Effie Soumelidis
“Coffee, books, Greece, and swoon-worthy heroes-what more do you need?”
Effie is based in the North of England, where she lives with her husband of 25+ years and two children. When not writing, you can usually find her buying more books to add to her never-ending TBR list or booking holidays to Greece to visit her family.
Effie loves to travel and is obsessed with airports. Seriously, it’s a whole thing!
Effie’s favourite place in all of the world is her hometown-Palaia Fokea, which is just outside of Athens.
Effie loves taking pictures of old buildings, binge-watching Netflix, and enjoying a quiet moment at Starbucks (unless the kids tag along!)
I’ve always been captivated by the shadows, the stories that linger long after the last page is turned. You can expect morally complex characters, high stakes, and plenty of twists in every book. And if you catch me quoting Shakespeare, don’t be surprised—I’m obsessed with the Bard. His exploration of love, tragedy, and the human condition has a huge influence on my writing
-Effie Soumelidis
Introverted Indies Author Interview
Effie recently took part in their first-ever mini interview as an indie author, featured on the Introverted Indies YouTube channel. In the interview, they discussed their journey into self-publishing, the inspiration behind their writing, and what it’s been like navigating the indie author space. It marked an exciting milestone in their creative career and offered readers a more personal glimpse into the mind behind the books. The full interview is now available to watch on YouTube.
Would you rather?
Quick Fire Q&A with the author
Would you rather write in complete silence or with a carefully curated playlist in the background?
It depends! I’m definitely a mood writer—if I’m not feeling it, the words just won’t come. Music really helps get me into the right mindset, and I’ve actually curated two playlists on Spotify: one with songs that inspired specific scenes in my story, and another filled with tracks I listened to while writing. Each song connects to the emotions I wanted to capture. But when I’m editing—especially checking things like spelling, punctuation, and grammar— I need complete silence. I hate editing!
Would you rather have your books adapted into a Netflix series or a major motion picture?
Now this is a question I love and can only dare to dream about! It’s tricky, though. With the way TV and film are going these days, there’s definitely more buzz around TV shows right now, especially with amazing high-profile actors committing to TV shows. But I’d also love a huge box office hit where all the books in the series get made into movies—kind of like the Marvel franchise!
On the one hand, a series lets you have many episodes where each element of the story and all the backstory can be slowly unpacked, adding more depth to the characters and their arcs than just a two-hour movie. Okay, I think I’ve made up my mind—I’d take a series with a minimum of five seasons and 20 episodes each!
Would you rather write the ending first and build the story around it, or discover the ending as you go?
With You & Only You, I wrote the ending first and then built the story around it. But with You & Me, Always, I didn’t write the ending first—I knew the overall endgame, my “lode star,” and slowly developed the story toward that goal, discovering many details along the way. So, I’ve experienced both approaches, and each has its own unique challenges and rewards.
Would you rather only read books in your favourite genre forever, or be able to read every genre except your favourite?
Honestly, this is an awful question, and I hate it! Romance is my absolute favourite genre, so if I don’t have to pick which type of romance, then yes—I’d happily read only romance forever and nothing else. But if you’re asking me to choose between different types—like historical romance, paranormal romance, dark romance, and so on—then no, I can’t pick just one, and you definitely can’t make me!
