Featured Writer on Wellness: Effrosyni Moschoudi

Entering the indie universe back in late 2013 has been one of the greatest blessings in my life, but it initially wreaked havoc on my mental state.

The reason? This never-experienced-before, desperate feeling of overwhelm that I wasn’t prepared for and had no idea how to process.

Don’t get me wrong—it wasn’t the hard work involved or the steep learning curve that caused me to feel inadequate and helpless. It was the sheer volume of new information that kept hitting me online as I researched, like one overpowering tsunami after another.

It seemed never-ending and too much to handle, making me feel like ten lifetimes wouldn’t be enough to work through the tasks I kept adding to my to-do list.

Working My Writing Business Too Hard Led to Frozen Shoulder

Of course, that was my own fault, due to my innate tendency to deal with hard work in the only way I knew from my 9-5 days in the corporate world—i.e. to keep working hard no matter how long it took to finish.

But, of course, in this case, the work never finished. I denied myself all kinds of relaxation and fun at the time, because of “the work” that needed to be done. Before I knew it, I was doing twelve-hour days sitting at my desk and spending every evening feeling like I couldn’t cope.

That was detrimental to my physical health. My body responded to these feelings with a condition I’d never heard before which turned my life into hell. It was an autoimmune response to stress called frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis).

I Knew the Pain I Was In Was My Own Fault

What followed was four months of physio, constant pain and sleepless nights.

I’ll save you from the harrowing details but basically my other shoulder froze too a couple of years later. And I knew then, like I know now, that I caused these problems to myself because of my wrong attitude.

Somehow, I never stopped working, though I managed very little. If I couldn’t type enough to do promo or write a novel or a blog post, I’d issue a social media post or two, or send a short email, just to keep in touch with author friends and readers.

It was hard to sound upbeat when the pain was constant, but I persevered and kept telling myself I was never going to quit.

My Hardships Forced me to Change My Attitude Toward Work

Because of the frozen shoulders, it took me four years to be able to do yoga again, which has always been my favorite way to exercise. Yoga helps keep my body able and strong while allowing me to relax and to feel serene at the end of the day.

But, through those difficult times, I’ve been “exercising” my mind, I guess. The hardship I faced forced me to change my attitude towards work and to see my life in general under a new light.

Whereas before I couldn’t rest unless I did a certain amount of work on any given day, now I take time away from my desk to have a walk, breathe fresh air, and in the summer to have a swim in the sea too.

I’ve learned to take things slow. I now have a diary where I put in just a few tasks for each day, and it makes me feel good to tick them off as I go.

At the end of the day, I cross out the whole page, and as I draw the lines I tell myself this day is over and I’ve done the best I could.

I give myself a mental pat on the back if I’ve managed to complete all my tasks, and I am kind to myself if life got in the way to stop me from doing them all. I can always do them another day, you know?

I Use the Tapping Technique and Stress Can’t Touch Me Anymore

Health and family are number one. That’s what I’ve learned. And now I guard my thoughts and my physical health consciously. Stress can’t touch me any more.

One of the affirmations I’ve come up with to help me learn to take it slow has become one of my favorites: “Slow down. You’re running ahead!”

Oh! And the most powerful tool that now helps me manage stress as soon as it crops up (not to mention any kind of negative feeling) is EFT aka “tapping.” For me, it’s a lifesaver and works like magic! Here’s a quick video on how it’s done:

I’ve read the book as well, which helped me gain a deeper knowledge of the method. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s struggling with stress and negative feelings, even chronic pain.

More often than not, the latter is caused by deep-rooted blocks in our bodies caused by persistent negative feelings. Tapping helps us to find relief and even perfect healing. I can attest to this fact myself.

In one of my tapping sessions last year, I found the emotional cause of severe stiffness in my neck, and after tapping about it it went in seconds. The cause was upset over a deceased family member. Once I acknowledged it, it was released and the stiffness never came back…

Sitting is Dangerous, but Once You Stand Up Your Mind Awakes!

I am always aware of the hours I spend sitting down, as I know it affects the body in a number of negative ways and can even become life-threatening.

It’s not always easy to exercise or go out for a walk in the fresh air, especially when I am involved with writing a new book or promoting heavily, but I try to do it as often as I can.

In any case, I make a point of taking short breaks in the day. If I can’t go out, I stand or walk around my house, tidying up, cleaning, cooking or whatever. Just so I am not sitting down all day.

I tried the Pomodoro Technique at some point, both to manage my time better and to take short breaks from sitting down. It didn’t work for me, as I found it very restricting, but it did teach me a few principles and gave me some precious reminders.

One thing I learned from it that is definitely worth repeating is that once you stand up and begin to walk around, your mind, muddled after long periods of you sitting, begins to awake and freshen up! This has done wonders for me for finding new ideas, and for avoiding mental strain at the end of the day.

Without Peace of Mind I Cannot Create

Peace of mind is key to my creativity.

All my life I’ve been reading self-help books and learning methods so I could master my thought processes and emotions. The knowledge I’ve amassed over time has created a new me and has made my life a lot easier.

By learning to control my feelings, and by knowing how to relax and let go, peace of mind can be easy to achieve even when real, serious problems affect my household. That is even more true now that I have EFT (tapping), literally at the end of my fingertips!

Without peace of mind I cannot create, or even think clearly. I can’t even cook dinner properly if my mind’s all over the place, let alone write a book! J So yes, peace of mind is the ultimate key to creativity for me.

I Was a Writer Who Couldn’t Write!

Undoubtedly the time in my recent past when my shoulders were frozen was my my darkest hour.

