Kim McMahill

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's celebration. Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2016

Perched on the cliffs overlooking the picturesque village of Melk, Austria and the Danube River, sits the Melk Abbey. This 900-year-old baroque masterpiece is fabulous inside and out, and the views from its regal position aren’t bad either.

“Wilderness is an anchor to windward. Knowing it is there, we can also know that we are still a rich nation, tending our resources as we should—not a people in despair searching every last nook and cranny of our land for a board of lumber, a barrel of oil, a blade of grass, or a tank or water.” Clinton P. Anderson, U.S. Senator, American Forests , July 1963

Here's a special toast to friends, family, fans, and followers.  Make time to e njoy the company of friends and family, celebrate the reason for the season to its fullest, and  most of all, have a  safe, fun, and a very Merry Christmas. Best wishes for a happy holiday season!

I guess I only had time to share three of my six Nativity scenes this year. This one is the one my mom and I picked up while in Mexico many years ago on a volunteer trip. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. Revel in the warm memories of past holidays and cherish the new times together this year and in the future. 

This is my first Nativity scene. It’s made of bisque porcelain. Hanging in front of the set are cowboy stockings my aunt made, probably 40 years ago – another cherished memento from my childhood.

Grace Talbot gripped the steering wheel of her white four-wheel-drive truck. Every muscle in her body tensed as she leaned closer to the windshield, straining her eyes, searching the blowing snow for the reflector poles, which lined the road, or for any tire track, which would indicate someone else had driven through recently. Traveling the remote rural Wyoming road in a blizzard was risky, and she would have avoided such a stupid act if her Uncle Moss weren’t in the hospital fighting for his life and Butch, his only hired ranch hand, weren’t dead. This scene and chapter from A Dose of Danger was based on an early morning drive on the same mountain road, but thankfully the reason wasn’t to respond to a tragedy, but to rendezvous with family for a Christmas morning celebration. Where Grace is forced to chain up, we had snowmobiles waiting at the road closure parking lot to enable us to snowmobile the rest of the way to our destination shown in the accompanying photo.  Remem

Love audiobooks, romantic suspense, and adventure? Three of my novels are now available in audible audio edition on Amazon. I’ve posted the blurbs below and just click on the title to go directly to each book’s page on Amazon. Enjoy! A Dose of Danger:  When researcher Grace Talbot and her team discover a possible solution for weight loss they are targeted by a group dedicated to controlling the multi-billion dollar a year diet-product industry. Her unsanctioned testing methods bring tragedy to the family ranch and the attention of the local sheriff’s deputy. With her colleagues either dead, missing, or on the run she soon realizes she must trust the deputy with her life, but can she trust him with her heart?    Shrouded In Secrets: The massacre of an unarmed South American village, destruction of one of the greatest manmade wonders of the world, and multiple museum thefts ignite a desperate scramble to locate a deadly group of terrorists. An international team led by the rug

I’ve never considered myself a collector. In fact, I find myself trying to downsize at every opportunity. But, my one exception, quite by accident, is Nativity scenes. I’m now up to six and each one has a special meaning. The first year I was married my mom got me the core group, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus for Christmas, and each year thereafter she got me another piece until the company discontinued the line. My second set took me a week of negotiating while in Ecuador to get the price of the hand-carved set down to an affordable price. The third was passed down from my grandma and has extra special memories. I received a small colorful set from a friend, another my husband found at a yard sale when I wasn’t with him and he picked up knowing how much I love Nativity scenes, and another my mom and I got in Mexico while on a volunteer work trip. So, this holiday season, I’m sharing some of my cherished treasures, starting with the set that always adorned my grandma’s house and brin

What better way to celebrate the season than to step back into time with this collection of delightful historical holiday romances. Download for your kindle for only $0.99 each by clicking on the title below or to order the trio, Love’s Christmas Past , from Amazon in one paperback for $13.99 click here . Fragile Blessings By Susan M. Baganz (Inspirational/Holiday Romance) In the late 1800’s, Grant and Lily have established their farm amongst the bluffs of western Wisconsin. As they anticipate the birth of their first child, tragedy strikes. With shaken faith and grief driving a wedge between them, is it possible for three orphans to heal Grant and Lily’s heart and relationship?   A Medieval Christmas By Rachel A. James (Historical Romance/Medieval/Holiday) Lady Nola is a woman of good-standing, but one tragic mistake is set to change her life forever. Rather than be forced to wed a stranger to hide her transgressions, she flees from home.  With child, hungry and ho

