Out of the Gutter Online

Posted in: Entertainment, Flash Fiction, Sofia Essen, The Flash Fiction Offensive

Ex-pat Sofia Essen stops by the Gutter to talk shop.

Proving crime and mystery is pretty much the same the whole wide world over.

Interview with Sofia Essen

1) Who or what inspires you?

People who have the guts to be themselves without apology. People who say what they mean and mean what they say. People who take a stand and stand by it. Yeah, those kind of people inspire me.

2) Who living or dead, real or fictional, would you like to meet and pick their brains for ideas?

Nikola Tesla. He was a genius and a genuine “mad scientist.” While experimenting, he inadvertently faulted a power station generator, causing a power outage. I’d love to hang out with someone who literally makes sparks fly.

3) If you were granted the power to change anything, what would you change?

Every time someone asks me this question, I get the Miss World urge to say, “I hope for world peace.” And world peace would be grand. But I’m going to be honest here… If I could change anything right now, it would be my book’s rating on Amazon. I want to see Ariel in the No. 1 slot.

4) What is the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you?

Think big, start small, and keep going.

5) Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

Writing. Someplace warm. I’d love to have the freedom to follow summer around the globe. Athens is a fantastic city but European winters, for lack of a better word, suck. So, ideally, my home is a sailboat, constantly on the move. 

Fia Essen has been an expatriate since childhood. She grew up in stables in the Middle East and South East Asia, surrounded by horses, philandering polo players, and bored expatriate housewives. Currently, she lives in Athens, Greece.