A Word Please

Today I am hosting fellow VBT (Virtual Book Tour) author, Iliana Metallinou (also known as Liana Metal). As part of our anniversary tour, we are giving a mystery prize to one lucky person! All you have to do is add a comment to this post and you may be chosen as the winner!

Iliana has written a wonderful children’s story called The White Snail. Here is a review given by a teacher:

Very Highly Recommended

Liana Metal is an EFL teacher and freelance writer from Greece. She has been writing articles, children’s stories, non-fiction books and short stories, as well as ELT books for classroom use for a very long time. Among her books are: “ The Hostel”, “Bedtime stories”, “Writing Basics”, “Flowers for Women”. You can visit her at: http://LianaMetal.tripod.com
and at her blog: http://Lianastories.blogspot.com.

The White Snail is about a snail that differs from the others in that he is not brown but he is white and so he thinks that he is not as beautiful as the rest of the snails. As a result, he decides to paint his “house” brown! But what will happen? Will he be able to achieve his goal? Will the other snails laugh at him or accept him as he is? And finally, will he ever realise that to be different is not bad?

Written in a simple language without difficult verbal images or exaggerations and double-spaced, it is a book that is suitable for very young children as well as for the “older” ones. Moreover, it is fully illustrated by the writer herself and this is an aspect that makes the book more interesting and entertaining. Most important of all is the fact that the writer tries and succeeds in introducing young readers to concepts such as discrimination, racism and love for animals in an amusing and easy way. It is absolutely a book that caters to everyone!
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Now let’s get to know a little about Iliana:

When did your passion for writing begin? It dates back to school time, primary school actually, when I was writing the lyrics for my own songs. I even created illustrated short stories for the English class I was attending, a sort of a diary. I was also fascinated by comics and tried to write my own stories then.

What types of writing do you do? I mainly write articles and short stories. After completing a Creative Writing Course, in the 90s, I created my first book, an illustrated children’s story. The whole experience of book making was exciting and worthwhile. Since that first kids’ book, I have been writing non stop, not only articles, but a variety of genres, both fiction and non fiction. Among them there’s a screenplay, a radio play and a comic book story.

Any type of writing ritual you have? Turn on the radio and write. I need some background noise to function! Sometimes I write articles in front of the TV. I prefer my study room to outdoor places though, and my own PC.

Who are your favourite authors, and why do they inspire you? Life inspires me, but still, some authors’ stories can ‘touch’ me and influence my thought. I am an avid reader and I review a lot of books every year, so I believe that each author has got their own unique style. But it depends on the readers to decide if and how much they get affected by the story.

Tell us about yourself! I am a Language teacher (MA in Ed.), artist, reviewer and writer living in Greece. As a mother of two, I have spent most of my time raising a family and working full time at my own Language School, while painting and writing in my free time. When my kids grew up I decided it was high time I followed my dream to become a writer. I have self published several e books and several print books for my students, and a great number of my articles have been published both in print and online magazines. I started my career by writing children’s stories and educational material, and then created e books of both fiction and non fiction. My articles, reviews and books can be found at http://lianametal.tripod.com, at http://liamet.tripod.com, and at my blogs http://lianastories.blogspot.com and http://lianaskerkyra.blogspot.com.
I am a member of the authors’ group at OU University, UK, and many writers’ groups online. You can contact me at lianametal@yahoo.com .

Where can we learn more about you? On my blogs at http://lianastories.blogspot.com
and http://lianaskerkyra.blogspot.com
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I hope you’ll all check out Iliana’s book! And don’t forget to leave a comment. You may just win a prize!