Author: Kristina Stanley

Farley’s Friday: A Wheaten and A Springer on an Africat

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Farley here,

So Kristina left the dock in a dingy. Matt went to help a friend. So what’s A dog to do, I ask you. I’m alone on my Lagoon 380 getting bored.

I look over to the other dock, and there’s Jasper, wagging his tail, egging me on.

“Come over here,” he barks.

“I’m not allowed,” I answer.

“Why not?”

I think about that for a memento. Nothing comes to mind.

I jump off Mattina, and yeah I know Kristina told me to stay, but in my defence, I can only remember a command for few minutes. Then my brain gets distracted.

I run over to Jasper’s boat and get on board.

Then I remember I might get in trouble. Luckily there’s a cubby hole where the Africat people store life jackets and other things. I jump in, thinking it’s a great place to hide.

Photo

As you can see, busted! The human on the next boat saw me, took my photo and sent it to Kristina.

She loves me and smiled. She said, “At least you chose a boat with a dog.”

Woof Woof.

Women Sailing A Lagoon 380

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 3 Comments

We were out the other day sailing our Lagoon 380 with friends. There’s nothing like sailing in 15 knots off the beam in flat seas. Mattina sailed at 8.5 knots over ground.

I had to laugh at this photo of me and what the wind does to my hair. It’s a good think a person can’t see themselves most of the time.

Sailing in between Stocking Island and George Town give us lots of opportunity to tack and gibe. A piece of cake on our lagoon as she’s a catamaran and the boat stays flat during sail maneuvers.

Tina at winch

Anyway, sailing is everything about speed over ground and nothing about looks.

Thanks for reading . . .

Books On Point Of View

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

I just finished reading The Power of Point of View: Make your Story Come To Life by Alicia Rasley.

This book provides an in-depth explanation of POV and how to use it. It’s one of the best I’ve read on the subject. It’s so good I’m on my second reading.

The information contained in the pages is clearly expressed and well thought out. The exercises have motivated me to try writing in first person. Usually I write in third person, but I thought it was time to expand and try something new.

Do you know of any books on writing that were helpful? I’d love to get some suggestions for further reading.

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: When a Wheaten Goes Sailing

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

Farley here,

I don’t know why humans get so excited about sailing in 15 knots on a beam reach. So the boat is going 8.5 knots over ground. Why is everyone so happy?

Humans look like this  when sailing. . .

Sailing Mattina

Me – I’d rather be napping.

Farley in Cockpit

Woof Woof

Guests At Work On A Cruising Sailboat

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

When guests arrive on Mattina, they may think they’re coming for a vacation full of fun and relaxation, but …

Okay, it’s true there is a lot of fun and relaxation, but we also put our guests to work.

My nephew got the fun job of checking the anchor. Even though we have a pretty good anchoring process, and we love our Rocna anchor, it never hurts to have a pair of eyes check the anchor is fully buried.

Can the water be any bluer?
Can the water be any bluer?

Lucky nephew. He got the good job. Others, like cleaning the galley, are not so fun.

Thanks for reading . . .

He Said/She Said When Reading Aloud

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Last Monday, I wrote about reading aloud. I’m on a bit of a discovery mission and figuring out how to do this well.

I think if you’re an actor or have training as an actor, this might come easy to you. For those of us that have only read aloud to children, it’s hard.

After creating a recording of a short story, I quickly discovered listening to a story is different than reading a story.

When a person reads the story they see the paragraph breaks between speakers. This tells them the speaker has changed. When listening the person doesn’t have the visual to aid in understanding the change of character.

So if you’re not a person who can talk in many voices, what do you do?

I’m trying to add he said/she said in the audio version. Sometimes placing the tag before the spoken sentence instead of after of adding the tag near the beginning. For example:

“Thanks,” Bob said. “I need to hear that.”

The other option is to add a character movement or action before they speak. Something simple like: She sighed.

I’m not sure if this is a proper method for reading aloud.

Any suggestions on how to do this?

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: A Jack Russell and Her Harness

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

Farley here.

Do you ever laugh at your friends? When I laugh, the resulting noise sounds like a bark combined with a howl.

So here’s my Friend For Life, Cali. She says she’s a Jack Russell, but really, does she look like one?

Calie and Harness

Now why am I laughing, you ask.

Is she wearing a diaper? Nope.

Is it some kind of new dog skirt I don’t know about? Nope.

It’s her harness.

She got crazy going after a lizard, got her harness stuck on a branch, didn’t care, kept chasing the lizard.

And what ended up happening? Her harness ended up on her bum. The humans were too busy laughing to help her, so there she sat, looking silly.

I’d never do that . . .

Woof Woof.

Beach Yoga

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Since Mattina is for sale, we are trying to make the most of our time in the Bahamas and one of my favourite things to do is yoga on the beach.

Beach Yoga 2014

What do you need to do this?

If you don’t have a yoga instructor handy, yogadownload.com has a variety of classes that you can download onto an iPod. Then you need a set of speaks with loud volume. You might be surprised how loud the waves are. We discovered this early on.

I love listening to a class that mentions wind or sky, and I’m actually outside and can feel the wind and see the sky.

The only downside is if holding a pose properly is important to you. Sometimes you shift in the sand or the wind pushes you.

Try holding the tree pose in a 20 knot gust.

Thanks for reading . . .

Reading A Novel Aloud

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Have you ever read your novel aloud?

Do you know how you sound?

I made a recording of a scene, thinking the process would help me proofread. Then I got side tracked, wondering if I could make a podcast. Many writers have web sites with podcasts and book trailers, so I thought I should build some new skills.

I’ve been trying out Garage Band on my Mac. The first thing I discovered was I read too fast. After practicing with the same scene for an hour, I was finally happy with the tempo, but not with the tone. Oh, and my throat was sore. How to professional readers talk for so long?

The next thing I discovered when I read a different scene aloud was I read too fast. I guess I have to learn to slow down when reading a scene for the first time.

Do you have an easy way to create an audio file? Garage Band has a lot of features I don’t need, and I’d like a quick way to do this.

Now if I ever get lucky enough, maybe I’ll read aloud to an audience and not just to my dog – although by the way he cants his head, I think he’s very interested in what I’m saying.

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: A Wheaten Goes Beach Running

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

Farley Here,

Now I’m a dog who likes to take it easy on the beach. I like to dig a hole and drop myself into it. But just when I try to relax in my pit of sand, I see my pack coming.

I’m trying to look cool, as if I’m uninterested in the runners. Do you like my hat?

Farley with HAt

But you know me. I can’t help myself and I get excited.

“Stop running,” I bark. “Come and sit in this nice hole I dug for you.”

Kristina waves and yells, “Come.”

“No way,” I bark. “I’ve got a coconut to play with.”

Farley Joining Run

No one stops, so what choice to I have but to join the run.

Gang running

Okay, I’ll admit, I had fun.

Woof Woof.