by Bethany Maines In the cop shows, whenever the intrepid detective (Watchingthe Detectives, Elvis Costello) is working on the massive conspiracy that killed her mother/lover/those six girls we never met, but who really give our character a reason to act, the case is always shown as pictures (Pictures of You, The Cure) tacked up and […]
by Bethany Maines Today is the release date for my new novella – Wild Waters!! This is my first time doing true romance (sex scenes – eep!) and I’m very excited for everyone to get a chance to read it! Purchase Wild Waters at: >>Amazon(Kindle) >>Smashwords(all digital versions) Or enter to win a free copy on […]
by Bethany Maines My dad says he invented the skateboard. He says that he had never before seen or heard of a skateboard when he put a plank on skate wheels. Of course, his invention went no further than a backyard of summer fun, but he still likes to claim his invention when some youth […]
Late in the month, it seems like almost everyone suddenly wakes up and realizes that the deadlines that seemed so very far away are now, like, almost here, man. Cue panic. Cue sudden uptick in workload for yours truly. The problem is that I’m exactly like everyone else. I’ve been noodling over several pieces of […]
by Bethany Maines I’m going to let you in on a secret – writing is not for wussies. It’s for old people. Or at least it makes you feel old. Carpal tunnel. Eye twitches and strains. Aching neck, sore back. The human body was not designed to spend hours sitting at a computer, […]
By Bethany Maines On my last blog I discussed how I keep the fictional worlds of my books organized (answer: spreadsheets and lists!), but recently I gave a talk on writing to a local high-school and they wanted to know the more nitty-gritty details. Since they are at the start of their writer journey they […]
by Bethany Maines An author’s job is not just to tell a story, but to decide how a story should be told. Is it better in first or third person? Is it told in one long march of words or are their chapters? We have to decide genre, tone and feeling. And once those decisions […]
By Bethany Maines Recently, I’ve been learning about the nitty gritty “how-to” of e-publishing. While there are many how-to’s on how to put your story up for sale in the virtual marketplace, learning how to make an epub file is a lot more difficult and confusing. As someone trained in how to make print books, […]
by Bethany Maines In my quest for world book domination I frequently peruse tips on how to better market myself/books. Some come up with some interesting strategies that are worth pursuing and then there’s this list… I won’t mention the name of the blog I found it on because I don’t believe in public shaming. […]
by Bethany Maines My brother and his wife recently sent out some new baby pictures and an update on how they’re doing. With the baby at 10 weeks old they are getting approximately 5-7 hours of sleep and they declared it “luxurious”. Oh, I remember those days! If you read my post on Mom’s vs. […]