Manuscript

Agent Feedback on Blurb

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 7 Comments

#writing

My wonderful agent, Margaret Hart, and her team at the HSW Literary Agency have come up with a new blurb for Burnt. It still amazes me how many people it takes to write a novel, even when it comes to the blurb and the synopsis.

I was very flattered that they came up with a new and improved version of the blurb. They have read all three of my novels, are familiar with my voice, and were able to tweak my original blurb and it still sounds like me. Pretty cool!

Here is the new blurb . . .

Instead of exchanging vows with her fiancé, Ben Timlin, Kalin Thompson spends her wedding day trapped by a forest fire in the mountains of British Columbia—and the pregnant friend trapped with her has just gone into labour. Meanwhile, Ben hangs from the rafters of a burning building, fighting for his life…

When the cause of the fire that ruins Kalin’s wedding and levels half of her beloved ski resort is declared as arson, finding the firebug responsible becomes Kalin’s personal mission.

In the course of her investigation as director of security at Stone Mountain Resort, Kalin gets on the wrong side of small-town corruption and uncovers more than just arson. There are those who will go to extreme measures to keep Kalin from exposing their secrets. But Kalin will go to extreme measures to protect what is hers.

Naming A Novel

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 14 Comments

#writing

Do you struggle with naming your novel? I do.

My novels are Fracture Line, The Final Gate, and Burnt.

After submitting The Final Gate to my agent, Margaret Hart, I received feedback from her editor that I should change the title.

I think I’m on title 200, and I’m still working on it.

  • Should the title be a line from the novel?
  • Should it be a metaphor?

After picking a title, then comes the research.

  • It the title already used?
  • Does is have a meaning I’m are unaware of?

Then comes the test market. Sending the title out to the people who have read my novel should give me some feedback. But what is they all like different one.

There are so many things to consider.  I think I’m finding the harder than writing the novel, the blurb and the synopsis. Yikes!

How do decide what your title should be? And if you happen to read the blurb for The Final Gate, can you send me a title?

Surprised by Synopsis

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 7 Comments

#writetip The dreaded synopsis surprised me. We all know how hard it is to write but . . .

I discovered a hole in my plot during the process of writing the synopsis. I was having a difficult time getting the story described in under two pages of double spaced text.

Then I realized the novel wasn’t coming full circle and I couldn’t relate the ending to the beginning. Why? I didn’t close off one of the story lines. I don’t think I would have discovered this if I hadn’t written the synopsis.

My point? Maybe the synopsis is not just for your agent or publisher. Maybe it’s good for you too.

Thoughts?

Need Help Writing a Blurb?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 3 Comments

#writetip Are you struggling with writing your blurb? Your novel is finished and you are getting ready to submit it, but the blurb just doesn’t sound right?

Why not ask a couple of your readers to write a blurb for you? A person that is not as close to the novel as you are might have an interesting take on what should be in your blurb.

You may get a whole blurb out of the exercise, you may only use one line, but it is sure to spark your imagination.

Related articles

Hook, Line and Sinker

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

#writetip I guess I’ve been fishing a lot lately, but Hook, Line and Sinker made me think about how I review scenes.

How about: Hook, Tension, and Point of Scene?

These are three useful things to ask yourself after writing a scene. I write thriller/mystery novels, so the pace has keep moving.

If the scene doesn’t have a hook early on, why would anyone keep reading?

If there is no tension, why would anyone keep reading?

If you can’t state the point of the scene, why did you write it?

As usual, only my opinion . . .

BURNT – A NOVEL

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 10 Comments

#writing I’ve submitted my third novel, BURNT,  to my agent, Margaret Hart, at HSW Literary Agency in Toronto. So it’s time to relax? Not quite. I’ve got to update my books pages on this blog, the Crime Writer’s of Canada web page, my agent’s web page, LinkedIn and on and on and on . . .

