Kim McMahill

I seldom make New Year’s resolutions, because let’s face it, if we had the discipline to follow through we would have done it by now. That’s not to say that goals are pointless, just make sure they are reasonable. For example, instead of vowing to lose 20 pounds maybe just commit to eating healthier and exercising more. That’s doable. Most of all, though, enjoy the holiday and cast off all the disappointments of 2017 and attack 2018 with a positive attitude. I hope as a country we can be more caring and empathetic to each other in the coming year and leave some of the toxic rhetoric behind and rediscover all the goodness that made this country great

Sadly, I didn’t see any monsters, but that didn’t diminish the feel of this area. The Urquhart Castle ruins, dating back to the 13 th century, stand majestically on a cliff on the banks of the famous lake offering stunning views and a trip back in time.

I hope everyone has a very special Christmas filled with friendship, love, and happiness. Christmas can be stressful, but it shouldn’t be. Throw your worries to the wind and enjoy time with family and friends, and remember the reason for the season. Best wishes for a joyful holiday season

The winter Solstice falls on December 21 this year, which marks the beginning of winter. It is the shortest day of the year, and on this date at the North Pole the sun never rises. As a sun-lover I always take note of the winter Solstice since every day thereafter, the days get imperceptibly longer until the summer Solstice. So, don’t lament the short day, celebrate the fact that it only gets better from here. Happy Solstice!

Trinidad, located in central Cuba, is the country’s best preserved colonial town. T he old part of Trinidad has been a UNESCO heritage site since 1988 . Its neo-baroque main square, Plaza Mayor, is surrounded by grand colonial buildings and rough cobblestone streets. It’s a bit out of the way from Cuba’s two major ports, Cienfuegos and Havana, but worth a visit.

Cienfuegos is located on Bahía de Cienfuegos, a bay on Cuba’s south coast. It's known for its colonial-era buildings. In this city of approximately 150,000 you’ll see quite a few of the classic American cars the country is known driving down cobblestone streets alongside horse-drawn carts. It’s an interesting city for anyone wishing to venture away from Havana.

On a recent trip to Key West I was pleased to see few signs of Hurricane Irma’s passing. The town did not take a direct hit and fared better than I had expected. There were a few uprooted trees here and there and one house we saw was pretty much totaled by a very large tree which had blown over on its roof. The most significant signs of the recent storm were the wrecked boats which had been hauled ashore and a number of boats that had been blown up onto the beaches or shallows of nearby islands. All-in-all, Key West was as beautiful and vibrant as ever.

I don’t have a date for the release of A Foundation of Fear yet, though I believe it will be late winter or early spring 2018. It’s difficult not to get excited once the cover design is complete, so I ordered bookmarks that cover the entire Risky Research Series and thought I’d share those with everyone. So, if you haven’t read A Dose of Danger (book 1) or A Taste of Tragedy (book 2), I hope you will before the third novel in the series is released. Thanks! Click on either book title to be taken directly to the books page on Amazon.

Es complicado . You hear that a lot in Cuba and it’s a pretty accurate assessment of the culture and politics of this country. The streets in the major cities are filled with brightly colored classic American cars, but under the hood many have a mismatched assortment of replacement parts, including engines, that are everything but American. From the smallest village to Havana you’ll also see an eclectic mix of horse drawn conveyances. The colonial architecture is abundant and beautiful, but most buildings are in a severe state of disrepair with no funds available for restoration. The locals I visited with touted their free health care and education. The literacy rate in Cuba far surpasses most other countries in the region. In some respects, I looked around and thought that life is much better than we’ve been led to believe. Then I remind myself of the lives lost trying to cross a hundred miles of open ocean to reach Florida, so life, at least for some, is not good. It’s clear that t

Please join me in welcoming Christine Schimpf to my blog. I’m excited to share with everyone a little more about Christine and her upcoming Christmas novel, A Christmas Kind of Perfect . Why is A Christmas Kind of Perfect a must read this Christmas season? The story is set in the quaint village of Sister Bay in Door County, Wisconsin. The Christmas season blankets the village, bringing back to life old memories for Lila and Conrad. But the hurt between them runs deep and the hope for forgiveness feels elusive. The story brings to light how easy mistakes turn into regret and how difficult it is to make things right after they went so wrong. How much of real life is in this book? I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “Write what you know.” For a long time, I thought that meant write what you read but for me, I read everything from mystery, to supernatural thrillers to historicals. I now understand that advice to mean write what you’ve experienced in this life and maybe that’s

Christmas pretty much overshadows all the other mentionable days in the month of December, but there are a number of significant and silly days in the month to take note of. Here are just a few.  Advent Begins – December 3 Pearl Harbor Day – December 7 Poinsettia Day – December 12 Winter Solstice – December 21 Boxing Day – December 26 National Fruitcake Day – December 27 New Year’s Eve – December 31