Hello there Wottareaders! today I present you another interview, after knowing Bernard Jan this week is the turn for Harmony kent. Multigenre writer, she will not rest until her books are listed on every genre ever existed. Why should she? right? No matter if you want to read a Romance, a Horror story or if you need to improve your writing, Harmony has it for you, is there anything she doesn’t want to write about? let’s find out 😁

The woman

Who is Harmony Kent, not the writer, the woman. What can you tell us about you?

She’s quirky. And funny. And an amputee with a wicked sense of humour. This is a woman who has led many different lives. … Load planner and then stock controller for a national brewery …Office worker at a corn and seed merchant … barmaid … nurse … Zen Buddhist monk … writer and author … It seems she’s as multi-genre as her writing! Also, every day, she learns something new. She’s all about supporting her fellow writers and authors as well as friends and acquaintances.

You not only write but you also…

Read, a lot. I love movies and series too. I do jigsaws, play games like Sudoku, Woody, and Spider. And I knit and crochet. I also love cruising. I went on my first ever cruise last year and am hooked. So much so, that my honeymoon this year will be spent on a cruise ship. I also meditate.

I see you are from England, what do you love the most about your country? Has your country influenced your stories somehow?

Given that we tend to write what we know, even if it’s disguised within a planet in settled space, say, or an underwater fantasy world, I would have to say that, yes, my country has influenced my stories. Especially the way I spell and punctuate, lol. English rules and conventions differ greatly from America, etc.

Mmm, what do I love the most? Well, that would have to be where I’m living now: Cornwall. No matter the weather, it’s beautiful. Okay, so on the thick-fog days, with what we call ‘mizzle’, I have to qualify that. I hate those days, and you can’t see a thing. The mizzle thing is a mix of rainy drizzle and mist and sums up the bad days quite nicely.

I have an as yet unpublished book called The Hunter that is based around where I live in south Cornwall. One day, I promise, it will see the light of day. It’s a gripping crime thriller with plenty of twists and turns and a great who-dun-it plot.

To sum up, I love living in rural places. Cities are just not my thing. And Cornwall provides plenty of isolated spots.

Writers are such for different reasons, which was your thing that made you decide you wanted to become a professional writer? As you say on your website, you were born as an author in 2013, what made you think “it’s time”?

I left the Buddhist temple at age forty, a relatively new amputee, with life to begin from scratch. After finding somewhere to live, I then had to find something to occupy my days.

Writing had always been a great love of mine, as was reading, and so, then and there, I decided I WOULD write that book. I sat down at my computer and started typing. Since that fateful day, I haven’t stopped.

Any hobbies you want to share with us?

Reading. Writing (Yes, I know, quite a surprise, eh?!?). Knitting. Drinking Whiskey (… um, does that count as a hobby?!?)

I.M Redwright: It should!

One book, one movie, one song, one food, one sport, and one videogame?

Nope. Can’t give you this one. Whenever I’m asked for a favourite this or that, I die. Literally, lol. The only answer I can ever give to this kind of question is … weeellllll, that all depends on what mood I’m in! … I’m sure you’ve all been there. Erm, I CAN answer one of them … just the one, though, and that would be the food question. Hands down, it’s pizza. If I didn’t have to watch my weight, I would be the pizza queen. Seriously, melt that cheese over juicy mushrooms and a barbeque sauce, and I’m your gal. I’d bathe in the stuff if I could!

The writer

You are a multigenre author, you have written books listed on the following genres: romantic, erotic, writing techniques, poetry, Zen, horror, fantasy fiction…that is impressive! any genre you will never write about? A Western maybe?

I’ve learned to never say never! My immediate response, which I wasn’t going to say out loud, was historical fiction. But then that does appear in Interludes in one of the longer short stories, so already I’ve contradicted myself. I prefer to say, wait and see! Who knows what will catch my imagination next?

I’d like to know about your first steps, the very first day you decided to become a professional writer, what made you do it? What made you step in such an uncertain world as is the writing one?

Since being old enough to hold a crayon, I wrote stories. However, lack of confidence and support led me down other, mundane, paths. Only when I had to begin life from scratch at forty did I actually sit and write a full novel with the aim of publishing it. After that, I actually learned the finer nuances of writing and publishing.

