Tag Archive for: Author Bethany Maines

Dancing in Red Shoes

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by Bethany Maines

We are celebrating our new logo this month and discussing
what our red stiletto means to us.  As I
have been recently taking a trip through the Grimm’s Fairy Tales and the
stories of Hans Christian Anderson, I was immediately reminded of the story of
the Red Shoes. In the
story an orphan girl gets a pair of red shoes and makes the mistake of wearing
them to church. She’s very pleased with her red shoes and give a little dance
step and from that moment on is cursed to dance whether she wants to or not.  Eventually, she gets a woodcarver and
occasional town executioner to chop off her feet.  He carves her a pair of wooden feet, she begs
forgiveness and eventually is allowed to return to church and presumably her
life of appropriate poverty and boring clothes. 
The story is a very obvious warning about dressing above ones station,
acting without proper humility and of course having the audacity to be a pretty
girl.  To which I say… bring on the red
shoes, let’s go dancing.
Red stilettos are sexy, daring, and commanding, all of which
are dangerous things for women to be whether it’s 18th century
Germany or 21st century America. The Stiletto Gang doesn’t require
our members to wear stilettos, but we do embrace the idea that there isn’t a
particular way women ought to be.  Our members are diverse in ethnicity, ages,
and outlook , but we all share the idea that women can be (and write) what they
want.  To me that’s what the red shoe
stands for—boldly embracing women’s right to be powerful.
Many thanks to my Stiletto sisters for their continued
support and now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a little dancing to do.
***
Want to know more about upcoming releases from Bethany Maines?  Join the Blue Zephyr Press Readers Group.  You’ll receive a free e-short from Bethany Maines and get updates about new releases and sales from the Blue Zephyr Press authors.    WWW.BLUEZEPHYRPRESS.COM
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found
chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You
can also catch up with her on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Sunburn and Books

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by Bethany Maines
Last weekend I participated in a “Literary Corner” at a
local arts festival.  It was a chance to
sell books, meet readers and network with other authors.  It’s always so great to see how other authors
sell and a chance to learn some pointers. 
It was also, as it turned out, a chance to sunburn my feet.  No one warned me that part of being an author
would be having to be cognizant of my sunscreen and footwear choices.  So, if you are also in a summer sun
situation, here are some sun burn tips.

1. Act Fast to Cool It Down
Take a quick dip in a pool or
other body of water.  But don’t stay in
too long and get more burned!
2. Moisturize While Skin Is Damp
Use a gentle, but non-oil based,
moisturizing. Repeat to keep burned or peeling skin moist over the next few
days.
3. Decrease the Inflammation
At the first sign of sunburn,
taking an anti-inflammatory drug , such as ibuprofen. Aloe vera may also soothe
mild burns.
4. Replenish Your Fluids
Burns draw fluid to the skin’s
surface and away from the rest of the body. It’s important to rehydrate by
drinking extra liquids.

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San
Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo
Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to
exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in
karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working
on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube,
Twitter and Facebook.

Post-Publication

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By Bethany Maines
Me Before Publishing:
I just love writing and I would never bother anyone to buy my books.  In fact, I prefer not to talk to people at
all.  I’ll just stay in my writing cave
over here and type some more.
Me After Publishing:
BUY MY BOOKS!!!  REVIEW MY BOOKS!!! I
NEED A STREET CORNER AND A BULLHORN STAT! 
WHY DON’T YOU LOVE MEEEEEEEEE!!
You would think that the amount of sales affected that
post-publishing sentiment, but they don’t. 
Not a bit. Publishing a book, or presenting any piece of artwork for
public consumption, is to lay bare some piece of the soul in a very public
way.  It’s very difficult to maintain any
sort of equilibrium as reviews from readers trickle in.  Some of the reviews can be wonderful and have
you floating high in the sky and others have you raging and stomping around the
house.  But even the angry-makers are a
validation of a kind.  Someone read my
book and cared enough to leave a review! 
Yes, they thought my main character was snarky, but they cared enough to
comment, damn it!  The worst is
silence.  You, you invisible people, you
bought the book!  I know you did.  It’s right there in the sales report.  You didn’t read it?  You read it, but didn’t love it?  Why don’t you love meeeeeee? 

And we’re back in the loop.
Which is when it’s important to take a breath, step away
from the computer and go for a walk.  Or
talk to the dog.  And Kato says that it’s
time for a walk, so off I go.
Erm… by the way, have I mentioned I have a new book out (and book 1 is still ¢.99)?
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales
From the City of Destiny, San Juan
Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo
Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to
exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in
karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working
on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube,
Twitter and Facebook.

