Beth Overmyer's Blog: The Blog of Beth Overmyer

Beth and the Giant Stack of Books to Overcome or be Overcome by

I’m reading quite a few things right now. Some I read from within the past few days. Others? It’s been a while. Like YEARS a while. Also, my TBR (to be read) pile is HUGE! Let’s take a look, shall we?

The book I’m about to start reading is A Trinket for the Taking by Victoria Laurie. It looks like it might be a good comparison title for my current WIP (work in progress), whose name I have not put out there…yet. Here’s a blurb for “Trinket”:

“Dovey Van Dalen has a gorgeous day planned fo...

Comps Don’t Have to be the Absolute Bane of My Existence AKA Why Do I Do This

Comparative titles (aka comp titles) are something that has baffled me on and off again for the past…thirteen years? But who’s counting? What is a comp title, you ask? In a writer’s world, it’s a book or other piece of IP (intellectual property) that shares themes, ideas, and/or tropes in common with your book. And they can be pretty darn hard to figure out after you’ve finished writing your novel. It gets worst: most publishers want to see at least two, sometimes more. Gulp.

So how does ...

A Lovely Day at the Library Author Fair Plus Writerly Updates

Two weeks ago from tomorrow, I participated in the Ritter Public Library’s third annual local author fair. Sadly, I have no photographic evidence of this, as neither my mom (who was my assistant) nor my sister (who came for the last hour) nor I thought to capture the day. Oh, well.

It was a nice turn-out. I was stationed away from everyone else near one of the entrances and an elevator, so I got to see a fair amount of people. If I do the fair again, I’m going to send out postcard invitat...

Fifteen Authors I’ve Read Five or More Titles by

I’ve seen the challenge going around (hi, Gail Carriger! I see you did this last year): name authors you’ve read at least five books by.

For me, I had to go back through my Goodreads list. This is what I came up with:

#1 – Agatha Christie

To date I’ve read twenty-four novels by the Queen of Mystery, and they are as follows:

– And Then There Were None

– N or M?

– A Pocket Full of Rye

– Towards Zero

– Curtain

– The ABC Murders

– Three Act Tragedy

– Third Girl

...

Fantastical Fiction: Week of a book release…and I throw in a bingo card for good measure

Earlier this week (on Tuesday, to be precise) the third Blade & Bone book, Forged, was published by Flame Tree Press! Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered. If you contacted me with your mailing address, I’ll be shipping your incentive gift within the weeks to come.

Here is a bingo card of what to expect from the book:

Thank you for reading! Please be sure to rate and/or review on Goodreads and/or the site you bought Forged from. It cannot be said enough: word of mouth sells books.

Bet...

In a Pickle: a middle grade book cover reveal

A big thanks to Abdullah and the team at Book Cover Hub for the excellent cover they made for In a Pickle! And a huge thanks to my online friend Edward for formatting the e-book and paperback editions!

This middle grade book released originally as an e-book from a small press (MuseItYoung, an imprint of MuseItUp Publishing) which sadly has since closed its doors. Thankfully, I retained all the rights, so I have no rereleased it into the world.

Here’s what the book is about: As if angry...

Happiest Fourth of July Plus Some Fun Savings and Offers

Happy Independence Day, USA!

How are you celebrating today? I’m going to stay in and comfort the cats during fireworks time. They hate those loud booms, and I do as well. Thankfully, Relax My Cat music is on Spotify and YouTube, so I have something to helps soothe them.

Say, I just wanted to remind you all that the e-book for Brittle (Blade & Bone 1) is still free in the USA, Canada, the UK, and Australia. If you wouldn’t mind downloading it from wherever you like to get books, that wo...

A Writer’s Quick and Painless Guide to Naming a Book

          Naming your book can be harder than naming your first born. For a child, you can go to sites like or Baby Names; but besides the occasional random title generator you might stumble upon, there is no easy way to slap a good title to your writing.

          This is the part where I say, “Or is there?” Ahem. There isn’t really, but here are some methods that might help:

Write a short synopsis of your project. Go through and look at all the important nouns, prope...

Pre-order Incentives for Forged, Final Book of the Blade and Bone Trilogy

Here we go again! Forged (Blade & Bone 3) comes out on July 15th, and I am offering pre-order incentives.

For the first 25 people to pre-order, I will be sending:

– 2 bath bombs (either coffee, tangerine, or vanilla*)

– 1 signed bookplate

– 1 button or enamel pin (details still being worked out)

– 1 bookmark

For the first 25 people to request that their library pre-order, I will send:

– 1 bookmark

– 1 button or enamel pin (details still being worked out)

To partici...

Scrumptious Slice of Swiss Roll: Baking With Beth…and Writing Fantastical Fiction

Tuesday saw me making my second-ever attempt at a chocolate swiss roll with a whipped cream filling. What is a swiss roll, you ask? You’re missing out, my friend, and should see what Paul Hollywood has to say on making them.

For me, two things were done incorrectly: 1) the eggs whites were whipped to soft peaks not stiff, 2) the pan was too large. If I had whipped the egg whites more and poured it all into an 8”x11” inch pan, I don’t think we would be having such a bummer of a conversa...