I was lucky, as my muse was in top form and full flight. Both The Battle for Brisingamen and The Glade flew from my brain/fingers smoothly and quickly. I think that might have been the first time in my life that I actually hit the ground running, despite being an amputee, lol.

Do you have any ritual for writing? any kind of habit or goals to achieve every day?

When I first started writing, I just sat and wrote … and wrote, and wrote, lol.

These days, I have a routine. I get through my emails and social media in a morning, with a much-needed cup of coffee, and then I open up my work in progress. I have a set deadline for it, as well as a planned word count, and from those, I work out my needed daily word count to help keep me on track. Of course, life happens, like me getting the flu last week, lol. That kind of messed up my schedule a bit, but I can always catch up later.

Is any of your books based on a true story?

No, they are all from inside my warped mind, lol. Finding Katie took a lot from teens I worked with while a nurse on a children’s psychiatric unit, but isn’t based on any one person or situation.

Do you take real people you know and put them in your books? Any specific you want to tell us about?

My book Backstage, an erotic romance published last year, while totally fictional with made up people, was inspired by the recent Hollywood scandals based around Harvey Weinstein. I don’t ever put a complete person I know in my books, but rather include an assortment of traits and make them into one character.

Which book are you writing right now?

A post-apocalyptic novel set in settled space. So, quite different to any of my previous ones. Its working title is Exxon 1, but I don’t yet know if I’ll keep that or change it. The story is all about a virus that gets released on the planet, and the despotic totalitarian leader willing to do anything to remain in power, and then there are those desperate to stop him.

If you had to define yourself just using one sentence of your books, which one would be?

“When we stop caring so much what people think, then we achieve a liberated and happy existence …”

[This comes from Jewel in the Mud, and best represents my approach to life and the hardest lesson I had to learn … Love myself no matter what. Until I grasped that, I could never write for other eyes to see.]

Which are your writing influences? Any authors you think were the most relevant?

Stephen King is right up there. Just like I’m a multi-genre writer, I’m also a multi-genre reader. From crime thrillers, to supernatural thrillers and horror, to romances, to YA, and fantasies, as well as sci-fi. I also love Tess Gerritsen and Jo Nesbo, also Anne McCaffrey and Guy Gavriel Kay.

I could go on for weeks about the many authors I know and love, lol.

Which would you say were your best and your worst moments as a writer?

They are one and the same: hitting that publish button … both the first ever time and every time after. It doesn’t matter how many books I write and publish, I always feel terrified when it’s time to go live.

The Books

Not one, but two books published in 2018, Backstage and Jewel in the Mud, an erotic romance and Zen musing respectively. So different, tell us about them?

Zen musings was actually written over a whole year (2016) as a series of weekly blog posts, Monday Musings, and then eventually it became a book. The posts grew so popular that I wanted to make the lessons available to the wider public.

In complete contrast, I wrote Backstage in just 15 days, lol. It is centered loosely around the recent scandals to hit Hollywood, namely the Harvey Weinstein alleged buses, but—of course—is all total fiction and is based on made-up people. … And it’s a lot more fun!

Elemental Earth is a young adult novel, the first book of The Mysteries series. This is a story about Sarah a girl who doesn’t fit in, a feeling lot of teenagers would easily relate to, would you say this book can help teenagers, or maybe not only teenagers, to find themselves?

I would say it can help both teens and people of all ages find themselves and become their own unique person without the constant need to ‘fit in’.

Also, regarding Elemental Earth, people are waiting for the second book in this series, Air-Born, is there a release date you can give us?

Sadly, I can’t give you a date just yet, and I have to apologize for the long delay. I really do owe my lovely readers the next in the series.

Your book, Polish your prose, is a guide to teach essential techniques so you can edit your own book, what makes it different to other similar books? I see this book was written after all you learned.

This book doesn’t contain a lot of jargon or big words. Instead, it is written in a relaxed manner that any layman can understand. I know my eyes glaze over as soon as I hear the word ‘grammar’, lol.

 

Your first book, The Battle For Brisingamen, has elves, dragons, dwarfs… fantasy genre at its finest, Will this book have a sequel?

No, I’m not planning a sequel to this one. But who knows … maybe one day…

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this interview, you can purchase all her books on Amazon. maybe Harmony Kent inspired you? just let us know in the comments!

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