KristinaStanley

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 . . .

 

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.

Cruising and Blogging

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 8 Comments

As we travel through the Exuma islands, we get a lot of this . . .

Bubble Baths at Compass Cay
Bubble Baths at Compass Cay

But not a lot of internet.

I can blog ahead of time and upload my posts — as long as I’m organized.

I can usually find a connection that’s strong enough to support an email connection, but not strong enough to post or reply to comments.

I love to get comments on my blog, and I try to respond to each one, so I have to say it can be frustrating when I receive a comment via email, know it’s on my blog and I can’t respond.

I guess like many, I’ve become accustomed to the immediacy of our lives and when I don’t have it, I feel disconnected.

Then I remember where I am and what I’m doing and laugh at myself. Life is pretty good in the Bahamas.

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: Where Are My Puppy Friends

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Farley here.

I have lots of friends, but sometimes they disappear. Where do they go? Do they live on sailboats too?

Take Piper for example. I met her the same day I met my owners. She has different owners and she has an attitude.

Farley and Piper

Piper is a border terrier, and she’s cute, but really, look at her whispering in my ear. She told me her owners were nicer than mine. Ha! I don’t think so. We’d only been with them for five hours, so how could she know?

I’ve travelled across Canada, the United States and the Bahamas. I don’t think she’s done that.

I’m with my owners most of the time. I get walked at least twice a day and sometime more. I get real meat added to my dog food.

I may have to live on the sailboat, but she has to live in a backyard. So I ask you, aren’t my owners nicer?

I spent 5 weeks with Piper this summer, and we went camping together, with both our owners, so I have to admit hers are pretty nice too.  Piper still has an attitude, but she quickly learned Kristina spoils all dogs and settled right in with us.

Woof Woof.

 

Farley’s Friday: When I Was A Wheaten Puppy

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

Farley here.

Some things change. Some things don’t.

Kristina brushed my hair today, and I noticed it was all blond. I don’t look in a mirror very often, so I was a little surprised.

I’m pretty sure I was born brown and black, and I don’t die my hair . . . so what the heck?

10 weeks old ... and I'm so cute.
10 weeks old … and I’m so cute.

I guess my hair changed colour. But what didn’t change?

You can see by the photo below, where I’m 8 weeks old, I’m not exactly excited by a ball. Well I’m still not.

Could someone get this ball away from me?
Could someone get this ball away from me?

Sometimes my owners throw a ball for me, and I might chase it, but I will never pick it up. How humiliating. That’s for humans to do.

Do you pick up a ball for your owner?

Woof Woof

It Was Only A Glass Of Water . . .

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 6 Comments

I’ve had a bit of a setback this week.

Water, water everywhere . . .  and not where I want it to be. An innocent little glass of water and presto – no more Macbook.

If you’re reading my blog, you know I’m living on a sailboat and nowhere near a store or something as luxurious as a Mac store, so when I spilled a glass of water on my Mac it brought tears to my eyes.

I shut down, ripped out the battery and hoped for the best. Days later, I’m not having any luck.

After the terror subsided, I remembered I made a back up the day before (phew), and that my husband loves me. The second is a very important point. When I asked if I could have his computer for the rest of the season, he happily said yes. He would use the tablet. Again phew.

We have backup equipment on the boat for almost every part, and I’m very happy that this extended to a backup device for my Mac and an extra computer.

Now I just have to get used to the keyboard!

My message: don’t forget to backup your work.

Thanks for reading . . .

Cold Fronts In The Bahamas

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

It’s not all sunshine and warmth in the Bahamas, although you might think it is when looking at the photos I post.

cold front

The clouds roll in, the temperature drops, and we have to get out the warm clothes. Then it’s time to switch from water activities to land activities and take the dogs hiking.

We don’t go in the water, but the dogs do. On this hike, Jasper, the springer spaniel, was stung by a spotted eagle ray. Really it was his own fault, since he picked it up. The ray escaped unhurt, but Jasper needed treatment, and I think it was painful.

But back to cold fronts, the wind clocks around so it can be hard to find a protected anchorage. When the trade winds blow and the wind comes from one direction, it’s easy to drop the hook in a safe place.

When the wind is going to come from more than one directions, most annoying at night, it’s more of a challenge to hide.  Sometimes we just have to suck it up and take the wind and waves, but usually we can tuck in and be mostly protected.

On the good side, rain can come with a cold front, and it’s a free boat wash for us.

Thanks for reading . . .

 

Farley’s Friday: Shady Beaches?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Farley Here,

If you’ve been to a lot of beaches like I have, you may have noticed there’s not a lot of shade. I spent the day on a sand spit with my humans while they went windsurfing and kiting, and found it kind of hot. While I life guard most of the time, I do get to relax too.

My human loves me. She used her windsurfing board bag to make a shady spot for me. She uses the gear for sports, I use it for comfort.

Farley with Board Bag

I got to spend the day chasing kiters and windsurfers along the beach, and when I got tired, I retired to my special spot, had a drink and napped. I can’t be life guarding all day.

Woof Woof.

Keeping Fit While Cruising: Kayaking

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

If you’ve been reading you may have noticed I like variety in exercise. There are so many ways to keep fit while sailing, and I intend to try as many way as I can.

Kayaking is one of my favourites. There are many types of kayaks. I chose mine because it was large enough for Farley, my wheaten terrier, to fit in. He sits in the cockpit, sort of half on my lap and half on the kayak floor. He adds an extra 42 pounds to the adventure, but I figure it’ll only make my arms stronger.

Kayaking Ladies

Other than keeping you fit, a kayak provides:

– a second car

– a way to have fun with you dog

– something to do while being social with your friends

– a vehicle to take you exploring

Let me know how you keep fit while living on your sailboat.

Thanks for reading . . .

Location, Location, Location: Details for a Manuscript

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Do you create your location first or do you write a scene first?

For a novel, I decide on the location before I start writing. My first three novels take place in a fictitious ski resort in British Columbia, Canada. The fourth novel takes place in the Bahamas. I chose the location first because I wanted to write about people who live in isolated places.

Some scenes dictate a location, but for others, I might write the scene and then chose a location. I keep track of locations in a spreadsheet. This helps me avoid using one place to often. Believe it or not, in a ski resort not everything happens on the mountain.

If I have a scene written and haven’t chosen a location, I do this by looking at the mood of the scene. Is is romantic, frightening, funny, awkward?  I think about where in my created world the scene will have the greatest impact. Then I add the details.

When reviewing a manuscript, I check for the empty stage syndrome. Did I get carried away with action or dialogue and not describe the location? If I did, I work on describing the location. Sometimes at this stage I drop a clue or a red herring based on location.

Do you decide on location first or write a scene first?

Thanks for reading . . .