Bethany Maines's Blog, page 9
February 26, 2020
By Genre!
Originally posted on the Stiletto Gang – 02.26.20
One of the best parts about blogging with the Stiletto Gang is hearing about the spectrum of genres that the authors work in. But I work in several and I know that can get confusing for readers, so here’s a primer of genres and how they apply to me.
Mystery – A detective either professional or amateur must attempt to solve a mystery, usually a murder. In my San Juan Island Mystery series amateur detectives Tish (an ex-actress) and her grandfather Tobias (an ex-CIA agent) solve murders in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.
Learn more: www.bethanymaines.com/sanjuanislandmysteries/
Crime – The main plot revolves around some form of crime. There can be elements of deduction and mystery, but the main elements involve some sort of criminal behavior. In my Shark Santoyo Series, Shark is attempting to navigate his way out of the criminal life, but faces enemies on both sides of the law.
Learn more: www.bethanymaines.com/shark-santoyo/
Thriller – While a mystery detective finds a crime and steps in to solve things, the thriller protagonist has the crime happen to them and must fight their way out to simply get back to his or her ordinary life. In my Deveraux Legacy Series, the Deveraux family must face a series of antagonists who seek to bring them down.
Learn more: www.bethanymaines.com/the-deveraux-legacy/
Romance – A book where the relationship between the two protagonists takes center stage. The best part about Romance is that like a good wine, it pairs well with anything. Most of my novels contain an element of romance, but not all of them push the romance to the forefront. But in the Deveraux Legacy series, each of the cousins will find love while battling the baddies, making the series genre “Romantic Thriller”.
Want a free romantic thriller from me? Get Blue Christmas today: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/to271maetc
Science-Fiction – Sci-fi explores the future of science and humanity as they intertwine. I participate in an anthology series called Galactic Dreams that translates fairy tales to science-fiction. Each author in the anthology assists in building the shared universe of Galactic Dreams, meaning that each of our stories share the same background, timeline and rules.
Learn more: www.bethanymaines.com/galactic-dreams/
Fantasy – Fantasy stories contain elements of magic and wonder. My mother read us The Hobbit when we were quite young and so I always assumed that fantasy was something that everyone enjoyed. Then I grew up and realized that some people think that it’s not “real” literature (what does that even mean?!) and sometimes hate it for appearing to have no rules if magic can simply make things happen. So fantasy is my little secret. I don’t write a lot of it, but I periodically dabble to make myself happy.
Learn more: www.bethanymaines.com/scifi-fantasy/
January 21, 2020
Release Day for An Unfamiliar Sea!
An Unfamiliar Sea officially launches this week! An Unfamiliar Sea is a classic mystery with two sleuths: 28-year-old Tish Yearly and her 79-year-old grandfather Tobias. Tish and Tobias navigate the rocky waters of living together in Tobias’s house on Orcas Island in the San Juan Island of Washington state, solve murders, and try to keep their dog Coats from getting diabetes.
This series was inspired by the time I spent assisting my grandmother before she moved out of her house, my childhood trips to Orcas Island and by those enduring one hour mystery shows like Murder She Wrote, Matlock, and Psych. For me those shows were always about enjoying the quirks and foibles of the characters as much as the mystery. I enjoyed the puzzle of working out how someone died, but I loved seeing how the strengths and weaknesses of the detective would play out each week and how they would triumph in the end. And if you ever read any of my books, you’ll quickly realize that I like books with lots of chuckles and quick banter and these books are no exception. From Tish and Tobias arguing about condolence pie to the neighbors and who all have opinions on Tish’s dating life I try to keep readers laughing too hard to figure out the mystery (but good for you if you do!). So if you want a mystery that makes you smile and feels like an island vacation between two covers, then please take a trip to the San Juan’s with Tish and Tobias Yearly.
**
AN UNFAMILIAR SEA
In a storm, you never know which way is home.
Tish Yearly is about to open a wedding venue on Orcas Island, in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. All she wants is to sail through her first wedding, figure out why her best friend isn’t talking to her, and tell her grandfather she’s dating someone he doesn’t approve of. But before she can get to any of that, Tish’s favorite employee turns up dead—apparently drowned in four inches of water. Now Tish, and her grandfather, former CIA agent and current curmudgeon and licensed P.I. Tobias Yearly, are wading through the suspects including a meth-cooking uncle, a brother with anger-management issues, and the mysterious island drug kingpin, who may or may not be going straight. Tish is attempting to navigate this unfamiliar sea, but she may not be able to weather the storms to find her way home.
