In August I will be the recipient of an award from the local business newspaper ā The Business Examiner.Ā Each year, The Business Examiner, holds a Top 40 Under 40 event celebrating business persons under the age of forty in Tacoma.Ā This year, my business partner and I are among the recipients!Ā The event includes a photoshoot for all the recipients and the resulting images get shown on the website and at the event. So of course we did what any sensible business owners would do when on the receiving end of a MAJOR AWARD (careful, itās fra-jeel-ay)ā we put eyelash extensions on the business account.
Now, for those of you who donāt know, eyelash extensions are individual fake lashes that are applied with careful hands, tweezers and glue to your real eyelashes.Ā The effect is that you have somehow magically grown giant cow length eyelashes.Ā Unlike a standard set of fake eyelashes that glue on to the eyelid above the lashline, these look integrated into your own lashes.Ā Basically, your eyes now look like every mascara commercial on TV.
The Stats: Ā In my neck of the woods they cost about $100 (plus tip) and last about two weeks. Ā At two weeks you can get a “fill” appointment that can cost $50, but wait until three weeks and that will cost more. Ā They take about an hour and fifteen minutes to put in and you must be ok with having your eyelids taped in place and have someone poking around on your lash line.
The Pros: As I said, your eyes now look like a mascara commercial ALL the time.Ā This is great when you just woke up and have no make-up on.Ā Somehow, I look delightfully rumpled instead of my normal slightly dead.Ā Since one of the rules is that you canāt wear mascara on them (impossible to clean without taking them out) there is less make-up time involved in getting ready.Ā And for the most part, people really canāt figure out what youāve done to look so smashing.
The Cons: My eyes were a bit red and others report a stinging sensation on the first day. Ā For me, I just felt like I had grit in my eyes for the first two days. Ā Also, every once in awhile one of the falsies twisted around and stabbed me in the eyeball. Youch! They do have to be treated GENTLY.Ā If youāre a side sleeper, be prepared to lose a few early after they get ground into your pillow overnight.
Conclusion: If youāre looking at a week with multiple events, particularly ones where youāll be featured in photos, eyelash extensions might be the way to go.Ā My business partner had the awards photoshoot, a family picture photoshoot and a high-school reunion in the same week ā thatās the kind of week that makes the cost and effort worthwhile.Ā I probably didnāt need them for one photoshoot, but Iāve enjoyed batting my giant lashes for a few weeks.
https://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Eyelashes-725.jpg1280960Bethany Maineshttps://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Aug2016-Logo-op3-300x69.pngBethany Maines2016-07-29 15:23:312016-07-29 16:31:01Batting my Lashes
Many things change after having a baby.Ā And I have to say that one of the things that Iām the most sad to see change is the amount of music I listen to.Ā Baby nap times seem to encompass the whole dang day! I used to have iTunes running almost constantly.Ā Not that it wasnāt a battle with my husband over what to listen to.Ā No, I donāt want more Phish.Ā And thereās only so much hip-hop and Grateful Dead I can listen to before going insane. (Yes, my husband is a hippy with a secret love of 90ās R&B.Ā He compensates for this deficiency by being ruggedly handsome and having the miraculous ability to open jars and kill countless spiders.)
The interesting thing is that, aside from the specific bands, where my husband I deviate in our musical tastes is an actual love of music.Ā He loves music.Ā Phish, Dave Matthews, the Allman Brothers, and the Grateful Dead all have one thing common.Ā OK, take a toke and make that two things ā theyāre jam bands.Ā I hate jam bands.Ā Itās just giant swaths of useless music that take away from the important thing ā the lyrics.Ā I love the words. (Surprised?Ā Probably not.)Ā For me, music is like poetry with half the pretentiousness and way more shake-your-bootiliciousness.Ā And I like to play it ALL the time particularly when Iām working.Ā I find that music helps put me in the zone for writing and for design.
But with an in-home office and a baby, itās become a lot more difficult to crank the tunes through the work day.Ā I was excited when the baby hit two and it became easier to send her to daycare/babysitting and thereās only one nap to contend with, but it has also meant that sheās tons more verbal.Ā With a toddler in the house, I donāt feel quite so comfortable cranking up a few of the songs I love, like Donāt Shoot Me Santa by The Killers.Ā I am perfectly prepared to explain that boys have a penis and some people are in wheelchairs and sometimes boys marry boys and girls marry girls.Ā Butā¦ I am not at all prepared to explain why Santa is shooting that guy in the song.Ā Iām pretty sure I see headphones in my future.
