Kim McMahill

I’m not only an avid traveler, but I’m a huge fan of stories set in out-of-the-way places, different countries around the world, and areas with unique or beautiful scenery. And, who doesn't love a good romance. So, needless to say, I am very excited to welcome J. Arlene Culiner to my blog. Please read on to learn more about her and her incredible work. J. Arlene Culiner: I love setting my romance books in out-of-the-way places — the Nevada desert, a forgotten cove on the California coast, or in backwoods towns no one has ever heard of. But it was time I wrote about the country I know best: France. After all, France is where I live and work as an artist. And why not create a heroine — and hero — who are both artists? The result is, The Unpredictable Colors of Love. The Unpredictable Colors of Love Contemporary Romance in the French Countryside  by J. Arlene Culiner In her late forties, Callie Patterson, an amateur artist, craves success in the art world. Opportunity presents...

Refuge from the World , the first novel in The Beartooth Chronicles is available for pre-order and will be released on March 19, 2024. The Beartooth Chronicles follows the lives of the residents of a small mountaintop community as they struggle to find solutions to the problems threatening their survival. For twenty-five years, Beartooth’s isolated location has insulated it from the problems besieging the rest of the country and the world. As environmental disasters multiply, bringing out the worst in humanity, the residents of Beartooth must work together to protect the life they have built, and to hold on to their joy and hope for the future. In book one, Refuge from the World , you’ll meet many of the residents of Beartooth, including Ashley McPhee and Caleb Solomon. Even though they have known each other most of their lives, Ash and Caleb’s relationship changes dramatically in a short period of time. As they leave school behind, they realize that life is changing, and their g...

  Even though Wyoming and Montana often get a lot of snow in March, I’m still excited when this month arrives. Daylight savings time begins on March 10, 2024, giving us instantly another hour of daylight in the evening. Spring kicks off on March 19, 2024 with the Spring Equinox. On this day, the sun’s rays shine on the equator, giving us twelve hours of sunlight. I love the light, and even if it snows in March, I know warmer temperatures are just around the corner. WRITING NOTES AND NEWS Refuge from the World (The Beartooth Chronicles, book 1) is scheduled to be released later this month, hopefully by March 19, 2024. See the publishers “coming soon” page for more on this book and updates on its release at  https://www.fireandiceya.com/authors/kimmcmahill/bear1.html The next novel in the series, Above the Abyss (The Beartooth Chronicles, book 2) will be released in June or July, with the next two novels in the series to be released every four to five months thereafter. So,...

Meet Author Kris Bock I’m pleased to welcome Kris Bock to my blog. I’ve read some of her work and I feel a kindred spirit in the fact that she lives in New Mexico, a place I also lived for a short time and loved, and her outdoor adventure premise in many of her novels. Please read on to learn more about Kris and her work. Thanks, Kris, for stopping by. Tell us about yourself I started my writing career with children’s literature, writing for kids as Chris Eboch and MM Eboch. My first published book is The Well of Sacrifice – historical drama set in ninth-century Mayan Guatemala. It’s been in print for over twenty years and is used in schools when they teach the Maya. I’ve written over 100 educational work-for-hire books, and I’ve been a ghostwriter for some popular children’s mystery series starring your favorite young detectives. I write for adults under the name Kris Bock. I’ve written romantic suspense and a sweet romance series based around a cat café. I have a humorous mys...

In my continuing effort to give readers a look into A Measure of Madness, I thought I'd post another excerpt. Here’s a glimpse of some of the action unfolding in Brazil. Devyn did as ordered as tears streamed down her checks. She felt like a coward running, but knew it was retreat or die. Bullets rained around her as she ran in a zig-zag pattern, trying to avoid being hit. She had almost reached the truck when a bullet grazed her ankle, sending her tumbling to the ground. She scrambled to her feet. Fueled with adrenaline, she ignored the pain as she hobbled the last twenty feet to the truck. As Sofia’s arm lowered, J.R. walked toward her. He knelt on the ground and placed his lips to hers for a long and tender moment. He then slowly rose to his feet and pointed the gun at Sofia. Devyn couldn’t watch. She threw the truck into reverse and hit the gas. The truck’s tire’s spun and skidded on the dirt and gravel as she raced backwards until she reached a spot wide enough to turn...

