
interview
Sharon Van Orman “After all, the best stories have a kernel of truth.”
Author of the Sophia Katsaros series, Sharon van Orman talks about stepping into the paranormal thriller genre and the development of Sophia Katsaros.
If you haven’t stepped into the world of Sophia Katsaros, you honestly should. Lykaia, the first novel of the series is a SPFBO5 semi-finalist and fantastic foray into the intriguing world of werewolves, greek mythology and family dynamics.
I got an opportunity to sit down with the author and have a chat.
Check out my review from yesterday.
First off, tell me a little bit about yourself?
My father was in the Air Force, so we moved around a lot. I was constantly having to make friends. Sometimes, it’s easier to invent your own friends. Those, at least, could come with me when I moved.
I am a mom of three nearly grown children and a couple of geriatric cats. Raising them has been a grander story than anything I could have written.
I have a fascination with gemstones, mythology both Greek and Egyptian. Stacks of notebooks with story bits represent endless adventures that I look forward to writing.
I had always thought that I wanted to find one place and stay there. But now I know those early years instilled a hearty dose of wanderlust. There is so much of the world left to see… everywhere there is a story.
Can you tell me about Lykaia, and about the series as a whole?
Lykaia started off as my first venture into paranormal thrillers. Sophia grew from there and she is the focus of the series. She’s had a lot of change with quite a bit more to go. I don’t know how many books there will be. But I do have the basic plots for books 4 and 5. I have this notion that a story as a weight to it. Sophia’s story has a fair bit to go before its done. Magic has awakened in her world. This is only the beginning.
The basic premise of the series is rooted in Greek mythology. The idea being that humans invented the gods to explain away the things that went bump in the night. In Sophia’s world the gods aren’t real, but the nymphs, the shifters and a myriad of other creatures are. Those are the things that man sought to explain within the stories of the gods. Each of the books unravels a myth giving a possible explanation for its creation.
After all, the best stories have a kernel of truth.
Where did you get your inspiration for the character, Sophia Katsaros?
Sophia actually came after the wolves. A writer friend convinced me to enter a Halloween themed flash fiction contest. I was hesitant at first, but then I recalled the myth of King Lycanos and the story grew from there. I entered the contest and won. That story is the prologue to Lykaia.
The wolves stuck with me for a while after that. I knew there was something there, but I also knew that they were part of the story. Not the story itself. Sophia began to take shape and I knew she was the story. One of the first chapters with her was an autopsy. She began to tell me who she was from there.
Sophia Katsaros is a forensic pathologist. How did you come to choose this profession for Sophia? What kind of research was involved in the choice?
That is one of the interesting things about a story, there is far less choosing than one may expect. I didn’t pick her profession. That is just who she is. But yes, once that was established, I knew I had better sound convincing. So, I did a lot of research which resulted in a completely dodgy browser history.
“What we believe is like water, always changing, ever flowing.”