Learn more about Tish Yearly: Dru’s Book Musings Character Interview
Buy the book: Amazon
January 8, 2020
How to Craft a Mystery
Step One: Read the paper and/or listen to your weird uncle to learn about strange ways people have died recently. This usually involves blurting out something like “ooh, another dead body!” while snatching up the paper in the middle of the busy hour at a coffee shop.
Bonus Points: If someone shuffles away from you at the coffee shop, collect an additional 20 Murderer Alert points!
Step Two: Having decided on your method of death it’s time for research! Start googling all sorts of things that will help you cover up your crime. Also, go on a vacation to the place that you plan on putting your dead body.
Bonus Points: If you can say “This is a good place to kill someone!” in an aggressively cheerful manner to the person at the tourist bureau who just wants to help, collect an additional 20 Walking Sociopath points!
Step Three: Sit down and write the book. This is the boring bit, but it does come with fun voices in your head to talk to.
Bonus Points: If you finish the manuscript, collect an additional 20 I Have No Life points!
Step Four: Realize that there is a plot-hole in your book and go back to step three.
Bonus Points: If you don’t become an alcoholic, collect an additional 20 At Least I’m Not an Asshole Like Hemingway points!
Step Five: Get your book back from the editor and give back your Hemingway points while you try to get over the stupid, stupid, stupid edits.
Bonus Points: Look, you’ve got a complete book at this points, you shouldn’t need stupid bonus points, but hey, if that’s what keeps you going, then take 5 I Need a Cookie points.
Step Six: Release the book into the wild and realize that you are a winner!
An Unfamiliar Sea will be available on 1.21.20Tish Yearly just opened a wedding venue on Orcas Island in Washington State and one of her employees just drowned in four inches of water. Now it’s up to Tish and her grandfather Tobias Yearly, the 79-year-old ex-CIA agent and current private investigator, to find out who could have wanted the sweet waitress dead.
December 24, 2019
Merry Christmas!
Some years I’m more into the Christmas spirit than others. This year I started listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving. I’ve squeezed in my favorite Christmas movies – White Christmas and Die Hard. I have decorated the mantle with every single Christmas card, including the one from the distant family friends that came with a two page letter (who has the time for that??). And I have wrapped all the presents and bought all the stuffs. Christmas is happening at my place.
But not all years are filled with the Yuletide joy. And I do remember a few seasons in which I wanted to stab the eye out of the next bell ringer and I deeply resonated with Hans Gruber. Well, I mean to be honest, I still resonate with Hans Gruber. Who doesn’t want 600 million in bearer bonds and who wouldn’t get mad about some stupid NYC cop ruining a perfectly good heist? I mean, really.
But whether you’re feeling like curling up away from everyone with a good book (ahem, here’s a few you might like – Bethany Maines on Amazon) or you’re going to be rocking it with family and friends – I wish you a Merry Christmas and a restful vacation. And as Hans once said, “It’s Christmas, Theo — it’s the time of miracles.” So maybe this year we’ll all get our Christmas wishes (and 600 million in bearer bonds).
December 11, 2019
Time to Get Serial
This week (12/9 – 12/13) one of my short stories, Oh, Holy Night, is being serialized on Frolic – the site for all things romance. Oh, Holy Night is a Christmas romance involving bank robbery, coffee, and best friends. And while I’m always ecstatic to sell and share one of my stories, I have to say that I’m a little more over the moon about this story because of the significance of serialized stories in the history of writing.
Most people think of Charles Dickens when they think of serialized stories. And although A Christmas Carol was not serialized, his Pickwick Papers (1836) was written and shared in nineteen installments, each costing a shilling. Partially, the success was due to the format of bite-size, cliff-hanger segments sold in a time when people couldn’t dash off and find entertainment on their phones. But, let’s think about that for just a moment. Now that we can dash off and find entertainment at any moment of the day, wouldn’t now be the perfect time for bite-size, cliff-hanger segments of a story? The old adventure movies captured this idea in the early days of film with short movies that were meant to keep you coming back next Saturday or at the least for the next reel. Have you ever wondered why some movies (ex: James Bond) will give you a 15 minute opening adventure before cutting to the credits? Thank the early days of film when complete reels were 15 minutes long and the projectionist needed to hustle to change reels. Current television has captured this format with long story lines and cliff-hanger episodes and then broken the mold by allowing everyone to binge watch all the episodes at once. The idea of writing extended stories that leave the reader wanting more with each chapter is a unique skill that is hard to master. One that I’m sure I haven’t mastered it yet, but one that I’m excited to work on.
If you Pop over to Frolic to read Oh, Holy Night for free and check out my effort at a serialized story!
