Help Me Choose My Novel’s Back Text

April 12, 2016April 11, 2016 ~ Kristina Stanley ~ 23 Comments

My latest mystery novel, LOOK THE OTHER WAY, is written. My trustworthy beta readers have sent me their comments, and I’ve updated the novel. Each beta reader provided different input on the story, and each person helped me make it better.

So why not ask my beta readers for help with the book description? They’ve read the book and will know if the description is accurate. So ask, I did. After receiving feedback from 5 people, my two favorite versions are below.

Please vote on your favorite. Which description would entice you to read LOOK THE OTHER WAY?

OPTION A:

Bobby Hall’s body washes up in the surf on a remote Bahamian island. His death is declared accidental. His grieving wife, Debi, hires Captain Jake Hunter, a former cop fleeing personal trauma, to sail with her on A Dog’s Cat and retrace Bobby’s final weeks at sea.

Shannon Payne is fired from the job she loves. Her engagement ends in disaster, and she no longer trusts her judgment of men. Giving up the life she knows as a reporter, she joins her aunt on A Dog’s Cat. The tranquility of life on a sailboat is what she needs. A tumultuous journey with the handsome captain is what she gets.

As tensions heighten on board, so does the attraction growing between Jake and Shannon. When Shannon learns a shocking truth about her childhood, a truth that might mean Bobby was murdered, the only thing clearer than the crystalline waters of the Bahamian archipelago is that someone is not telling the whole truth and hasn’t for a long time.

OPTION B:

A year after her uncle is lost at sea, Shannon Payne joins her grieving aunt on a journey through the idyllic Bahamian islands. She needs to recover from a devastating breakup with her fiancé. And sailing the turquoise waters, tracing her uncle’s route as a tribute to him, may just repair her heart. But instead of tranquility, she uncovers dark secrets from her past that may destroy any chance she has at happiness.

Captain Jake Hunter joins the duo on the thirty-eight-foot catamaran, A Dog’s Cat. He’s running away from painful memories. He dreams of escaping his life as a cop but finds himself embroiled in an investigation. He’s sworn off women, and now he’s living in close quarters with his boss’s niece, a blue-eyed beauty he can’t resist but should. Could his life get any more turbulent?

Shannon and Jake suppress the attraction they feel for each other, Bobby’s mysterious death hangs over them, and someone out there doesn’t want the truth uncovered.

I sailed on Mattina, a 38-foot catamaran, for five years in the Bahamas. She’s the sailing vessel used in LOOK THE OTHER WAY, and this is her, one beautiful day in the Exuma Islands.

Mattina sailing

Thanks for voting! Comments are most welcome.

Who are My Readers: Poll Results

September 17, 2015September 16, 2015 ~ Kristina Stanley ~ 14 Comments

Thank you to everyone who participated in this poll.

I’ve summarized the results here and added my thoughts of what they mean to me.

I’m happy to see I have a cross-section of readers even though I focus on mystery writing. The “Other” section included non-fiction (2), women’s contemporary, children’s (2), historical fiction (3), young adult (2), flash fiction, saga, memoir, sci-fi, paranormal and blogging. This tells me my blog has enough variety to interest many types of writers, so how could that not make me smile.

The data above tells me not to focus writing advice on a series just because I write a series. It’s probably a good idea to keep tips focussed on all categories.

So this one surprised me. I write on a MAC and thought most writers do. Guess I was mistaken her. I don’t think I’ll blog about writing on a MAC much.

Here again, I thought more writers would use Scrivener. It’s my writing software of choice, and I can’t imaging not using it. I do use MS Word when I submit my work to others.

Most people filled in the other category here. Using “nothing” was a popular answer, followed by Excel. I use Excel for every novel I write to keep track of details, ask my self pertinent questions about each scene, and to make notes. I wish there was a better way to do this, but I didn’t see any in the survey results.

This one is nicely balanced. I think many authors, regardless of how they are published, struggle to get the word out about their novels. Mystery Mondays is my way of helping other writers network their art.

Thank you for participating in the poll and giving me lots to think about when it comes to future blogging.

Thanks for reading…

Who are my blog readers?

September 8, 2015September 7, 2015 ~ Kristina Stanley ~ 21 Comments

My burning quest is to know more about who is reading and engaging with my blog. I’ve a computer mathematics degree, and it’s my nature to analyze data to make things (as in my blog) better. Today I’m focussing on writers.

So if you’re a writer, will you help me by answering a few questions?