Storm leapt over logs and wove his way around everything he couldn’t clear. His nose was stretched out as if reaching for the finish line at the Kentucky Derby. His breathing huffed above the pounding of his hooves and the breaking of branches. Niki hoped his strength and endurance would last until they were safely away from the armed men. As the horse finally managed to put distance between them and the sound of the bikes, Niki took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. The noise of the engines had all but faded when she dared her first glimpse up since entering the trees. The sight brought a gasp from her lips. The sheer drop off was the last thing she saw as Storm launched himself over the edge without hesitation. Niki felt as if they were suspended in mid-air. She leaned back until her head nearly rested on Storm’s rump and prayed his feet would soon touch solid ground. The first contact with earth jolted her body, throwing her forward, jamming the horn into her stomach and

Warm up to the holiday season with this fantastic trio of holiday treats . Download for your kindle for only $0.99 each by clicking on the title below or to order the trio, Love’s Christmas Present , from Amazon in one paperback for $13.99 click here . Backwards Christmas By Brooke Williams (Inspirational/Holiday) Local tour guide Noelle Richards loves everything Backwards Christmas has to offer in South Pole, Alaska. She gets wrapped up in the upside down trees, taking presents TO Santa Clause and all the festivities. Sled dog trainer Chris Furst, on the other hand, approaches the holiday with nothing but skepticism. When their history bubbles into the present, their difference of opinion comes to a head. When Chris gets himself into a dangerous situation in the snow, Noelle and the hope of Christ are his only hope for redemption . All's Fair in Love & Arson By Sharon McGregor (Holiday/Contemporary) Bella is back at her childhood home. When her mother took a

  Hero’s square is located on the “Pest” side of the Danube River in Budapest, Hungary. It’s a solemn and impressive site in any weather, but I felt it looked even more powerful in the early morning fog.

Thanksgiving is a time to be with family and to celebrate with some sort of feast, usually turkey and all the trimmings, but when I’m feeling lazy we go for steak on the grill and boiled shrimp—a delicious treat, but a fraction of the work and often less expensive. In 1621 the first Thanksgiving was celebrated between the Pilgrims and the Indians to celebrate the bounty of the fall harvest. They prepared a huge feast including a wide variety of animals and fowl, as well as fruits and vegetables from the fall harvest. This early celebration was the forerunner of today's holiday tradition. However, after that first Thanksgiving the observance was sporadic and almost forgotten until the early 1800's. In 1941, Congress made it a national holiday and set the date as the fourth Thursday in November. Best wishes to all for a wonderful Thanksgiving.

For a twist on the traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, I often make pumpkin cheesecake. If you want to give it a whirl this year, here’s my favorite recipe. Enjoy and have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Crust : Crush 10 whole graham crackers and mix with 3 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of butter. Press into a 10 inch cheesecake spring pan (bottom and 2 inches up the sides). Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove. Filling : Beat together until smooth, 2 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese (works best if softened), 1 cup of light cream, 1 cup of canned pumpkin, ¾ cup of sugar, 4 egg yolks (save whites in a separate bowl), 3 tablespoons of flour, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon each of ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Beat egg whites until stiff and gently fold into the pumpkin mixture. Pour over prepared crust and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Baking times vary, so make sure the center is set. I’ve found it often takes longer than the 1 hour not

When in Thailand, we hit all the major highlights in Bangkok. The city and its cultural highlights were simply amazing, but a little overwhelming, so we decided to check out the countryside.  We hired a guide for the day to take us to Khao Yai National Park. On the way he stopped at a small village, clearly unaccustomed to tourists. As we wandered the market, a long single-file line of Buddhist Monks silently made their way through the village. People respectfully and generously placed food and other offerings into the basket each monk carried. This ritual is a regular part of daily life in many cities and villages across the country, and witnessing the procession and the unquestioned generosity of the people was a humbling experience. 

“The most glorious value of the wilderness is that in it a person may be completely disassociated from the mechanical and dated age of the twentieth century, and bury himself in the timeless oblivion of nature. Its enjoyment depends on a very delicate psychological adjustment . . . You have got to be immersed in a region where you know that mechanization is really absent, and where you are thrown entirely on the glorious necessity of depending on your own powers.” -Bob Marshall-

Nearly every fiction writer will confess to using small nuggets from real life when creating fictional scenes. I thought it might be fun to occasionally share a few of those with my readers in a segment I’ll call, “Nuggets from Life in Fiction.”  So, here’s one small example from A Dose of Danger . The snowflakes continued to fall, illuminated by the yard light they had been able to fix earlier in the day using the tractor head to elevate Logan enough to change the bulb. She had been terrified while watching him balanced so high in the air at the mercy of a 1957 tractor with no brakes, affectionately known as the “Rustmobile,” and her mediocre ability when it came to driving the worn-out antique. So, it wasn’t a 1957 tractor with no brakes, but we did call it the “Rustmobile.” Growing up we also had a second tractor (not sure of the year, but likely in the 1950s) on the place that had virtually no brakes, but its work was relegated to projects on the flat ground that had no