Against the Undertow

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by Bethany Maines

It’s release day for Against the Undertow! I’m so excited to bring this book out into the world. The San Juan Island Murder Mystery Series is a little like Matlock went to the beach. It features a cantankerous ex-CIA agent, Tobias Yearly, and his granddaughter, Tish, as they solve mysteries from their home on Orcas Island in Washington State. It’s funny, it’s romantic and it’s full of twists and turns. This semi-cozy series has been a joy to research (mmm… food research) and write (I <3 my characters) and I hope that all of you enjoy it as much as I have.

You never know what will drag you down.
Former actress Tish Yearly is determined to turn an old Orcas Island homestead into the premier wedding venue in the San Juans Islands of Washington, but money, skill and her grandfather, Tobias Yearly, are all standing in her way. Tobias, the septuagenarian ex-CIA agent, wants them to become private investigators. Tish might be able to ignore her grandfather’s whims, except that her one time love interest and current friend, handsome Sheriff’s Deputy Emmett Nash, was just accused of murdering his ex-wife’s boyfriend. Now Tish and Tobias are on the case, and it should be easy—after all, who could really think Nash was a killer?—but the further they investigate, the more people seem to be threatening her life: the police detective on the case, Nash’s angry ex-wife, his psychotic ex-girlfriend, and a strangely venomous group of hippies. Almost everyone on the island seems determined to stop her. Tish is swimming against the undertow, but it might not be enough to save either Nash or herself.


And this month you can also pick book 1 – An Unseen Current – for ¢.99.

You never know what’s beneath the surface.
When Seattle native Tish Yearly finds herself fired and evicted all in one afternoon, she knows she’s in deep water. Unemployed and desperate, the 26 year old ex-actress heads for the one place she knows she’ll be welcome – the house of her cantankerous ex-CIA agent grandfather, Tobias Yearly, in the San Juan Islands. And when she discovers the strangled corpse of Tobias’s best friend, she knows she’s in over her head. Tish is thrown head-long into a mystery that pits her against a handsome but straight-laced Sheriff’s Deputy, a group of eccentric and clannish local residents, and a killer who knows the island far better than she does. Now Tish must swim against the current, depending on her nearly forgotten acting skills and her grandfather’s spy craft, to con a killer and keep them alive.

Bethany
Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales From the City of Destiny, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found
chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You
can also catch up with her on YouTube,
Twitter and Facebook.

They’re Back!

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by Bethany Maines

In 2015 when I wrote An Unseen Current, I had no intention of writing a sequel.  It was a quirky, semi-cozy mystery with a heroine based on an ex-coworker of mine. My friend Jennifer, became Tish Yearly, an ex-actress who returned from the wilds Hollywood and channeled her creative energies into… Marketing? My friend (who I did ask before borrowing her life story) moved on to the next adventure—working at a winery.  (Which, no matter which way you slice it, is WAY better than working for an architecture firm.)  And in my book, Tish gets fired from the architecture firm and is forced to move in with her ex-CIA agent grandfather on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. And of course, murders, mysteries and the zaniness of island life ensues.

I also wrote the book in part as a catharsis for having been let go during the great economic downturn and while I left room for sequels I didn’t think that I would emotionally feel the need.  And then… I had a dream.  I have author friends who have routinely based their works on dreams.  Not me.  I am generally wide awake and noodling about what would happen if I took two weird ideas and mashed them violently together in a fictional soup of deliciousness.  However, in this instance I had a very brief dream about riding a ferry and when I woke up the opening scene of Against the Undertow hit me like a brain wave.  And not just the scene, it arrived with the title!  Or at least the Undertow portion of the title.  I’ve never had an idea arrive quite that way before, but I wish it would happen more often.  I felt like a genius.  Of course, it took me most of a year to figure out the rest of the plot and write the dang thing and that does take the feeling of geniosity down a notch, but still… welcome to the world little sequel.

Against the Undertow is now available for digital pre-order.  Print and digital will be available June 12.  >>PRE-ORDER NOW!<<

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales
From the City of Destiny, San Juan
Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo
Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to
exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in
karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working
on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube,
Twitter and Facebook.

