Kim McMahill

The Merriam Webster definition of fiction is, “something invented by the imagination or feigned; specifically: an invented story.” To me this means that fiction is limited only by the author’s imagination. As long as the story conveys its intended message and entertains the reader, almost anything goes. One of my favorite movies is, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. This story is riddled with implausible and unrealistic scenes, but to me it doesn’t matter—it makes me laugh, it makes me smile, it reminds me to live life, just don’t sit around and dream about what’s out there. So, the next time you pick up a novel go all in. Don’t worry about if something can really happen, just relax your mind and let yourself be entertained.

Fishing stories have become synonymous with exaggeration. No harm is ever intended, but after countless retelling of the story, it often morphs into something much more interesting and exciting than the original. The two-pound fish that took several minutes to reel in evolves into an eight-pound monster which battled valiantly for hours before succumbing to your superior skill. This is how many of my real-life adventures have infiltrated my action-adventure novels.  I’ve explored numerous Mayan ruins tucked into steamy bug-infested jungles in several countries, yet I’ve always managed to avoid running into looters or ruthless kidnappers; I’ve pondered the current of the Rio Grande, but have suppressed the urge to jump into the churning mud and attempt an illegal border crossing; and I have ridden horseback down a terrifyingly-steep slope in which stopping was not an option as scenes from Man From Snowy River flashed through my mind, all without a single gunshot from a foreign enemy ai

I hope everyone’s year has started out with a bang. Mine has been a mixed bag, but I have faith it will get better. I have an epic adventure planned for later this month. More on that in my February newsletter. WRITING NOTES AND NEWS Refuge from the World (The Beartooth Chronicles, Book 1) is progressing nicely and is on scheduled to be released in mid-February 2024. The plan is for the next three novels in the series to be released every four to five months thereafter. So, if you love the first book, you won’t have to wait long for the second. While working on edits for the first four novels in my new dystopian-adventure series, I’ve finished the fifth novel in the Beartooth Chronicles. I continue to write and release Kindle Vella episodes (Links shown below under “Kindle Vella”), including a new cozy mystery, Alder Island. I’m also trying to grow my readers. If you aren’t already, I would appreciate any new followers to any of my social media platforms below. Thanks in advance.