Virtual Tour & #Giveaway for Clementina by Simon Cann

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Tour, presented by Goddess Fish Promotions, for Clementina by Simon Cann.  Please leave a comment or question for Simon to let him know you stopped by.  You may enter his tour wide giveaway, where one (1) randomly chosen commenter will be awarded a $50 Amazon/BN GC, by filling out the Rafflecopter form below.  You may follow all of the stops on the tour by clicking on the banner above.  The more stops you visit, the better your chances of winning.  Good Luck!

Researching Tips by Simon Cann

For me, research is a constant process. It’s not so much something that I do, but more a case of being open to the world and learning new things every day.

Then when I find something interesting I store it away so that I can retrieve it at a later date. Not being able to retrieve information is pretty much the same as never having had the information in the first place.  For me the system for retrieving externally sourced data is based around Evernote.

The constant process of being open includes several aspects. Most obviously reading the news, following people who are experts in certain areas, setting Google alerts, and so on. And beyond that, there’s obviously a lot of information online and I always try to read books where I can find out more.

If I can go and see, feel, touch, taste, and smell something I will.  And anywhere I go, I take a camera and a GPS tracker. The GPS tracker can plot the route I followed—useful for trying to remember where I’ve been, but more importantly (for me), when I get home I can then embed the GPS into the photos I have taken. This then allows me to see where each photo was shot. Alternatively, I can find a location and search for the photos I’ve got within that geographic area. I take a lot of photos—as in a lot. It doesn’t cost anything and I can throw away the rubbish, but as well as helping my memory, I find that when I go back to older photos I’ve always capture details I wasn’t expecting.

While I tend to do a lot of research, I do the research for me—not for my readers.

There’s nothing worse than an author who wants to show you their research. It’s a bit like being shown photographs from a really boring person’s really boring holiday to a really boring place.

My research is to inform myself. Readers don’t care about research—they just want a good story. They don’t want facts so much as they want a believable story. They want life with the dull stuff filtered out.

I’m happy to oblige. I might slip in a detail or an observation if it drives the story forward or helps with atmosphere, but apart from that, the research stays with me.

Clementina

By Simon Cann

Leathan Wilkey, Book 1

Publisher:  Coombe Hill Publishing

Release Date: June 14, 2016

Genre: Crime Thriller

Length: 248 Pages

ISBN: 978-1910398128

ASIN: B01FZJEDW6

Buy Links:  Amazon | B&N 

About the book:

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

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?”

 AUTHOR Bio and Links:

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.

Website: http://simoncann.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/simoncannauthor

Twitter: http://twitter.com/simonpcann

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