Kim McMahill

Book Reviews serve a variety of purposes and are very important to readers and writers. Reviews help other readers choose books. A review provides information about a book that a marketing blurb may not. Sales, ratings, and reviews factor into a bookseller’s algorithm. More book sales and reviews help a book achieve a higher ranking on a bookseller’s site, which provides more exposure for a book and its author. Additionally, more reviews may get authors noticed by book clubs, blogging communities, book review sites, and other promotional venues. Lastly, many authors do read reviews and may find helpful feedback in articulate reviews For example, saying “I hated the book” isn’t helpful, but explaining that you find multiple points of view confusing, there were too many grammatical errors, there was too much detail and it slowed the story down, or there was too much profanity, gives the author feedback to consider. Conversely, pointing out what you liked about a book is also helpful ...

Earth Day is an annual event held on April 22 in the United States to demonstrate support for environmental protection. The first Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970. To learn more about Earth Day, ways to get involved, and events being held in your area visit https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2026/   “Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.” —Theodore Roosevelt

  “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste it, to experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” -   Eleanor Roosevelt

I often download novels from writers I’m unfamiliar with when I see books that sound interesting and that are deeply discounted. Sometimes the story doesn’t pull me in enough to finish it, but most of the time I’m introduced to a new author that piques my interest. Either way, a $0.99 download is a small risk for a potentially satisfying reward. Many times, authors discount the first in a series to hopefully hook a reader into downloading the next. I recently finish a post-apocalyptic novel that was good, not fantastic, but enough was left unfinished that I was contemplating downloading the next in the series. When I located it on Amazon, I saw that I just finished the first of twenty-six novels in the series. I’m not sure if any story could be good enough to entice me to commit to that many books, so I stopped at just one. So, how many books in a series is too many? It probably depends on the series. If each novel has recurring heroes or heroines and contains a complete story, at ...

The Merriam Webster definition of fiction is, “something invented by the imagination or feigned; specifically: an invented story.” To me this means that fiction is limited only by the author’s imagination. As long as the story conveys its intended message and entertains the reader, almost anything goes.  One of my favorite movies is, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty . This story is riddled with implausible and unrealistic scenes, but to me it doesn’t matter—it makes me laugh, it makes me smile, it reminds me to live life, just don’t sit around and dream about what’s out there. So, the next time you pick up a novel go all in. Don’t worry about if something can really happen, just relax your mind and let yourself be entertained.

The first day of spring fell on March 20, and it sure feels like it in Wyoming. Trees are budding out, birds are singing, and the temperatures have been beautiful. As much as I’ve enjoyed it, I fear we may be being lulled into a false sense of the season. Generally, snow and freezing temperatures are common through April. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this is the real deal.    WRITING There isn’t a lot of new news on the writing front. I still continue to search for ways to get the word out on The Beartooth Chronicles . The series is complete. I’m looking for new readers and constructive reviews, which are crucial to a novel’s success. The entire series is available from your favorite online bookseller or just click here for Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CW1HL6RK/ WANDERINGS We managed a major road trip in March. The main goal was a few days of tennis at the Indian Wells Tennis Tournament in California. We made it there, enjoyed the tennis, and made a large ...

I occasionally like to share the link to the YouTube trailer for my Risky Research Series. It’s pretty cool! If you haven’t seen it, you can check it out at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clZIRJ1s-Fo&feature=youtu.be . The series includes, A Dose of Danger (book 1), A Taste of Tragedy (book 2), A Foundation of Fear (book 3), A Measure of Madness (book 4), and two prequel micro-reads, A Formidable Foe and Midnight in Montana are always FREE to download.