The first time I could type with one hand, the second time not at all as the pain was so unbearable I couldn’t even sit up in the first month.

At the time, I tried to make a joke of things and thought it was hugely ironic what I had been dealt with. I was a writer who couldn’t write! For nine months, I had a whole novel in my head and couldn’t type it.

But, as I mentioned earlier, the hardship brought me to a better place. I learned how to let go, how to stop being so demanding of myself and to stop rushing like I always used to. Thankfully, I have always been a strong person. And these harrowing experiences have solidified my belief that I am someone who perseveres on their way to success.

If all that couldn’t stop me from penning books, I guess nothing will. And that was and still remains my silver lining.

One of My Books Tells of My Blissful Summers in Corfu

My greatest triumph is the fact that I could record on paper the happiest time of my life and share it with the world.

I refer to my novel The Ebb, which is a work of fiction with many autobiographical elements. It relays my blissful summers in a small seaside village of Corfu with my grandparents in the 1980s.

Since publishing the book five years ago, it has found a wonderful audience of readers from all over the world (Brits mostly), who either adore Corfu from visiting it annually, or dream to go there some day. I like to think I promote Corfu through my work and it always thrills me to receive a message from a reader who said they visited the island after reading my books or my blog posts and loved it.

My grandparents have passed away now, but their memory is alive, now also in the minds and hearts of my readers who voraciously read anything I’ll write about them and the village of Moraitika on my blog, or on Facebook (where I happily friend my readers).

I guess people love to read what others are passionate about, and I feel blessed that this is the case with my love for Corfu, its people, and the books I’ve set there. My latest one, The Raven Witch of Corfu, has been received extremely well, even by people who read me for the first time and don’t even enjoy fantasy normally!

Writing Feels Like My Life’s Purpose

It’s a combination of things really that have kept me on my path.

For one, writing feels like my life’s purpose and not just because I’ve been scribbling rhymes ever since I could first hold a pen. I guess it’s mostly because I am now the happiest I’ve ever been…that has to mean I am doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

Also, the indie universe has blessed me with a host of dear friends who support and encourage me to keep going (both authors and readers). My husband believes in me, and makes me feel very lucky, as it could have been someone who insisted I stop playing around and get a proper job! It happens…

Certainly happened to some of my author friends, so I know I am very fortunate to have married someone who believes in me so much. If anything, I hope to become really successful one day so I can repay him for that. He’s already put in an order for the car he wants me to get him.

Advice for a Young Writer: Write from the Heart

I’d tell them to write from the heart. Not to doubt their story or to worry what others will say. Every book has its audience out there. The tricky bit is to find it, surely, but it’s always possible. And if the book is true, it will naturally find the right readers in the end.

Better to find it hard to sell the book, rather than write something that feels foreign. A book needs to inspire, not just to entertain. It needs to stir passion in the heart of those who read it. And this cannot be possible unless the writer experiences the same when writing it.

Which takes us back to the necessity of truth—the ultimate pursuit in writing.

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Effrosyni Moschoudi was born and raised in Athens, Greece. As a child, she loved to sit alone in her garden scribbling rhymes about flowers, butterflies and ants. Today, she writes books for the romantic at heart. She lives in a quaint seaside town near Athens with her husband Andy and a ridiculous amount of books and DVDs.

Her debut novel, The Necklace of Goddess Athena, has won a silver medal in the 2017 book awards of Readers’ Favorite. The Ebb, her romance set in Corfu that’s inspired from her summers there in the 1980s, is an ABNA Q-Finalist.

For more information about Effrosyni and her work, please see her website, where she offers free books, a travel guide to Corfu, and delicious Greek recipes. You can also connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest.

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The Ebb: CORFU, GREECE, 1987
On a long holiday with her grandparents, Sofia Aspioti meets Danny Markson, a charming flirt who makes her laugh. Although she tries to keep him at arm’s length, worried that village gossip will get back to her strict family, she falls desperately in love. That’s when strange dreams about Brighton’s West Pier and a woman dressed in black begin to haunt her. Who is this grieving woman? And how is her lament related to Sofia’s feelings for Danny?

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND, 1937
Dreaming of wealth and happiness, Laura Mayfield arrives in Brighton to pursue a new life. She falls for Christian Searle, a happy-go-lucky stagehand at the West Pier theatre, but when she’s offered a chance to perform there, her love for him is put to the test. Charles Willard, a wealthy aristocrat, is fascinated by her and pursues her relentlessly. Will Laura choose love…or money?

The Ebb is a feel good, summer holiday read. Its two timelines begin to merge in The Flow and finally become one story in The Storm. Although The Ebb creates a strong premise for the rest of the series it has a satisfactory ending and can be an enjoyable standalone read. Download it and escape to a Greek island paradise today!

Available at Amazon.

The Necklace of Goddess Athena: Phevos, an ancient Greek, remembers very little from his childhood. What’s more, his mysterious father never explained how his mother disappeared years ago. When Phevos turns twenty, his father sends him on a time-traveling journey to modern-day Athens without telling him the reason. There, Phevos finds new friends, romantic love, and a trail of clues that lead to shocking revelations.

Excited, he continues to unravel his family’s mysteries and soon realizes his father has set up an ingenious plan so their family can be whole again. This plan involves two Olympian gods and a war that’s been raging between them seemingly forever. One of the gods is out to help Phevos, the other, to destroy him. Will he escape the mortal danger and manage to fulfill his destiny?

The Necklace of Goddess Athena is a fascinating story about the importance of faith when all hope is lost. With its mystery, sweet romance, humor, and touches of drama, this family friendly fantasy will take you on an unforgettable ride.

Available at Amazon.