Virtual Book Tour & #Giveaway for Blind Chess by Cristelle Comby

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Book Tour, presented by Goddess Fish Promotions, for Blind Chess by Cristelle Comby.  Please leave a comment or question for Cristelle to let her know you stopped by.  You may enter her tour wide giveaway, where Cristelle will be awarding all four books of the series, signed by the author (International Giveaway) to a randomly drawn commenter, by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.  You may follow all of the stops on her tour by clicking on the banner above, the more stops you visit, the better your chances of winning. My review is running late but you can read my review of the first book in this series, Russian Dolls here.  

Short Interview with Cristelle Comby

Me : What has your journey as an author been like since you started the Neve and Egan series?

Cristelle : It has been a wonderful learning curve. Practice makes perfect, as they say… and my writing style certainly has improved. But, what’s changed the most is the way I approach the craft. The way I wrote the first Neve & Egan book, Russian Dolls, had little structure to it. I figured out who the characters were, wrote down the big plot lines and there I went… just plodding along, one page after the other. Then, I spent six months editing the book and got it published. Not really a bad method, but there was too much blank page angst and editing to my liking.

Now, I spend weeks – months even – carefully planning my next story, before I write a single word. It might sound counter-productive, to waste so much time in the beginning, but it makes the writing a hell of a lot simpler (and quicker). It solves the blank page drama once and for all, allows you to correct most of your plot issues beforehand, and helps you to keep a constant pace throughout the story.

I have articles about it on my website, if you want to have a look. It may not be a technique that works for everyone, but it certainly does for me.

Me : What do you hope to accomplish as an author in 2016 – your third year as a published author?

Cristelle : I can’t believe it is 2016 already; it feels as if 2015 just passed me by at 150mph.

Well next year, I’m going to take a little break from the Neve & Egan series. It’s all I’ve been doing for the past four years and I’d like to meet new characters.

I’ve started working on a new series, in a different genre. The planning’s done and I’ve got about 4 chapters already written. Hopefully I’ll be able to really sink my teeth into it during the Holidays season, and finish the first draft sometime in spring or summer.

It would be wonderful if I could get it published next year as well, but I’ve learned not to make plans anymore… because life has a bad habit of getting in the way. 

Blind Chess

By Cristelle Comby

The Neve & Egan Cases, Book 4

Publisher: Cristelle Comby

Release Date:  November 2, 2015

Genre: Mystery/Detective

Format:  eBook/Print

Length: 154 Pages

ISBN 13: 978-1518882104

ASIN:  B017IHCGOA

Buy Link:  Amazon 

About the book: 

It is supposed to be Neve and Egan. Two partners, a team. What happens when a member of this team of Private Investigators is shot, prognosis unknown?

As Alexandra Neve lays comatose and defenceless, Ashford Egan must take on their enemy alone, and find the cagiest criminal Scotland Yard has seen in decades. Determined to succeed, Egan will stop at nothing. He’ll hit on married women, plant bugs, hire hitmen. And he’ll do it all blind, which makes things ten times as difficult.

Double-crossed by friends, convinced there is corruption in those sworn to uphold the law, Egan is forced to form unlikely alliances as he moves forward in a game that requires skills, nerves of steel, and a willingness to play against all odds.

EXCERPT

The journey to the Lantesks’ home gives me time to weigh my options. There are two ways to play this: continue to pretend to be Mr. Bono, the nice accountant, and flirt some information out of Mrs Lantesk; or use the weapon in my pocket and approach the situation in a considerably less charming manner.

I entertain the possibilities of option one while I walk up the main street, but decide on option two as I turn into the Lantesks’ drive. I don’t have time to be gentle anymore; I can’t afford it.

I tighten my grip on the weapon, straighten my back and force a resolve I don’t feel onto my face.

Car doors are being slammed in the distance as the first commuters start their daily routines. The hour is still early though, and the chances I’ve been seen are slim. The wind keeps up its assault as I take the last steps towards the house, gun in hand, safety catch on.

I smile as I think of DI Langford. He’d have a fit if he could see me. So far, I am only a thief on the run, but I am about to add a few more charges to my rap sheet. ‘Eyes on the prize,’ I remind myself as I reach for the doorbell.

My finger is inches away from it when I hear the gravel screech behind me. Someone is walking up to me. No, I mentally correct myself instants later—several individuals. I count at least two pairs of feet.

This isn’t good. I turn around, extend my weapon, finger on the trigger, as I do my best to guess where to aim.

The weapon is kicked out of my hand in a matter of seconds. I can’t even understand how. All I know is that my fingers hurt, my wrist feels like it is broken, and the weapon has tumbled to the gravel at least a foot away on my right.

An instant later, someone’s fist hits me in the shoulder. It sends me tumbling backwards and I hit the Lantesks’ house wall violently. My cane flies out of my hand and I feel some of the wall plaster come loose upon impact. It crumbles to dust under my fingers as I try to get back up on my feet.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Cristelle Comby was born and raised in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, in Greater Geneva, 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.

Blind Chess is her fourth new-adult novel in the Neve & Egan series.

Links:

Website: http://cristelle-comby.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/Cristelle

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cristelle-Comby/e/B00EAWEODS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1453269532&sr=1-1

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/CristelleComby

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