Author: Kristina Stanley

Farley’s Friday: Canadian Wildlife

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 8 Comments

Farley here,

Excitement in the forest. That’s an understatement. One buck and three bears.

I woke up to a misty morning, stretched my legs and headed for the back door. Staring in at me was this buck. His silky antlers are about the size of his ears but will grow. He’s a white tail and usually hangs with two others.

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I’ve learned the hard way that a buck will move away if I’m in the area. A doe will stand her ground, stomp at me and warn me to head the other way. I get the shakes when I’m around a doe and am smart enough to know it’s her territory. Bears are different. I need to get them away from my humans.

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Yesterday, I arrived home from my morning walk with wet paws. We  climb the steps at the side of our house, blissfully unaware of what’s  lurking in the forest. Kristina grabs my towel and squats with her back to the forest. I lift my front paw for her. We’re face-to-face. I lick her nose.

I glance over her shoulder. My body stiffens. My upper lip curls. I emit a slow growl.

Kristina tenses. Her adrenaline rush is so strong, I can feel it in my bones. She looks like Sigourney Weaver in Alien. You know the scene where Weaver realizes an alien is behind her but she doesn’t look back.

Inch-by-inch Kristina turns her head. I lunge, trying to get over Kristina’s shoulder. I need to protect her. She grabs my harness and stops me. Twenty feet away, the black bear stares at us. He doesn’t move.

Kristina slowly drags me into the house, all the while saying, “Whoa Bear.”

Matt explodes out the door with and air horn. After three blasts, the bear disappears. He takes his time, meandering through our backyard, not really caring we’re there.

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The day before, this guy was waiting for us at the side of our house.  He was smaller but still not concerned we were so close to him.

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The third bear I mentioned, I saw a couple of weeks ago while we were out walking. Maybe the rest of day will be calm.

Woof woof.

Relax – It’s only a photo shoot!

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 9 Comments

Now that I’ve signed what Imajin Books I need an author photo.

I chose to work with a professional photographer local to my area. We met before the shoot and discussed the image I wanted to portray. I’ve used an image of myself with Farley for the last 6 years and love the photo, but thought it was time for an update.

My first decision was with or without Farley. Poor Farley got bumped. I liked the photo of the two of us because I thought it portrayed who I am and what my life is about. I’m sad to let this photo go, but it’s time to set a new image. I wanted my new author photo taken outdoors in a natural setting, and I wanted to come across as approachable and friendly. My novels take place in the BC wilderness, so my photo should portray the setting too.

The photographer, Kimberly Rae Sanderson, made me feel comfortable right away. I was nervous and needed to relax if the photos were to be any good.  We met at Lake Lillian, a small lake in the Purcell Mountains. We chose early evening so the lighting was soft – translate to I’d look better 🙂

When the shoot was over, Kimberly sent me 98 photos to choose from.  Here are the two I liked best.

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I’ll use the portrait on the inside back cover of my novels. I plan to use the black and white photo in various places on the internet. As usual, I now have to find all the spots where Farley and I have been posted on the internet and replace the old photo with my new photo.

It’s fun, all the things that come with writing a novel.

If you haven’t read my blog before, I’ve signed on with Imajin Books and will blog about my publishing adventure. I’ll share what I learn and hope it helps someone out there get their novel published.

Thanks for reading…

 

 

Farley’s Friday: When the woman is away…

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Farley here,

Kristina left me for the week, so this is how Matt walks me… Just kidding. It’s how he’s keeping himself entertained. I’m just there for the photo.

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I know I look sad, but I really miss Kristina. I’ve been moping for two days now. I don’t know where she went, but she better come home soon. I’m one lonely Wheaten Terrier.

Woof Woof.

 

Farley’s Friday: A Wheaten Terrier and a Bear

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 13 Comments

Farley here,

Why am I running so hard? I need to protect my humans.

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I catch a strong scent. I’ve not smelled this particular aroma before, but something seems wrong to me. Kristina and Matt notice I’m agitated and call me to their side. Too late. My brain has kicked into instinct mode and off I run.

Then I see the creature. It’s black. It’s coat is shiny. And it’s huge. Well compared to me anyway.

I turn back to check my humans are not following.  Kristina picks up a branch and is rapidly approaching. Matt’s faster and heads my way. Don’t they understand they need to get away? 

