The Montanari Universe

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The Montanari Universe

My third book with Varus Publishing is now available! CurseLocked is book three in the Montanari Universe series.  Each novel in the series is connected by the character of Dante Montanari, a four-hundred-year old dragon shifter. When I came up with the idea for the series I intended to use Dante simply as a spark to ignite each story.  I liked the idea that we all make waves in the world and we don’t know what shores they will reach.  So as Dante moves through the world his actions have impact on individuals in both positive and negative ways.

The Series So Far

Heart's Curse, book 1 of the Montanari Universe seriesIn Heart’s Curse, Dante puts his employee Lucas Kane in charge of the Lucky Heart Hotel & Casino.  Lucas has one goal—make the Lucky Heart a success and prove to Dante that he’s capable of being in charge of the Vegas portfolio.  Unfortunately for Lucas – the Lucky Heart is cursed and only Charlotte Auvray, a witch with no powers, can save him.

In Forged in Flame, Dante’s nephew Dalton Rosetti doesn’t want to go to Hawaii for the wedding of a business associate—until Dante forces him to go. Dante needs someone to follow up on the daughter of an old associate.  But when the wedding rehearsal dinner goes disastrously wrong, Dalton ends up meeting his mate, only to find out that she’s being hunted by dragon slayers.

And now in CurseLocked, Dante’s acquires an ancient dragon-crafted jade key is stolen by one of his employees—Rose Ashfield.  But Rose is desperate, hunted, and cursed.  But when Dante sends his top tracker Jace Kormos after her, Rose and Jace discover that they may be fated mates.

Dante Montanari

But as the series has continued, I have discovered that Dante’s character is far more interesting than I had originally intended. And I’ve also started having to keep a timeline document as the stories start to overlap.  Being a mystery writer has helped with this portion because I have a good deal of practice keeping track of timelines and clues.  And with all those dangling threads and overlapping storylines there (of course) needed to be an info graphic.

I can also tell that at some point Dante will require his own book because with a lifetime that stretches centuries there are a lot of adventures to share. So with each book I share a little more of Dante’s personality and past and I hope that everyone will enjoy reading the easter eggs and clues that I reveal. Or perhaps they will simply wonder how this dragon guy got involved in their perfectly good love story.

What do you think? Is it fun to have a linking character in a series or do you prefer each book to truly stand alone?

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Bethany Maines is an award-winning author of mysteries and romance. Bethany brings a fierce sense of adventure—and humor—to everything she does from world travel for the snacks to Cerberus cosplay and baking for the plot. When she’s not wrangling a daughter, a deadline, or a spreadsheet of character arcs, she’s usually found teaching karate or working on her next novel / screenplay. But whatever the problem she’s got a plot—and a spreadsheet—for it. A member of the Mystery Writers of America Northwest Chapter, a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and the co-runner of The Stiletto Gang blog, Bethany writes under the names Bethany Maines and Sirena Corbeau. You can find her at: bethanymaines.com or catch up with her on Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Learn more about the Stiletto Gang: About Us

Is it Time to Face Your Fears?

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October is Halloween time, when holiday shenanigans are supposed to bring thrills and chills of the playful sort. I was reminded of this while shopping at Costco last week and had the stuffing scared out of me by the ear-spiltting roar of an 8-foot tall, vicious-looking animatronic werewolf with glowing green eyes and fangs dripping blood. Scary enough to lead even the most avid candy hound to swear off trick-or-treating forever.

Some people enjoy experiencing fear. I’m thinking of the bungee jumping nuts who thrill at the scariest, deepest drop designed to hurl them toward the ground from dizzying heights. Skydivers, too. They say it’s the adrenaline rush they’re chasing.

Scarier than Halloween?

I’m a fan of adrenaline, except when it’s coupled with an existential threat. October also brings us a national holiday for one of those, too. It’s National Cybersecurity Month, and this year, speaking of existential threats, we learned of a new one of those when the exalted heads of AI companies admitted they’re afraid we are heading for an immanent bot-led destruction of life on earth as we know it.