In the cop shows, whenever the intrepid detective (Watching the Detectives, Elvis Costello) is working on the massive conspiracy that killed her mother/lover/those six girls we never met, but who really give our character a reason to act, the case is always shown as pictures (Pictures of You, The Cure) tacked up and connected by red string. I donāt know what set designer came up with the red string, but they ought to get royalties. Itās so common that if I worked at a craft store and someone bought red string Iād think they were a serial killer, a cop thrown off the force for refusing to quit the case, or a grandmother of toddlers stocking up for Christmas. I bring this up for the reason that it is a fitting visual for the song lyric littered wasteland (Teenage Wasteland, The Who) that is my brain.
Whenever I have a story noodling around in my head, but havenāt moved it to the level of having an outline, my natural writing style is to pick out scenes that I want to write, type them up, and save each scene to itās own word document. As you can imagine, this creates a number of random word documents that might be hard to keep track of. But I have a system, most often Iāll name the document the song lyric associated with it. As a book grows, frequently these scenes become chapters, and those document names become chapter titles. Which is why the original table of contents for Bulletproof Mascara, the first of my Carrie Mae Mystery novels, read more like a playlist than serious literary subtitles. Sadly, editor made me change most of them ā now they simply hint at the songs they reference. Apparently, the only people more uptight that literary rights lawyers or music rights lawyers. But you can still rock out to the Bulletproof Mascara playlist simply by visiting my youtube page (youtube.com/CarrieMaeMysteries) ā please enjoy the musical stylings of David Bowie, James Brown, Simon & Garfunkel, Tech9, Morcheeba, and (of course) more.
Originally posted on 7/13/16 at The Stiletto Gang
https://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/c1z5upi.png496800Bethany Maineshttps://bethanymaines.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Aug2016-Logo-op3-300x69.pngBethany Maines2016-07-14 08:45:472016-07-13 05:20:51The Red String of My Mind
Wednesday saw the release of my new novella ā Wild Waters!! This is my first time doing true romance (sex scenes ā eep!) and Iām very excited for everyone to get a chance to read it!
His duty. Her secrets. The mission that brings them together will tear them apart.
In the steamy jungle of 1960ās era Vietnam, when a team of Navy SEALs are brought together with a pair of reporters, no one is prepared for the explosive secrets their encounter will reveal. Lt. Ben Kolley, former WWII frogman, leads one of the first teams of Navy SEALs in 1968 Vietnam. His wild pack of soldiers have earned their reputations as āgreen ghostsā on the Mekong River and none is more elusive than Catch, the point-man with an uncanny sense of the water. The reporters, a bumbling drunken writer, and Kahele, a female photographer with a sharp mind, dark eyes, and an even darker secret are the first allowed to interview a SEAL team and both are intent on nailing their assignment. But neither Kahele or Catch are prepared to discover an attraction for each other thatās like nothing theyāve ever experienced. Soon, Catch is breaking all the rules to be with her, and Kahele finds herself entangled by a passion sheās never felt before. But for Ben, Kahele dredges up horrifying memories of an old mission ā one where not all of his team returned. Can Kahele be trusted or is she the monster Ben fears? The clock is ticking, and soon all their lives may depend on Benās decisions. SEALs believe they can survive anything, but can they survive the truth?
I was going to say that I was in an on-going search for mascara that gives my lashes the appearance and silkiness of toddler, or one of those ridiculous boy who have won the genetic jack-pot of eyelashes, but don’t have any use for them. But to be perfectly honest, after the last debacle of a mascara purchase I’m simply looking for mascara that doesn’t leave my face covered in speckles of black.
This month I moved on to Scandal Eyes Show Off by Rimmel. Ā It had a fancy looking brushĀ and exciting packaging design. I base many of my purchasing decisions on packaging design. Ā My theory is that if you’re the kind of company that can hire a decent graphic designer and then ALSO pay to get their design printed, then chances are that you make a decent product. Ā Surprisingly, this works fairly often.
However, in this case I was disappointed. Ā The mascara was clumpy. Ā It was flaky. Ā The weird ball brush tip actually got in the way when applying. Ā Either I needed to use only the ball tip or I need to cut it off so I could use the rest of it. Ā None of it was so hideous that I threw it away and ran out to buy a different tube; it was just mildly annoying. Ā And for these reasons, Scandal Eyes does not receive the Carrie Mae seal of approval. Ā On to the next mascara!
