Kim McMahill

The thirteenth short story in my Super Summer Shorts series is, The Recipe for Disaster by K.A. Thomsen. Here’s more… Elizabeth Garnish and her friends have been bullied by a group of girls called "The Witches" long enough. They fight back by using an ancient recipe for revenge...and end up tumbling through a wormhole into a fantastical world where the hunters and the hunted end up on trial for witchcraft together! Download this short story from Amazon here for just $2.99 or read it free with Kindle Unlimited.

Bandelier National Monument Saturday, September 28, 2019 is the next to last entrance-fee-free-day in 2019 for our National Parks in recognition of National Public Lands Day, which was e stablished in 1994 and held annually on the fourth Saturday in September. National Public Lands Day is the nation's largest single-day volunteer effort, and its purpose is to celebrate the connection between people and green space in their community, inspire environmental stewardship, and encourages use of open space for education, recreation, and general health. So, mark your calendar and get out and visit your parks and volunteer. The last entrance-fee-free day is Veterans Day, Monday, November 11.  For more information visit https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/fee-free-parks.htm

Vacations aren’t just an annual ritual for me, they’re a passion. Travel has opened up a world of learning and adventure I hadn’t known existed. It has given me the opportunity to see the world, to experience new cultures, and I almost always discover a new story to write. I have to confess, once bitten by the travel bug I’ve been obsessed with absorbing all the knowledge I can. I’ve visited thirty-seven states and over forty countries on trips or through volunteer work. So, when asked what’s the best vacation I’ve ever had it’s tough to narrow down. One trip may have held the best scenery, another might have been the most exotic or adventurous, and an unsuspecting destination might have offered the tastiest food or the most rewarding cultural exchange. As I file through all the wonderful memories of the places I’ve experienced, Thailand often floats to the top of the pack. I felt further outside my comfort zone than I had in any other place I’ve ever been and that’s a good thing...

The twelfth short story in my Super Summer Shorts series is, Sharpe Image: Danger in the Dark Room , by Lisa B. Thomas. Here’s more on this cozy mystery novella. Deena Sharpe has her hands full with her high school journalism classes. But when a woman dies at a school football game, suddenly everyone is interested in her student’s photographs. Did he catch the crime on film or will this death be another unsolved mystery? As Deena helps the police investigate this suspicious event, she uncovers some secrets of romance and lies. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but there’s only one word she cares about: Guilty! Sharpe Image  is the prequel to the Maycroft Mysteries by Lisa B. Thomas. Read about Deena before she retired and before her life took a sharp turn. This clean, realistic mystery will keep you guessing until the very end! Get it today. Download this novella now for just $0.99 (free with KU) on Amazon here .

“ 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

The eleventh short story in my Super Summer Shorts series is titled Charity by Alessa Martel. Charity has no interest in being possessed by a man, but Ocean might be the only one who can change her mind.  Charity is outgoing, outspoken, and outnumbered. Everyone wants her to settle down, but no boy could ever give her the freedom she desires. Ocean could have any woman he wants, but it is Charity who intrigues him. Could he respect and love her enough to be the husband she needs? Find out by downloading your copy now from Amazon for just $0.99 here.

Traveling is many things to me. I love exploring new places, experiencing different cultures, relaxing, enhancing my knowledge of history, expanding my global perspective, and meeting new people. My recent trip to Provence in France checked all of those boxes. I discovered a part of the world that I knew little about, but now love. It is definitely a region that entices relaxation and contemplation. While learning about, and enjoying the food, wine, history, culture, and natural environment, I met some fun and interesting people, not only from France, but also fellow travelers from the U.S. Here are a few of my favorite memories.  

"We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road / the one less traveled by / offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth."   Rachel Carson

The tenth short story in my Super Summer Shorts series is the third of three original fairy tale novelettes, The Silent Beauty, by D.G. Driver Colleeda is a beautiful but wickedly vain young woman. Of all her assets, the one she prizes most is the sound of her voice. Her favorite game is to attract young men and then leave them heartbroken. It's all fun until she chooses to lure one man away from his fiancée—and that woman is rumored to be a witch bent on revenge. Colleeda is cursed to never speak or sing again, except for a couple minutes in the wee hours of the morning when no one can possibly hear her. For years, Colleeda mourns the loss of her voice, believing she is no longer beautiful or desirable. She lives in solitude as her house falls into disrepair around her. ​Is there any way to break the curse? Does she deserve to have it broken?  Learn more about this series at  www.dgdriver.com/chasing-the-romantics.html , or download it for $0.99 (Free with Kindle Un...