But before we start cowering under our duvets and quilts, October also promises an antidote. For lo, today is also National Face Your Fears Day, founded to encourage us to break away from any anxiety that holds us back from pursuing our dreams.

Most writers suffer from all kinds of fear. Will my writing be any good? Will readers like it, or am I wasting my time? And the biggest fear of all, that  intimidating blank page glaring at us and daring us to fill it with something meaningful.

Early on in my writing career, I read a quote from Vincent van Gogh which still gives me courage today as I ponder whether I’m good enough to achieve my next goal. Perhaps his words will help you move forward, too:

Many artists are afraid of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the truly passionate artist who dares. Life always turns toward us an infinitely meaningless, discouraging, dispiriting blank canvas. But however meaningless, however dead life appears, the person of faith, of energy, and who knows something, doesn’t let himself be discouraged. He steps in and acts.

Thanks for that, Vincent.

Dare to step out of your comfort zone?

Motivational speakers often offer us tips for overcoming our doubts with suggestions like these:

Make a list of what scares you. Think of creative ways to make it seem silly. Imagine how would life be different if you overcame the fear that’s holding you back? What’s the worst thing that could happen if you dared? Give yourself a little nudge to move forward. Start with something smalll: the phone call you keep postponing, the conversation you’ve rehearsed twenty times and never spoken.

Or, you can abandon the whole idea and choose to celebrate a more fun National Day today. Here are a couple of other good ones to choose from: Today is also National M&M’s Day (created by Forrest Mars during the Spanish American War) and also National No Bra Day.

Better yet, celebrate everything everywhere, all at once by removing that wretched undergarment, packing up a big a bag of M&M’s and eating them while jumping off the high dive, or whatever gives you pleasure.

What’s been your greatest fear, and how did you overcome it?

       

 Gay Yellen’s award-winning writing career began in magazine journalism. She later served as the contributing editor for the international thriller, Five Minutes to Midnight (Delacorte), which debuted as a New York Times “New & Notable.” Her Samantha Newman Mystery Series is packed with suspense and laced with touches of romance, heart, and humor.  Available on Amazon or to order through your favorite bookseller.

 

 

Artificial Intelligence, a Friend… or a Foe?

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by Gay Yellen

Recently, our local newspaper devoted an entire page of articles with disturbing headlines on the subject. The lead essay announced this: AI-HUMAN HYBRID EYED TO PREVENT ROGUE AI. My mind’s eye instantly conjured up the scary image of a human-robot cyborg. Hard to say what form it might actually take, but there’s no comfort in this quote from a co-founder of the tech start-up behind the idea: “I think we still have a lot to learn from humans.” Gee, thanks.

The second headline felt like a slap in the face:

AI COMPANIES DESTROYING MORE BOOKS THAN YOU THINK. People who write for a living are painfully aware of the literary larceny perpetrated by e-book pirate sites that secretly clone our books for their own profit. But this topic goes beyond the personal.

Scott Brown, a seller of rare books in Portland, Oregon, is up in arms against AI companies that slice off a book’s bindings before scanning the pages and dumping what’s left. The majority of those tomes may result from the glut of over-ordered, unsold “best-sellers,” but too often, rare books are also turned into mulch, despite alternate scanning methods that do not harm the original. I’m currently researching a subject that reaches back centuries, and it’s already hard enough to find original accounts from those years. The thought of losing even one rare resource is… well, I don’t want to think about it.

Old-fashioned copycat plagiarism still happens, too.

It happened to me when I was the editor of a national monthly magazine. The perpetrator was a freelancer from Australia who was looking for assignments in the U.S. He dropped off a few work samples with his resume and asked to return the next day to see if I would hire him.

Looking through his material, I spied an article on a topic I’d covered months earlier, so I pulled that one out to read first. By the end of the second paragraph, the words seemed eerily familiar. Long story short, he had blatantly copied—word for word and comma for comma—a piece I’d written for an issue we’d published months before. The only difference was his name in the byline instead of mine.