One of the most memorable travel experiences of my life was a trip to Punta Arenas, Chile where we had the opportunity to visit the Otoway Sound Magellanic Penguin Colony.  The chicks hadn’t lost their warm down coats, giving them a soft gray appearance as opposed to the sleek black and white feathers of their parents.  Watching these amazing animals was an indescribable experience I’ll never forget, and I can only hope that I have the opportunity to return one day.

We took our first trip to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula nearly twenty years ago.  We visited several Mayan sites, Tulum and Cobá, on that trip. Perched on the cliffs overlooking the Caribbean Sea, the ruins of Tulum were so beautiful it nearly took my breath away, but there were a lot of tourists there. Later in the trip we visited Cobá. Much of this area is still unexcavated, but once you become attuned to what to look the ruins hidden under dirt mounds and covered with jungle start to emerge from their surroundings. At the time, there were very few visitors, and scattered around the dirt parking lot a few vendors sold drinks and handmade crafts. The feeling of having the place all to myself was overwhelming and allowed my mind to wander and visualize what it must have been like in its heyday.  The serenity and solitude of Cobá had a huge impact on me and sparked a lifelong passion for learning about the Mayan Culture. I went back to Cobá about five years later and it had changed some

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.” -John Muir-

Travel has the ability to change a person’s perspective on the world.  Experiencing different cultures, seeing in person the impacts of issues you hear about on the news, and making connections or new friends can deeply impact ones views. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been able to see the world, and I will be sharing some of the moments which have made the biggest impact on me in the coming weeks under the recurrent theme of, “Travel with Impact.” I hope you’ll enjoy this segment and remember these words from Mark Twain. Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. - Innocents Abroad, Mark Twain -

Here are a Halloween pumpkin tips I’ve come across: ·         Use an ice-cream scoop to clean out your pumpkin instead of risking bending your favorite kitchen spoons. ·         Insert a bowl into a carved pumpkin and add dry ice and warm water to create an extra spooky, smoke filled jack-o’-lantern. ·         To make your pumpkin last longer, apply a light coat of petroleum jelly to the cuts to seal the wounds. And, after carving, place your Jack O’Lantern in a cool, dark place. It will spoil quicker if left at room temperature and may attract fruit flies, depending on where you live. ·         To revive a shriveled pumpkin try soaking it in a bucket of water. The most important Halloween tips are to have fun and be safe!

Here are some simple safety tips. They may seem obvious, but it’s always good to remind oneself prior to picking up that knife. ·         If using a pumpkin carving kit, choose one appropriate for your child's age and skill level. ·         Do not let a young child use a knife. ·         Always point knives away from you. ·         Keep your free hand away from the direction of the knife. ·         Use slicing motions and never force the knife. ·         When using candles to light a Jack O'Lantern, do not leave it unattended, or better yet, for indoor lighting, use battery operated pumpkin lights. 

The first step in creating the perfect Jack O’Lantern is selecting and preparing the pumpkin. When selecting pumpkins for carving, choose a lighter colored one with a nice stem and a carvable face. Lighter colored pumpkins are softer and carve easier, but unfortunately they don’t last as long. Clean the outside of the pumpkin with plain water and a sponge. Allow to dry. Store the pumpkin outside, or in a cool place, until you’re ready to carve it.  To start carving, cut open the top of the pumpkin and clean out the inside seeds and guts, being careful not to pull too hard on the stem as it breaks easily. Clean the inside of your Jack O'Lantern by scraping the inside wall to an inch thick. This will make carving a lot easier. 

If you want to make a difference, mark your calendar for the fourth Saturday in October. Initiated in 1990, this is a national day devoted to helping others by doing volunteer work in the community. Activities can be almost anything from an area cleanups, sprucing up parks and municipal facilities, or helping a non-profit organization, the community, your town, nursing home, a church, a food kitchen, or any other group in need. It doesn't matter what project you take on, what matters is that you participate. 

