Life | Bethany Maines

Dystopian Games

November 9, 2016/in General Writing, Graphic Design, Life, The Stiletto Gang

You’re stuck in a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with 8 strangers and no food or water, who do you eat first?

Dystopian novels have held a prominent place on our national reading lists for the last few years and while I occasionally enjoy a jaunt into the horrific futures that we could create for ourselves they don’t really speak to me. To me they frequently seem like the ultimate lifeboat game. While occasionally it’s fun to work through the logic of how to survive in a treacherous situation, the real answer to any lifeboat game is to not get stuck in the lifeboat in the first place.

zombie-id

I was reminded of this principle recently when I visited a conference for my day job (graphic design). The conference was for public works personnel (AKA everyone who keeps your city functioning) and their lunch speaker spoke on how their department had handled an earthquake. From personnel rotation, calling in reinforcements, clearing roadways, reviewing housing safety, clean up – this department moved swiftly with the goal of maintaining safety and returning their town to normal in the shortest amount of time possible (and they did a great job). But having just read a dystopian novel I was struck by the realization that not one person in the room was thinking… “Bob, I’d eat Bob.” They weren’t playing the game – they were strategizing about how to not get stuck on the lifeboat.

All of this led to four thoughts. One – I’m incredibly grateful for our public works personnel. From sewer maintenance, to bridge engineers, to water management, they deserve more recognition than they get. Two – All of you great public employees are screwing up a perfectly good dystopian plot line RIGHT NOW. We’re not supposed to be coming together to overcome a natural disaster and working for the common good! Come on, people. Where is the divisive hatred and the reaching for the shotguns? That’s it; I’m breaking out the zombies. Bob is going to be dinner if I have to have three plot contrivances before breakfast. Three – We as society need to invest more in infrastructure. And four – Because we don’t invest more in infrastructure we all need to have 3 days to 2 weeks of supplies on hand depending on where you live. Be prepared. Don’t let a dystopian novel happen to you.

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The Dingbat Approach

September 15, 2016/in General Writing, Graphic Design, Life

This month at the Stiletto Gang we’ve been talking about transitions and how moving to a new stage of life can affect writing. But I have to admit that as I sat down to think about the topic all I found myself pondering was the actual literal transitions of writing. One of the primary tasks of a writer is to choose not just what to include, but what to leave out. There are very few (if any?) novels that are told in one long continuous stream of time. And every time the writer skips over the trip to the bathroom or the drive from point A to point B she must choose how to indicate that transition.

Chapter 1
The Hard, Fast Break

Some writers like to make each new location or time switch a new chapter. It’s concrete. It’s self explanatory. And pretty hard for the reader to get confused. But others like to the soft break.

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In the typography world those little asterisks are called dingbats. They come in all shapes and sizes and can be themed to the text. Karen Harris Tully‘s series The Faarian Chronicles is a sci-fi young adult adventure centered on a planet that was settled by Amazon warriors of Earth. This gives the featured culture of the planet a Greek historical context (and strong feminist heroines) and makes the transition dingbats of the omega symbol fun and appropriate.

blank space

The softest break of all is the extra space. As a graphic designer, I’m not in favor of these. It’s far too easy, in a longer work, for the extra space to get buried at the end of the page. Then what does the designer do? Force the text to start lower down on the next page? That looks awkward and can lead to confusion on the part of the reader. Not to mention the fact that coding these for the e-readers and online is more than a little bit difficult. In other words, if I see these in a book I immediately think the writer is a jerk who doesn’t care about how much extra work their designer has to do.

im_a_designer_not_a_screwdriver_poster-rcc06134967db4a5d92aae443a039d1e6_wvx_8byvr_512 Foolishly, when I first got into the publishing biz I found myself incredibly surprised when my layout manuscript came back for proofing that the designer had kept all of my transitions as I had typed them. Somehow I genuinely thought that I would send off my MS and somewhere out in New York someone would do something clever with my transitions. I was kind of sad. I didn’t want to manage my own transitions – I wanted someone else to do all the work for me.