Now that literary larceny has gone digital, it’s much more common. Thank goodness for sites like Writer Beware and professional groups like The Authors Guild and Sisters in Crime to spread the word to help writers fend the off the hoodlums.

We’re told that AI benefits myriad of professions, and it’s true. Even for a writer, it’s useful for quick fact-checking. But too often, the information it spits out is just plain wrong.

I’ve heard that some publishers use AI to flag the increasing number of bot-written submissions in their over-burdened slush piles. Sounds good. But apparently, an AI weed-eater cannot always distinguish between AI-slop and a truly original manuscript from a human author. It is known to have flagged a legitimate writer’s work for using an em-dash instead of a period or a comma or some other grammatical styling. Almost every author I know employs an em-dash when it’s needed, including me.

Distractions like these can seep into the creative process, leading some authors to second-guess their choices at every turn. Currently, my focus is on the way-back-when, and I rely on sources from centuries ago. Instead of leading me to a list of possible sources, the web often offers up AI summaries in reply to my query. And too often, the bot gets it wrong.

Will human creativity be erased from history?

Will the same happen to humans? An article in the New Yorker some months back contained this quote from the Nobel prize-winning “godfather” of AI, Geoffrey Hinton. “Unless you can be very sure that it’s not going to want to kill you when it grows up, you should worry.”

So, will AI be a benefit to humankind, or be a threat to our existence?

 Gay Yellen’s award-winning writing career began in magazine journalism. She also was the contributing editor for the international thriller, Five Minutes to Midnight (Delacorte), which debuted as a New York Times “Notable.” Her Samantha Newman Mystery Series is packed with suspense and laced with touches of romance, heart, and humor. On Amazon , or to order from your favorite bookseller.

Presidential Humor…

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This post is dedicated to the fearless leaders of our country who have wittily (or not) contributed memorable public statements to be celebrated on National Presidential Joke Day.

Yes, it’s a real thing that comes around every August 11 to commemorate attempts at humor coming from the mouths our Chief Executives, past and present.

Funny, Not Funny?

Although humor was invented millennia ago, the inciting incident for this celebration actually occurred in 1984, when Ronald Reagan was about to launch his regular weekly radio address to the nation. As he frequently did before the broadcast went live, he warmed up his voice with something humorous. Only this time, the feed was already live.

“My fellow Americans,” he intoned in his best Presidential voice, “I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.”

Scrambling to avoid the unleashing of a real-life War of the Worlds, news outlets removed the remark before their broadcasts aired, but it remained on the recording for posterity. It is said that Reagan’s poll numbers dipped for a time after word of his oopsie got out, but at least the Kremlin recognized a joke when they heard it.

George W. Bush was funny without even trying, as evidenced by the several books of humor written about his gaffes.

His speeches even gave birth to a new literary term, Bushisms, that refers to his frequently error–prone speech. Examples include “They misunderestimated me,” and the classic, “Is our children learning?” He was given a Lifetime Achievement award in 2008 for “services to gobbledygook”  by the Plain English Campaign.

Going back in time, we have Herbert Hoover, who once quipped, “Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.” Not sure I’d laugh at that one.

Jokesters in Chief

The best humor, seems to me, comes from presidents who know how to laugh with their audience. Abraham Lincoln was a true quipster. Once accused of being two-faced, Honest Abe is said to have replied, “If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?”

Bob Dole, who wrote a book about Presidential humor (or lack thereof), cited the reason for losing his bid to be Vice President as this: “I didn’t show enough leg.”

In modern times, presidents leaned more and more on speechwriters to insert humor where needed.

At his last White House Correspondents’ dinner, the beleaguered Bill Clinton said he felt sorry for Republicans because they only had seven months left to drive him out of office.

“So little time, so many unanswered questions, he quipped. “For example, over the last few months, I’ve lost ten pounds. Where did they go? Why haven’t they presented them to the independent counsel? How did some of them wind up on… the host of Meet the Press?