I bolt at the bear, he hesitates, then sees I’m one serious dog. He climbs part way up a tree and waits. Kristina and Matt come closer, talking loudly and telling me to come. The bear shimmies farther up the tree, using his giant claws to move quickly.

I circle the bottom. “Stay up there,” I bark at the bear. Then back to Kristina and Matt, “Get out of here.”

Kristina and Matt call me one more time, then do as I ask. When I think they’re far enough from the bear, I bark one last time, and follow my humans out of the forest.

Not bad for a day’s work. You can call me the protector. I’ve done my job, and I’m proud.

Woof Woof

ps. I was only a little scared.

 

How to Blog Hop

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

Imajin Books asked me to host a blog hop as part of publishing DESCENT.  Of course I said yes. So now I have to figure out how to do this.

First, I needed a goal for the blog hop. I’m currently blogging about my publishing experience, and every day I discover there is more to learn. A priority for me is learning more about marketing a book, and this is how I came up with my goal.

Blog Hop Goal

To  improve my knowledge of marketing a book.

To share that knowledge with other writers.

Blog Hop Theme:

Based on the goal, I’m going to ask other bloggers to answer one simple question.

What is the most important book-marketing  tip you can give other writers who are about to publish a novel or who have recently published a novel?

Who am you going to ask?

The importance of building a network rises to the top of the to-do pile once a again. Long before you publish, you need to have a network of people who can participate in your launch and people who you can help in return. As you can see, I’m using this blog to encourage participation. I will also contact other authors personally via LinkedIn, Facebook, and email.

Why would other bloggers join the blog hop?

As with most things, it’s best to give something to people who participate. The participating bloggers should answer the marketing question at the top of their blog.  The blogger can follow the answer with a promotion of their novel in whatever style they feel is appropriate. The blog hop is about marketing after all.. Not published yet? How about promoting your upcoming novel or your blog?

Now to the technology behind a blog hop or blog party.

Linky Things:

I use WordPress (obviously) so I’ll use a tool recommended for WP. You may need something else. LinkyTools and InLinkz are two options. InLinkz has a good blog post on How to Throw A Successful Blog Party, so I won’t go into details on that topic, but I do have to decide if I should do both a blog hop and a blog party. See HandMadeTechnology for a description of how blog hops and blog parties differ.

I’m not sure yet which one I’ll go with. Any advice?

Test blog: One tip on the InLinkz site is to create a test blog site. I plan to use this, so I can practice, make a mess and get it right before I post to this site. I understand Linky Things don’t go live until the post is published, hence the test site.

If you’re interested in joining this blog hop, I plan to run it sometime in July when DESCENT is published.  Just comment below and let me know. Or access my Contact Information  and send me a private message.

Let me stress, I am new to this blog hop experience, so please share any advice you have on how to host a successful blog hop.

If you haven’t read my blog before, I’ve signed on with Imajin Books and will blog about my publishing adventure. I’ll share what I learn and hope it helps someone out there get their novel published.

Thanks for reading…

The Editing Process: Getting Your Manuscript Ready For Proofreading.

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 13 Comments

Todd Barselow, senior editor at Imajin Books, has just sent me his first pass at editing DESCENT and had this to say:

“My life would be so much easier if all the manuscripts that crossed my desk were as clean as yours.”

Wasn’t I surprised to find such a great comment and to find I didn’t have too much work to do revising the manuscript. As you know, the ARC for DESCENT went out last week, so I was pleased not too much would change.

How did I get to this point?

Yesterday, before my first coffee,  I opened my email and found the edited version of DESCENT waiting in my inbox. I have to admit I was nervous, so I finished my coffee, ate breakfast, walked the dog and when I could procrastinate no further, I opened the attachment.

The editing process went like this:

  • Imajin Books gave us a deadline of early May to complete the edits and send DESCENT to the proofreader.
  • Todd and I must both read the manuscript three times (minimum).
  • Todd reads once and sends DESCENT back to me labelled V1.
  • I accept/reject any proposed changes – it’s a good idea to learn how to use the review section in MSWord as this seems to be the industry standard for editing right now.
  • I send the manuscript back to Todd as V2, and we repeat the process two more times.

