Beth Overmyer's Blog: The Blog of Beth Overmyer

There’s a challenge that famous author and essayist Ray Bradbury suggested, one that is meant to help an author become better read…and better written.

You don’t have to be a novelist to try this one. This challenge specifically tackles short stories, one of the most difficult literary forms in many people’s opinion. You have to be short and concise, not overload readers with too much information but give them enough just enough to be satisfied that, yes, this is a complete story. If you...

The whole Blade & Bone series is out–YAY!–from wherever you like to get your books online. Right now, my publisher (Flame Tree Press) is offering the e-books of the series at a discounted price:

Brittle is 99 cents/pence

Tempered Glass is $1.99

and

Forged is $2.99.

What are these books about? Take a look at where it all starts in Brittle:

After the murder of her father – which no one but her believes happened – Verve just wants to hold her family together and take on the...

I hope everyone’s had a great 2026 so far. Back in 2025 (good riddance to THAT year), I read the following books:

1. Creating Superfans by Brittany Hodak

2. Charlie N. Holmberg’s Book of Magic by Charlie N. Holmberg

3. Tweet This by Laurie Kretchmar

4. The Universal Fantasy List by T. Taylor

5. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

6. Creating Character Arcs by K.M. Weiland

7. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

8. Ignition by Emma Shel...

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

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

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

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

So how does ...

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

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

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

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

#1 – Agatha Christie

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

– And Then There Were None

– N or M?

– A Pocket Full of Rye

– Towards Zero

– Curtain

– The ABC Murders

– Three Act Tragedy

– Third Girl

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

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

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

Bet...

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

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

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

Happy Independence Day, USA!

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

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