Author: Kristina Stanley

Farley’s Friday: A Wheaten Terrier At An Irish Pub

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Farley Here,

I gotta tell ya, I’m loving Flagler Country in Florida with its dog friendly beaches and dog friendly restaurants.

Farley’s is an Irish Pub that allows dogs. Just to prove it to you, I had the server take my photo with Kristina and Matt.

Farley at Farley s

Amazing that I can go out and have dinner. I didn’t get to eat anything, and Kristina expects me to sit quietly underneath the table and not disturb anyone. I’m not even allowed to talk to other dogs. Kristina explained that I have to have good table manners or I’d have to stay at home.

I’d rather go out and behave then stay alone waiting for my humans to come home. I get a little lonely if I’m alone to long, but then who doesn’t? Why oh why don’t all restaurants allow dogs? Then I’d never have to stay home just because my humans feel like having dinner out.

A dog can dream, can’t he?

Woof Woof

Lagoon 380 Helm Seat

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 12 Comments

As we continue to get Mattina ready for the upcoming season, I’ll share the improvements we make; such as, Mattina gets a new helm seat.

Who says sailing can’t be comfortable?

After searching through my photos I found this one of Matt and Farley at the helm station (I forgot to take the before picture I’m so fond of prior to installing the new seat.)

Can you see the shape of the back rest? That’s the original back rest that came outfitted on the boat. It’s circular and a roll in the back is not exactly comfortable. You also get a glimpse of our full enclosure for those rainy days. We must have been expecting rain that day or maybe the wind was cold and we were keeping warm.

Squrrel 2009 10 21

We had a new back rest designed and made for comfort.

Mattina New Helm Seat

Now we can sit together at the helm for long periods of time and feel comfortable.

Thanks for reading . . .

Tips For Ordering Scenes In A Novel

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Have you ever had trouble deciding the best order to put your scenes in?

Once you have a first draft written do you try different combinations to see what works best?

If you’ve been reading my blog, you might have guessed I’ve added a new row to my spreadsheet. I call it Scene Dependency.

First, I was just using it to list what scenes had to come before the scene I was reviewing. Then I discovered something even better.

Was it possible to link the end of one scene to the beginning of the next?

You bet. There are different ways to achieve this. For example:

  • Have one character end a scene. Have the next scene start with another character thinking of the previous character.
  • Put an object important to the story at the end of one scene and beginning of the next.
  • Use the same location at the end of one scene and the beginning of the next.
  • End a scene at night, start the next scene the following morning.
  • Reference the same weather in both scenes.
  • Reference the same sight. Maybe the moon setting or an avalanche at the end of one scene and the beginning of the next.
  • Use emotions to link the scenes.

In the end, have it all listed in your spreadsheet. You might be surprised how it changes the order of your scenes and gives you a fluid motion throughout your novel. The reader will feel more connected to your story if one scene links to the next even if the scenes are about different events.

Can you add to this list? Do you have any tips to ordering scenes? I’d love to hear them.

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: How does a dog beat the heat?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

Farley here.

Well I’m in Florida, and it’s hot.

Early this morning I hear my humans talk about going for a run. They don’t think I’ve been getting enough exercise lately. Well, whose fault is that I ask you? And who wants to exercise in  this heat?

I’m not the kind of dog who likes to get up early, but oh, oh! I see Kristina putting on her running gear. It’s not even seven yet. Is she crazy?

Farley by the air

She crawls under the salon table and pulls my legs. I make my body go all floppy so she can’t get ahold of me.

“Let me sleep,” I whine.

“Come on, lazy bones,” she says.

“Lazy,” I bark quietly. “I’m not lazy. Do you see where I am?” I wag my tail making it thump the air conditioning vent. I’m trying to give her the hint I want to stay near the cold air, but she’s having none of it. She takes hold of my two front paws and slides me across the floor. Now she thinks I’m a mop.

I may want to stay in the comfort of my air-conditioned salon, but it’s not going to happen. I give in and follow her out the door.

Now, I know you’re all feeling sorry for me and my tough life, but don’t worry.

We run along a road and at the end of the road we find a beach on the Atlantic ocean.

There’s a sign, which usually means no dogs allowed, but I pull Kristina to it, and bark, “Dogs allowed. Must be leashed. Do you see? Do you see? Let’s go.” Flagler county is dog friendly. This place is great.

I want to hit the surf. I spring forward, dragging Kristina, and get my paws in the ocean for the first time this season.

If I wasn’t a dog, I would be laughing out loud. That lol for you humans. It feels unbelievably good to run in the surf.

Woof woof.

Mattina: Lagoon 380 Gets a New Trampoline

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 12 Comments

Sometimes preparing a cruising boat for the winter season is like Christmas, and this year’s present is a new trampoline.

As you know, I love the before and after photos.

So, here’s the before . . . Yuck.

Old Trampoline

And here’s the after . . . Awesome.

New Trampoline

Doesn’t Farley look happy on his new trampoline? We love to keep Mattina in mint condition, meaning  I think we should look like a Lagoon 380 S2 brochure.