This may seem like a lot work, but I think it’s worth the effort if it means a better manuscript.

I would have sworn my manuscript was error free. But alas, it was not so. What did Todd suggest? What errors did he find? I’ve summarized a few items below, so you’ll get an overview.

  • Be consistent with the Oxford comma. I don’t use them, and somehow a few slipped into the manuscript.
  • Replace a period with a question mark. This happened in two places even though I know how to use a question mark.
  • Add an exclamation mark. I didn’t use any, and Todd suggested two be added in the climax scene to increase tension.
  • Too, to, two: Jokes on me. I used ‘to’, instead of ‘two’ in chapter two.
  • Be consistent with hyphens and follow Chicago Manual Of Style.  These are hard errors to catch, but he found a few.
  • Tiny words… ‘as’ instead of ‘if’, missing ‘of’, and reach missing the ‘ed’
  • Dialogue.  When addressing people, use a comma after Hi. “Hi, Donny.” is the correct form in dialogue.

That should give you an idea of how detailed the edit is. For the sake of not boring you, I didn’t include everything.

To get the manuscript to a place where Todd praised it, I followed the process as outlined in the For Writers section of my webpage.

I think you’re getting my point…It’s a large, okay huge, shall we say ginormous amount of work to polish a completed manuscript.

Gotta say thanks to the talented Todd Barselow for his eagle eye and for making my novel better!

If you haven’t read my blog before, I’ve signed on with Imajin Books and will blog about my publishing adventure. I’ll share what I learn and hope it helps someone out there get their novel published.

Thanks for reading…

Crime Writers Of Canada Announces Arthur Ellis Awards

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Crime Writers Of Canada has announced the shortlist for this year’s best in crime writing, so if you’re looking for a good read, here’s the list for you. This year is exciting for me as a have several friends on this list. Good luck to all!

Announcing the 2015 Arthur Ellis Awards 

Shortlists for Crime Writing

Best Novel

Brenda Chapman, Cold Mourning, Dundurn Press

Barbara Fradkin, None so Blind, Dundurn Press

C.C. Humphreys, Plague, Doubleday Canada

Maureen Jennings, No Known Grave, McClelland & Stewart

Alen Mattich, Killing Pilgrim, House of Anansi

Best First Novel

Janet Brons, A Quiet Kill, Touchwood Editions

Steve Burrows, Siege of Bitterns, Dundurn Press

M.H. Callway, Windigo Fire, Seraphim Editions

Eve McBride, No Worst, There Is None, Dundurn Press

Sam Wiebe, Last of the Independents, Dundurn Press

Best Novella *

Rick Blechta, The Boom Room, Orca Book Publishers

Vicki Delany, Juba Good, Orca Book Publishers

Ian Hamilton, The Dragon Head of Hong Kong, House of Anansi

Jas. R. Petrin, A Knock on the Door, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine

Best Short Story

Margaret Atwood, Stone Mattress, McClelland & Stewart

Melodie Campbell, Hook, Line and Sinker, Your McMurray Magazine

Peter Clement, Therapy, Belgrave House

Madona Skaff, First Impressions, The Whole She-Bang 2, Sisters in Crime

Kevin P. Thornton, Writers Block, World Enough and Crime, Carrick Publishing

Best Book in French

Hervé Gagnon, Jack: Une enquête de Joseph Laflamme, Expression noir / Groupe librex

Andrée Michaud, Bondrée, Editions Québec Amérique

Maryse Rouy, Meurtre à l’hôtel Despréaux, Édition Druide

Richard Ste Marie, Repentirs, Alire

Best Juvenile/YA Book

Michael Betcherman, Face-Off, Penguin Canada

Sigmund Brouwer, Dead Man’s Switch, Harvest House

S.J. Laidlaw, The Voice Inside My Head, Tundra Books

Norah McClintock, About That Night, Orca Book Publishers

Jeyn Roberts, The Bodies We Wear, Knopf Books for Young Readers

Best Nonfiction Book

Bob Deasy (with Mark Ebner), Being Uncle Charlie, Penguin Random House

Charlotte Gray, The Massey Murder, HarperCollins

Joan McEwen, Innocence on Trial: The Framing of Ivan Henry, Heritage House

Bill Reynolds, Life Real Loud: John Lefebvre, Neteller and the Revolution in Online Gambling, ECW Press

Paula Todd, Extreme Mean, McClelland & Stewart

Unhanged Arthur for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel

Rum Luck by Ryan Aldred

Full Curl by Dave Butler

Crisis Point by Dwayne Clayden

Afghan Redemption by Bill Prentice

Strange Things Done by Elle Wild

 And the winners are?

