Tag Archive for: san juan islands

Behind

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 by Bethany Maines

 

As I write this, I am very far behind on writing my fourth
book in the San
Juan Island Mystery series. I have a title, a nice first chapter, and half an
outline.  Which is at least half a draft
short of where I wanted to be at this time. 
And in other news, there’s a pandemic and my child just started back to
school, but for some reason school doesn’t start until 9:45.  Why this is I have yet to determine, but it
delays the start of my work day by a significant chunk of time.  I would love to say that those two events are
causally related, but they’re really more corollaries. They are linked and
related through the reality in which we wade, but, as much as I would like to,
I can’t actually say that my school districts scattershot, indecipherable
response to the pandemic is actually to blame for not sticking to my schedule.  I may be able to blame the pandemic itself,
which has sent me head long into escapist fun writing and sees me closing in on
finishing a trilogy of paranormal romances, but I think, in the interests of
truthfulness, that’s as far as I can pass the blame.

Me trying to escape the pandemic through writing.

But as school starts back up there is a lot of twittering
about the kids being behind. Or not being behind. Or being able to catch up no
problem!  To which I say… yeeeeeah?  Maybe. 
The truth is that private schools have been in person and in session for
much of this time.  So if you could
afford private school, which generally means that your kid (who was already looking
at better outcomes than a public school kid) is, in fact, ahead.  Yes, the public school kids will bounce back
and they’re already in similar boats to each other, but let’s just say that
some kids have better rowers on their team than others.  Yes, everything will work out in the end, but
the rah-rah “no one is behind” cheer strikes me as particularly delusional when
I can point to a whole contingent of children who are receiving a better
education due to finances. The pandemic has distinctly widened the gulf between
the haves and have-nots. 

But back to me.  Am I
behind?  My deadlines are relatively
self-imposed.  I can flex them.  Is it sooooo bad to be running late?  Maybe if I type for two days straight I can
catch up?  If I can learn anything from
the school debacle, it’s that no, probably sprinting to catch up is not the
way.  Writing consistently is probably a
better way to get quality work.  But
having already not done that, it’s probably best to go the public school route and
tell myself that I’m not behind and that everything will work out in the end.

***

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, The Deveraux Legacy Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her
daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Thorny Problems

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by Bethany Maines

This week has been a bit of roller coaster ride for my
writing.  I received some very excellent
news which them prompted me to move up several items on my to-do list, which
further caused me to do the thing that I had been dreading… Call Apple Support
to fix a problem with my Apple ID.  I
have had three different people on my “case” and have now been bumped up to a “Senior
Advisor.”  In short, my problem has been
deemed an actual problem (hmm… like I said at the beginning?) and I have been
moved away from the people that tell me to do things like “spell out North,
instead of putting N.” and “try clicking ‘add’ 4 times really fast.”  Which is probably good because I was starting
to make notes for killing off a customer support specialist in my next novel.

But all of this has left me feeling more than a little bit
blocked.  I want to do one simple thing,
but suddenly the simple thing spawned multiple problems and multiple
frustrations.  Usually when I’m feeling
frustrated I can dive into one of my writing projects to escape, but
unfortunately I’m feeling blocked on many of those as well!  Book #4 of the San Juan Island series is
holding until I can figure out who finds the body.  I’ve got it narrowed down, but I’m not sure
who would be the best person.  My sci-fi
version of Beauty & the Beast for the Galactic Dreams Anthology series is
with my co-writers and I don’t want to write the next section without their
input. So what’s the solution to this thorny issue?  Here’s what I came up with…

Step 1: Go blackberry picking

Step 2: Make pie.

Step 3: Eat pie.

It may be the long way around for pie, but it is a solution to a very thorny problem.

**

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her
daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Release Day for An Unfamiliar Sea!

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by Bethany Maines

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

**

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her
daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Day in the Life…

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by Bethany Maines

This week I have officially sent my third San Juan Island’sMurder Mystery off to the beta readers, broken a client’s website, and took my
daughter to her first karate class.  It’s
been a busy week.  Tish Yearly, the
heroine of the San Juan Mysteries also lives a busy, scattered life, hopping
from emergency to emergency.  But that’s
not really the kind of thing I want to emulate about my characters.  And I certainly don’t want to be finding dead
bodies every time I turn around.  It
would be extremely untidy if nothing else.
In fact, I think living the life of a mystery heroine would
be extremely fraught.  You would never
know when your next acquaintance was going to turn up dead.  There are some benefits of course.  There’s always some sort of hot police
personnel person hanging around and who doesn’t like that?  But the number of friends hiding dark secrets
must only be rivaled by the friends in a Romance novel.  Possibly less secret babies, but I wouldn’t
want to place money on that.  And don’t
forget that usually one of your other friends is the killer.  What kind of people are you associating with
mystery heroine?!!  You need a better
friend group! 