If you tuned in to the video of the latest Correspondents Dinner, you might wonder if the current occupier of the White House employed writers at all, or if he was simply putting his own riff on the sterling prose they’d dutifully prepared for him. Based on the facial expressions and body language of his writing staff and other attendees, they  looked like they’d been stricken with food poisoning.

Some presidents just aren’t born jokesters. According to Bob Dole, while  Founding Father John Adams was known as lacking a sense of humor, he was “a sharp-eyes satirist.” But his son, John Quincy Adams was “often cranky and full of insults.”

Several writers have written about dealing with their employers’ public utterances. Liz Carpenter, who spent her White House years as Lady Bird’s secretary told this story about Lyndon Johnson. after his writers sent him what he considered too “highfalutin” because it contained several quotations by Aristotle. According to Carpenter, Johnson snorted, “Those folks don’t know who Aristotle is,” where upon he replaced the attribution with “as my dear old daddy used to say to me…”

I have a feeling there were some head-shakes and slapped foreheads in the Writers’ Room when the staff heard that one.

Which President do you think was the funniest?

 Gay Yellen’s award-winning writing career began in magazine journalism. She later served as the contributing editor for the international thriller, Five Minutes to Midnight (Delacorte), which debuted as a New York Times “Notable.” Her Samantha Newman Mystery Series is packed with suspense and laced with touches of romance, heart, and humor.  Available on Amazon or to order through your favorite bookseller.

Photos are official White House images

 

Spamalot (Not the Musical)

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I’m thinking about venturing into a career as a stand-up comic.

I already have a enough material for a routine full of laugh-out-loud absurdity, delivered to me in the form of dozens of spam emails that arrive in my inbox every month, specifically, the ones that offer me fame and fortune as a best-selling author. All for a handsome fee, of course.

I could riff on every one of their offers, like the one from “Elena” that promises Category optimization | Review velocity strategy | Long-term discoverability.” Wow, she’s really got her corp-speak language down!

*Chloe” tells me that my readers are in the “wellness and niche communities,” whatever that means.  “Lewis,” from the Author Credibility Society, says he’s “creating meaningful conversations in my field.” And “Tim,” from The Philosophical Zurich Club, “an international literary community,” is deeply moved by my writing.

Their real names should be something like A.I. Scam or Chat-Gee P. Tee.

In my new act, I could deliver zingers about the idiots who, after scraping tidbits from my website and other urls where my author info resides, still get it wrong. Yes, “Rachel,” I did once work at a prestigious film organization, but it was not the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Next comes one of my favorites so far, from “Samuel, a literary advisor at QuantumCreative.digital.”

Hi Gay,

I came across your Facebook author page and I have to say — a feature in D Magazine, an author interview, a series with a title as sharp as Sorry Knot Sorry — this is an author with genuine credibility and a clear voice. The work you have done to build visibility in the Dallas literary community is evident and impressive.”

I agree that my esteemed colleague, Lois Winston (the actual author of a book with that clever title), has genuine, award-winning credibility. However, I am the one who earned that national literary award for a series of articles I did for D Magazine in Dallas, back when I was its managing editor.

All of this seemingly unceasing, unscrupulous, and pitiful effort to scam unsuspecting authors is big a waste of time, especially my time, when I could be working on my next book instead of having to daily flush this spam down the toilet. Anyone with a working idea of how to eliminate the constant barrage, please let me know. There may even be a free book in it for you.

And, speaking of free books…

This June is the time for the Stiletto Gang Annual Summer Book Bonanza, when lucky readers can win free e-books from our participating authors. First Prize winner receives one book from each of us. Two runners-up will get 3 books by the Stiletto authors of their choosing. Just sign up on our homepage, and in July, you could be a winner!

In the meantime, if you know any of the aforesaid e-scammers personally, please kick ’em un the shins for me.

Thanks!

Read more about this award-winning author at GayYellen.com…

… and remember to sign up for your chance to sample some of our books. Winners announced next month, Happy Reading!