It’s All Video, Video, Video…

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by Bethany Maines

Recent trends in social media and marketing have shown that
video is on the rise. According to a recent white paper from Cisco, “globally,
IP video traffic will be 82 percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2021,
up from 73 percent in 2016.” For marketers that means being without video
capabilities may make it harder for them to connect with consumers.  Or, for authors, that it may be important to
add video marketing to their books promotions.
As an author and a graphic designer, I find this both
frustrating and exciting.  Marketing a
book is already expensive enough for an author (unless you’re Nicholas Sparks
or one of the other big names, and very few of us are). Adding video to the
budget can potentially be a problem. Also, concepting and scripting for video
is a particular talent that may not be something an author excels at.  But recently, I’ve been working with my business partner (who has
more video experience than I do) to create short promo videos for my upcoming
book releases.  It has been really thrilling
to see imagery, text, and audio come together in a way that feels like my stories.  And now I can reveal my first video!  I hope you enjoy it.  Let me know in the comments if you think I hit the mark.


The Shark Santoyo Crime Series: When twenty something Shark got out of prison and made a deal with Geier, the boss of his old gang, he knew he’d be walking into trouble, but he never expected to meet the teenage crime savant Peregrine Hays. The knife-wielding beauty may fuel his dreams, but Peregrine has secrets of her own, and soon Shark is swept up in a whirlpool of murder, revenge, and love. Both streetwise and crime-hardened, Shark and Peri seem like a perfect bloody team as they battle crooked federal agents, sex traffickers, and gangs in search of vindication. But when Shark is faced with an enemy that knows him better than anyone else, he and Peri learn that their options may be staying together OR staying alive…

Shark’s Bite (book #2) Available: April 17th  PREORDER NOW

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales From the City of Destiny, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found
chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You
can also view the Carrie Mae YouTube
video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Edity Edity Edit

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by Bethany Maines

This past week has been consumed by edits for the second book in my Shark Santoyo Crime Series – Shark’s Bite. There’s nothing like a keen eyed editor to make you realize how many times you use the word “shrug.” Or nod.  Or dear God, how many times will my characters smile.  So many times.  Is there another way to say “smile” without actually using the word “smile”?  I may go mad looking up “grin” in the thesaurus.

When I get a manuscript back from an editor I make multiple passes through to make the requested changes and to make any changes to answer questions or fix problems an editor may have pointed out. The first time I make it through the manuscript I think I’m so clever. Then I actually read it and I think, “uh, I wrote that?” The word repetition, the sameness of gestures! And what about scene setting? The third time through I think… “Not bad, except for that one part.  That needs work.”  Then by the fourth and fifth rounds I’m hunting for typos and hoping like hell I haven’t put any fresh ones in with my changes. Finally, when I think I’ll go blind staring at it and I can’t think of one more thing to change, then back to the editors it goes. Then it comes back and I agree to fix all the terrible typos I managed to miss in the previous five rounds of read-throughs and then, finally, finally, off to layout it goes.

And after all of that, it’s still a fairly sure bet that someone will still find a typo.  And that’s when I make this face:

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales From the City of Destiny, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found
chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You
can also view the Carrie Mae YouTube
video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Chapter by Chapter

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by Bethany Maines

I recently read a review on Goodreads of my book GlossedCause. 
“I love this series from
Bethany Maines! Such a funny and interesting read throughout and makes you want
to keep reading! This series is definitely best read in order, short stories
included! A few nitpicky things that I didnt like were titled Chapters that was
a theme for the chapter. (I like a simple number or location & number) and
I’d love another book where Carrie Mae played a bigger role.”
The reviewer gave me a good number of stars and overall that’s
a pretty dang good review.  So, thanks!  But I find myself flummoxed by the comment on
chapter numbers.  I just… I mean… Chapter
numbers?
First of all she’s completely blowing my theory that no one
reads my chapter titles.  The truth is,
and this is a deep dark secret regarding the chapter titles in the Carrie Mae
series.  They’re really just for me.  I mean, I hope the rest of you who bother to
read them enjoy them too.  But really
they’re a secret code while I’m writing that means I can glance at the table of
contents and remember what’s going on in each chapter. Also, they’re usually
song titles which means at the end of the book I have a pretty nifty playlist.  (Check out this one from Bulletproof Mascara
chapter titles on the Carrie Mae YouTube channel.)
I’m not sure what lesson is to be learned from this, other
than I should stop reading reviews, but I’m sure I’ve definitely learned
it.  Maybe.  Or maybe next time I’ll do chapter titles
with latitude and longitude and possibly three character names and a
unicorn.  We’ll just have to wait and
see.

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales From the City of Destiny, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found
chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You
can also view the Carrie Mae YouTube
video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

A Typo Honesty

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by Bethany Maines 

Recently, I was going over the edits from a beta reader on my forthcoming mystery novel – Against the Undertow (sequel to An Unseen Current). I was excited to read over the notes because the reader had been pretty enthusiastic verbally about the book and I was looking forward to easy edits (for once).  Beta readers usually give critiques on story elements, spot plot holes, and generally let an author know if something is working or not. They can do line edits and spot typos, but frequently that’s a separate gig because the mental focus for each job is quite different. Because of that, I usually tell my beta readers to treat typos like terrorists on the train in New York – if you see something, say something – but don’t go looking for them. Which is why I laughed when I got to this note:

I didn’t take note of typos except for one I thought I’d mention: on p. 76 you meant perennial and instead wrote perineal. 

That is indeed a typo worth mentioning and I promptly laughed and shared it with about eight people. But it got me to thinking about some of my other slips of the fingers. Here’s a couple that I thought worth noting.

He knew he would get some carp for it. Yes, because fish are often given as a sign of disapproval.

Stalking feet. Because he has those feet that just will not stop violating restraining orders.


I’m going as troll. Many problems here. Including missing the word “for” and a misplaced space around the S. But if you want to go for a stroll as a troll, apparently I will let you. Gotta look out for those trolls.

Desserted is not, repeat not, the same as deserted. I wish it was. I wish I could be desserted ALL the time. But cake is not a healthy breakfast choice.

As I continue to write, I’m sure I will make many more typos. I hope that at least a few are as good these ones. What about you? Have you spotted any awesome typos lately?

Bethany
Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales From the City of Destiny, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found
chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You
can also view the Carrie Mae YouTube
video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

OK, Not OK?

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by Bethany Maines

Happy Valentines Day! Who doesn’t like to celebrate the bloody death of man in third century Rome?  I, for one, am all about the guy that no one really knows why he died, or how, but heck, if he somehow wants to spawn a greeting card industry associated with romantic and courtly love then I’m all for it. I am so for it, in fact, that I have written a book for the occasion – When Stars Take Flight!

When Stars Take Flight, a retelling of Thumbelina, is part of the new Galactic Dreams collection from Blue Zephyr Press featuring fairy tales retold as science fiction adventures.  Each story is unique, but all the stories take place in the same universe.  Galactic Dreams Volume 1 also includes Soldier, Princess, Rebel Spy (inspired by Mulan) by Karen Harris Tully and Aurora One (Sleeping Beauty) by the Stiletto Gang’s own J. M. Phillippe.

Writing this book was a fascinating process involving a lot of “research” aka reading of fairy tales. And the first thing I have to say is what the hell is wrong with fairy tales? What sick twisted bastard invented these things? So much limb chopping, incest, and cannibalism.  Apparently, cannibalism was a far greater problem back in the old days than I gave it credit for. The second part of the process was the “world building”. The other authors and I had to establish, build and agree upon our science-fiction setting. Monetary systems, space travel, religions—just how do all of these things function in our universe?  As we developed rules, we created some artificial stumbling blocks for ourselves to push how we were writing. One rule was that only people directly from Earth would use the word OK. Until I couldn’t use it, I had no idea how often I used OK.  But there is no word more distinctly American than OK. Would space colonists who were originally from Iceland use the word OK five hundred years or a thousand years from now?  It seems unlikely.  But even with that in mind, I ended up having to do a find and replace in my manuscript to find all the places I typed it without even thinking about it.  I believe that the result of our hard work are a fun, romantic, adventurous stories that stays true to the fairy tale tradition (I mean the ones about torture and true love, we skipped the cannibalism), but creates something entirely new and unique. I’m excited by this collection and hope that other people (aka readers) are too.



Buy now – three sci-fairy tale novels for $4.99!



Welcome to the universe of Galactic Dreams, where fairy tales are reimagined for a new age—the future. In each Galactic Dreams novella you’ll find an old tale reborn with a mixture of romance, technology, aliens and adventure. But beware, a perilous quest awaits behind every star and getting home again will depend on a good spaceship, true love, and maybe just a hint of magic.


Buy now – three sci-fairy tale novels for $4.99!

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales From the City of Destiny, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found
chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You
can also view the Carrie Mae YouTube
video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.