Beth Martin's Blog, page 5

Book Review: Never Lie by Frieda McFadden

I love and hate this book. Mostly, I wanted to love this book, but parts of it I just really don’t like, so I can’t in good conscience give it a five-star review. In order to demonstrate why I hated parts of this book, I will have to spoil some of the ending, so I’ll start with the non-spoilery parts, and let you know when there’s no turning back. Tricia and her new husband

Book Review: Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

I found myself on a five-hour flight for a trip this summer and realized too late that I forgot to load some new books onto my Kindle. To be fair—this is a long trip and there were nine million details to remember beforehand, so I’m not too mad at myself for forgetting this one task. That, and I already had a few books loaded on my device. After scanning through the list of titles I had

Choose Your Own Publishing Adventure: Traditional or Self-Publishing?

I get a lot of emails from newer writers who’ve finished their first book but have no idea what to do with it. At the very beginning of your writing journey, there’s a ton of advice out there, and it’s hard to tell the good from the bad. There are also a lot of scams out there, ready to cheat starry-eyes new authors out of their cash, so I don’t like to tell new writers, “Just Google it,” when

How to Make a Short Story into a Bound Booklet to Sell

I enjoy setting up a table at conventions and events to meet other pop culture and sci-fi nerds like myself and sell copies of my books to potential fans. I decided to try an experiment recently and offer something smaller and cheaper than a full-length novel which would still give readers a taste of my style. Short stories are a natural vehicle for this, so I made an affordable and

Everything About Ebooks

I do a lot of ebook formatting. Mostly because I enjoy it, but also becausethere are other authors and publishers who know they need an ebook version oftheir book, but have no idea how to put that together. I’ve seenthis perspective a lot:I don’t know what exactly an ebook is, but I know I need one. Icurrently do most of my reading on my little Kindle Paperwhite but recognizethat a lot of

Book Review: People Like Her by Ellery Lloyd

“Breathlessly fast (it’s not), brilliantly originally (it wasn’t).” I really wanted to like this book, but I finally tossed it to the floor while uttering, “Good riddance,” about two-thirds of the way through. I still feel qualified to write a review since I read most of it. Usually, I try to be pretty positive in book reviews, but screw it—this one will be a rant. I

Book Review: My Best Friend's Exorcism

I bought this book because the cover reminded me of Post-High School Reality Quest by Meg Eden—which I loved—so I had to give this book a go. Let me cut to the chase: I’m not a big fan of horror. That said, I loved this book. In high school, a bunch of friends in my church youth group and I would get together to watch all those terrible paranormal movies with people getting possessed, visions of

The Benefits of Listening to Music While Writing

I’ve been learning a lot about ADHD and how it makes my brain tick differently since being diagnosed in the past year, and something that I didn’t anticipate being as game-changing as it is has been listening to music while I work and write. The extra stimulus listening to music provides is just enough to keep me focused on a task I might otherwise have trouble sticking with.Just an

Memory Clear: A New Sci-fi Thriller Novel by Beth Martin

I am thrilled to announce that my new book, Memory Clear, will be hitting shelves on April 1st, 2023!Memory Clear is a thriller novel that follows the story of Marco Sinclair, a scientist who developed a revolutionary drug that erases targeted memories. When Marco discovers an antidote that can reverse the drug's effects, he begins recalling memories he thought were long forgotten, leading him on

Motion Sickness and Virtual Reality: Tips and Games for a Better Experience

I am about to admit something embarrassing: I suffer from crazy motion sickness. If I spin in a circle, I immediately want to throw up. As a kid, I was the one who barfed after riding the teacups, screamed to pull over on car trips, and hated riding on ferries. As I’ve gotten older, it’s only gotten worse. I can’t ride carnival rides or even a merry-go-round without disastrous consequences, and I