 

Sisterhood of the Traveling Book featured image

Sisterhood of the Traveling Book

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Traveling to… Vegas Baby!

In a time where AI can make a lot of things appear to be real, I’ve come to value the real life photo that may or may not have the best lighting and might just have some goober tourist in the background. So recently, when a friend of mine traveled to Vegas and took my book with her, I was thrilled to get pics of my book traveling up and down the Vegas strip.

Traveling Homeward

Heart’s Curse (under my new paranormal romance pen name Sirena Corbeau) takes place in Vegas at the Lucky Heart Hotel & Casino.  Newly acquired by the Montanari Corporation, and given to Lucas Kane to run, the Lucky Heart has one teeny, tiny, not that big of a deal problem… It’s cursed.  Which means that this is a story about love, and romance, and also ghosts, blood pouring from the faucets, and—whoopsies—that darn curse that’s turning everyone into psychotic zombies which might not be that big of a problem if the hotel didn’t employ mobsters, vampires, and shifters.  I thought it was the perfect vacation book and was happy to know she was taking it with her.

However, as I’m sure anyone who has tried to take attractive book pictures for Instagram has discovered, it’s not easy to get books to look exciting, not reflect anything weird in the cover, and also get an interesting background.  My own efforts resulted in me discovering a newfound respect for product photographers. How is my shadow ALWAYS in the way?  How is the book this shiny? Why does my hand look so weird!?  So the fact that she took the time to not only take, but send me pics, absolutely made my day. The palm trees and blue, blue, blue Vegas sky make it absolute perfection. And also, can we take a moment to appreciate my friends’ perfectly contrasting nails?  I love knowing that my book traveled to the land of its birth and hope to see many such snapshots in the future.

What about you?  Would you take a picture of your beach read and send it to the author?  (Or tag them on social media?)

Heart’s Curse

Charlotte “Charlie” Auvray has always been told she’s nothing special—just the magicless daughter of a powerful witch family. But when a disastrous spring break lands her in Las Vegas, she stumbles into the path of Lucas Kane, a dangerously magnetic casino boss with secrets of his own. Lucas is juggling mob ties, a cursed hotel, and powers he can never reveal. What he doesn’t need is a heartbroken college girl counting cards at his tables… or kissing him in front of her cheating ex. But when blood rains from the showers and guests descend into madness, Charlie proves she sees what no one else can—the curse that haunts the Lucky Heart’s Casino. To break it, she’ll have to embrace her hidden magic and trust Lucas with her heart. Because in Vegas, the stakes aren’t just money—they’re life, love, and destiny.

BUY NOW: https://amzn.to/49fdeli

**

Bethany Maines drinks from an arsenic mugBethany Maines is the award-winning author of action-adventure and fantasy tales that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind end. She participates in many activities, including swearing, karate, art, and yelling at the news. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel (or screenplay). You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.  She has also writes under the pen name Sirena Corbeau for spicier paranormal romance novels. Learn more at: bethanymaines.com or sirenacorbeau.com 

See more books from the Stiletto Gang: BOOKS

 

 

Are We Looking Up?

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Today is National Look Up at the Sky Day, and the timing couldn’t be better.

I can’t think of a more perfect time to celebrate this day as we try to maintain our equilibrium in what feels like a very troubled world. The proponents of this special Day suggest that we take a moment to go outside and contemplate the clouds as they roll by, kind of a Zen approach to relaxing the mind.

This date also marks another National designation. It’s Reach as High as You Can Day, which encourages us to create a new goal, share our goals, or encourage others to reach for theirs. While these two notable suggestions may provide encouragement for some, I think we can find an even better third one:

The Artemis Moon Mission

Prior to launch on April 1, I heard arguments, both pro and con, about going back to the moon. The two camps seemed to be equally divided as to whether the country should be spending so much money just to fly around the moon instead of fixing more urgent needs here on earth. I could understand and sympathize with both positions, until I watched the press conference with the four astronauts, who had returned to earth less than 24 hours before.