Find out May 28!

Farley’s Friday: One Dirty Wheaten

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 1 Comment

Farley here.

I can’t believe my good fortune. I’m running down the street, heading for a romp on the golf course, and what do I find? You won’t believe it.

The maintenance team is preparing the golf course for opening in a few weeks. Kristina says this is bad, because it means the golfers get to use the course, and we don’t. I don’t understand why I can’t chase the balls, but that’s for another story.

Today, look what I happen upon. The maintenance team put a huge pile of dirt, right on the road, demanding I jump in, dig, roll around and make myself muddy.

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Now maybe you already know, but I have some genetic traits specific to my breed. I’m a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, and I’m bred to dig. I can’t help myself. My brain turns off, literally, I don’t think anything is going on in there, and my paws go wild. True happiness flows in my blood.

The trick now is to avoid a bath when I get home. Wish me luck.

Woof Woof.

Advance Reader Copy (ARC)

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 17 Comments

I’m sure everyone knows all about the ARC, but being a newbie, I learned a few things this week.

I learned the ARC is used to garner endorsements that go on both the outside and inside cover of the novel and are used for marketing.

I learned that the ARC gets sent before the final editing and proofreading of the manuscript is complete. Does that make me nervous? You bet, but I guess it’s standard in the industry, so I’ll go with it.

I learned that networking long before you finish your first novel is critical to the publishing journey.

Imajin Books requested I get endorsements from 5 to 7 authors in my genre. Mystery, in case you’re wondering. So I set out to do just that.

How does one find established authors willing to spend their time reading an about-to-be-published-for-the-first-time author’s novel? That’s where networking comes in.

I’ve attended writing conferences, workshops and  awards dinners. Each of these gave me a way to meet other authors. I started a blog. Got active on twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.

When I first joined the Crime Writers of Canada, I sent every CWC author a LinkedIn message asking them to connect with me. Hundreds did. I was amazed. I kept a spreadsheet of the authors I’d sent a message to, which ones accepted my invitation and included a check mark when I sent a thank you. Since then, I’ve kept up communication with authors, sending them a message when I’d read their book and posted a review.

Who to ask? I chose authors that I had some connection with. Either I’d met them in person, or I’d connected with them on the internet. I looked for authors where our writing had something in common.

I wrote a letter to each author as I would a query letter. I included my writing credentials and the reason I was asking a specific author.  I was nervous, but people are saying yes. I won’t tell you who yet. Part of asking is the condition that if they don’t like the book, I wouldn’t expect an endorsement. So now I have to wait… Writing seems to be a lot of waiting.

The following is included at the front of the ARC, and is followed by the novel. A PDF version goes to each author who has agreed to read Descent.

DESCENT

A Stone Mountain Mystery #1

ADVANCED READING COPY

Uncorrected Galley Proof

Kristina Stanley

DESCENT

A Stone Mountain Mystery #1

Copyright © 2015 by Kristina Stanley. All Rights Reserved.

IF YOU RECEIVED THIS BOOK FREE VIA A WEBSITE DOWNLOAD ON A SHARE OR TORRENT SITE, YOU HAVE AN ILLEGAL COPY AND CAN BE PROSECUTED FOR COPYRIGHT THEFT.

Copyright is a matter we take seriously. Our authors and our publishing team work hard to produce quality books for people who will appreciate them. We often have discounts and sales so that ANYONE CAN AFFORD OUR EBOOKS.

 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. And any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead (or in any other form), business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

http://www.kristinastanley.com

FIRST EDITION Kindle eBook

Imajin Books – http://www.imajinbooks.com

If you haven’t read my blog before, I’ve signed on with Imajin Books and intend to blog about my publishing adventure. I’ll share what I learn and hope it helps someone out there get their novel published.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. I received the first version of the book cover. I’ll share as soon as it’s done 🙂