Friday In Focus with Christina Philippou

Posted 25th November 2016 by Emma in Reviews / 1 Comment

FIF2

Happy Friday! Today I am excited to be joined by Christina Philippou to talk about her book Lost in Static.

Hello and thank you so much for having me on Star Crossed Reviews today!

As Lost in Static, my debut novel, is all about seeing the same things from very different perspectives, I thought I’d compile a list of some of the methods I used for getting into different mindsets to my own…

  1. The debate. The easiest way is to take subjects that are regularly debated because there isn’t really a right or wrong answer, and it is all dependent on opinions, not facts. The whole ‘are paperbacks better than ebooks?’ type of argument. Then I’d have to list the various arguments around that, and pick a few (not necessarily four, as two of my protagonists may agree) of those and allocate them to the character best suited to that opinion.
  1. Crossing the line. I’ll take a subject I feel very passionately about (you know, the type that gets your blood boiling when you get talking to people who hold the opposite view because it’s not a grey area, it’s black and white) and then cross that line with one of my protagonists, trying to justify their views. This was, unsurprisingly, very tough to do!
  1. The obsession. There’s everyday events that people see differently depending on what their hobbies, likes, and dislikes are. So I gave my protagonists some interests (and disinterests) and then put them in situations where they had to deal with others’ obsessions. I just thought of things that really don’t interest me and projected that sort of thinking on the situation in question (even if the obsession was one that did interest me in reality).
  1. Towing the line. There’s crowd mentality that sometimes takes over, even when it doesn’t make sense. Fans (of any type of live entertainment) often display this sort of behaviour. I found myself having to dissect how I’d act if I was forced to conform with behaviour I didn’t necessarily agree with just because it was easier to do so. Politics is great inspiration for this form of behaviour.
  1. The misunderstanding. I’ve been at both the ‘right’ and wrong end of misunderstandings in my life on a number of occasions, so it was fairly easy to write the various reactions to an event. What I found harder was thinking up situations where the protagonists could come to completely different conclusions depending on where they were sitting/ what they had previously heard/ what they had not seen…

 

  1. The deliberate target. Bullying is a subject that gets the negative publicity it deserves, but often also gets condoned. I thought of your typical celeb magazine article dragging the individual in question through the mud for gaining/ losing too much weight or drinking/ not drinking on a night out or wearing too much / not enough clothing to an event. And then I wrote about targeting foes from both the “bully’s” and the “target’s” perspectives.

I hope this list gave some insights into my writing (and brainstorming) process for Lost in Static. Thank you for reading!

Friday In Focus with Christina PhilippouLost in Static by Christina Philippou
Published by Urbane Publications on 15th September 2016
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Pages: 320
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Sometimes growing up is seeing someone else's side of the story. Four stories. One truth. Whom do you believe?
Callum has a family secret. Yasmine wants to know it. Juliette thinks nobody knows hers. All Ruby wants is to reinvent herself.
They are brought together by circumstance, torn apart by misunderstanding. As new relationships are forged and confidences are broken, each person's version of events is coloured by their background, beliefs and prejudices. And so the ingredients are in place for a year shaped by lust, betrayal, and violence...
Lost in Static is the gripping debut from author Christina Philippou. Whom will you trust?

About Christina Philippou

Christina Philippou’s writing career has been a varied one, from populating the short-story notebook that lived under her desk at school to penning reports on corruption and terrorist finance. When not reading or writing, she can be found engaging in sport or undertaking some form of nature appreciation. Christina has three passports to go with her three children, but is not a spy. Lost in Static is her first novel.

Christina is also the founder of the contemporary fiction author initiative, Britfic.

Emma

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