Each one of the four took about two minutes to share their individual and deeply human reactions to their extraordinary experience, and in doing so, restored some hope that humanity will survive. There was no speachifying or preaching, only honest, touching, and often funny insights. I encourage you to watch this uplifting clip. It’s a quick dose of joy.

Seriously, watch the video. You’ll be glad you did.

Initially, I wan’t keen to sit through what I expected to be just one more bloated, self-congratulatory press conference full of the usual blah-blahl rhetoric. But that wasn’t what it was.

Afterward, I wanted to renew my half-forgotten knowledge of what Artemis, the mission’s Olympian namesake, stood for. Twin sister of the Greek god Apollo, Artemis was known as the goddess of the hunt, a protector of children and nature, and a patron of the healing arts. She was a lover and a warrior. One of the most venerated divinities, she had two sides: one nurturing and the other, brutal.

In short, Artemis was an avatar for the best and worst human traits.

And so, my thoughts today are on Artemis the goddess, her namesake mission, and the heartfelt comments from our latest space explorers, words that, while simple, illustrate how qualities like integrity and love can lead to a life worth living.

Whatever anxiety people may be feeling these days, we can still look up to the sky, reach as high as we can, create new goals and give love to those near and far. Perhaps in this way, we can still achieve heaven on earth together.

#ArtemisII #ReachAsHighAsYouCanDay #LookUpAtTheSkyDay

Gay Yellen’s award-winning writing career began in magazine journalism.  She later served as the contributing editor for the international thriller, Five Minutes to Midnight (Delacorte), which debuted on the New York Times New & Notable list. Ms. Yellen’s  Samantha Newman Mystery Series is packed with suspense and laced with touches of romance, heart, and humor. Available on Amazon or to order through your favorite bookseller.

 

Every Little Thing

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Quarter 1 had a lot of things…

And Thing 1 and Thing 2 were not blue-haired pranksters. The things were both writing.  Last year, I blithely signed a contract with Varus Publishing to provide 4 books in 2026.  I had exactly 1.5 books of those four written when I signed.  Well, if you want to meet editorial and layout schedules, then you must turn in your manuscripts at a date that is not the last minute.  Then I took on teaching a new writing workshop (which means developing the workshop), being the Treasurer for the Mystery Writers of America Northwest Chapter, volunteering my design skills to a worthy-cause website, supporting my brother’s new business, and oh, yeah, my daughter’s birthday is in a week. Keep reading for the news breakdown.

Brainstorming Your MysteryThe Workshop Thing

The workshop “Murder Boards & Master Plans: Brainstorming Your Mystery” went from being hybrid to being all virtual due to the possibility of snow in the forecast.  While a bit of a curveball, the workshop still went well as we discussed how to pick which information we need to start outlining (or if you’re a “pantser – how to just start writing) and then broke it down to have some fabulous shared moments and help each other move our stories forward. It was so fantastic to see attendees have a lightbulb or a breakthrough moment on their plot.

The Treasury Department

Being a Treasurer is not particularly difficult.  What’s challenging is the bank who, despite non-profit boards routinely rotating all across the US, seem shocked that there is a new treasurer literally every time.  But it’s not my first time being a treasurer so I just gathered up all my bits and went down to the bank and talked to real person until it was mostly straightened out.  Sadly, I’ll be doing it again this week in order to set up online banking.  It never seems to happen all in one visit.  However, the rest of the job is going fine, and we’ve already started our programming for the year – Check out Mystery Manon as she discusses social media for mystery writers!

New Website Thing

As part of our MWA Chapter’s mission to support writing, this year we took on the support of Noir at the Bar Seattle. While a fixture on the Seattle literary scene since 2014, NATB has never had it’s own website. Until now.  With some graphic design wizardry and a little tech know-how, I was able to put together a NATB website.  It’s main goal is to share news of upcoming events, and keep track of past performers.  You can also sign up for the mailing list and listen to recordings of previous readings.  To learn more visit: https://www.noiratthebarseattle.com/

Picture of a green brownie thingBirthday Wishes

My daughter’s birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day and as per usual, we have picked out and tested a green dessert. This year it’s… Greenies.  Because they can’t be brownies if they’re green. If you’re interested in getting the recipe (and news about new books, giveaways, and author spotlights) then sign up for my once a month newsletter!  Visit: https://bethanymaines.com/connect/

 

And now… The Book Thing!