Which when I think about it, is about what I think about life transitions as well. How unfortunate that there’s no magic wand or designer to outsource those problems to. I guess I’m just going to put my lifestyle setting on “dingbat” and see what I get.

Originally published at the Stiletto Gang on 09.14.16

Who are you like?

August 11, 2016/in Carrie Mae, General Writing, Life, Marketing, The Stiletto Gang

One of the most common questions a writer hears is: Who are you like? In other words, what (famous, more talented, richer, that I would have heard of) author are you like? Of course, as authors we would always like to respond – I am like no one! I am a unique snowflake of infinite genius! Bow down before my staggering work of novelistic achievement! Possibly at this point is where we also start investing in a parrot, flowing robes, and a pencil thin moustache to twirl. I’m not saying all authors would go full Disney villain. Clearly, the eyebrows and make-up require a more high-maintenance lifestyle than most of us are cut out for. I’m just saying, nobody likes to think of themselves, as “just like” somebody else.

However, temper-tantrums and eyeliner aside, it is a useful question. It does let people know where they should look for you in the library and where you fall on their reader spectrum. For the record, I usually answer this question with – Janet Evanovich. My series Carrie Mae Mysteries is female centered spy series, with plenty of hunks, humor, and huge action scenes. However, I also write in another genre – contemporary fantasy. I write modern day fairy tales about fairies, vampires, and what happens when a mermaid meets a SEAL.

Writing in multiple genres used to be very “not done” because the publishing houses found it hard to market. The prevailing wisdom was that readers don’t read multiple genres (uh… say what?), Self-publishing has opened the door for authors to write whatever their unique snowflake heart’s desire, but it’s still a risk, and a challenge for those doing the marketing, to figure out what to say to the question – who do you write like?

I guess for now, I’ll have to go with this answer – I write like my fingers are fire with sheer greatness and my mascara is totally, totally on point.

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Originally posted on 8.10.16 at The Stilettog Gang

Batting my Lashes

July 29, 2016/in Carrie Mae, Graphic Design, Life, Make-Up

In August I will be the recipient of an award from the local business newspaper – The Business Examiner. Each year, The Business Examiner, holds a Top 40 Under 40 event celebrating business persons under the age of forty in Tacoma. This year, my business partner and I are among the recipients! 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, it’s fra-jeel-ay)– we put eyelash extensions on the business account.

Now, for those of you who don’t know, eyelash extensions are individual fake lashes that are applied with careful hands, tweezers and glue to your real eyelashes. The effect is that you have somehow magically grown giant cow length eyelashes. Unlike a standard set of fake eyelashes that glue on to the eyelid above the lashline, these look integrated into your own lashes. Basically, your eyes now look like every mascara commercial on TV.

The Stats: In my neck of the woods they cost about $100 (plus tip) and last about two weeks. At two weeks you can get a “fill” appointment that can cost $50, but wait until three weeks and that will cost more. 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. This is great when you just woke up and have no make-up on. Somehow, I look delightfully rumpled instead of my normal slightly dead. Since one of the rules is that you can’t wear mascara on them (impossible to clean without taking them out) there is less make-up time involved in getting ready. And for the most part, people really can’t figure out what you’ve done to look so smashing.

The Cons: My eyes were a bit red and others report a stinging sensation on the first day. For me, I just felt like I had grit in my eyes for the first two days. 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. If you’re a side sleeper, be prepared to lose a few early after they get ground into your pillow overnight.

Conclusion: If you’re looking at a week with multiple events, particularly ones where you’ll be featured in photos, eyelash extensions might be the way to go. My business partner had the awards photoshoot, a family picture photoshoot and a high-school reunion in the same week – that’s the kind of week that makes the cost and effort worthwhile. I probably didn’t need them for one photoshoot, but I’ve enjoyed batting my giant lashes for a few weeks.

