Kim McMahill

Guest blog post by Julie B. Cosgrove. Whodunnit? My mom used to ask us that with a hand cocked on her hip, peering into our wide-eyed faces. Naturally the blame trickled down to the youngest one, me. Being from a family with four generations of lawyers and legislators, I developed the skill of building my defense before I spoke at a young age. I had to solve the crime so I could plead my innocence.  Well, even when I wasn’t quite innocent, building my case often helped. My parents were fair judges. Sometimes I got off with a light sentence. On endless nature walks through the Texas Hill Country, Dad taught us keen observational skills. We learned to detect where a deer had traipsed in the moonlight or a beetle laid its eggs under a fern leaf. I became a keen observer of nature, and later, human nature. So sleuthing is part of my DNA.  Though I now absorb mysteries whenever I get the chance, I never could get into Nancy Drew books. I didn't want to read about her and ...

I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving and has the opportunity to celebrate with family and friends. 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. PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE 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 a...

Whether you’re the type that embraces Christmas head-on with gusto and enthusiasm or you lean more to the cautiously optimistic side, I hope you feel free to celebrate your own way without judgement. I’ve never been the overly-exuberant type when it comes to any holiday, and that has often made me feel inadequate, especially during Christmas. So, if you’re with me, know you’re not alone, and if you are the enviable passionate type, please take the time to share your joy with others. Merry Christmas to all.

Another adventure that has made it into a novel was an early Christmas morning drive into the mountains during a heavy snowfall around thirty years ago. My husband and I were still newlyweds and were trying hard not to disappoint either family, so we participated in my family’s traditional Christmas Eve Mexican Fiesta, and agreed to join his family at a cabin in the mountains of northern Wyoming in time to open gifts on Christmas morning.  We barely made it out of my parent’s place as the snow drifted in the lane, which should have been our first clue to abandon the expedition, but we were young, fearless, and accustomed to driving in bad weather. Heading out of town we quickly found ourselves ahead of the snowplows. After turning off the main highway the roads got progressively worse until we were driving through powder halfway up the grill of our four-wheel drive pick-up. The blowing snow froze to the windshield faster than the wipers could clean the glass, forcing my husba...

“What is adventure? If a lone wolf lifts his plaintive call into the moonlight near your campsite, you might call that adventure. While you’re sweating like a horse on a climb over a 12,000 foot pass, that could be adventure. When howling head winds press your lips against your teeth, you face a mighty struggle. When your pack grows heavy on your shoulders as your climb a 14,000 foot peak, you feel the adventure. When you suffer freezing temperatures and 20 inches of fresh powder on a hut to hut trip in the Rockies, that could be called adventure. But that’s not what makes an adventure. It’s your willingness to conquer it, and to present yourself at the doorstep of nature. That creates the experience. No more greater joy can come from life than to live inside a moment of adventure. It is the uncommon wilderness experience that gives your life expectation.”  Frosty Wooldridge

As I mentioned in a blog post awhile back, readers are often curious about how much from my life shows up in my novels. Probably the book I most enjoyed writing is Big Horn Storm . I grew up in rural Wyoming and life in those early years revolved around horses. We rodeoed, rode nearly every night in the summer, and my dad’s idea of a family vacation was a pack trip into the wilderness. I’m sure I didn’t appreciate it at the time, but looking back, we had some great adventures. Fast forward to 2012 when I published Big Horn Storm . There are a number of crazy horseback escape scenes that I couldn’t have written without those childhood experiences and the time spent in the Big Horn Mountains. One in particular involved helping neighbors move cattle to their grazing lease. They were farmers, not ranchers, so my dad and I were nearly the only experienced horseback riders in the group. We were nearing the end of a long trek, but had to push the herd up one last steep dirt road in order ...

Sunday, November 10, 2019 is the last entrance-fee-free-day in 2019 for our National Parks in honor of Veteran's Day . Many of the western resource parks may be closed or have limited services this late in the year, so if you’re heading to one of these, check with park before heading out. Otherwise, get out and enjoy a nearby park for free. For more information visit   https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/fee-free-parks.htm

People often ask how much of the content in my adventure novels is based on real life. Well, it depends on the story. There is very little in Shrouded in Secrets that resembles places I’ve been or things I’ve done, so it required a lot of research. The story is a totally over-the-top action-adventure romantic thriller that takes readers on a high-stakes race around the globe to stop a group of deadly terrorists searching for thirteen mythical relics capable of epic destruction. It was by far my most complex book to write, and involved a cork board, note cards, photos, maps, timelines, and lots of pushpins. Almost all of my other stories contain settings from places I’ve been and/or embellished adventures I’ve experienced and I’ll share a few of those from time to time. When I caught the international travel bug decades ago, I spent quite a bit of time in Mexico and occasionally ventured into Belize. I was, and still am, fascinated with Mayan ruins and never pass up an opportunity ...