Visiting Lilly Blog Tour!

Title: Visiting Lilly

Author: Toni Allen

Series: N/A

Pages: 322

Date Published: September 2014

Publisher: Booktrope Editions

Format: ebook

Genre: Mystery

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours

Synopsis:

D.I. Jake Talbot is a burnt-out British detective given a second chance to believe in love, friendship and the transcendent essence of the human experience. When he investigates a seemingly innocent visitor to a residential care home for the elderly he uncovers a dangerous family hiding a forbidden romance that mysteriously crosses the boundaries of time. The deceitful family does all they can to prevent Talbot from discovering their secrets surrounding an unsolved murder, family betrayal; at the core of which is a keenly intelligent, though somewhat mentally challenged young man who is fixated on an elderly woman being held captive by her own grandson. Talbot sets out to right the many wrongs done to the blameless, and in turn, rediscovers his own humanity.

~Guest Post!~

Charting Characters by Toni Allen

Did you do the charts of your characters? If so, did that help you create them?

When I start working with a new character, after a short while, I have a firm idea as to what their sun sign is. I don’t erect a full astrological chart as that would make my character too much like a real person, because I’d become restricted by the placements of outer planets which move very slowly and therefore govern entire generations. Also, if I erected a full chart for a given date in a given year, with a specific birth location, I wouldn’t be able to guarantee that my character’s Moon would be in the sign I’d like to attribute to him or her. So I cheat, and create an imaginary chart in my head based on certain traits I’d like my characters to portray.

Mainly I focus on the sun sign, because that rules the ego, and with fiction I’m creating an identity. By knowing the sun sign of my character I can emphasise one or two traits and use it like a rhythmical pulse, making sure that my character periodically displays specific behavioural patterns.

I expect you’re now wondering what birth sign my main protagonist Detective Inspector Jake Talbot is. He’s Taurus, the bull. Taureans can be incredibly stubborn, and Talbot is both dogged and determined. Once he has his mind set on something he keeps at it, working long into the night because he can’t let something go until the job is finished. He’s always thinking that he’ll have just one more cup of coffee and a fag, and then he’ll go to bed.

Another strong Taurean trait is that they experience life through their fingers tips, always touching and stroking objects to connect with them. They like to bond with people via touch as well, so Talbot has to be very aware around Frankie Hayward who is the exact opposite and finds physical contact, such as a woman giving him a hug, difficult to accept.

Talbot collects antiques, and Taureans can be dreadful hoarders and often amass vast collections of various items. They hate to throw anything away. Even though Frankie Hayward is very different from Talbot they have great similarities at a core level, which is why these two opposites start to bond once they open up to each other. As soon as I saw what Frankie looked like I just knew that he was a Scorpio. Dark eyes, dark hair and with a way of staring that bores straight into you, he had to be a Scorpio. By nature Scorpios have strong introvert tendencies and are capable of spending long periods of time on their own. They explore any subject they’re interested in to an extreme level and can be obsessive. 

All of these traits I wove into Frankie’s character, including Scorpio’s sensitivity to random physical contact and their ability to love deeply and addictively. As for Lilly, the woman who Frankie is in love with, well, she was born under the sign of Libra, quite simply because Libra rules classical beauty. 

~Try an Excerpt!~

 ‘I’ve been warned off, Jake.’

‘Sir?’

‘Had a phone call from that twit Weissman, about an hour ago.’ He nodded in response to Talbot waving the coffee jar. ‘He told me I was making too many waves, asking too many questions, helping you out too much.’ He pressed his index finger firmly on the manila folder. ‘Keith McKenzie’s school reports that you requested.’ His lips curled into a snarl. ‘I won’t be able to offer much more. Damn people.’

‘May I ask who these damn people are, sir?’ Talbot asked, hoping Bailey knew more than he’d gleaned from Weissman, but the answer was disappointing.

‘All I know is that they’re a psychiatric unit connected to the MOD, and have a lot more clout than I do.’ He frowned, sat down and picked up Lilly’s photo again. [***] ‘And all for a bit of skirt.’ Opening his fingers, he let the picture float to the table. ‘Putting you on this case, they’ve stolen one of my best resources … and then they expect me to back down and not offer assistance.’

‘Why exactly is that, sir?’ Talbot smiled, amused by Bailey referring to him as a top resource. He placed the drink in front of him.

‘Digging. Christ, you’re allowed to go digging, unofficially, but it appears that anything I do leaves a footprint they’re not keen on shadowing.’

‘Odd, isn’t it.’ Talbot nonchalantly lit a cigarette. ‘Weissman was correct in his prediction that being a lone dog wouldn’t be much fun …’ He leant very close to Bailey, tried not to grin, and said in a hushed whisper, ‘Of course, sir, you’ve been behind a desk a while now; I guess you wouldn’t be much interested in offering a little covert assistance.’

‘I never have liked your methods, Jake, never approved.’ Bailey sipped his coffee. ‘What did you have in mind?’

~Meet Toni!~ 

D.I. Jake Talbot is a burnt-out British detective given a second chance to believe in love, friendship and the transcendent essence of the human experience. When he investigates a seemingly innocent visitor to a residential care home for the elderly he uncovers a dangerous family hiding a forbidden romance that mysteriously crosses the boundaries of time. The deceitful family does all they can to prevent Talbot from discovering their secrets surrounding an unsolved murder, family betrayal; at the core of which is a keenly intelligent, though somewhat mentally challenged young man who is fixated on an elderly woman being held captive by her own grandson. Talbot sets out to right the many wrongs done to the blameless, and in turn, rediscovers his own humanity.

Toni will be awarding a free e-book of VISITING LILLY and a FREE TAROT CARD reading for one lucky commenter to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway