Beth Martin's Blog

I Made My Own Link Shortener

Some things I do make me feel insane or old, like the guy yelling at the neighborhood kids to stay off his lawn. I no longer jump on all the cool trends (I personally still think Labubu’s are ugly even though I’ve seen them everywhere) and am not hip on the current vernacular, no cap? I add this preamble because I know a lot of people will find what I did silly. I still

Book Review: Power Ballad by J.L. Birchwood

I needed some light poolside reading, and Power Ballad promised to be asweet romance set at a metal music festival. Delilah was supposed to be getting married the weekend of the Mayhem Festival. Recently dumped by her ex-fiancé, she knows the festival will provide the perfect distraction from her heartbreak. When her friend can’t come with her, she attends solo and meets a

How to Read an Ebook

A Practical Guide to Opening EPUB Files on Any Device The world has space for all kinds of readers! A lot of authors I know stick with physical books and have a love affair with the library, and that’s great! Many book lovers prefer the practicality of an ereader, and don’t want to fill their homes with piles upon piles of paperbacks. Plenty of readers need to multitask, can’t

Book Review: Sleep Diet by Melisa Peterson Lewis

Go to sleep, wake up thin. That’s the branding for Viotech’s new procedure called the “Sleep Diet.” Still in the experimental phase, the sleep diet protocol administers patients a continuous stream of medication that detoxes their bodies while they listen to a hypnosis script for an entire month—all while fast asleep. It’s a big ask, but the participants are paid for their time and trouble.Sleep

My First Author Signing: A Tell-All

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Puzzling Escapes: The Haunted House Mystery Trailer

I am so excited to share this! Parragon created an official book trailer for Puzzling Escapes: The Haunted House Mystery, and it’s AMAZING. The book is amazing too, so definitely give the trailer a watch! You can get your own copy of the book on July 1st. If you love escape rooms, haunted houses, or solving puzzles that test your brain power, then you’re going to

New Short Story: A Delicate Deception

I’m thrilled to share my newest short story with you! “A Delicate Deception” is a dramatic take on the fake-wedding-date trope with a sharp emotional edge. Mark is a broken man—but it’s not just because of his disability. It’s how his family treats him. Determined to prove his worth, Mark recruits the perfect date for his cousin’s wedding: Amelia. She’s beautiful, confident, and

Video Game Review: Blue Prince

I love a good puzzle adventure, whether it’s an escape room, board game, video game, or puzzle book. My husband purchased and played the video game Blue Prince for an hour before mentioning the title to me. He compared it to the game Myst, which is a guaranteed way to get me to give the game a shot.A Game Like Myst? I’M IN! Since my computer is a Mac, I had to steal time at my

Starship Blunder 2 Now Open for Submissions

Ready to embark on another round of intergalactic chaos? After the successful launch of the first Starship Blunder anthology—and a well-needed break—I immediately dove into plans for a second Blunder anthology. What can I say? The characters in this amusing shared universe will not leave me alone, and I have to see what other misadventures might be in store for them.What’s a

Puzzles Reimagined: Exciting Updates for Puzzling Escapes

The idea for Puzzling Escapes struck me while I was busy selling novels at a comic con. I desperately wanted to sneak away from my table to check out one of the event’s unique attractions: an escape room. My desire to play an escape room quickly led to an urge to make my own. However, my talents lie in making books, not themed adventure rooms. That’s when it hit me: I could make an escape room