“All life in the wilderness is so pleasant that the temptation is to consider each particular variety, while one is enjoying it, as better than any other. A canoe trip through the great forests, a trip with a pack-train among the mountains, a trip on snow-shoes through the silent, mysterious fairy-land of the woods in winter--each has its peculiar charm." - Theodore Roosevelt -

Who ever thought a coin could get you killed? A cunning killer trusted his secret was safe, an innocent woman holds the key to his destruction, and an intelligence officer must keep her alive before the madman can strike the fatal blow. When Gabriela Martinez finds a mysterious coin in the French Riviera, she is thrust into a struggle between governments, terrorists, and madmen, all seeking knowledge she doesn't know she has. Richard Harrison, the intelligence officer assigned to protect her, has all he can do to keep her safe.   But when the psychological games to terrorize Gabriela escalate beyond his control, Richard must find a solution, if not, it may be too late for them both. Set in the exotic French Riviera, The Coin is a story of hatred, betrayal, love and duty—of terrible and painful choices that, nonetheless, bring about personal triumph.  Get your copy for a limited time only for just $0.99! BUY LINKS TO THE COIN http://amzn.to/1FPWzEb A

Welcome to this week’s Book Hooks blog hop. Here’s a tiny tidbit from my newest contemporary romantic suspense novel set in Wyoming, A Dose of Danger .   Enjoy! Excerpt “You already have more than a full-time career. This situation will most likely be long-term, so I need to get into a rhythm with the chores and my job, and not get too dependent upon your kindness and nice muscles,” she added with a shy smile.  “So you like my muscles?” “Don’t let it go to your head, Deputy. Remember I work with a bunch of researchers, PhDs, and marketing executives.” He laughed as he turned and walked out the door. Grace stood on the porch and watched until the truck’s taillights disappeared over the rise. Just my luck, I may have met “Mr. Right,” and the timing couldn’t be more wrong. Blurb When researcher Grace Talbot and her team discover a possible solution for weight loss they become targets of a group dedicated to controlling the multi-billion dollar a year diet-

“The West of which I speak is but another name for the Wild; and what I have been preparing to say is, that in Wildness is the preservation of the World. Every tree sends its fibres forth in search of the Wild. The cities import it at any price. Men plough and sail for it. From the forest and wilderness come the tonics and barks which brace mankind.” -Henry David Thoreau-

At a small village outside Khao Yai National Park in Thailand, we had an expected opportunity to ride an elephant. Before we could get used to the lumbering sway, we found ourselves slogging through the jungle, belly deep in murky water. This little side venture wasn’t in the plan, but often those are the most rewarding experiences, and our impromptu elephant ride turned out to be an unexpected highlight.

“ If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. ”  Henry David Thoreau

I recently got to spend some time in my home state of Wyoming. We visited family and caught up on the local happenings. Thanks to the pleasant fall temperatures, we also got the opportunity to get off the pavement and take in the rugged arid beautiful landscape of my youth. When I was young, my sister and I had mini-bikes that we often took out behind the house and we would explore for hours. We could also ride our horses from home, and in minutes civilization was left in our dust. I often miss those carefree times, which makes me all the more appreciative of the chance to go back and see that some things haven’t changed.   

Thank you to everyone who joined in the week-long Fall Into A Book Mega Sale event and Facebook party at https://www.facebook.com/PrismBookGroup . Each day throughout the week book prices were reduced to just $0.99.  My books will return to their regular prices soon, but it’s not too late. Click on the Amazon link below and get your copy before it’s too late. Please verify the price before purchasing since they will go up without notice. A Dose of Danger Shrouded In Secrets Marked In Mexico Big Horn Storm Deadly Exodus

"To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of year, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be."   -Rachel Carson-

"Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritation and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place." — Mark Twain

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." — Mark Twain

Discover love and experience epic adventures in the great outdoors through Marked In Mexico, Big Horn Storm, and Deadly Exodus , all for one low price with a Kindle Boxed Set. Whether Mayan ruins and jungle adventures, daring horseback escapes in the stunning and rugged mountains of Wyoming, or a run for the border through the desert southwest to leave a dystopian America behind peek your interest, you’ll find what you’re looking for in these adventure novels. Oh, and did I mention hunky heroes? Meet ex-Army Ranger Jack, the future’s male perfection, Ethan, and one smoking- hot cowboy named Deuce. For more, please visit my website at http://www.kimmcmahill.com or follow me on twitter at https://www.twitter.com/kimmcmahill . The Kindle boxed set can be found on Amazon at http://amzn.to/1cX2bho

Ayuthaya, Thailand served as the Siamese royal capitol and was one of Asia’s greatest, most powerful cities during the 13 th and 14 th centuries. Today all that remains of this once thriving city of a million people are crumbling, yet still magnificent ruins and amazing sculptures. As the forces of nature attempt to reclaim the site, it only makes the relics more fascinating.