I’d like to welcome Leslie Ann Sartor.   We’ve been lucky to know each other for many years, and it’s been fun to watch our career’s grow. We have both written adventure fiction (I really enjoyed her Carswell Adventure Series), but are evolving and taking on new challenges. I don’t do interviews on my blog often, but I thought it would be a good way to find out what Leslie Ann (LAS) is up to while providing a little background for those who aren’t familiar with her work. So, here we go. First, tell us how you started out writing: LAS: I started writing as a child, really. A few things happened on the way to becoming a published author … specifically, a junior high school teacher who told me I couldn’t write because I didn’t want to study grammar. That English teacher stopped my writing for years. But the muse couldn’t be denied, and eventually I wrote, a lot, some of it award winning. However, I wasn’t really making a career from any of this. My husband told me repeatedly ...

I want to thank Kim for hosting me today. A Reckless Heart is the first book in a four book contemporary romance series, and I’m so excited for this series to come to fruition. It’s funny, because as a writer, I’m always asking myself “what if” questions. Sometimes, those questions lead nowhere. Other times, they’ll lead to a character or a scene. If I’m very lucky, they lead me to an entire book. In this case, my “what if” led me to my Scarred Hearts series. I’ve always loved the beauty and the beast theme for romances. Not because I want my heroes beastly, but because that theme gives me fodder to delve deeply into why the hero does what he does or acts how he acts. Basically, I like looking into the psychological reasons. I like finding the vulnerability that turns him into someone we can root for and fall in love with. My Scarred Hearts series started with the idea of four wealthy men who used their money for good. I noodled around for a while with different character traits, p...

Welcome to Book Hooks for April 21. I’m so excited about the recent release of A Measure of Madness, the fourth installment in the Risky Research Series. I hope you’ve already checked it out, but if not, below I’ve pasted the blurb and a short excerpt. The novel is available from your favorite online retailer. Here’s the Amazon link for the ebook. Thanks for your continued interest. Also, don't forget to download the free prequel micro-read to the series, Midnight in Montana. BLURB: FBI agent Devyn Nash's pursuit of a deadly organization heats up in this fourth installment of the Risky Research series. The FBI locates the mastermind behind Coterie, but attempts to bring him in result in a shootout that sends Coterie’s members scrambling for cover. When Devyn’s partner is left fighting for his life in a Puerto Rican hospital, she becomes more determined than ever to bring them to justice. Devyn’s decision to ignore her orders and pursue the head of Coterie to Brazil put...

I’m pleased to announce the release of the fourth installment in the Risky Research Series, A Measure of Madness. It is available from your favorite online book retailer. Here is the ebook link on Amazon and a bit more about this latest novel in the series: https://www.amazon.com/Measure-Madness-Risky-Research-ebook/dp/B08TX7C1BZ/ . After a Washington, D.C. fundraiser exposes members of Coterie, a deadly organization that has been manipulating the diet and nutrition industries, the pursuit by FBI agent Devyn Nash heats up. The FBI locates the mastermind behind Coterie in Puerto Rico, but despite help from local agents, their attempt to bring him in results in a shootout that sends Coterie’s members scrambling for cover, Devyn’s partner fighting for his life, and Devyn more determined than ever to bring them to justice. Her decision to pursue the head of Coterie to Brazil puts her job and her relationship with Wyoming Sheriff, Gage Harris, in jeopardy, but she is unwilling to allow th...

I’m pleased to welcome Brenda Whiteside to my blog. I always enjoy learning about the authors I read and what inspires the stories they write. Below, Brenda discusses Arizona and the impact it has had on her writing. Enjoy! I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona and lived there for the first eighteen years of my life. When I married a man in the army, we moved around, but ended up back in Phoenix when he left the military life. I didn’t like Phoenix. Apologies to any Phoenicians reading this. The terrain is flat desert. The major wild plant is creosote, a very unfriendly and not particularly attractive bush. Other plants have trouble sharing space with creosote because it exudes growth inhibiting compounds into the soil. It can also be poisonous to animals. Most of the desert around Phoenix is littered with creosote. There are mountains around the Valley of the Sun, some of which are picturesque, so all is not as bleak as I paint it. We lived a few other cities and states until ...