Dogs and Yoga?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 1 Comment
Farley is late for class.

#sailing What could be better than a downward dog to make you feel good? Farley’s answer: A downward dog on the beach with your yoga pals.

Yoga is an easy way to keep fit while cruising. If you don’t happen to have a yoga instructor handy you can bring yoga classes on an iPod and play them on the beach. You’re only gear – A yoga mat. It doesn’t weigh much and doesn’t take up a lot of room.

Doing yoga alone is okay, but it’s much more fun with friends. Farley attends regularly and find his spot near the others. If you’re not watching he’ll grab your mat before you do.

Small Caps

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

#writetip Tricks of the trade are hard to come by, and it’s one more reason to have a mentor. If you’re a Canadian crime writer you might want to check out CWC. My mentor, Garry Ryan, President of Crime Writers of Canada, pointed out that I should use small caps when using acronyms such as RCMP, SUV, or DIN. Here is the same sentence. The first is 12 point for all words. The second has RCMP written in small caps.

RCMP Constable Wagner prepared herself for a fight. She squared her body . . .

or

RCMP Constable Wagner prepared herself for a fight. She squared her body . . .

The second sentence is the correct way. It even looks better on the page. You can see for yourself how RCMP blends better in small caps and doesn’t pull the eye away from the rest of the words.

Cruising Friends

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments
Emerald Rock, Bahamas

#sailing One of the fun things about cruising is happy hour on the beach.

This is the our gang we tend to travel or buddy boat with.

Debi and Bruce on a (on left of photo) Bristol.

Matt and I (holding my lap dog – not) on a Lagoon 380 catamaran.

Sue and Paul on a Grand Banks.

Sharon (holding Cali) and Wayne on an American Tug.

Buddy boating gives us a sense of community and safety. Between the boats, we always have what we need on hand. Okay, not always, but we can usually rig something together.

Throughout the season, the boats travel to different spots and regroup as the wind takes allows us. We all like different conditions for traveling, and we all like to “bump” into each other once in a while.

Character Names

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

#writetip Do you refer to your character the same way throughout your novel or short story? Does this change depending on who has the POV in a particular scene?

I’m wondering if this matters.

I have a character, let’s call him Mike Chambers.

When Mike has the POV or his girlfriend has the POV, I refer to him as Mike.

When a cop who is interviewing him has the POV, I refer to him as Chambers.

I think it’s more personal to use Mike in his POV scene or his girlfriends POV scene.

When it’s the cops POV, I think the cop should be more distant from Mike and I refer to him as Chambers.

The question is: is this okay or does it confuse the reader?

My solution to answering this question. I ask my readers what they think after they’ve read the scenes. If the reader is not confused as to who the character is, I think using first and last names allows me to indicate closeness of a relationship. If the reader is confused, maybe it’s better to use either the first or the last name, but not both.

When writing tips drive you crazy . . .

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

#writetip Don’t panic!

At first I wondered how I would remember everything I was learning about writing. I kept notes. I recorded tips in spreadsheets. It was overwhelming.

Now that I’m working on my third novel, I find it easier to retain tips.

I think, once an author has a substantial amount (you can insert what you think is substantial) under their proverbial writing belt, it becomes easier to relate a tip to the actual writing.

Ask yourself if you follow the tip?

Ask yourself is the tip relevant to your writing?

Ask yourself does the tip come from a trustworthy source?

But don’t drive yourself crazy. Just write as best you can.

Dog Games Underway

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments
One day, Farley will catch a ball...

What games does your dog like to play? #sailing Many of these can be played underway.

Farley, although he can’t catch a ball, loves to try.

By standing in one hull and tossing him the ball, I can entertain him without the worry that he might go overboard.

He can run from one side of the Lagoon 380 S2 to the other.

Wheaten’s are jumpers and agile. He has no problem diving down the stairs and roaring back up again.

He gets to stretch his legs and have fun at the same time.

Cruising Blogs

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 1 Comment
Sharon kiting with my windsurfing husband. Norman's Cay Bahamas.

There are many great cruising blogs out there. Our friends, Wayne and Sharon, are travelling on their boat, My Sharona. Their blog highlights the joys of cruising. Sharon is a talented photographer and her photos are definitely worth checking out. Enjoy!

Humour and Writing

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

#writetip What do you do when the advice is to add more humour to your writing?

Is Calli (Jack Russell) wearing diapers or did her harness slip?

In a tense novel, humour can give the reader the breather they need. Garry Ryan suggested I watch my dog and see what antics he gets up to. This is only useful for writing if you have a dog in your story.

It’s so true that dogs are funny. It might not feel funny when your dog is thirsty in the middle of the night, and to wake you he swats his steel bowl against the wall until you get up and then he greets you with a wagging tail like nothing is wrong.

It might not seem funny when your dog takes a banana right out of a strangers hand and eats it. Especially after you warned the stranger that your dog likes bananas. Well, it depends on the stranger, but it did happen to be funny.

And let’s face it, when your dog lets off a ripper at an inappropriate time, that’s pretty funny too.

So now, I’m collecting stories from my dog. Hopefully, I’ll find the right one to add to my novel. My dog’s name is Farley Mowat, so I think he should write part of my novel.

Italics for Thoughts?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

#writetip Garry Ryan, author of the Detective Lane Mysteries is kindly donating his time to be my mentor. This is part of the CWC mentorship program. We’re working through my third novel, Burnt, and in my humble opinion, the novel getting better.

One thing we’ve discussed is using italics for a characters thoughts. This is something I hadn’t done before. Garry’s advice is that it makes it easier for the reader to jump from narrative to thought.

I’ve been trying this technique, and I have to say it’s rather fun. It’s putting me more into the character’s head. I guess it reduces the distance between author and character, and then hopefully, between reader and character.

Now, we’ll see what kind of feedback I get on this new style (new for me, I mean).

What’s a Man to Do When…

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

His wife is busy writing? #sailing Ripping back and forth on his windsurfer works pretty well. Nothing like the exhilaration of a good jump to keep a man busy.

Cruising on our Lagoon 380 catamaran give’s Matt a great platform to find awesome windsurfing locations.