Tag Archives: She Writes Press

Perse Unveils a Forgotten Heroine’s Power, Resilience, and Quest for Peace in this Bold Greek Myth Retelling

'Circle of Peace' by author Sophia Kouidou-Giles is the latest book in the mythology inspired series

SEATTLE, Wash., March 5, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — From acclaimed author Sophia Kouidou-Giles comes “Circle of Peace: A Greek Tale of Perse’s Great Hall” (She Writes Press – March 11, 2025 – ISBN: 978-1647428488 | $17.97. E-ISBN: 978-1647428495 | $12.99) Distributed by Simon & Schuster), a stunning standalone novel that offers a captivating blend of history, drama, and timeless human emotion to illuminate the untold story of Perse, Circe’s mother and the formidable wife of the sun god Helios. In this bold retelling, Perse emerges as a compelling heroine who navigates the complexities of grief, loyalty, and resilience to become a voice for peace in a tumultuous world.

Image caption: “Circle of Peace” by Sophia Kouidou-Giles.

Perse, a figure often overlooked in Greek lore, confronts her husband Helios with a daring request – a grand hall of her own. This demand is not just a matter of luxury but is linked to a courageous promise Perse has made. In return for aiding Helios’s sister, Selene, who has incited Zeus’s wrath by falling for a mortal, Perse seeks recognition and autonomy within her husband’s opulent home. Her efforts succeed, but joy is short-lived in the House of Helios.

Through tragedy and turmoil, Perse steps forward not just as a mother and wife, but as a champion of peace, determined to bring healing and stability to her fractured household and to a world unraveling in the chaos of war. Perse’s journey reveals themes of loss, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of hope even in the darkest times.

Image caption: Author Sophia Kouidou-Giles.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sophia Kouidou-Giles was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, and university educated in the USA. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s in social work. In her over-30-year child welfare career, she served as a practitioner, educator, researcher, and administrator and published articles in Greek and English professional journals.

In recent years, Sophia Kouidou-Giles focus has shifted to writing nonfiction, fiction, poetry, translation and teaching writing seminars. Her work has appeared in Voices, Persimmon Tree, Assay, The Raven’s Perch, Story Wits, Women Writers, Women Books, The Fantasy Hive, and The Blue Nib. Her poetry chapbook is “Transitions and Passages.” She has contributed to anthologies, including “The Time Collection”, “Visual Verse”, and “Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis”.

Sophia Kouidou-Giles first book in the Greek tale series is “An Unexpected Ally: A Greek Tale of Love, Revenge and Redemption” (SWP); and published in Greek “Μια Απρόσμενη Σύμμαχος | An Unexpected Ally,” (A.Germanos Press). She also published a memoir “Sophia’s Return: Uncovering My Mother’s Past” (SWP) and in Greek “Επιστροφή Στη Θεσσαλονίκη |Return to Thessaloniki.”

“Circle of Peace: A Greek Tale of Perse’s Great Hall” is a sequel to “An Unexpected Ally: A Greek Tale of Love, Revenge and Redemption.” She is currently working on her third book in the Greek mythology inspired series about Ariadne, a Minoan princess who is Circe’s cousin.

Sophia Kouidou-Giles is available for speaking engagements, literary events and interviews.

To learn more visit: https://www.sophiakouidougiles.com and https://a.co/d/6mOKvj5

PRESS CONTACT INFORMATION:
Christine Collenette
Surpassem
https://surpassem.com/contact-us

NEWS SOURCE: Sophia Kouidou-Giles

This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (Sophia Kouidou-Giles), who is solely responsible for its accuracy, by Send2Press Newswire. Image, if any, was provided by the news source and not this website or the wire service. Information is believed accurate, as provided by the news source, but is not guaranteed.

To view the original story, visit: https://www.send2press.com/wire/perse-unveils-a-forgotten-heroines-power-resilience-and-quest-for-peace-in-this-bold-greek-myth-retelling/

Greek American Author Releases New Memoir ‘Sophia’s Return’

SEATTLE, Wash. /ScoopCloud/ -- The new book by author Sophia Kouidou-Giles, "Sophia's Return: Uncovering My Mother's Past" (She Writes Press - September 7, 2021 - ISBN: 978-1647421717 | $16.95. E-ISBN: 978-1647421724 | $9.95) follows a daughter's journey to understand why her mother left their family home when the author was a seven-year-old child, without a good-bye or explanation.