So, to sum up… I’m glad I’m not a mystery heroine, but I
really wish I hadn’t broken the website. 
And now if you’ll excuse me I have to go spend some time on hold with
the person who can access the website database. 
But here is a quote from Unfamiliar Sea to make us all laugh while I
cry over the hold music.

**
Bethany Maines
is the author
of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her fifth degree black belt in karate, she can be found
chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

San Juan Mystery Series

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by Bethany Maines
I am currently working on book three
of the San Juan Island Murder Mystery series – An Unfamiliar Sea.  In the
San Juan series, Seattle native, Tish Yearly found herself fired from her day
job and evicted from her apartment all in one day. Desperate, the 26-year-old
ex-actress, heads for the one place she knows she’ll be welcome – the house of
her cantankerous, ex-CIA agent, grandfather, Tobias Yearly, in the San Juan
Islands of Washington state.  And of
course, upon her arrival on Orcas Island in An
Unseen Current, Tish is thrown head-long into a mystery that pits her
against handsome but straight-laced Sheriff’s Deputy Emmett Nash, a group of
eccentric and clannish local residents, and a killer who knows the island far
better than she does.  Tish and Tobias
band together to solve the mystery and Tish settles into what she thinks is a
temporary stay on Orcas.  But in Against the Undertow, Tish is
considering making her stay permanent, while she and Tobias are facing down Nash’s
angry ex-wife, his psychotic ex-girlfriend and a strangely venomous group of
hippies as they try to solve the mystery of who killed Nash’s ex-wife’s
boyfriend.  And finally, I’ve arrived at An Unfamiliar Sea and Tish is trying to
build a business, a relationship and solve the mystery of who killed a local
waitress.
Writing a series is fun,
but there is a lot of organization that has to be done to make sure that storylines
and characters stay consistent across the series. I use a spreadsheet that
tracks not just character names, but ages, descriptions, and affiliations, as
well as what book they were mentioned in. While this tool is invaluable, I have
found multiple instances where I did NOT make notes on a character and then
have to go back and look them up! If I could go back and kick my past self in
the shin, I would! Past Self is very spotty about note taking and could really
use a little more diligence.  Fortunately,
I have been graced with a Beta Reader who has read the entire series and will
hopefully pick up a little of Past Self’s slack. Please send thoughts and
prayers to my saintly Beta Reader as she cracks open An Unfamiliar Sea.
An Unseen Current – .99 cents
– Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Kobo • iTunes

gainst
the Undertow – $3.99 – Amazon • Kindle Unlimited
AND COMING SOON – AN UNFAMILIAR SEA
**

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her fifth degree black belt in karate, she can be found
chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Post-Publication

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By Bethany Maines
Me Before Publishing:
I just love writing and I would never bother anyone to buy my books.  In fact, I prefer not to talk to people at
all.  I’ll just stay in my writing cave
over here and type some more.
Me After Publishing:
BUY MY BOOKS!!!  REVIEW MY BOOKS!!! I
NEED A STREET CORNER AND A BULLHORN STAT! 
WHY DON’T YOU LOVE MEEEEEEEEE!!
You would think that the amount of sales affected that
post-publishing sentiment, but they don’t. 
Not a bit. Publishing a book, or presenting any piece of artwork for
public consumption, is to lay bare some piece of the soul in a very public
way.  It’s very difficult to maintain any
sort of equilibrium as reviews from readers trickle in.  Some of the reviews can be wonderful and have
you floating high in the sky and others have you raging and stomping around the
house.  But even the angry-makers are a
validation of a kind.  Someone read my
book and cared enough to leave a review! 
Yes, they thought my main character was snarky, but they cared enough to
comment, damn it!  The worst is
silence.  You, you invisible people, you
bought the book!  I know you did.  It’s right there in the sales report.  You didn’t read it?  You read it, but didn’t love it?  Why don’t you love meeeeeee? 

