Kristina Stanley

Canadian Writing Legends Praise the Stone Mountain Series

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 3 Comments

The Stone Mountain Mysteries are on sale. I wrote the books, so I think they’re great. But don’t take my word for it. Find out what Canadian legends, Barbara Fradkin, Joan Barfoot, and Gail Bowen had to say. And then check out the sale put on by my publisher, Imajin Books!

sm-sale

DESCENT shortlisted for the 2014 Arthur Ellis Unhanged Arthur for excellence in crime writing.

“In this impressive debut, Kristina Stanley weaves a vivid, chilling tale of jealousy, secrets, and betrayal in a close-knit mountain ski village. Like its likeable young heroine, Kalin Thompson, DESCENT is both tender and tough.” – Barbara Fradkin: author of the Inspector Green Mysteries and two-time winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel.

DescentCover

BLAZE shortlisted for the 2014 Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger.

“Filled with entertaining characters and as fast-paced as the conflagration that gives Blaze its title.” —Joan Barfoot, Scotia Giller Prize and Trillium Book Award shortlisted author

BLAZE Cover

Praise for AVALANCHE: A mountain as deadly as it is majestic; characters far too familiar with the Seven Deadly Sins and murder−Kristina Stanley’s Avalanche has it all. This fast-paced mystery is as thrilling as a heart-stopping run down the slopes. ~ Gail Bowen, author of the Joanne Kilbourn Shreve mysteries

Avalanche Cover Final

 

Thanks for reading…

Farley’s Friday: Where Oh Where is my human?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

Farley here,

Does anyone know where Kristina went? Every morning I get up and check the house. I sniff each room, I run around the backyard perimeter, and I even looked behind a big tree.

No luck.

I’m starting to miss her.

The humans taking care of me are great. Their only issue…They don’t allow dogs in the bed…

farley-and-piper

But you know me. Big brown eyes. A wagging tail. And I’m in. Piper, the border terrier, follows my lead. She’s in too!  I’m going to sleep here every night until I see Kristina.

Woof Woof

PS. In case you didn’t know, Kristina’s books are all on sale  I’m the star in BLAZE.

sm-sale

STONE MOUNTAIN MYSTERIES ON SALE

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Thanks to Imajin Books, all three Stone Mountain Mysteries are on sale. Why not buy yourself and early Christmas gift.

sm-sale

But Imajin Books is even more generous…

The Author’s Guide to Selling Books to Non-Bookstores is also on sale for $0.99 USD.

AGTSBNB

Thanks for reading…

Feedback For Fiction | Self-Evaluating Scene Openings and Novel Structure

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

Self-Evaluating Scene Openings and Novel Structure

There are times when a person has the luxury of sitting down and reading a novel in one session. Wouldn’t that be nice if we could all do that? However, most of us read a novel in multiple sessions.

screen-shot-2016-11-23-at-10-11-46-amWhen you’re rewriting your draft, dreaming of creating a novel readers will love, it’s critical to think about how readers read.

Many writing books talk about the importance of the first line, first paragraph and first page of a novel. If you don’t grab the reader then, you might lose them for good. There is a lot of pressure on a writer to produce an extraordinary first line for a novel. If your reader has put your book aside for a while and picked it up at a new scene, that scene opening has to all the things the opening of your novel does. So much pressure…but we have a process to help you.

When your readers start a new scene, they must be immediately be engaged in the scene. To ensure this happens, work through your revision as if you…

READ MORE at: Feedback For Fiction | Self-Evaluating Scene Openings and Novel Structure

Mystery Mondays: Linda Barton On Being An Indie Author

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 9 Comments

It’s Monday again, and we welcome Linda Barton, author of  Saying Goodbye: The Christmas Gift – A Christmas Novella. So let’s hear what Linda has to way about her life as an Indie author.

THE WORLD OF INDIE PUBLISHING by Linda Barton

The day in 2011, when I decided to dive into the world of Indie Publishing, I must admit that I had no idea what I was doing. I spent hours doing my research online and started asking questions. I was surprised at all the so-called Professionals who promised the world for a fee. They said they would get your masterpiece ready and out there for the readers to enjoy. However, I have never trusted someone selling a product or service that sounds too good to be true.

When you spend, endless hours writing your book, the last thing you need is to hand it over to someone who doesn’t have your best interests at heart. Over the years, I have heard so many horror stories of first-time authors paying thousands of dollars on the promise their book will be the next bestseller. Then only to learn it was all a lie. So often, I’ve heard of long fights to get the rights to their book back, only to have to hire someone to edit and reformat the book before they can publish it on their own.