Decades later Sophia travels back to Greece, determined to find her mother's grave and finally learn about the reasons for her parents' divorce. As she digs, she begins to realize how clashing cultures between her Greek-born mother and her father's early years in Turkey wreaked havoc on the marriage. Determined to unlock the true story, she interviews family members, all of whom are sympathetic but reluctant to disclose information. Finally, she hires an attorney to search for documents-and uncovers a story she never knew existed.

"In life's journey," said Kouidou-Giles, "it seems the unknowns of the past rule us more than the uncertain future, and sometimes the deceased influence us more than the living. It appears that time is not linear, the present is a false, precarious moment, where we endlessly strive to remain able to stand for ourselves."

Written with illuminating insights and a mature understanding of what forced her mother's decision to abandon their home, Sophia's compassionate, authentic recounting of her journey will encourage those who search for the truth to persist in seeking answers to life's unanswered questions.

About the Author

Sophia Kouidou-Giles, was born in Greece, and as a Fulbright grant recipient, she was educated in the USA. She holds a Bachelors in Psychology and a Masters in Social Work. In her 34 year child welfare career, she served as a practitioner, educator, researcher and administrator publishing articles in Greek and English professional journals with a focus on child welfare services to abused/neglected children, and statewide responsibilities in child care licensing and adolescent services for youth in foster care in the State of Washington.

In recent years, her focus has shifted to writing non-fiction and poetry. Her Greek Language memoir, "Επιστροφή Στη Θεσσαλονίκη," published by Tyrfi Press in Greek, in 2019, is available in all Greek bookstores and in the US direct from the Author. Her poetry chapbook "Transitions and Passages" received recognition in a juried competition by the Contemporary Quilt Art when she worked in partnership with Deborah Gregory, an internationally known Quilt Artist.

In 2014, "Life on Egypt Street" placed 9th in the Fourth International short story competition and is published in an anthology entitled The Time Collection. Her writing has appeared in the following journals: Persimmon Tree, The Hellenic Voice, Assay, The Raven's Perch, The Blue Nib, The Writers and Readers Magazine. A member of AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) and IBRA (Independent Book Publishers Associations), she has collaborated with author groups in Seattle, Washington, where she resides. She travels often, always returning to Thessaloniki.

Sophia Kouidou-Giles is available for speaking engagements, literary events and interviews.

To learn more visit: https://www.sophiakouidougiles.com and https://amzn.to/3yusRRi

PRESS CONTACT INFORMATION

Christine Collenette
Surpassem - Marketing for People, Places and Things
christine.collenette@surpassem.com
(415) 993-2220
https://surpassem.com/

MULTIMEDIA:

*PHOTO link for media (book jacket): https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/21-0901s2p-Sophias-Return-300dpi.jpg

The new book by author Sophia Kouidou-Giles, "Sophia's Return: Uncovering My Mother's Past" (She Writes Press - September 7, 2021 - ISBN: 978-1647421717 | $16.95. E-ISBN: 978-1647421724 | $9.95) follows a daughter's journey to understand why her mother left their family home when the author was a seven-year-old child, without a good-bye or explanation.

Related link: https://www.sophiakouidougiles.com/

Comedienne Who Stutters Releases Memoir in 2019 – ‘Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn’t Happen’

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Stuttering Comedian, Nina G. announces the release of her second book: "Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn't Happen" (ISBN: 978-1631526428; August 6, 2019; She Writes Press). AS I WAS SAYING... If I could get a word in edgewise...I wasn't done yet... If you've ever been cut off mid-sentence, these phrases of frustration are familiar. Now imagine a lifetime of interruptions as a person who stutters? To suffer the impatience of others, whether well-intended advice or just blatant rudeness when all you want to do is finish your thought; indeed, to finish saying even one word.

