Entries by Bethany Maines

The Other Research

by Bethany Maines   After reading Paffi Flood’s article about that new Beaver Bum smell, I don’t feel so bad about today’s google searches, which include best easy-open pocket knives, MAPP gas, and a variety of facts about the Tacoma Police Department in 1922. My search history may imply an interest in violence, safe breaking and the […]

The Perfect Holiday Gift of Unconventional Romantic Comedy

By Kimberly Jayne Happy holidays to all! This month, with Take My Husband, Please! on sale for the holidays, I’d like to give you a taste of what reviewers and critics are saying: From Publisher’s Weekly’s BookLife Prize in Fiction: “Slightly madcap, suddenly sweet, this novel combines the best of female friendship with soulful exploration […]

Binary Pie

by Bethany Maines  For me, Thanksgiving and the coming end of the year frequently combine to make me philosophical and prone to navel gazing. Just what have I been doing with my life? Am I grateful? Am I curating my life in the path of gratitude? Do I even want to? Why should I have […]

Dystopian Games

By Bethany Maines You’re stuck in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with 8 strangers and no food or water, who do you eat first? Dystopian novels have held a prominent place on our National reading lists for the last few years and while I occasionally enjoy a jaunt into the horrific futures […]

Writers vs. Readers

by Bethany Maines Writer’s Group: to gather with others to read and critique excerpts of written work Reading Group: to gather with others to read and critique books, drink and snack When done correctly, a writer’s group can operate as an auxiliary brain or a training ground to push a writer forward in her craft.  […]

Creepies, Crawlies & Other Scary Things Like Politics

by Bethany Maines Welcome to the Halloween / Election Season where we’re all hiding under our covers and hoping that come sunrise it will all be over and the tangerine menace will have gone back under his rock.  I don’t know about you, but I long for the days when October child safety meant checking […]

The Dingbat Approach

By Bethany Maines This month at the Stiletto Gang we’ve been talking about transitions and how moving to a new stage of life can affect writing. But I have to admit that as I sat down to think about the topic all I found myself pondering was the actual literal transitions of writing. One of […]

Market Research

By Bethany Maines As we have been exploring the question “Who are you like?” this month on the Stiletto Gang, I’ve been exploring what other books in my genres look like.  This is sometimes gratifying on the base level of my fonts are so much better than yours and also sometimes mystifying on the level […]

Who are you like?

By Bethany Maines One of the most common questions a writer hears is: Who are you like?  In other words, what (famous, more talented, richer, that I would have heard of) author are you like?  Of course, as authors we would always like to respond – I am like no one! I am a unique […]

Cranking (Toddler) Tunes

By Bethany Maines Many things change after having a baby.  And I have to say that one of the things that I’m the most sad to see change is the amount of music I listen to.  Baby nap times seem to encompass the whole dang day! I used to have iTunes running almost constantly.  Not […]