Kim McMahill

Thank you for participating in the Hot Summer Nights Blog Hop. If you made the rounds I’m sure you found your desired level of heat. Congratulations to Veronica, who will receive a free copy of The Lodge.  Winners of the two blog hop grand prizes will be announced at http://bookstogonow.blogspot.com  no later than May 31, 2013. Thank you again for joining in the fun,.

Welcome to the Hot Summer Nights Blog Hop where bloggers reminisce about their favorite summer memories. Comment on my blog and one randomly selected participant will receive a copy of The Lodge , a mystery set in Alaska. What better way to beat the heat?   (Book shipped to U.S. address only, recipient will be notified hopefully by May 31, but no later than June 2, 2013).   Then hop along to the other bloggers’ giveaways and posts. There will be two grand prizes, a Kindle Fire and a $100 Amazon Gift Card. Go to EACH blog and comment with your email address to be entered to win. Two winners will be chosen at random and notified no later than May 31, 2013. For more information visit http://bookstogonow.blogspot.com .   It seems all my favorite summer memories involve escaping the heat with nature’s diverse environments – lakes, rivers, mountains. I have many fond memories of kicking back with friends and family amid stunning mountain scenery of tall pines, strea...

I kicked off “Sparks” last week, a weekly series where I’ve asked some of my favorite authors to share the sparks which have fueled their stories. The responses vary wildly, but are equally entertaining and insightful. I hope you enjoyed the inaugural post with Gay N. Lewis and the inside scoop on Sarah: Laney’s Angel .   This week Bonnie McCune shares the fodder for several of the scenes in her upcoming novel. I hope they ignite your creative juices.   Bonnie McCune: I don't have many adventures like Kim does.  I'm more of an observer.  But my activities and those of my friends and family certainly feed some of the scenes.  In my upcoming book, Burn--Playing with Fire , I have a mountain bike riding sequence.  I've ridden in the mountains of Colorado, and my son competes in cyclocross races (in which you have to carry your bike over creeks and climb rocky slopes with your bike).  The forest fire sequence in which the heroine, Elaine, gets c...

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen, heard or done something that has sparked an idea for a book. Sometimes the catalyst is tiny like when I heard the name Deuce and decided I had to use that name in a book and what else could Deuce be but a cowboy? That flickering notion drew out many memories of various horseback adventures and the next thing you know, Big Horn Storm became a reality. I decided to ask some of my favorite authors to share the sparks which have fueled their stories. You may be surprised how even small things can morph into something special and drive the plot in unusual directions. I’ll be posting a new author each week until the idea tank is empty. Maybe their creative triggers will ignite your imagination. Gay kicks off the series. I hope you enjoy her perspective and learn about making research pay – I did. Now, here are Gay and Sarah: Laney’s Angel . Gay N. Lewis: How do I prepare for adventure in my books? I don’t. I’m similar to Sarah, my d...

I was pleased to see a couple new promo book trailers created by Jacqueline Hopper since one is for my novel, Big Horn Storm . The horses, helicopter and barn are perfect. I hope you enjoy it along with the trailer for Gay N. Lewis' novel, Sarah: Laney's Angel .

Learn from the Talents is an interview segment on the humanmade.net website. To see my interview and other helpful pieces on writing and various crafts please click on http://www.humanmade.net/interview/kim-mcmahill . The hosts have created a personal page for me located at http://www.humanmade.net/kim-mcmahill . Other interviews can be found on the Learn from the Talents page at http://www.humanmade.net/learn . Thank you!

Sneak Peek Sunday is a weekly blog hop that allows readers to sample six paragraphs of an author’s novel. This week I’m giving readers a taste of Marked in Mexico, so read on and when paradise turns deadly, flee into the jungle and fight for your life.   Megan stepped into the water. With the first step, the water hit her mid-thigh, but she didn’t go down. She took a second and it had risen to her waist, but she stood. With the third step, the current knocked her off her feet. She went under and Jessica gasped. Megan’s head popped back up ten yards downstream and she began to stroke. It looked like she was edging closer to the opposite bank when the river turned around a bend and she was lost to their view.   A shot rang through the trees and the voices were upon them. Jack grabbed Jessica and kissed her hard on the mouth and then shouted at her to go.   Jessica wasn’t as tall and strong as Megan, so she decided on a different approach. She took a running...

Thank you to everyone who stopped by and left comments, and especially to, I Am A Reader, Not A Writer , and Eve’s Fan Garden for hosting the Spring Fling Giveaway Hop. Congratulations to Sherry, who was selected to receive her choice of one of my three latest adventure novels. I hope everyone had a great time. Thanks again to everyone who visits my blog and reads and reviews my books.

Welcome to the Spring Fling Giveaway Hop.   To a randomly-selected recipient I’ll be giving away his or her choice of a free autographed copy or a download of Big Horn Storm, Desperate Dreams or Marked in Mexico (books can only be shipped to a U.S. address). Just leave a comment between now and midnight on May 7, 2013 . An email address is needed in order to contact the recipient.   To help make your decision easier on which book to select, here’s a short blurb from each.    Big Horn Storm is a contemporary western romantic adventure set in rugged mountain country. The story combines a too-close-to-home military crisis, a traumatic accident, a terrifying bear encounter, hold-your-breath horseback escapes and an attempt to reconcile the past in an action-packed thriller.   To survive an aggressive invasion by ruthless foreign soldiers, the sheepherder’s granddaughter must test her horse’s strength and her own will to do whatever it takes to stay alive and...