Monday, 20 October 2014

Guest Post ~ 20 October 2014: Linda Hamonou

Today it is my great pleasure to have a highly talented author and really interesting lady here to talk about herself and her writing. Please welcome my friend Linda Hamonou.


Thank you Naomi. For those who don't know me, this is my bio.

Born in November 1983 in Brittany, France, Linda Hamonou spent most of her childhood reading adventure and fantasy books, while exploring the folklore of Brittany. After graduating high school, she entered university to study physics. For the second year, she studied diverse fields of physics in two universities simultaneously. With a growing interest in atomic and molecular physics she entered master course and finished her master degree in France before moving to Northern Ireland where she obtained her PhD in 2009.

Saving money during her studies and going to international workshop and conferences allowed her to travel in Europe and North America. Her sense of adventure carried her to the top of Machu Picchu and then to Japan where she started with a postdoc position in Tokyo and is currently pursuing research in Sendai. Being based in Japan allowed her to discover Asia, many trips in Japan, visit of Taiwan and Korea.

(The tale of her ongoing adventure can be found on her daily blog:



At the end of her PhD in 2009, she discovered NaNoWriMo and being determined to succeed at winning the contest, she wrote the first draft of her first novel "Demon Soul". It took 6 months of hard work to complete the novel to an acceptable level for self publication, including a lot of rewriting, character development, illustration...

During that time she also managed to get the draft for her second novel "Attic mirror", participating and winning another writing contest. It took even longer for this highly perfectionist writer to prepare her second novel for self publication. And it took her more than two years to be satisfied with her third "Demon and fairy".

Her fourth novel, a detective story called "Harajuku Kiss" has been published in June 2014. She also has some finished and partially written drafts and a lot of ideas to work on...

Inspiration: I like to create, not only in writing, but in many forms and shapes. Writing allows me to give life to characters and to see them evolve. A drawing is something set in time and space, but writing can always move with the next story. I find inspiration in everything and nothing. It takes very little to create a story. It can be a color, a feeling. If you start by putting a character in a situation you are in, then have something happen out of the ordinary, you are most certainly set with a great adventure. What I like in writing is that anything can happen. 

I have several stories and set of characters in different genres. The longest is the demon series. It started by playing a game where I could create images of characters. Then I imagine how they related to each other and gave them some personality. This story has been going on for years, with every twist and turns I learn something new about the characters and about myself. I hope to make people smile (sometimes cry) with my stories. 

Harajuku Kiss started with a walk in Harajuku, then I thought, what if a boy kissed me just right here and now, that was it, the start of the creative process. 

Inspiration: I like to create, not only in writing, but in many forms and shapes. Writing allows me to give life to characters and to see them evolve. A drawing is something set in time and space, but writing can always move with the next story. I find inspiration in everything and nothing. It takes very little to create a story. It can be a color, a feeling. If you start by putting a character in a situation you are in, then have something happen out of the ordinary, you are most certainly set with a great adventure. What I like in writing is that anything can happen. 

I have several stories and set of characters in different genres. The longest is the demon series. It started by playing a game where I could create images of characters. Then I imagine how they related to each other and gave them some personality. This story has been going on for years, with every twist and turns I learn something new about the characters and about myself. I hope to make people smile (sometimes cry) with my stories. 
Harajuku Kiss started with a walk in Harajuku, then I thought, what if a boy kissed me just right here and now, that was it, the start of the creative process. 



Blurb: 

At times, life can be so depressing. She is walking her usual recovery tour in Harajuku, finishing with a crepe, trying to forget that her boyfriend dumped her once again for the week-end... When the unthinkable happens... A boy stops in front of her in the street and kisses her, in the middle of the street, before running away.

Trying to discover more about him, she is dragged into a dangerous game of mystery. A biologist has been murdered and a deadly virus is on the loose. First suspect: the mysterious Harajuku's stranger. 


Excerpt 

You have something that belonged to me and I want it back, I have been in Harajuku every night without success,” he said.
We missed each other on Monday, I saw you on the train in Yoyogi, on the opposite side,” I said.
You are able to recognize people you met only once just like that, that’s some skills,” he said.
Only when they give me a surprise kiss,” I answered.

He laughed at me again. That was a laugh, saying that the kiss didn’t matter. I knew I should have gotten up and left him right there, but something irresistible about him made me sit still. He continued eating his spaghetti quietly.

So can I have my memory stick back,” he finally said.

He was a fast eater. I was a fast eater too but my plate was still half full, while his was empty. I hesitated one instant, I knew that if I was to give him the memory stick just now, I would probably never see him again, that it would be the end of the adventure and I wasn’t sure that I wanted it to end this way.

I don’t have it with me,” I said with my liar voice rising to a high pitch.

He looked at me one moment. I don’t know why, but he seemed to be reading my thoughts somehow, maintaining eye contact was suddenly difficult. He broke it first.

It’s in your jeans' left pocket,” he said.

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Well I for one can't wait to read this. I wish you the greatest success with it. It's been great seeing you linda, drop by anytime.

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