And we’re back in the loop.
Which is when it’s important to take a breath, step away
from the computer and go for a walk.  Or
talk to the dog.  And Kato says that it’s
time for a walk, so off I go.
Erm… by the way, have I mentioned I have a new book out (and book 1 is still ¢.99)?
Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales
From the City of Destiny, San Juan
Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo
Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to
exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in
karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working
on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube,
Twitter and Facebook.

Against the Undertow

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by Bethany Maines

It’s release day for Against the Undertow! I’m so excited to bring this book out into the world. The San Juan Island Murder Mystery Series is a little like Matlock went to the beach. It features a cantankerous ex-CIA agent, Tobias Yearly, and his granddaughter, Tish, as they solve mysteries from their home on Orcas Island in Washington State. It’s funny, it’s romantic and it’s full of twists and turns. This semi-cozy series has been a joy to research (mmm… food research) and write (I <3 my characters) and I hope that all of you enjoy it as much as I have.

You never know what will drag you down.
Former actress Tish Yearly is determined to turn an old Orcas Island homestead into the premier wedding venue in the San Juans Islands of Washington, but money, skill and her grandfather, Tobias Yearly, are all standing in her way. Tobias, the septuagenarian ex-CIA agent, wants them to become private investigators. Tish might be able to ignore her grandfather’s whims, except that her one time love interest and current friend, handsome Sheriff’s Deputy Emmett Nash, was just accused of murdering his ex-wife’s boyfriend. Now Tish and Tobias are on the case, and it should be easy—after all, who could really think Nash was a killer?—but the further they investigate, the more people seem to be threatening her life: the police detective on the case, Nash’s angry ex-wife, his psychotic ex-girlfriend, and a strangely venomous group of hippies. Almost everyone on the island seems determined to stop her. Tish is swimming against the undertow, but it might not be enough to save either Nash or herself.


And this month you can also pick book 1 – An Unseen Current – for ¢.99.

You never know what’s beneath the surface.
When Seattle native Tish Yearly finds herself fired and evicted all in one afternoon, she knows she’s in deep water. Unemployed and desperate, the 26 year old ex-actress heads for the one place she knows she’ll be welcome – the house of her cantankerous ex-CIA agent grandfather, Tobias Yearly, in the San Juan Islands. And when she discovers the strangled corpse of Tobias’s best friend, she knows she’s in over her head. Tish is thrown head-long into a mystery that pits her against a handsome but straight-laced Sheriff’s Deputy, a group of eccentric and clannish local residents, and a killer who knows the island far better than she does. Now Tish must swim against the current, depending on her nearly forgotten acting skills and her grandfather’s spy craft, to con a killer and keep them alive.

Bethany
Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales From the City of Destiny, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous
short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some
serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in karate, she can be found
chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You
can also catch up with her on YouTube,
Twitter and Facebook.

They’re Back!

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by Bethany Maines

In 2015 when I wrote An Unseen Current, I had no intention of writing a sequel.  It was a quirky, semi-cozy mystery with a heroine based on an ex-coworker of mine. My friend Jennifer, became Tish Yearly, an ex-actress who returned from the wilds Hollywood and channeled her creative energies into… Marketing? My friend (who I did ask before borrowing her life story) moved on to the next adventure—working at a winery.  (Which, no matter which way you slice it, is WAY better than working for an architecture firm.)  And in my book, Tish gets fired from the architecture firm and is forced to move in with her ex-CIA agent grandfather on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington State. And of course, murders, mysteries and the zaniness of island life ensues.

I also wrote the book in part as a catharsis for having been let go during the great economic downturn and while I left room for sequels I didn’t think that I would emotionally feel the need.  And then… I had a dream.  I have author friends who have routinely based their works on dreams.  Not me.  I am generally wide awake and noodling about what would happen if I took two weird ideas and mashed them violently together in a fictional soup of deliciousness.  However, in this instance I had a very brief dream about riding a ferry and when I woke up the opening scene of Against the Undertow hit me like a brain wave.  And not just the scene, it arrived with the title!  Or at least the Undertow portion of the title.  I’ve never had an idea arrive quite that way before, but I wish it would happen more often.  I felt like a genius.  Of course, it took me most of a year to figure out the rest of the plot and write the dang thing and that does take the feeling of geniosity down a notch, but still… welcome to the world little sequel.

Against the Undertow is now available for digital pre-order.  Print and digital will be available June 12.  >>PRE-ORDER NOW!<<

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, Tales
From the City of Destiny, San Juan
Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo
Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to
exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her fourth degree black belt in
karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working
on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on YouTube,
Twitter and Facebook.