November 27, 2019
Dead Zone
Welcome to the day where no one is on-line, but everyone is at the grocery store. Hopefully, you are successfully home from such an excursion and have yet to launch into the holiday madness of bake, travel, eat, travel, flop face first onto the pile of laundry on your bed because you didn’t have time to put it away before you left. My hope for you, dear reader, is that your home with your feet up reading a good book and sipping hot cocoa, cider, or the nog of your choice. That is also my dream for myself, so let’s dream the impossible dream together.
The dream starts with good books. Here are some of mine that you can snag for a quick, easy and cheap!
Blue Christmas – Want a hilarious romantic holiday thriller? Simply join my newsletter and get this one for free. It’s as easy as that.
Link: bethanymaines.com/free-e-book/
An Unseen Current – Murder, mystery, a hunky Sheriff’s Deputy, a granddaughter / granddad detective duo, oh, and there’s a dog. The third in the series, An Unfamiliar Sea, comes out in January. Grab book one for $.99!
Link: Amazon
Shark’s Instinct – Crime, humor, and a heroine and hero that are more than they seem, the Shark Santoyo Series follows a duo that have the odds stacked against them. Buy book one for $.99 or check it out on Kindle Unlimited.
Link: Amazon
Now let’s talk Nog. I personally do not believe in egg nog. Too much egg. Not enough nog. But I do believe in cocktails. So with that in mind I suggest the Moscow Mule. Served in a festive copper cup (but really can be drunk out of anything) try this drink with a slice of lime as a garnish.
Main alcohol: Vodka
Ingredients: 4 oz Ginger beer, 1 1/2 oz Vodka, 1/6 oz Lime juice
Preparation: Combine vodka and ginger beer in a copper mug or highball glass filled with ice. Add lime juice. Stir gently and garnish with a lime slice.
Served: On the rocks; poured over ice.
Drinkware: Copper mug or highball glass
Good luck out there my friends. Don’t let the holidays be anything less than jolly!
November 13, 2019
Reviews
Ahhhhhh… The soothing feeling of not being in a mad marketing scramble.
Being in a post-book release time frame is both relaxing and a little bit of a let-down. The majority of sales happen around the book release week and after that, there’s just general marketing and gulp, waiting for reviews to come in. Reviews, believe it or not, are quite hard to come by. In a world where literally every service seems to ask for you to thumbs up, rate, review, rave about, the good old fashioned recommendation of a book has become both more important and yet, even harder to get.
Readers get intimidated by the process – do I need to write a book report? Ahhhhhh!!!! The answer to that one is no. Short reviews are frequently the best. For example, here’s the latest review for The Second Shot…
“A drunken mistake in college cost U.S. Marshal Maxwell Ames the love of Dominique Deveraux and six years later, he’s determined to fix the slip-up. But there’s just one tiny problem. When I started reading I couldn’t put it down. Bethany Maines is magnificent and amazing writer. I cannot wait to read more of her books. Keep up the great work. You should definitely read this book. Can’t wait for the next book.”Now obviously any review that calls me an amazing writer is going to be tops with me, but beyond that, the reviewer did the one thing that is required in a review – said what she liked. Then she gave it a rating and moved on with life. No synopsis, spoilers, no over thinking or hard work. Read the book, reacted, bam, done.
Then readers think – does it really matter if I leave a review? Short answer, yes, it really, really does. Even on older books? YES!! There are some marketing options that I can only get if I have enough reviews or a high enough rating. Your kind words really matter. And of course, saying I’m an awesome writer is the kind of thing that keeps me going when some meanie leaves me a two star review. (It happens to everyone, we are breathing, we are breathing, and letting it go…)
So to anyone who has left a book review, even if it wasn’t for one of my books, I say thank you. And if you’d like to give a writer a gift… may I suggest leaving a review on Amazon, BookBub, or Goodreads.
October 23, 2019
The Second Shot Goes Live
Have you ever seen one of those Looney Tunes characters just runs around screaming? That feels like me today. I mean, I’m trying to keep it contained, but… inside I look like this.
My latest novel, The Second Shot, is now available to the public and that means that people will (hopefully) buy it and then (ack!) read it. Today is the day that we see if all of my writing, marketing, and general daydreaming has paid off. I’ll be celebrating the release with on-line “take-over” parties and giveaways.
GIVEAWAYS:
Enter to win 1 of 10 print copies on Goodreads – giveaway ends 10/26 – CLICK HERE TO ENTER
Enter to win a $40 Amazon card and a signed copy on Facebook – CLICK HERE TO ENTER
Meet me online and maybe get more free stuff!
October 25: Take-Over of Next Steps PR Facebook Page
October 30: BestStellars BestSellers Release Party (stay tuned for who’s partying!)
