Swimming with Sharks

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Living the cruising lifestyle presents some exciting opportunities. It only takes a little courage to take advantage.

Compass Cay Marina in the Exuma island chain, Bahamas has a school of Nurse sharks that frequent the marina.

The sharks are used to human interaction, although the marina staff does recommend not putting your hand in a shark’s mouth – duh 🙂

My niece had the guts, I had the camera and off we went. She made me go in the water first. “Just in case,” she said. “It’s your duty as my aunt to sacrifice yourself.”

How could I argue? So I went first, nothing ate me and she came in after.

Here’s the proof we swam with sharks – okay I know they’re Nurse sharks and are harmless, but tell that to the adrenaline rushing through my body.

My brave niece and her new friends.
My brave niece and her new friends.

Changing Point of View Mid Scene: Yes or No?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 11 Comments

Many books on the writing craft agree it’s best to stay with one point of view throughout a scene and this is what I strive for, but somehow I managed to find an exception that belies the rules.

In Camilla Lackberg’s (Swedish crime novelist) book The Ice Princess,  she changes point of view regularly within scenes.

The novel is engaging, with a strong story and interesting characters. And to be fair, if I hadn’t been working hard on writing from one POV I might not have noticed the switching.

Now I’m thinking it’s okay to change POV is the writer is skilled and can pull it off.

Any opinions out there or other examples of where this works?

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: Dog Toys

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

Farley here.

Squeak, squeak, squeak.

My human friend, Sharon, gave me a squeaky toy for Christmas. I’m not the type of dog that likes toys, but this one is pretty cool.

It makes the greatest noise.

Farley and Toy

Last night, I snuck it out of the cubby hole my human hides it in (like I can’ find it).

I eyed the clock.

Three a.m.

That’s a reasonable time to play, I thought. Kristina -not so much. She’s always nice to me, no matter what I do. She gently took the toy away, explained why I had to wait until morning to play and then rubbed my belly. Now that’s what I call fun to be reprimanded.

Woof Woof.

 

 

Windsurfing: Carrying Gear

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

If you windsurf, you know it can be difficult to move gear around. Sometimes the beach you want to sail from is just not in the right place.

We visited friends in the Bahamas, and, yup, you guessed it. Our gear was on the east side of the island and we wanted to sail on the west side. So what did we do.

Used the grizzly of course.

Hie ho, Hie ho, it's off to sail we go. . .
Hie ho, Hie ho, it’s off to sail we go. . .

Point of View: Describing Characters

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 14 Comments

When you are writing in a character’s point of view, can you describe that character’s face or part of themselves that they can’t see?

For example, in a scene written in Ian’s point of view, can the following be written?

Ian blushed and his freckles turned orange.

My thoughts . . . Ian might know he’s blushing from the physical sensation, but how could he know his freckles turned orange?

So if you agree that this isn’t the right way to convey the image, then what?

Perhaps I could:

–       Have another a character make fun of the orange freckles.

–       Have another character say, “I know you’re lying. You’re freckles are turning orange.”

Do you have any ideas how to get around this?

Thanks for reading . . .

Is A Cockpit Enclosure Worth The Investment?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 7 Comments

If you are planning on spending long periods of time on your sailboat, I recommend the investment in a cockpit enclosure.

Maybe it’s fun to sail in spray on an afternoon adventure, but when you have no home to go to after the sail, you might want to consider staying dry.

Matt is sailing Allura, our Niagara 42, the first year we owned her. Doesn’t he look like he’s having fun? Rain is pouring on him, around him and dripping down is back. I’m in the main salon taking the photo (and I’m dry of course).

Sailing in the rain 2009-01-12

We lasted one season and as soon as we hit Florida, we had an enclosure made.

Mattina, our Lagoon 380,  came without an enclosure. Sometimes we are smart and learn from our experiences – not always – but when we, are I like to point it out.

Before we left the coast of the US heading for the Bahamas, we had a full enclosure made.

Now we always sail dry.

Thanks for reading . . .

Related articles

How Do You Deal With Thoughts in Your Novel?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 14 Comments

Do you use one of the three choices listed below:

  1. Write the thought in italics.
  2. Write the thought followed by a comma and ‘she thought.’
  3. Write the thought and assume your POV is strong enough for the reader to know whose thought it is.

I’ve listed an example of each option below.

Let me set the scene: Two women are running from an encroaching forest fire and one of them (Nora) is nine months pregnant.

Here are the examples:

  1. Kalin slammed the Jeep into park at the end of the dirt road. She leaned over the centre console and checked out Nora’s footwear. Flip-flops. Not good. “Do you think you can hike to Silver Lake?”
  2. Kalin slammed the Jeep into park at the end of the dirt road. She leaned over the centre console and checked out Nora’s footwear. Flip-flops. Not good, she thought. “Do you think you can hike to Silver Lake?”
  3. Kalin slammed the Jeep into park at the end of the dirt road. She leaned over the centre console and checked out Nora’s footwear. Flip-flops. Not good. “Do you think you can hike to Silver Lake?”

Which one do you think is best?

And can an author use all three within a novel?

I’d love to hear your opinion on this one.

Thanks for reading . . .

 

Farley’s Friday: Dogs Getting Sandy

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

Farley here.

I’m a happy dog. I found my friend Jasper. I never know when I’ll get to see him, but I’m sure happy when I find him.

We were sailing in the Exumas and ended up at Compass Cay. I went for a walk and there he was.

Dogs getting dirty

The first thing I did – – – stole his stick.

Jasper plays the tough guy, but all I have to do is growl a little, and he drops it.

He barks at me. He barks at the humans as if he expects them to help.

I play with the stick until I get bored and then I let Jasper have it for a while.

His tail wags at very high speeds, he’s never grumpy that I stole his stick, and he keeps playing with me.

What a great friend.

Woof Woof.

 

Crowded Marina?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

Compass Cay Marina during the march break . . . Where did the boats come from?

I’ve never seen this marina so full. We were all so amazed, since we’re used to being isolated out here, that our friend climbed to the top of the mast and took this photo.

DCIM100GOPRO

Mattina is in the bottom corner, tucked between some very large boats.

Lots of fun on the docks . . .

All this happened after we were the only boats docked at Highbourne Cay Marina.

Highbourne Cay Marina
Highbourne Cay Marina

Thanks for reading.