Batting my Lashes
/in Carrie Mae, Graphic Design, Life, Make-UpNow, for those of you who donāt know, eyelash extensions are individual fake lashes that are applied with careful hands, tweezers and glue to your real eyelashes.Ā The effect is that you have somehow magically grown giant cow length eyelashes.Ā Unlike a standard set of fake eyelashes that glue on to the eyelid above the lashline, these look integrated into your own lashes.Ā Basically, your eyes now look like every mascara commercial on TV.
The Stats: Ā In my neck of the woods they cost about $100 (plus tip) and last about two weeks. Ā At two weeks you can get a “fill” appointment that can cost $50, but wait until three weeks and that will cost more. Ā They take about an hour and fifteen minutes to put in and you must be ok with having your eyelids taped in place and have someone poking around on your lash line.
The Pros: As I said, your eyes now look like a mascara commercial ALL the time.Ā This is great when you just woke up and have no make-up on.Ā Somehow, I look delightfully rumpled instead of my normal slightly dead.Ā Since one of the rules is that you canāt wear mascara on them (impossible to clean without taking them out) there is less make-up time involved in getting ready.Ā And for the most part, people really canāt figure out what youāve done to look so smashing.
The Cons: My eyes were a bit red and others report a stinging sensation on the first day. Ā For me, I just felt like I had grit in my eyes for the first two days. Ā Also, every once in awhile one of the falsies twisted around and stabbed me in the eyeball. Youch! They do have to be treated GENTLY.Ā If youāre a side sleeper, be prepared to lose a few early after they get ground into your pillow overnight.
Conclusion: If youāre looking at a week with multiple events, particularly ones where youāll be featured in photos, eyelash extensions might be the way to go.Ā My business partner had the awards photoshoot, a family picture photoshoot and a high-school reunion in the same week ā thatās the kind of week that makes the cost and effort worthwhile.Ā I probably didnāt need them for one photoshoot, but Iāve enjoyed batting my giant lashes for a few weeks.
Cranking (Toddler) Tunes
/in General Writing, Life, The Stiletto GangMany things change after having a baby.Ā And I have to say that one of the things that Iām the most sad to see change is the amount of music I listen to.Ā Baby nap times seem to encompass the whole dang day! I used to have iTunes running almost constantly.Ā Not that it wasnāt a battle with my husband over what to listen to.Ā No, I donāt want more Phish.Ā And thereās only so much hip-hop and Grateful Dead I can listen to before going insane. (Yes, my husband is a hippy with a secret love of 90ās R&B.Ā He compensates for this deficiency by being ruggedly handsome and having the miraculous ability to open jars and kill countless spiders.)
The interesting thing is that, aside from the specific bands, where my husband I deviate in our musical tastes is an actual love of music.Ā He loves music.Ā Phish, Dave Matthews, the Allman Brothers, and the Grateful Dead all have one thing common.Ā OK, take a toke and make that two things ā theyāre jam bands.Ā I hate jam bands.Ā Itās just giant swaths of useless music that take away from the important thing ā the lyrics.Ā I love the words. (Surprised?Ā Probably not.)Ā For me, music is like poetry with half the pretentiousness and way more shake-your-bootiliciousness.Ā And I like to play it ALL the time particularly when Iām working.Ā I find that music helps put me in the zone for writing and for design.
But with an in-home office and a baby, itās become a lot more difficult to crank the tunes through the work day.Ā I was excited when the baby hit two and it became easier to send her to daycare/babysitting and thereās only one nap to contend with, but it has also meant that sheās tons more verbal.Ā With a toddler in the house, I donāt feel quite so comfortable cranking up a few of the songs I love, like Donāt Shoot Me Santa by The Killers.Ā I am perfectly prepared to explain that boys have a penis and some people are in wheelchairs and sometimes boys marry boys and girls marry girls.Ā Butā¦ I am not at all prepared to explain why Santa is shooting that guy in the song.Ā Iām pretty sure I see headphones in my future.
