Welcome to FAB Lovelies!

A Lifestyle blog that focuses on all things from fashion to beauty; fitness to weight loss; recipes to coupons; books to movies; travels to entertainment; and everything in between.

Monday, July 25, 2016

Clementina by Simon Cann - Virtual Book Tour - Interview - Giveaway - Enter Daily! - Also Book is FREE 7/25 - 7/29!


Hello lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Simon Cann and his new book, “Clementina!”  For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble Gift Card.  Also, come back daily to interact with Simon and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this exciting giveaway!



Clementina
by Simon Cann

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Crime Thriller

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Leathan Wilkey has been hired to babysit Clementina, a seventeen-year-old whose rich daddy is going through a messy divorce and is over-compensating.

Leathan soon tires of her spending habits, her selfie obsession, and her social media preoccupation as his ward drags him from shop to boutique to jeweler, approaching each with the self-possession that comes from a lifetime of getting her own way and never once having to worry about money.

But when Clementina snaps her fingers and her boyfriend doesn’t come running, something is up. He doesn’t appear because he’s been murdered.

When Leathan investigates, he finds that the boyfriend has no background and met Clementina through a connection made by daddy’s business partner.

Daddy’s business partner who has been slowly and progressively putting daddy in a vice, grabbing more of the business, and who is now menacing Clementina directly to manipulate daddy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT TWO:

I stared up at the six-foot pile of brick held together by cement, then turned to the fastidious man. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

“Vianney,” he said.

“Vianney. Is this the only way out?”

He nodded, a precise tilt of his head like a movement fashioned by a watchmaker.

“Do you know who is over the back?” I pointed over the wall.

A shake of his head, equally precise. I pulled out my phone. Vianney shook his head again—three small twists. “No signal.” He pointed back inside. “Seven paces.”

I took seven paces and got two bars. “We’re going out the back,” I said when Reece answered. “I’m not sure what’s there, but come and find us there.” Back outside, Clementina was still staring up at the sky. “Ready?” I asked.

She seemed perplexed.

“We’re going to meet the neighbors,” I said, taking her shiny bag and handing it to Vianney. “You’re going first.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“We’re going over the wall—you’re going first. Give your bag to Vianney to hold.” I pointed to the large lump of leather still hanging from her shoulder. “And put this back on.” I handed her the jacket I was carrying. I was sure it wasn’t designed for rough and tumble, but I preferred it be scraped rather than her.

“Why…?” she began.

“Because it’s the only way out, and you’re going first because if I go first there’s no one to help you over the wall,” I said, predicting her range of questions. “What else did you want to do today?”

“I wanted…” she began, slipping on her jacket. “That was rhetorical, wasn’t it?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

INTERVIEW:

Any weird things you do when you’re alone?
You think I’m going to admit—on the internet—to doing weird things?!?

What is your favorite quote and why?
Never touch shit, even with gloves on. The gloves get shittier, the shit doesn’t get glovier.

Why my favorite? Because it speaks to the priorities in life.

Who is your favorite author and why?
Walter Mosley.  In particular, for his Easy Rawlins, Fearless Jones, and Leonid McGill novels—I’m not a huge fan of his science fiction.

Why? Because I believe every word of these stories. They are compelling tales from the first word to the last.

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?
The most important element of writing is that the writing is invisible.

The content—the story—should be all that matters. The words are merely the means by which the content is transmitted. I want the story, not to know that the author swallowed a thesaurus or spent three years researching the book.

Where did you get the idea for this book?
Where? Literally, in Paris.  Shocking, huh? I got the idea for a book set in Paris when I was in Paris doing research for a series of books set in Paris.

I had the character of my protagonist—Leathan Wilkey—clear in my mind. I knew he was going to be my lead character in a series of novels set in Paris. What was less clear in my mind was what first drew Leathan to Paris.

I also had a notion about Leathan being (without trying to dramatize the situation) trapped in Paris with someone who didn’t really appreciate the city—someone who saw the surface glitter of the city, but no more. As I walked around Paris I saw so many tourists who seemed obsessed with taking selfies in front of the landmarks. They didn’t seem to care about the landmarks, let alone the rest of the city—it seems that their sole concern was to get a selfie in various locations and then to go back to their hotel.

The person that Leathan was trapped with in Paris became Clementina—a willful 17-year-old with a bad selfie habit—who is taken to Paris by her father while he works on a business deal.

Once I had the notion of Clementina, it was obvious that Leathan went to Paris to babysit her because that was the only work that was offered to him. Once I had that notion, I was off and running.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR BIO:


Simon Cann is the author of the Boniface, Montbretia Armstrong, and Leathan Wilkey series of books.

In addition to his fiction, Simon has written a range of music-related and business-related books, and has also worked as a ghostwriter.

Before turning full-time to writing, Simon spent nearly two decades as a management consultant, where his clients included aeronautical, pharmaceutical, defense, financial services, chemical, entertainment, and broadcasting companies.

He lives in London.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CONNECT WITH SIMON:




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BOOK BUY LINKS:

**The book will be free on Amazon from Monday 25 July to Friday 29 July (inclusive).**



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY INFO:

One randomly chosen winner via Rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.


**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase made I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.

15 comments:

  1. Hello everyone, it's Simon here.

    Can I start by thanking Ally for the kind invitation to participate in this community.

    I'm really looking forward to chatting with everyone and to hearing what you're all reading.

    I'll be here all day, so if you've got any questions, comments, or thoughts, please jump in.

    Over to you!

    Simon

    ReplyDelete
  2. This was a wonderful and exciting excerpt. I am going to love this book.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I hope you do enjoy the book. And be sure to jump over to Amazon quickly--I'm giving it away for free until Friday: http://getbook.at/clementina

      Delete
  3. Awesome excerpt, sounds like a book I will enjoy reading. Thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you enjoy reading the book too :-)

      And as I said above, be sure to jump over to Amazon quickly--I'm giving the book away for free until Friday: http://getbook.at/clementina

      Delete
  4. Do you prefer paper or digital books?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Interesting question, Becky.

    As an author, I have no preference. I want my readers to get books in whatever format they want.

    As a reader, for fiction, its electronic all the way. The reasons here are many and varied, but in short:

    * I can carry hundreds of books in a device lighter than a paperback.

    * Having my phone with me means that I always have a book with me (even if my phone is my reader of last resort).

    * I can get the text to the right size for my eyes.

    * I don't have to hold an ereader in the same way I hold a book, for instance, I can prop it up. With the RSI symptoms in hands, this is appreciated.

    For reference books and books with images, I go with paper.

    What about you? What do you prefer?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'd like to thank Ally for the invitation to participate in this community and to thank you all for your kind welcome and the great questions.

    I'll be popping in at regular intervals, so if you've got any more questions, then please keep asking. Alternatively, drop past my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/simoncannauthor/) and say hi.

    And don't forget, Clementina is available for free until Friday. Make sure you grab your copy: http://getbook.at/clementina

    All the best

    Simon

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds like a great read, hope I'll have a chance to read it soon!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like to think it's a good read, Dario ;-)

    Do come back and tell us what you thought of it once you've had a chance to read the book.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm such a sucker for crime thrillers, so I'm definitely hooked by this. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wonderful excerpt! I'm very excited to read CLEMENTINA!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Melissa.

      I look forward to hearing your thoughts once you have read the book.

      Delete
  11. Wonderful interview!! Yeah, I have to agree. Who would admit to doing weird things?? :) Ha-Ha.

    ReplyDelete