risk! I think it’s way less likely than a hacker looking for any passwords among my computer files.

One last note: I can’t stress enough the importance of having a good antivirus program and a firewall installed. I use F-Secure Safe, which I think is the best of paid options. If you cannot afford to pay, download AVG – a very good FREE antivirus program.

Beware and stay safe!

Are you an author needing help with promotion? Check out my FREE, cracking good tips and resources: http://effrosyniwrites.com/for-authors/

3 FREE books for you! Sign up below to receive them instantly!

NEW! Clean Christmas romance. Single mother Cathy Roussos gave up on love long ago, and veterinarian Alex Rallis doesn’t believe in it, but one magical Christmas on a Santorini farm might just change everything…

Check it out on Amazon Read a FREE sample!

February 4, 2015 by Effrosyni Moschoudi

How to add an RSS feed to your site nice and easy

Have you created a site but having trouble adding an RSS feed to it? Are you looking for a way to prompt people to follow your blog but don’t know anything about code as to set this up as a widget? Fear not, for today I’m blogging about all this in full detail. I promise to set you up nice and easy in just a few minutes! What’s more, it’s all been tried and tested already by yours truly and it works like a charm!

As mentioned in the very first post on this blog, How to create your own website as if you were a pro, the tutorial I had followed to build this site did not include instructions on how to get people to follow the blog. Plus, I knew nothing about RSS feed. However, by watching a couple of helpful YouTube videos and with a bit of tweaking, I set up my RSS feed and the widgets without any problems within an hour. So this is me today, paying it forward and showing you how to do it too!

For my RSS feed set up, I chose Feedburner. Why? Because it’s a Google company and in my universe, it being the indie one, I go for Google every chance I get, simply because I feel it’s the best search engine in the world for a reason. This is why I didn’t use Mailchimp to set up a campaign instead. Some may find it easier to simply set up a Mailchimp campaign as to get their subscribers to receive notifications for their posts too. This is a personal choice. As I said I wanted to go for Google, plus I realize many people use RSS feeds to read posts so I wanted this option to be available.

Ok, here we go!

So the first thing I did, is set up the RSS feed. You do that, by going to https://feedburner.google.com

Now, I presume you already have a gmail account, i.e. the one you use on Google+ and Youtube. If you don’t have one, go to https://gmail.com and set one up.

Use your gmail account to sign on Feedburner.

Click on ‘Burn a feed right this instant’. Put in the link to your website followed by ‘/feed’ without spaces. For my site, it was http://effrosyniwrites.com/feed

It will say ‘complete’ and it will show you the link to your new feed. Copy it somewhere safe. You may need it for your Author Central Page for example as to insert your RSS feed there.

Click ‘next’.

‘Clickthroughs’. Tick it.

‘I want more’. Tick it.

‘Next’.

(Now, you’re going to add a few helpful free services.)

Make sure you’re on the ‘optimize’ tab and click on ‘edit feeds’.

‘Smartfeed’. Activate.

‘Feedflare’. Tick all the boxes on the left column. Activate.

Click on the ‘publicize’ tab.

‘Headline animator’.

(This is where we give your visitors the option to subscribe to the feed).

The oblong theme it shows by default (468×60) won’t fit on the right sidebar if you’ve used the same tutorial to build it as I have! This is where I did the tweaking. Change the theme by clicking on the drop down arrow. Choose 180×100 (choose white or black). Activate.

Scroll down to ‘Add to…’

Choose ‘Other – just give me the code’. Next. Copy the HTML.

Keep that screen open and create a new tab on your browser.

Go to the dashboard on your WP site. Go to Appearance, widgets. Add a new text widget to your right sidebar. Add a title e.g. ‘Subscribe to the feed’ and paste the HTML. SAVE. If you view your site now, you should see the widget for the feed showing (yay!)

Go back to the Feedburner screen.

‘Buzzboost’. ‘Display link to the feed’. Activate.

‘Email subscriptions’.

(This is where we give your visitors the option to follow the blog by email notification).

Activate. Copy the HTML.

Go to your WP dashboard again.

Create a new text widget for your right sidebar. Add a title e.g. ‘Follow this blog by email’ and paste the HTML in it. SAVE. Again, if you view the site, this too should be showing now!

Back to the Feedburner screen:

‘Pingshot’. Activate.

‘Feedcount’. Activate. Save.

‘Socialize’. Activate this service only if you want Feedburner to automatically publicize your new posts on the social media.

A note from me about publicizing your posts: I have not taken this option as I prefer to do this manually. It takes me seconds to go around Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Facebook after I publish a new post. Create the message you want and just copy paste with minor differences, i.e. I use more hashtags on Twitter, I don’t use Twitter handles in other social media and I tag people on Facebook too. I recommend you do this manually as well. The benefits are far greater than the measly seconds you will save by using the ‘Socialize’ service via Feedburner.

At this point, you are done and you’re all set up. Your visitors can now follow the blog either by email or by directly subscribing to the feed.

One last bit of tweaking that I’ve done… and you may benefit from this too.

Make sure to follow your own blog with one of your email addresses. The email notification can take up to a day to reach the mailbox but you can play around with the delivery time in Feedburner to adjust that. For me, it is not such a big problem that the notification is not instant. However, I did have an issue with the formatting of my posts the way they showed within the email notification message. All the images were on the very left even though on the blog everything is nicely centered. Feedburner says the styling for this is not compatible with all internet browsers. I use Mozilla Firefox and it looked all wrong. I didn’t want a single one among my blog followers to see such an unprofessional presentation again, therefore I went back to Feedburner and investigated, looking for a fix. In the end, it was a compromise:

Under the Optimize tab, I found the service ‘Summary burner’.

Basically, you go in there and add a teaser phrase such as ‘this is a short excerpt only. Click on the title of this post to read it on the blog in its entirety’.

Once you activate this service, the email notifications no longer display the whole post. They list the first couple of lines only and not even the image that you may have included before the text starts. This means there are no styling issues, and I don’t think the readers will have a problem to click on the title and visit your trusted site. After all, they’ve already chosen to follow the blog and they should be interested enough to read what you have to say, right?

Make sure to revisit Feedburner frequently and check on your stats. Among other things, Feedburner provides you with a list of the actual email addresses of your blog followers (subscribers).

Good luck! If you try this and get stuck, just ask. Leave a comment if you’ve been successful and kindly let me know. It would make my day!