Beth Martin's Blog, page 6

My Favorite Pets on Adopt Me: Because Why Not?

I posted recently about how I started playing Roblox with my kids last year andlisted some of my favorite games. The game that I play the most on the platformisAdopt Me, an adorable game where you roleplay as families and raise cute pets. I wantedto share a little more of my love for the game by featuring a few of my favoritepets that I have collected in the game. Functionally, all the pets

Book Review: Post High School Reality Quest by Meg Eden

I haven’t been picking up young adult books recently because they typically deal with the theme of finding your place in the world—a theme that I don’t relate to at this point in my life. However, I saw the cover of this book and quickly decided to make an exception. To be specific, I was at the bookstore and saw this book on the shelf and thought, Wow, that’s a really terrible

Artificial Creativity: The Making of a Book Cover with AI Art

I recently sharedmy perspective on AI as an authoron this website. When I got a newsletter from an author friend of mine, I wasamazed by the new covers they had created for one of their book series. Later, Ilearned they used Midjourney to help create the artwork on the cover.Thoroughlyinspired, I decided that I needed to make my own cover using AI designtools. At first, I was tempted to

Build Your Writing Community

Image created by MidjourneyWriting can be a lonely and solitary activity, but it doesn’t have to be. I’ve found that building a community of writers around me has helped. Although my work isn’t collaborative, it’s better after getting workshopped by my critique group. More importantly, I’ve grown as a writer because of my interactions and friendships with fellow writers. They’ve been helpful and

Roblox Games Worth Checking Out Today

Image created using MidjourneyI’m quickly coming up to my one-year anniversary of joining Roblox. I initially got into the game at the behest of my kids, and now I play it almost as much as they do. Not only is it a great online platform with family-friendly content, but it also has free and accessible tools for you to make your own game. I’m currently putting together a maze game where players

New Short Story and Plans for 2023

Happy New Year, 2023!I’m the kind of person who gets excited for the new year and new beginnings. I have so many plans and goals for 2023 and wanted to share a few of them.First of all, I wrapped up 2022 by publishing my short story "Inter Reality". It’s a fun and thought-provoking piece that follows a woman who wakes up every day in a different reality. Currently, you can snag a copy from Amazon

Soybeans: They’re Everywhere and in Everything and There’s No Escape

I discovered I have a Soybean allergy over five years ago, and it has been the bane of my existence ever since. How I discovered the allergy is not relevant—and not a particularly entertaining story—but since I’ve slowly uncovered just how pervasive soy is and that it is used in literally everything.At first, I thought it was simply a food intolerance since foods with soy gave me an awful stomach

AI Art: An Author’s Perspective

I follow a few artists on YouTube and have watched numerous videos of themplaying with a new tool: computer AI which can create original images. Give theAI a text prompt like, “cyberpunk city crowded with people holding umbrellasduring a thunderstorm,” and it will produce images to fit the description. AllArtists ask the same question: Will this AI Art tool replace human artists?   But

Get the Most out of NaNoWriMo

Image created using DALL·E, an AI system by OpenAI.https://labs.openai.com/s/cT8JF1AJr3i... Happy Halloween! I love a holiday all aboutdressing up in fun costumes, visiting all the neighbors, and eating candy.Anything thing that I love about Halloween is that the day after marks thebeginning of NaNoWriMo.For those of you not

Why I Always Give Out a Non-Candy Item for Halloween

I’m firmly in the ‘candy is fun and a great sometimes treat’ camp and let mykids eat lots of candy every Halloween. Honestly, trick-or-treating is one of myfavorite traditions—wear goofy costumes, visit all your neighbors, and collectcandy. Plus, there’s no pressure to partake in some big family gathering, makingit a perfect, laid-back holiday (at least how I celebrate it).There’snothing