Now, I’m not saying that being an Indie Author is a cakewalk. No, it’s hard work because everything falls on your shoulders. It’s your responsibility to see the book is properly edited, formatted, and you need to have a killer cover. However, having been in the beginner shoes myself, I know it’s something worth doing. Nowadays, there is so much help available for the first-time author. There are groups all over Facebook for Authors. Some are helpful more than others, but I know you’ll find one that suits your needs.

Another bit of advice to save yourself some money is to learn how to do as much of those things needed to publish your book as possible. To save myself some money, I have learned how to format and create my own covers. However, if you’re not so inclined, there are people such as myself who will perform those duties for a reasonable price.

So, there are some pearls of wisdom for the person wanting to take the path so many others have today. Don’t let anyone tell you cannot be an Author. With platforms, such as Amazon, B&N, and iTunes, the literary world has opened for those who have dreamed of sharing the stories swimming around in their minds. So, sit at your computer and just start writing.

WHO IS LINDA BARTON?

author-pbotoLinda L Barton is a Multi-Genre Author. Publishing her first book in 2011, Linda started out by writing Dark Thrillers. Since then she has branched out by writing YA Fantasy, Women’s Romantic Fiction, and even Children’s Books.

One of the high points of Linda’s writing career was when Next Move, You’re Dead: The Trilogy Bundle was chosen as 1 of 100 pre-loaded Kindle Fire ebooks given away in the 2013 Emmy Awards VIP Swag Bags to over 600 of those in attendance at the awards that evening.

Linda is also the Founder of Deadly Reads, Deadly Reads Author Services, and the Host of the Deadly Reads Radio Show – Journey into the Night, which airs live Thursday evenings on Blog Talk Radio.

Linda is also blessed to be married to a wonderful man, Bob for more than 30 years. Bob is her writing muse and has created several of the plots for her books. Together they have a daughter and son, as well as 5 beautiful grandchildren; all of whom are the joy of their lives.

Linda never thought she would become a published author, but now she cannot imagine doing anything else.

book-coverSaying Goodbye: The Christmas Gift – A Christmas Novella

Sometimes life doesn’t go in the direction we’ve planned for ourselves. We believe we have everything all figured out then something happens to flip our world upside down. Molly had always believed her life was on track. She figured she would graduate from Medical School and then go on to have a fulfilling career. However, life sometimes has other plans for us. Saying Goodbye takes you on a journey of discovery as Molly learns a powerful lesson we all try to avoid. As Molly comes to terms with her painful past, she finds the joy of learning how to say goodbye.

Where you can find Linda:

Facebook
Link to blog http://lindalbarton.blogspot.com/

Farley’s Friday: Puppy Days

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Farley here,

Sometimes Kristina likes to look at pictures of me when I was a puppy. Check out the “stick” I’m playing with.

Kristina threw it and said, “Fetch.”

I trotted after it, lay down, and chewed it. Like I’d pick something up and bring it back to her. No matter how hard she tried, I wouldn’t return with the stick. Finally I told her, ” It’s a twig not a stick.”

She laughed. “Come on, Farley. You can do it.”

Of course I could. But would I chose to? That’s the important question.

Farley Puppy

I think I was pretty cute and wagged my tail at her. No fetching a twig for me. And just so you know, to this day, I’ve never fetched a stick.

Woof Woof

Mystery Mondays: Elaine Cougler on Linking History and Fiction

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

When I first started blogging, long before I was published, Elaine Cougler was one of the first author’s I met online. She’s been encouraging me ever since, so it’s a great pleasure to finally have her on Mystery Mondays.

book-tour-logo-final

Linking History and Fiction Through Theme

by Elaine Cougler

One of the things I like to do in my books is to show the strengths of ordinary people, fictional though they may be. Putting them in ever more dangerous and extraordinary situations allows me to do just that. In The Loyalist Legacy, for example, Lucy has to find a way to get her husband released from jail where he has been wrongly imprisoned with not so much as a charge against him. Oh, she learns why those in power are holding him. He has helped far too many simple settlers with legal problems over their land in the burgeoning Niagara communities, all too often going against the rich and powerful. In a rough country where democracy is still just an idea, the high-and-mighty rule.

A good shot with her very own rifle, Lucy is the mother of a grown family with grandchildren on both sides of the Niagara River. On more than one occasion she has shown her mettle, but now she yearns for what she had thought would be quiet years with her husband. Instead, she and John are still struggling, this time with their own British government in Upper Canada.

