Welcome to
my stop on Cristelle Comby’s Virtual Book Tour for Russian
Dolls. Please leave a
comment or question for Cristelle below to let her know you stopped by. My review of Russian
Dolls will post tomorrow.
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Guest Post - My 7 steps to build a story by Cristelle Comby
I always
go through the same process to craft a story. The geneses of Russian Dolls followed that path too.
Can’t emphasis this enough: it’s my method, it works for me. It may not work for everyone.
I always
start with the characters. Some people are more focused on events, or specific
plot points that they want to see happen, but, for me, it’s always the
characters first. Who are they, where are they (psychologically, in their
personal life) and where are they going (still talking on an emotional level
here)?
STEP 1.
For each
main character, I define an emotional goal (point A/point B style)
i.e. At the start of the story, a
kid (lets name him Johnny) is scared of going into the basement. At the end of
the story, Johnny isn’t scared anymore.
STEP 2.
Craft the
path your characters will have to take to get from point A to point B.
i.e. Johnny will have to enter the
cave, he has to find the incentive to do it, the courage to do it, and only
when he has entered the cave will he understand that there is nothing to be
afraid of.
STEP 3.
Make the
path a real path. Throw some rocks to trip over, some trees to contour, some
indicators to follow.
i.e. Johnny’s friend Melissa drops
by, she cuts her finger with a knife while both kids bake a pie. It’s Sunday,
all the shops are closed; the doctor’s out of town at a seminar; oh and the
story takes place on a desolate island so the closest human being lives some
50miles away. Johnny’s mum told him one day that there’s a first-aid kit in the
basement. Johnny’s older brother has told him many stories about the monster
that lives in the basement.
STEP 4.
Congratulations,
you now have the backbone of your story. Time to add some muscles above those
bones, if you want your story to be able to walk.
i.e. Johnny’s got a thing for
Melissa. He doesn’t really understand it, but there are butterflies dancing in
his bellies when he looks at her. The pie will be an apple pie, because it’s
Melissa’s favourite. Melissa likes Johnny too, but she thinks he’s not mature
enough for her. Johnny always tries to impress her, he wants to be her hero.
They decide to put cinnamon on the apple pie because that tastes better. If
Johnny fixes Melissa’s finger, she will think highly of him and she might
decide to give him a peck on the cheek, and maybe hold his hand. Johnny’s older
brother is a douche. There’s no monster in the basement.
STEP 5.
Time to
flesh it out. It’s time for you to write. Take your ideas and strung them
together with some nouns, some verbs, some adjectives (to use sparsely) and
some adverbs (even more sparsely).
STEP 6.
It’s
alive!!!! It stands, it walks, it dances the conga. Okay, you might still need
to give it a good shave, trim its hair a little, cut its nails, brush its teeth
and put some clothes on its back though. (Just imagine how scary Frankenstein’s
creature dancing the conga would look like). In other words, edit, edit, edit,
edit some more, and then craft a nice cover.
STEP 7.
You’re
book’s all grown up now, time for it to leave the nest and enter the real
world. Get a handkerchief to dab at that tear falling from the corner of your
eye, and start getting busy on the next one.
I
sincerely hope this can help you. I’m not the best to explain stuff. The
process is clear in my head, but getting it out in words, is difficult. But I
guess, what it boils down to for me, is this: characters and emotions. Invent
likeable characters (they don’t need to be perfect -- if they’re humans,
they’re bound to have flaws) and make them feel (make them fall in love, make
them ache, make them happy, make them sad). If your characters are compelling
enough, people will feel what they feel. They will experience the emotions
along with your characters and they will thank you for it.
___________________________
By Cristelle Comby
New Adult - Mystery&Detective
Date Published:3/13/2013
Alexandra Neve is a student at University College London whose world suddenly falls apart. When her best friend jumps from the university’s rooftop, she can’t stop herself from asking, ‘Why?’ The police rule her friend’s death a suicide and for them the case is closed — so whom can she turn to for help?
Sometimes the person you need the most is the one you least expect to find, and in this case it’s none other than Ashford Egan, a blind middle-aged history professor, who’s more willing than most to listen to what she has to say.
Neve and Egan are as different as they come. She’s restless, careless at times, and fearless when the need arises, while he’s almost the complete opposite: a deep thinker with an analytical mind, a highly rational and collected individual.
As they enter the violent world of the Russian mafia, they must overcome their differences and learn to work together. It’s their only chance if they want to survive.
EXCERPT
‘Hello,’ comes a light baritone, after three
rings. Relief washes over me.
‘Hi,’ I say, still sounding raspy. ‘Alexandra
Neve.’
There’s silence on the line and I imagine him
frowning, trying to place the name.
‘You interviewed me about three weeks ago,
about the case of Irina Anderson, and then you gave me your card.’
‘Yes, I remember you now,’ he says. ‘Is
everything all right?’
Peachy, I’m tempted to say. ‘My flat’s on fire,
Sergeant,’ I say, instead. ‘It just exploded and not because I left the kettle
on.’
‘What?’ he stammers, surprised. ‘Are you all
right?’
‘I’m fine,’ I reply. ‘Look, this wasn’t an
accident. I’ve been investigating what happened to Irina.’
‘You what?’ I can hear him moving about and
then the unmistakable jingle of keys. ‘Give me your address and stay where you
are.’
‘Queen’s Drive, Hackney. It’s the building
with the dozen fire-fighters in front,’ I tell him, before hanging up.
I stand up and shoulder my bags. The flames
are finally dying and only two small ones remain; smoke is still escaping
through the bedroom window.
I don’t have time to dwell on it right now.
There are more urgent matters at hand. I cast my eyes around, taking in the
people massed around the scene. At the front of the crowd, I recognise most of
my neighbours. I don’t know them all by name but their faces are familiar.
A little farther up the road are curious
neighbours who have been attracted by the commotion and bright lights. I don’t
know them, but most of their faces are familiar. Men I’ve seen walking their
dogs, women I’ve seen taking their kids to school. There are a few faces I
don’t know, lurking in the background. I take a few steps toward the bystanders
and look intently. I see two men in deep conversation with each other. One’s
wearing clothes but he’s barefoot; the other is in pyjamas. Normal.
I cast my eyes a little further to the left
and find a man dressed in dark denim and a leather jacket. Unlike everyone
else, he doesn’t look like someone who’s just got out of bed or left his home
in a hurry. I look at his face and note he’s neither horrified nor amazed by
the burning building. He looks blank. Suspicious.
I reach for my phone again and raise it to
take a picture of this strange man. When I look up, he’s disappeared. I run to
where he was but he’s gone. Pushing through the crowd with difficulty, it takes
me a little while to get to the place where the man had been standing. When I
do, I catch a glimpse of a single red tail light dancing away in the distance.
It’s a bike, driving away at full speed.
___________________________
Cristelle Comby
Author Bio:
Cristelle Comby was born and raised in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, somewhere between Geneva and Lausanne, where she still resides.Thanks to her insatiable thirst for American and British action films and television dramas, her English is fluent.She attributes to her origins her ever-peaceful nature and her undying love for chocolate. She has a passion for art, which also includes an interest in drawing and acting.Russian Dolls is her first new-adult novel, and she’s hard at work on the next titles in the series.
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