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY:
The Second Shot is a thriller/mystery dished up with a heavy side of romance. Think that sounds like you’re cup of tea, but aren’t quite ready to commit? Read the first chapter at: bethanymaines.com/the-second-shot-chapter-1
WHAT ITS ABOUT:
A drunken mistake in college cost US Marshal Maxwell Ames the affection of Dominique Deveraux and six years later, he’s determined to fix the slip-up. But there’s just one tiny problem—someone wants the Deveraux family dead. Dominique Deveraux never expected Max to reappear in her life, let alone apologize, but as Dominique investigates the mysterious attacks on her wealthy family Max quickly becomes far more than her one time college classmate. Now, Max and Dominique must dodge mercenaries and bullets as they try to make sure that they’re the only ones who get a second shot.
Buy on all platforms: https://books2read.com/The-Second-Shot
October 8, 2019
The Marketing Paradox
A funny thing happens when you begin marketing book. Suddenly a project that has been intensely personal becomes public property. And even worse, once it’s public, the public begin to have opinions about it. (The nerve!) And as much as an author wants everyone to universally love our precious baby novel, not everyone is going to. From reading while in a bad mood, to just not being someone’s cup of tea, not everyone is going to like a book.
But even if everything does go as smoothly as possible and someone does love the book, suddenly ownership becomes shared with everyone who loves it. The story takes up residence in someone else’s head which, for an author who has had those characters living in her head for months or years, is intensely strange and disconcerting. With each book I write I start out wanting to share about it immediately. It’s like falling in love. You’ve met these wonderful, hilarious, romantic, daring people and you want to tell everyone about them. But as I move into the marketing stage I find that in some ways I become more protective of my characters and story. Please love that one even though I’ve made him annoying. And don’t make fun of her – she has hidden depths! Although, yes, go ahead and hate him. We all should hate him.
Except that a book needs to be shared to be successful. I want strangers to talk about it, readers to review it, and friends to share it. Those things are literally what make a book a success. It is a very strange dichotomy of wanting to shout as loud as possible while at the same time hoping nobody looks at me while I’m doing it. So nobody look at me while I say this next bit…
The Second Shot is coming out in two weeks!!! Please share the news with others.
A drunken mistake in college cost US Marshall Maxwell Ames the love of Dominique Deveraux. Six years later, he’s determined to fix the slip-up, but there’s just one tiny problem: someone wants the Deveraux family dead. Now Max must make sure that the only one getting a second shot at Dominique is him.
Pre-Order on all Epub Platforms
Want a chance to win a free print edition of The Second Shot? Enter to win at Goodreads!
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Second Shot
by Bethany Maines
Giveaway ends October 26, 2019.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
September 25, 2019
All the News!
The Second Shot – Release Date: 10.24.19
My romantic suspense novel was named a Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association 2019 Finalist in the Romance category! Although, I have to admit, my love story shares it’s DNA with a mystery-thriller I’m extremely excited and proud of this award. It was also featured in Frolic – the online magazine for people who love love-stories. And it has made it onto the Goodreads “Most Anticipated Release for October” List. This list is voted on by Goodreads readers, so if you’re on Goodreads, please go vote The Second Shot! You can also enter to win one of 10 signed print copies through Goodreads. Use the widget to enter. AND, last but not least, there’s a Rafflecopter Giveaway for a $25 Amazon Giftcard. Entering is easy, just go click a few things and follow me on social media and you’re entered!
Read the exclusive Frolic Excerpt Here >>>READ ME!
Vote for The Second Shot on Goodreads >>>VOTE HERE!
Enter to win $25 Amazon Giftcard >>>ENTER HERE!
Pre-Order on Apple iBooks >>>ORDER NOW!
Coming 2020!
An Unfamiliar Sea – Book 3 of the San Juan Islands Mysteries will be released in January.
Tish and Tobias Yearly are back to business finding bodies, solving mysteries and delivering death pie to the bereaved.
Shark’s Fin & Peregrine’s Flight – Book 4 of the Shark Santoyo Series, along with a Peregrine Hays centered novella, will be released in late April of 2020.
Shark and Peri are finally facing down mob-boss Geier and no one is safe.
The Cinderella Secret – Book 2 of The Deveraux Legacy will be released in October.
Aiden Deveraux has a secret – he’s not the Prince Charming he pretends to be and the Deveraux enemies are about to find that out.
Pending
Short Stories – I have two out on submission – stay tuned for whether or not they get accepted into their respective publications!
Galactic Dreams Volume 3 – After taking a hiatus for 2020, Galactic Dreams, the Blue Zephyr Press Sci-Fairy Tale anthology, will be back in 2021!
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Goodreads Book Giveaway
The Second Shot
by Bethany Maines
Giveaway ends October 26, 2019.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