Cranking (Toddler) Tunes

July 28, 2016/in General Writing, Life, The Stiletto Gang

Many things change after having a baby. And I have to say that one of the things that I’m the most sad to see change is the amount of music I listen to. Baby nap times seem to encompass the whole dang day! I used to have iTunes running almost constantly. Not that it wasn’t a battle with my husband over what to listen to. No, I don’t want more Phish. And there’s 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 90’s R&B. 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. He loves music. Phish, Dave Matthews, the Allman Brothers, and the Grateful Dead all have one thing common. OK, take a toke and make that two things – they’re jam bands. I hate jam bands. It’s just giant swaths of useless music that take away from the important thing – the lyrics. I love the words. (Surprised? Probably not.) For me, music is like poetry with half the pretentiousness and way more shake-your-bootiliciousness. And I like to play it ALL the time particularly when I’m working. I find that music helps put me in the zone for writing and for design.

But with an in-home office and a baby, it’s become a lot more difficult to crank the tunes through the work day. I was excited when the baby hit two and it became easier to send her to daycare/babysitting and there’s only one nap to contend with, but it has also meant that she’s tons more verbal. With a toddler in the house, I don’t feel quite so comfortable cranking up a few of the songs I love, like Don’t Shoot Me Santa by The Killers. 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. But… I am not at all prepared to explain why Santa is shooting that guy in the song. I’m pretty sure I see headphones in my future.

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Originally posted on 7.27.16 at The Stiletto Gang

Mascara Meh

June 13, 2016/in Carrie Mae, Graphic Design, Life, Make-Up

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. It had a fancy looking brush and exciting packaging design. I base many of my purchasing decisions on packaging design. 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. Surprisingly, this works fairly often.

However, in this case I was disappointed. The mascara was clumpy. It was flaky. The weird ball brush tip actually got in the way when applying. Either I needed to use only the ball tip or I need to cut it off so I could use the rest of it. None of it was so hideous that I threw it away and ran out to buy a different tube; it was just mildly annoying. And for these reasons, Scandal Eyes does not receive the Carrie Mae seal of approval. On to the next mascara!

My Toddler Works for James Patterson

June 9, 2016/in General Writing, Life, Marketing, The Stiletto Gang, Wild Waters

My dad says he invented the skateboard.

He says that he had never before seen or heard of a skateboard when he put a plank on skate wheels. Of course, his invention went no further than a backyard of summer fun, but he still likes to claim his invention when some youth sails by on a long board.

Well, now I feel his pain. James Patterson, Mr. Prolific himself, is in the process of releasing what he’s calling “Book Shots” — novella length works, penned with co-authors, that cost less than five dollars.

You have no idea how annoyed this makes me.

Because it was MY idea. This month I’m releasing Wild Waters, a novella length paranormal romance (sex scenes!) story. The genre is outside of my usual brand, but I thought the structure and topic were interesting (reporters, SEALs, Vietnam!). I also thought my readers might enjoy something at a lower price point, but in my style of writing. I examined the options. I had the thoughts. I came up with the plan.

And then James Patterson stole it out of my brain! How dare he use his larger amounts of money, time and fame to launch my idea! It makes me want to march right over to his house and give him a toddler. Let’s see how fast he can type then. Toddlers should be like weights for jockeys. If Vegas gambled on writer’s turning in manuscripts on time, I’m sure that they would have developed some sort of toddler distribution system by now. Fortunately, for Mr. Patterson and for me, there’s plenty of room in this world for novella’s and writers of all kinds, with or without toddlers. Good luck to both of us with our tiny books.

Originally Published at the Stiletto Gang on 06.08.16

Now is the time…

May 26, 2016/in General Writing, Life, The Stiletto Gang

Late in the month, it seems like almost everyone suddenly wakes up and realizes that the deadlines that seemed so very far away are now, like, almost here, man. Cue panic. Cue sudden uptick in workload for yours truly. The problem is that I’m exactly like everyone else. I’ve been noodling over several pieces of writing and now the deadline is like, almost here, man!

Now is when the marathon of writing becomes a sprint. Just how fast can fingers type? We’re about to find out.