Book 1 of the 2026 novels is now out in the wild and being read and reviewed by real human beings – ack!  Look for Book 2 – Forged in Flame – June.  This one is a perfectly delicious second chance romance with dragons because… of course there are dragons in Hawaii — it’s got a volcano.

Heart’s Curse

Writing under the pen name Sirena Corebeau for Varus Publishing, Heart’s Curse is about Lucas Kane, a hotel boss who’s on his way up the ladder and his first shot at the big time in Vegas is The Lucky Heart Hotel & Casino.  There’s just one tiny problem… it’s cursed.  Charlotte “Charlie” Auvray has always been told she’s nothing special—just the magicless daughter of a powerful witch family. But when a disastrous spring break lands her in Las Vegas, she stumbles into the path of Lucas Kane, a dangerously magnetic casino boss with secrets of his own. Lucas is juggling mob ties, a cursed hotel, and powers he can never reveal. What he doesn’t need is a heartbroken college girl counting cards at his tables… or kissing him in front of her cheating ex. But when blood rains from the showers and guests descend into madness, Charlie proves she sees what no one else can—the curse that haunts the Lucky Heart’s Casino. To break it, she’ll have to embrace her hidden magic and trust Lucas with her heart. Because in Vegas, the stakes aren’t just money—they’re life, love, and destiny.

ORDER NOW: https://amzn.to/49fdeli

**

Bethany Maines drinks from an arsenic mugBethany Maines is the award-winning author of action-adventure and fantasy tales that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind end. She participates in many activities, including swearing, karate, art, and yelling at the news. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel (or screenplay). You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.  She has also writes under the pen name Sirena Corbeau for spicier paranormal romance novels. Learn more at: bethanymaines.com or sirenacorbeau.com 

See more books from the Stiletto Gang: BOOKS

Life in the Cracks

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I had an entirely different topic planned for today’s post until I learned that this date marks a celebration of “life in the cracks” for at least one community in California. I think it’s actually something we all should celebrate, especially these days.

It’s the Festival of Life-in-the-Cracks Day!

Time to celebrate the first signs of Spring that bring us fresh crops, fuzzy little ducklings, and even sprouts of greenery that rise up through our cracked sidewalks.

It is a day to celebrate rebirth and renewal, a day to appreciate the beauty of life anywhere you find it.

There’s something about new greenery popping up and out all around us that offers us a mental boost. Given the current state of the world, we could use a reminder to celebrate life. No matter how bleak the outlook, here comes Spring to remind us that things can change for the better.

Here comes the time to plant seeds, stroll through the woods, or simply bask in the sun.

In our park’s family garden, spring has definitely sprung. Cabbage, okra, tomatoes, figs, and apple blossoms abound.

Bees are buzzing, flowers blooming, and crops are bursting with life. Just to be surrounded by it all can lift our spirits.

With the world in turmoil, I can’t think of a more timely celebration than Life-in-the-Cracks Day. It calls to mind the encouraging message in Leonard Cohen’s beautiful Anthem which shares the wisdom that—even when life feels like there’s a crack in everything—remember this: it’s how the light gets in.

I’m no Pollyanna, but I am so very, very eager to mute the bad news and turn myself toward hopeful things right now. Here’s to a bright, refreshing Spring for us all!

How about you, friends and readers… Are you ready for a brighter day?

Gay Yellen’s award-winning writing career began in magazine journalism.  She later served as the contributing editor for the international thriller, Five Minutes to Midnight (Delacorte), which debuted as a New York Times “New & Notable.”

The Samantha Newman Mystery Series is packed with suspense and full of romance, heart, and humor. Available on Amazon or order through your favorite bookseller. 

 

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