***
Originally posted on 7.27.16 at The Stiletto Gang
The Red String of My Mind
/in Carrie Mae, General Writing, The Stiletto GangIn the cop shows, whenever the intrepid detective (Watching the Detectives, Elvis Costello) is working on the massive conspiracy that killed her mother/lover/those six girls we never met, but who really give our character a reason to act, the case is always shown as pictures (Pictures of You, The Cure) tacked up and connected by red string. I donāt know what set designer came up with the red string, but they ought to get royalties. Itās so common that if I worked at a craft store and someone bought red string Iād think they were a serial killer, a cop thrown off the force for refusing to quit the case, or a grandmother of toddlers stocking up for Christmas. I bring this up for the reason that it is a fitting visual for the song lyric littered wasteland (Teenage Wasteland, The Who) that is my brain.
Whenever I have a story noodling around in my head, but havenāt moved it to the level of having an outline, my natural writing style is to pick out scenes that I want to write, type them up, and save each scene to itās own word document. As you can imagine, this creates a number of random word documents that might be hard to keep track of. But I have a system, most often Iāll name the document the song lyric associated with it. As a book grows, frequently these scenes become chapters, and those document names become chapter titles. Which is why the original table of contents for Bulletproof Mascara, the first of my Carrie Mae Mystery novels, read more like a playlist than serious literary subtitles. Sadly, editor made me change most of them ā now they simply hint at the songs they reference. Apparently, the only people more uptight that literary rights lawyers or music rights lawyers. But you can still rock out to the Bulletproof Mascara playlist simply by visiting my youtube page (youtube.com/CarrieMaeMysteries) ā please enjoy the musical stylings of David Bowie, James Brown, Simon & Garfunkel, Tech9, Morcheeba, and (of course) more.
Originally posted on 7/13/16 at The Stiletto Gang
Wild Waters Release
/in General WritingWednesday saw the release of my new novella ā Wild Waters!! This is my first time doing true romance (sex scenes ā eep!) and Iām very excited for everyone to get a chance to read it!
Purchase Wild Waters at:
>>Amazon(Kindle) >>Smashwords(all digital versions)
Or enter to win a free copy through 6/26 >>HERE<<
WILD WATERS (with Sienna Lance)
His duty. Her secrets. The mission that brings them together will tear them apart.
In the steamy jungle of 1960ās era Vietnam, when a team of Navy SEALs are brought together with a pair of reporters, no one is prepared for the explosive secrets their encounter will reveal. Lt. Ben Kolley, former WWII frogman, leads one of the first teams of Navy SEALs in 1968 Vietnam. His wild pack of soldiers have earned their reputations as āgreen ghostsā on the Mekong River and none is more elusive than Catch, the point-man with an uncanny sense of the water. The reporters, a bumbling drunken writer, and Kahele, a female photographer with a sharp mind, dark eyes, and an even darker secret are the first allowed to interview a SEAL team and both are intent on nailing their assignment. But neither Kahele or Catch are prepared to discover an attraction for each other thatās like nothing theyāve ever experienced. Soon, Catch is breaking all the rules to be with her, and Kahele finds herself entangled by a passion sheās never felt before. But for Ben, Kahele dredges up horrifying memories of an old mission ā one where not all of his team returned. Can Kahele be trusted or is she the monster Ben fears? The clock is ticking, and soon all their lives may depend on Benās decisions. SEALs believe they can survive anything, but can they survive the truth?
Mascara Meh
/in Carrie Mae, Graphic Design, Life, Make-UpI was going to say that I was in an on-going search for mascara that gives my lashes the appearance and silkiness of toddler, or one of those ridiculous boy who have won the genetic jack-pot of eyelashes, but don’t have any use for them. But to be perfectly honest, after the last debacle of a mascara purchase I’m simply looking for mascara that doesn’t leave my face covered in speckles of black.
This month I moved on to Scandal Eyes Show Off by Rimmel. Ā It had a fancy looking brushĀ and exciting packaging design. I base many of my purchasing decisions on packaging design. Ā My theory is that if you’re the kind of company that can hire a decent graphic designer and then ALSO pay to get their design printed, then chances are that you make a decent product. Ā Surprisingly, this works fairly often.
However, in this case I was disappointed. Ā The mascara was clumpy. Ā It was flaky. Ā The weird ball brush tip actually got in the way when applying. Ā Either I needed to use only the ball tip or I need to cut it off so I could use the rest of it. Ā None of it was so hideous that I threw it away and ran out to buy a different tube; it was just mildly annoying. Ā And for these reasons, Scandal Eyes does not receive the Carrie Mae seal of approval. Ā On to the next mascara!