The day John was seized from their mill near Fort Erie, she rushed to Niagara (present-day Niagara-on-the-Lake) thinking John would be released immediately. It didn’t happen. This circumstance gave me, as the author, the chance to have Lucy meet Richard Beasley, the real person who owned the land on Burlington Bay, which the British actually seized as a marshalling station and army camp during the War of 1812.

Beasley’s mostly true story became one of the subplots in this third novel in the trilogy.

Here is the scene where Lucy meets Richard Beasley.

 Lucy lay on the lumpy bed as the snow beat against Aaron’s newly installed glass windowpane and tried to keep the tears from coming again. John had told her to forget about him. He worried that her constant running back and forth from the inn to the jail would aggravate her paining joints. “Go back home, Lucy,” he’d said week in and week out the past three months.

“But I can’t!” Her voice echoed in the bare room. How she ached to have him with her. She rolled over once again, taking care with her right knee. Her latest patchwork quilt at least kept her warm and reminded her of better times.

In the morning she would try to get the jailer to let her bring food to John. His hands were so bony and his trousers so loose, she knew they weren’t feeding him much at all. She would make that jailer listen to reason!

The rebuilt Angel Inn, burned with almost every building in Niagara that December of 1813, this morning bustled with travelers and local hangers-on, all slurping their steaming bowls of porridge and gulping tankards of ale as though they hadn’t eaten or drunk for days. Aaron was back in the kitchen dishing up orders while Lucy rushed as best she could from table to table, side-stepping the boots protruding into the aisles and the arms flung out to emphasize some important point in a customer’s harrowing story.

Her mind was on her plan this morning. That jailer would listen or she would—well, she didn’t know what she would do but she would convince him to let her give John the bowl of porridge she would carry with her. Maybe she’d take two and bribe the jailer with his very own. Ah, that’s a good idea.

“Watch what you’re doing, woman!”

She tripped and fell right into the table, upsetting the bowl of porridge she carried all over the men’s food. “I’m so sorry, gentlemen!” With her cloth she wiped up the mess. “I’ll get more. I wasn’t thinking…Please forgive me.” She couldn’t stop talking and felt the heat spread from her face all down her front, adding to her embarrassment.

“Madam, do not worry.” The well-dressed man’s voice soothed as he spoke. “This is just a trifle. Do not concern yourself.”

She looked up. The speaker was the ruddy-faced, white-haired man she’d noticed when he came in. He smiled at her. He still had most of his teeth. The table put back to rights, she picked up her cloth and curtsied quickly. “Thank you, sir,” she whispered in a voice so soft she wondered if he could even hear it.

But he did. “Landlord! Give this woman a shot of brandy. She’s pale as a ghost.”

The Loyalist Legacy.

Screen Shot 2016-11-12 at 1.22.23 PM.png

When the War of 1812 is finally over William and Catherine Garner flee the desolation of Niagara and find in the wild heart of Upper Canada their two hundred acres straddling the Thames River. On this valuable land, dense forests, wild beasts, disgruntled Natives, and pesky neighbors daily challenge them. The political atmosphere laced with greed and corruption threatens to undermine all of the new settlers’ hopes and plans. William cannot take his family back to Niagara, but he longs to check on his parents from whom he has heard nothing for two years. Leaving Catherine and the children, he hurries along the Governor’s Road toward the turn-off to Fort Erie, hoping to return in time for spring planting.

With realistic insights into the challenging lives of Ontario’s early settlers, Elaine Cougler once again draws readers into the Loyalists’ struggles to build homes, roads, and relationships, and their growing dissension as they move ever closer to another war. The Loyalist Legacy shows us the trials faced by ordinary people who conquer unbelievable hardships and become extraordinary in the process.

Praise for Elaine Cougler’s writing:

elaine-photo-2-from-paula-tizzard6203edit

“….absolutely fascinating….Cougler doesn’t hold back on the gritty realities of what a couple might have gone through at this time, and gives a unique view of the Revolutionary War that many might never have considered.”

Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews.

“….an intriguing story”                                             A Bookish Affair

 

“I highly recommend this book for any student of history or anyone just looking for a wonderful story.”