This is the third novel in my Kalin Thompson series. Here’s what it’s about:

Kalin Thompson’s life spirals out of control on her wedding day. Instead of exchanging vows with her fiancé, Ben Timlin, she finds herself trapped by a forest fire and is forced to deliver her best friend’s baby on the shore of a glacial lake high in the mountains of British Columbia.

While Kalin tries to keep her friend and the baby safe, Ben is hanging from the rafters of a burning building, fighting for his life.

Arson is declared the cause of the forest fire.

Arson ruins her wedding day.

Arson turns her new home and half of her beloved ski resort into ashes.

Finding the arsonist becomes her personal mission. Kalin, the director of security at Stone Mountain Resort, gets on the wrong side of small town corruption and uncovers more than just arson. There are those who will go to extreme measures to keep Kalin from exposing their secrets. Kalin will go to extreme measures to protect what is hers.

Converting from iWorks Pages to Microsoft Word

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

#writetip This is probably one of those things everyone knows except me. I recently switched from iWorks Pages to Microsoft Word. I’m a fan of both programs, but found most of the people I exchanged documents with use Word.

So for convenience, I changed over.

Already having completed the first draft of my novel, Burnt, I converted the document and at first glance everything appeared fine.

Until . . .

My proofreader sent the document to her kindle. The italics in the document didn’t transfer, but they appeared in the Word document on her computer copy.

What happened, you ask?

The italics showed on the Word copy, but when I clicked on italicized text, the little box at the top that shows a text is italicized wasn’t highlighted. The code to format the text didn’t copy from Pages to Word.

Hence the text didn’t appear italicized on the Kindle.

To fix this, I had to retype in any italicized text and hit the italics button. The next version appeared correct on the Kindle.

How does one know these things until they come up and bite you? And how do I know there aren’t other errors?

How to Create Chapter Breaks

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

#writetip  There a many different ways to write a novel, but one thing most have in common is the story is broken into chapters.

How do you do this?

Do write in chapters, plotting the entire novel ahead of time?

Do you write the novel in scenes and then group them into chapters?

Or, do you write one long scene and then break into scenes and group into chapters?

I tend to write in scenes. This gives me a small section to write. As the saying goes, Inch-by-Inch, Life’s a Cinch.  I find it less overwhelming to write a scene than attempting an entire novel.

Once I’ve completed a draft and have all my scenes printed, I try grouping them into themes. If I can give several scenes one name, then I make it a chapter. If I can’t, then I look for another way to group scenes. I don’t focus on the length of a chapter. I think it’s more important to have the grouping right than to have consistent chapter lengths.

Scene Locations

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

#writetip Where does your action happen?

Do you vary the locations of your scenes throughout your novel?

If you hadn’t guessed it, I’m going to mention my spreadsheet again. Yup, I have a column for scene locations. When I read, I enjoy a novel that takes place in different locations and has the characters moving around.

Sorting the spreadsheet by location tells me if I’ve used one location too many times. Maybe it’s important to the story, and that’s okay. But what if it’s not? When I see a location turn up many times, I assess it and see if I can come of with a more imaginative way of describing the scene.

Sometimes by creating new location, the characters surprise me and the story takes a new turn. Always an interesting process.

Synopsis and Blurb Review

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 1 Comment

#writetip So you’ve written your blurb and synopsis and think they’re great. That happens to me too. So . . . I need some outside feedback.

I treat my synopsis and blurb the same way I treat my novel. I have readers who read for content, and I have those who proofread.

If you’re lucky and have readers for your entire novel, why not ask them to read your synopsis and blurb too? You already know their skill set for reading. They already know your story and can keep you honest.

I try to tell my readers what I want from them.

For the blurb I ask:

–       Does it clearly represent the story?

–       Would you want to buy the book based on the blurb? Why or why not?

For the synopsis I ask:

–       Does it clearly represent the story?

–       Is it an engaging synopsis or does it feel too much like a list of events?

Please let me know if you have any tips for writing great blurbs or synopses.