Now is also about the time when back pain and carpal tunnel set in. Time to start juicing writers! No, I mean literal juicing. It’s important to stay hydrated – prevents muscle spasms. Although, I personally prefer copious amounts of tea, liberally applied, at regular intervals.

Now is the time when the tiny proto-human you’ve been carefully nurturing like a hot house bloom looks up from a coloring book and says, “Sorry mom, work. Four more minutes.” Gee, wonder where she got that?

Now is the time that my face looks like this:

So wish me luck as I sprint to the end of the month. And wish my family luck as they get abandoned for fake people that I made up.

Originally published on the Stiletto Gang 05.25.16

A Mascara Massacre

April 20, 2016/in Carrie Mae, Life, Make-Up

When I received the usual fistful of useless bits of dead tree along with my receipt from Walgreen’s I almost chucked the entire lot in the trash, but decided to do the environmentally responsible thing and chuck them in the recycling at home. Imagine my surprise when, once home, I realized that one of the coupons actually had value to me. That never happens. It’s always twenty coupons for spam and baby food or spam baby food. I read and re-read the coupon, checked the fine print – it really was a coupon for a FREE mascara. But, but, but… I love FREE. And mascara – I love mascara! This can’t be right. I read the coupon again. Yes, it definitely said free mascara.

The next week, I trotted in, picked up my mascara, handed in my coupon and waited for the other shoe to drop. Nope, still free. I walked out with a tube of Revlon Ultimate All-in-One mascara and floating on a cloud of euphoria that can only be generated by free make-up products.

A week later that cloud had evaporated under the wilting heat of real life testing. This mascara is possibly the worst mascara I have ever used. At first glance it looks OK, the formula seems a little thick, but hardly unsual. But two hours after applying I look like the member of Our Gang known as Freckles. The mascara leaves a nuclear dust cloud of black particles strewn across my face and clothes. I would have less mess on my face if I simply threw the mascara brush at myself. This more than any other product I have ever owned has caused people, including strangers, to say, “Um… you’ve got a little… something?” while tapping awkwardly at their face.

Conclusion: Yes, I got free mascara, but I got what I paid for. Definitely NOT Carrie Mae approved.

There’s a Double Meaning in That

January 28, 2016/in General Writing, Life, The Stiletto Gang

In Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice and Benedick, the worst of rivals, are set up by their friends to fall in love. So that by Act 2, Scene 3, when Beatrice says, “Against my will I am sent to bid you come into dinner,” Benedick believes that Beatrice is madly in love with him, while Beatrice believes him to be an ass. After she exits, he says in all smugness, “Ha! Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner. There’s a double meaning in that.”

Someone I know once asked an English teacher how he knew the author intended the symbolism the teacher was accusing him of. The teacher replied, “It doesn’t matter.” As an author this makes me want to poke him in the eye just a little bit. But in the end he’s right; stories mean something to a reader independent of the writer’s intentions. Each reader brings their own experiences to a book and a writer can’t predict them. So how can an author prevent his readers from pulling a Benedick and seeing double meanings where none are intended?

It’s a very secret and advanced technique called (wait for it): educated guessing. And good beta readers. As an author I try to learn about other points of view, so that I can write stronger more realistic characters and then I rely on my writers group to read through a piece and throw up flags around text that might unintentionally carry a subtext that’s either offensive or poorly thought out. It’s hard to think that something I’ve written could be construed as offensive, because after all, I am I and I’m awesome and I have only the best of intentions. But we all have prejudices or periodically spout unexamined notions that have been fed to us by society.

An easy example is “pink is only for girls”. This statement is both observationally false (been to the mall lately?), and historically inaccurate (pink used to be a boys color). Color is a product of light bouncing off a surface or being absorbed (we see the portion of the spectrum bounced back); any deeper meaning has been assigned to a color by humanity. So unless my character is a sexist and I need him or her to say total nonsense about gender roles, I probably shouldn’t write that and a good beta reader should flag it as a problem. With any luck I can keep the unintentional double meanings to a minimum. I don’t want to be a Benedick.