Oh, and did you notice? Mattina is in the water 🙂

Thanks for reading . . .

Can Writing a Novel Help Your Career?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 10 Comments

I believe the answer is yes.

Without clear communication it’s hard to get things done in our world of team work, offices in different locations, cities or countries, partners working time zones hours away, and the multicultural workplace.

Much of our communication happens via the internet or intranet, making written communication extremely important.

Using interesting, concise and clear communication will help you get your job done, convince others to work on your project, and highlight your intelligence.

Think of the time you save if you only have to send a memo once and not answer questions about it.

Over the last few years, I’ve improved my writing skills by writing several novels. The more time I spend writing, the better I get at it. As they say, whoever they are, practice makes perfect.

So if you think spending time writing a novel that might never get published is a waste of time, think again. Writing a novel will improve how you communicate by the written word.

Have you found this to be true, too?

Thanks for reading.

Farley’s Friday: What’s A Dog To Do In A Boatyard?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

I ask you, do I look bored?

Farley in Boatyard

My humans are getting their Lagoon 380 Catamaran ready for a winter of sailing, so for me it’s all hang around the boat yard and wait for them.

And what’s with the leash? I’m used to being free. How humiliating. What if one of my pals saw me?

Okay, so enough of the whining. What’s good about the boatyard?

There is a long dock I get to run on, and best of all, there are dolphins in the harbour.

“Hey,” I bark. “Come over here.”

The dolphins ignore me.

“Hey, I’m bored, Come play,” I bark.

Nothing. Dolphins just seem to swim and blow air out of their heads.

Then I get distracted by a man and a woman fishing. They guys casts the lure.

“Wait for me,” I bark. I run to their boat, but they are too far away for me to jump on board.

“Cast again,” I bark, and the guy does. Humans are so smart.

Kristina tells the guy she doesn’t know why I bark when someone casts a lure, like it’s not obvious. I wag may tail at her, encouraging her to figure it out.

No, luck. While I”m not paying attention she grabs my harness and I have to sit under our boat again.

One more week of this and we should be in the water! The boat I mean,  to me or my humans.

Woof Woof.

Lagoon 380s2 Window Covering

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 8 Comments

The fall season is here and it’s time to start blogging about cruising. During the winter months, I post every Wednesday about our cruising lifestyle, so here we go. . .

The time of year is upon us where we go through our commissioning list and launch Mattina, our Lagoon 380 S2. We usually spend about 8 days on the hard, working on areas that need to be done with the boat out of the water.

Then Mattina gets launched, and we proceed to part two of the commissioning process. I won’t rewrite what we did in the fall of 2012 for commissioning,  but here are the links if you are interested.

A Week on the Hard

A Week at the Dock

This year, I thought I’d write about some of the things we do that aren’t on our regular commissioning list but have to be one for us to keep Mattina in mint condition.

I love before and after photos. We decided Mattina needed new window coverings. The large windows on the cabins and showers provide ample light below decks and spectacular views. We all want to see out, but that doesn’t mean we want others seeing in. The winder covering on Mattina started to wear and so . . . new window coverings.

This might seem easy, but getting paint off windows is hard work and certainly takes time.

WIndow Before

WIndow After

 

But the result was worth the effort.

Now tell me the second photo doesn’t look better!

Thanks for reading . . .

Do you want to improve your grammar?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Here’s one method on how to become more confident with your grammar skills.

Scientific America Mind (October 2013) has an article called What Works, What Doesn’t that discusses techniques that work or don’t work for learning. The second item in the article discusses the importance of self testing. The article makes the point that before reading a chapter the student should take a test to see how much they know on the subject. The theory is we learn by our mistakes.

Each year I read a different book on grammar in an effort to keep my skills strong. As a writer, I consider grammar knowledge an important tool for creating a novel.

Thinking I should test the theory put forward by Scientific America Mind, I set out on the search for a grammar book laid out with an introductory test, study information and an end of chapter test.

I found Sharp Grammar: Build Better Grammar Skills by Kaplan  follows this process.

I’m now working my way though the book, surprising myself by what I know and don’t know. If I only learn one new thing, I think it’s worth the effort. I also believe that continual practice will keep me at the top of my game in the sport of grammar. Can you ever practice too much?

What do you do to keep improving  your grammar and punctuation skills?

Crime Writers Of Canada Mentorship Program

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Two years have passes since I participated in the CWC mentorship program. I can’t stress enough what a valuable experience having Garry Ryan (writer for the Detective Lane Mysteries and at the time  President of the CWC) work with me on my manuscript.

Here are the rules  from the CWC newsletter.

If you’re an Associate Member with two or more years in good standing with the Crime Writers of Canada and you’re interested in partnering with one of our wonderful volunteers, please contact the CWC (Address in newsletter). They’ll send you all the information you need to get started, and when you agree to the guidelines, they’ll match you up with the mentor best able to help you out. 

If you’re not a member and are Canadian, why not join?  I think I’m a better writer because of it.

Thanks for reading . . .