Book Lovers Paradise –“Elaine’s storytelling is brave and bold.”                       Oh, for the Hook of a Book

Oh, for the Hook of a Book

BUY THE BOOK LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Loyalist-Legacy-Trilogy/dp/1539451283/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478040721&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Loyalist+Legacy+Elaine+Cougler

ABOUT THE AUTHOR + LINK TO MY SITE http://www.elainecougler.com/news/author-bio/

VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR LOGO AND SCHEDULE http://www.elainecougler.com/

Elaine Cougler can be found on Twitter, Facebook Author Page, LinkedIn and on her blog at http://www.elainecougler.com/blog/

Mystery Mondays: M.H. Callway on Short Stories Vs Novels

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

It is my pleasure to welcome fellow author M.H. Callway to Mystery Mondays. Madeleine and I met online and have since become friends. Her novel Windigo Fire was a finalist for the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award. She writes both short stories and novels, and she’s here to tell you about that.

SHORT STORIES VS NOVELS

I often give talks on how to get published to aspiring writers. One tip I pass on is to start writing shorter pieces. As an author, I found great encouragement when one of my stories was accepted for publication and/or became a finalist for an award. The boost gave me the will to continue and to believe that I had enough talent to pursue my writing dream.

That’s not to say that writing a short story is easy although it is easier than tackling a novel. To use a running analogy, it’s like preparing for a 5K as opposed to a marathon. You need good basic cardio to run a 5K and most people can finish, but running a marathon introduces a whole new level of complexity. It requires far more endurance, experience and will power – and you won’t be able to complete one without the right training.

Would that I had followed my own advice!

I had always wanted to write a novel so that’s where I started. In 2002, I began my learner novel. Ignorance was bliss so I wrote and wrote and wrote. I ended up with 140,000 words of mishmash. Patient author friends ploughed through my verbiage and gave me excellent advice. I revised the draft several times, reduced the length to 100,000 words and mailed it off to multiple rejections and a few near misses.

By now, it was 2006. The Crime Writers of Canada announced a short story contest and several of my friends planned to enter. We are always advised to write what we know and since I’d spent most of my career working in the civil service, I wrote a comic short story about two hard-working civil servants saddled with a new Boss from Hell. To my great surprise and delight, “Kill the Boss” won first prize.

“Kill the Boss” was picked up by Silver Moon Magazine and reprinted in Mouth Full of Bullets. It proved to be a turning point for my writing career, mostly because I’d devoted four years to improve my writing skills.

I spent the next few years writing short stories. In 2009, I decided to try novel writing again. That work eventually became my first published novel, Windigo Fire. Writing and publishing short fiction kept me going through Windigo Fire’s ups and downs and continues to do so while I wrestle with the next book in the Danny Bluestone series, Windigo Ice.

My short fiction starts with a simple idea. When I write a short story, I’m a complete pantser though I usually know how the story is going to end. Often I have the closing line in mind. What I don’t know is how long it’s going to take to get to the end. I simply write until the story is fully told.

I find the process of writing short fiction immensely freeing. Also since I tend to write long, I’ve started exploring the novella form. In our digital age, we aren’t as constrained to rigid word limits as we once were because of the mechanics of print publishing. Nowadays, too, readers have less time, so I believe that the novella form has potential to become popular.

Readers can now find my published stories and novellas together in my new book Glow Grass and Other Tales. It’s available on Amazon in print and digital form.

I love to hear from readers. Do visit my website and leave me your comments at www.mhcallway.com. Or you may contact me at mcallway1@gmail.com.

M.H. Callway’s Books:

 

12000831_10154197942864018_1649104801334232488_oWINDIGO FIRE

A  Canadian noir thriller.

Danny Bluestone, a young Native man, overeducated and underemployed, is drawn into an illegal bear hunt to escape his stultifying hometown of Red Dog Lake in Northern Ontario.  Things quickly go violent and he must fight to survive both the killers and the wilderness.

 

 

glowgrassGLOW GRASS and OTHER TALES:

Revenge, guide dogs, cats big and small, beleaguered ladies of a certain age and a cop with a tarnished heart, meet them all here in Glow Grass and Other Tales.

The characters in the seven stories and two novellas fight for justice even when their sense of justice is warped.  The tales include winners of The Bony Pete and Golden Horseshoe awards as well as the finalists for the 2015 Derringer and 2016 Arthur Ellis Best Novella Award.

 

 

Feedback For Fiction | Starting Your Rewrite With A Focus On Plot

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

Find out where to start your rewrite by focusing on plot first.

You’ve finished your first draft, and you’re about to embark on rewriting that draft, turning it into a novel readers will love. Now is the time to focus on story and structure. Word choice, style,…

Source: Feedback For Fiction | Starting Your Rewrite With A Focus On Plot