Aggeliki Pelekidis
Author Interview - Aggeliki Pelekidis
Author of Unlucky Mel
In Unlucky Mel, PhD candidate Melody Hollings is in the final year of her creative writing program in upstate New York. Her dream life of landing the perfect academic job somewhere far away from her small hometown and publishing her first novel is so close to becoming a reality. But first she has to finish writing that book. Oh, and graduate. To do both, she needs her good friend Ben to reciprocate all the help she's given him over the years on his writing.
But when Mel's widowed father starts acting strangely, she is thrown. After chalking it up to a dramatic attempt to manipulate her into moving back in with him, she discovers that he really is suffering from dementia. Now she'll need to stay local to care for him. Her dream is dying and her best option is to win a postgraduation fellowship through her alma mater.
Despite all the upheaval in Mel's life, rather than helping her, Ben turns on her in a shocking betrayal. For the first time, Mel has a nemesis! The stress of caring for her father, teaching too many students, and living with so much uncertainty over her future escalates Mel's desire for retribution—until one night, she discovers an opportunity to ruin Ben's reputation.
Author Interview - Aggeliki Pelekidis
Author I draw inspiration from:
George Saunders - In Persuasion Nation, CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, Pastoralia, Lincoln on the Bardo. Saunders' combination of humor and pathos is amazing. He has such empathy for his characters even as he has terrible things happen to them.
Author Interview - Aggeliki Pelekidis | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
In bed
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Eleanor Oliphant from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. Eleanor would be strangely awkward and probably rude. She would say something inappropriate or abrupt, potentially directed against me because her grasp of social politeness is weak. I would be insulted and say something sarcastic back. A painful silence would follow that I would be compelled to fill by wondering aloud how an exchange with a stranger devolved into a minor argument. The entire situation would become fodder for my writing.
Author Interview - Aggeliki Pelekidis | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
After years of writing really bad poetry as a teen and young adult, I wrote my first short story and that was the end of poetry for me (for which the world should be eternally grateful).
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Hardback is harder to read while reclining in bed, paperback is my option of choice for this reason. Ebook absolutely not unless I have no choice because I lose out on the tactile sesnation of holding a book, plus the smell of paper, which I also love. And no to audiobooks because I read fast and dislike listening to someone read the book aloud to me. I don't absorb as much if I'm hearing the book and have always hated being read to.
The last book I read:
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. Absolutely loved it and it broke my heart. Makkai immerses the reader in Chicago during the AIDS epidemic era of the mid 80s. I fell in love with the characters who are just trying to live their lives all while this awful disease is picking them off one by one.
Author Interview - Aggeliki Pelekidis | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
Mainly computer but with some brainstorming and note taking via pen and paper. I have a fountain pen I love that has a refillable ink cartridge so I haven't bought pens in years, just the ink. It writes in an incredibly dark, smooth, and bold ink that creates a great contrast to the white of a page.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
Marcellus the Octopus in Shelby Van Pelt's Remarkably Bright Creatures would be a great friend, if not for his incredibly short lifespan. He's intelligent and highly aware of his surroundings, and despite being captured, develops a great deal of empathy for Tova, the cleaning woman who's son disappeared years prior. We would share some great seafood meals and talk about life in the ocean.
Author Interview - Aggeliki Pelekidis | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I'd be a horse trainer, working with warmbloods and Irish Sport Horses to develop their ability to compete as hunter, jumper, and equitation sport horses.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
Right now works for me. We're starting to appreciate vintage and secondhand clothing more and somewhat realizing the toll that fast fashion takes on the environment. I love the trend of oversized and baggy clothing also and when women dress for themselves or other women as opposed to cultivating the male gaze.
Place I’d most like to travel:
Some Greek Island, not sure which one but to enjoy the food, the people, and swimming in the Mediterranean. I haven't been to Greece in decades and have never been to one of the islands. I miss being around other Greeks and hearing their turns of phrases and sense of humor. Greeks remind me of my parents who are no longer alive and my entire upbringing. They're home even though they're not a place.
My signature drink:
Former anglophile here - A Pimm's cup is my favorite. It tastes great, is refreshing, but also won't get me drunk.
Favorite artist:
Margaret Atwood. How is she so brilliant time and time again?
Number one on my bucket list:
Retiring to focus on writing, gardening, and my horses.
Find more from the author:
https://www.instagram.com/angiepelekidis/
https://www.facebook.com/angie.pelekidis
https://www.threads.net/@angiepelekidis
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aggeliki-pelekidis-3aa3395/
https://x.com/apelekidis
About Aggeliki Pelekidis:
Author Interview with Aggeliki Pelekidis
Aggeliki Pelekidis was born in Brooklyn to Greek parents. She was a public relations executive in NYC for a decade, before going to graduate school where she earned her MA and Ph.D in English with a creative writing emphasis from Binghamton University. Her dissertation, a short-story collection titled Patrimonium, won the Distinguished Dissertation Award in Creative Writing. Her work has appeared in The Michigan Quarterly Review, North Dakota Quarterly, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Confrontation, The Masters Review, and many other journals. Her short story, “Blah, Blah, Black Sheep” was selected by Ann Beattie as the winner of a New Ohio Review fiction contest. Her debut novel, Unlucky Mel, will be published on 9/15/24 by Cornell University Press’s Three Hills Imprint.