Welcome to the world of Nina G.: Professional Speaker, Stand-up Comedian, Author, and person who stutters. Sound like a joke? She'd be the first one to say it - and she has - audiences across the nation. Her humor is one that informs and entertains. One that gives hope to those who stutter, and insight to those who don't.

While childhood angst and everyday incidents offer fodder for her stand-up comedy on stage, Nina G. peels aside the punchlines to share her very personal story in her new book, "Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn't Happen." The book, to be released August 2019, shares how Nina's life-long dream of becoming comedian almost died because she thought a person who stuttered could never go on stage, be on a microphone, and do a killer set.

Sales information for the book: https://www.stuttererinterrupted.com/.

About the book:
If you stutter or know someone who does, you know the reactions many people have. Nina G. has experienced everything. From hearing back-handed compliments like, "You are such an inspiration - if I talked like you I wouldn't talk at all!" to funny looks and inquiries about whether she has considered intrusive brain surgery. People often interrupt, thinking it's helpful to guess what she is going to say. But it isn't just the interruptions from others that created a barrier for this comedian. Even worse were the self-imposed interruptions due to the stigma she internalized as a person who stutters.

As a child, Nina wanted nothing more than to be a comedian. Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn't Happen is Nina's story about how stuttering caused her to first abandon her dreams, then to embark on a journey towards embracing her voice that culminated in a career as one of only a handful of stuttering stand-up comedians working today. "Nina's story maps her transformation from isolation and shame to realizing the power of her voice through comedy."

Through stand-up comedy, stuttering comedian Nina G. challenges the status quo of how people who stutter are perceived onstage and off. In the 1960s, psychologist Joseph Sheehan created the analogy of the "stuttering iceberg," in which the tip of the iceberg is only what people hear (the stutter), and all that is underwater are emotions like shame, denial and isolation.

Using humor and easy to follow explanations, Nina G. turns this analogy on its head, substituting negative emotions with positive ones such as pride, acceptance and community. She illustrates how both of the icebergs played a part in her development as a person and as a comedian. Nina's road to realizing her lifelong dream of stand-up comedy has been paved with funny, absurd and touching experiences.

She shares all these with the reader in her singularly quirky and humorous tone.

Additional facts on stuttering:
* Stuttering impacts 1 percent of the adult population.
* 3 million Americans are people who stutter.
* 1 in 4 people who stutter are female.
* There's no known cure for stuttering.
* Many people who stutter experience discrimination in their jobs, personal lives, etc.

About Nina G.:
Comedian - Nina G. was the only woman who stuttered in the stand-up comedy world when she started eight years ago. She co-produced the Comedians with Disabilities Act, a national touring comedy show featuring exclusively comedians with disabilities. She also went on to produce the first compilation album to feature, as the album title suggests, Disabled Comedy Only. Nina G's brand of comedy reflects the experiences of many with disabilities: the problem is not the people with disabilities, but a society that isn't always accessible or inclusive.

Author - Nina G's first book, "Once Upon An Accommodation: A Book About Learning Disabilities," helps both children and adults understand how to advocate for needed school-related accommodations. The book is inspired from her own childhood experience of having learning disabilities, stuttering, and being denied accommodations in her own education.

Professional Speaker - Nina G. tours the country as a conference keynote speaker. In addition to her TedX talk at San Jose State University she has presented at the Montana Youth in Transition Conference, Oregon Association on Higher Education and Disability, to high school age students with disabilities at the Kansas Youth Leadership Forum, and at college campuses for Disability Acceptance Week, Disability Awareness Month, and at seminars on universal design for learning.

For more information on "Stutterer Interrupted: The Making of a Stuttering Stand-Up Comedian," visit: https://www.stuttererinterrupted.com/.

To book Nina G., visit: https://www.ninagcomedian.com/.

Stuttering Comedian, Nina G. announces the release of her second book: "Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn't Happen" (ISBN: 978-1631526428; August 6, 2019). While childhood angst and everyday incidents offer fodder for her stand-up comedy on stage, Nina G. peels aside the punchlines to share her very personal story in her new book.

Related link: https://www.ninagcomedian.com/