Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Read-Alikes
How to pronounce Alethea Kontis: uh-LEE-thee-uh
New York Times bestselling author Alethea Kontis is a princess, a goddess, a force of nature, and a mess. The sister of a famous jewelry designer and granddaughter of a pirate, Alethea has profited from messing up the alphabet, creating her own fairy tales, sharing all her family's deepest, darkest secrets, and making little girls cry.
Alethea's short fiction, essays, and poetry have appeared in lots of books and magazines, and she is the monthly book reviewer at Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. Born in Burlington, Vermont, Princess Alethea now lives on the Space Coast of Florida. She makes the best baklava you've ever tasted and sleeps with a teddy bear named Charlie.
Alethea Kontis's website
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Would you tell us a little about yourself?
I'm really just a little kid. When I was seven and saw Peter Pan on stage, the "I Won't Grow Up" lyrics really spoke to me. The outside of me keeps getting older, and I have all those responsibilities that grown ups have, but don't be fooled. My favorite things are bubbles and rainbows and my teddy bear named Charlie. I like drawing on myself and waving to strangers. And telling stories, of course.
Were you influenced to begin writing by any writers/books in particular?
In hindsight, I think I was influenced by 1.) my anglophile Nana (my Greek grandmother) and all the English nursery songs she used to sing to my little sister and me by 2.) the Goops books by Gelett Burgess, and 3.) the giant tome of unexpurgated Grimm and Andersen tales gifted to me by my Memere (the French grandmother).
What was the idea behind your debut novel Enchanted?
The idea for Enchanted began as a contest challenge in my writers group (Codex Writers). Our stories had to be inspired by at least one of four "seeds": "Fundevogel," "The Princess and the Pea," the Irish legend of Cú Chulainn, and the nursery rhyme "There Was an Old Woman ...
Pratima Cranse was born and raised in Vermont. She now lives in New Hampshire with her husband, daughter, and their two magnificent cats. When she's not writing, Pratima enjoys jogging very slowly (some might call it ... (more)
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Enchanted
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