Animation by Kayelle Allen at The Author's Secret

Friday, April 21, 2023

The Scribbler is back with a 5* review: Luke Blackmon's Rose by Mary Patterson Thornburg (@MikiThornburg)

I always say reading shouldn't be a passive occupation.  A good writer, and/or a good story is one that nudges those cogs in the brain into life and makes them do a bit of extra work. That's why I like Mary Patterson Thornburg so much.  She's a modern American author whose stories always give my brain a good workout. Her latest story is an absolute treasure.  Take a look first at the clever cover:


What does it lead you to expect?  I'll be surprised if you get it in one.  Would you say it's a story about race?  About personal struggles?  About romantic love?  About trust and friendship? A story set in the past, present or future? Would you be surprised if I said it's about all of those - yes, even the last?

Luke Blackmon's Rose is one of those stories that refuses to be confined to one particular genre, and that's its beauty.  And it's about all those things and so much more.  I wanted to share my review of it by way of recommending it to you as a seriously good read.  Needless to say, it earned five well deserved stars.

Here is my review:

This author’s writing dazzles me. Her characterisation and descriptions transport me into her fictional worlds so thoroughly that when I stop reading, I have to give myself a little shake to remind myself where I am. This is real literary talent, and I felt it especially strongly with this story.

The plot of ‘Luke Blackmon’s Rose’ is unusual and contains innovative ideas that kept me guessing all the way through. Sci-fi fans will most likely figure it out more quickly than me, but essentially Luke Blackmon, a gifted and talented actor, singer and athlete from the early twentieth century has been cloned and brought forward in time to the present day. The original Luke was the son of a slave, so the cloned Luke’s struggle to adjust to life in modern-day America provides a social commentary that is captivating and poignant. As if there are not enough riches in the plot, the powerful chemistry between Luke and Rose results in a romance that is quite breath-taking.

It isn't a long story, but it is an apt and moving story for our times, and one that should appeal to a very broad range of readers, leaving them with sufficient food for thought to satisfy them for a very long time. It will make you think long and hard, and I strongly recommend it.

Luke Blackmon's Rose is available from your usual retail outlets, including:

About the author:

Mary Patterson Thornburg has lived in California, Washington, Montana, Indiana, and again, finally, in Montana. She was educated at Holy Names College, Montana State University, and Ball State University, where she then taught for many years. Thornburg writes mostly in the genre that some people call “science fantasy,” within as wide a range as possible, but almost always with a bit (or a lot) of romance. She believes that genre fiction – written for the pleasure of all readers in our literate world – can be every bit as serious and as important as so-called “literary” fiction, and that its genres often and increasingly provide the best vehicles for exploring life in its readers’ times. Her literary heroes are Mary Shelley, who gave us all a metaphor for technology alienated from its creators; Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia E. Butler, inventors of worlds that shine their powerful searchlights on this one; and Stephen King, who persists very pleasingly in being Stephen King.

Hopefully I can persuade this talented author to visit my blog soon and talk more about this amazing story.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

What Do You Write? The Many Faces of @JennyTwist1

It’s always the first question new friends ask an author and I have never felt able to give a satisfactory answer.

The thing is, most of my books don’t fit into any one obvious genre.

My stories mostly have supernatural or science fiction elements, but even so, they range
over a variety of topics. When I published my first book of short stories, “Take One at Bedtime”, reviewers wanted to know why they didn’t have a common theme. Only one spotted that it did have a theme and that theme was revenge. It’s not exactly a genre, though, is it?

Of my novels to date:


“Domingo’s Angel” is a romance, but also historical fiction, about how one small mountain village lived through the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s fascist regime.

“All in the Mind” is a story about an old woman who progressively gets
younger. It won a science fiction award, but it’s not just science fiction – a great deal of it is about life during the Second World War in England, with a deviation into what it is like for ethnic Indian people in England and in modern day India.


“The Owl Goddess” is a re-writing of the Greek myths according to von Däniken’s theory that the gods were spacemen. Is it science fiction, or fantasy? Both perhaps.

And finally “The Cottage at the End of the World is a dystopian
vision of how a small group of people on an isolated farm survive COVID and the collapse of civilization after the onset of a second, very different plague.

 

None of them bear much relation to each other and what is perhaps even more surprising and rather odd is that none of them are in the genre which I most enjoy reading myself – detective fiction.

I’ve often wondered why, when I read so many, I have never had an idea for writing one.

Until now, that is . . .



To be fair, “A Gift for Murder” began as a short horror story. I can’t tell you what it would have been because the main scenario is the climax to the novel and if I told you it would be, in effect, a spoiler and I would have to kill you.

What happened was that the night I had the idea for the story, I had a dream of a hand floating in water and I woke up wondering how on earth it got there. What kind of a person would cut off someone’s hand and throw it in the river?

I imagined someone finding it and what their reaction would be – and that’s the point at which the story started writing itself and I could more or less sit back and let it get on with it.

It has turned out to be the longest book I have ever written and I loved writing it. My other obsession is with logic puzzles, and the satisfaction in presenting what is, in essence, a logic puzzle, planting all the clues and occasionally distracting from them, was an unexpected joy.

But where do the people come from?

A friend of mine, also an author, said to me recently that all your characters come from yourself, that there is part of you in each one. But I think I can honestly say that I have never been anything like Tommy Ross. Except that I think I am kind and I like good food and nice clothes and dogs, and I believe in the goodness of most people. Oh, all right then, Miki, you win.

But I don’t have his magic. Tommy Ross seems to understand people (and dogs) so well that he almost seems to be reading their minds.

I think he might be dangerous if he wasn’t on your side. His superior officer (and surrogate father), DI George Bradshaw admires Tommy for his sheer doggedness. When Tommy Ross wanted to achieve something he held on to it like a dog with a bone and he wouldn’t let go until he’d mastered it.

I had intended George to be the hero detective and, although he is a detective and also a hero, once Tommy Ross appeared, he took central stage and it was him I cared about most of all.

He is, in essence, a boy my son brought home one day. He was homeless and barefoot and had nowhere to sleep that night. Unlike Tommy Ross, he was not an orphan, but he shared Tommy’s lack of formal education, his intelligence and his great desire to please. He stayed with us for a few months, until the Night Shelter offered him a proper paid job with free accommodation.

I also used to work with a delightful man who came from a family of travelling horse traders and who loved new words.

I have sadly lost touch with both of them. I hope they are living long and happy lives.

In the meantime, Tommy Ross lives on. I can’t get him out of my head. It is just about a year after he solved the mystery of the severed hand and he has settled down to the more mundane world of everyday policing, when another murder is thrust upon him.

I can’t wait to find out what happens.

A Gift for Murder is available free on Kindle Unlimited, or can be bought as an e-book or paperback from any Amazon store:

Amazon UK:  

Amazon US

Joshua found the girl shivering in the stream, clutching a severed hand.

              Horrific as that was, it was not the worst thing.

              The worst thing was the nightmares.

              The monster was coming. It was coming through the corn. Every night it came                  closer.

             And it was coming to kill.

            For PC Tommy Ross this was his first murder case. And he had no idea how to solve it. How do you find a killer when you can’t even find the body?

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Not One but Two #Romances #Free for your #Kindle this Valentines weekend

The stores are overflowing with velvety, red roses, heaving with heart-shaped chocolates and golden bottles of champagne; some with provocative lingerie and others with cuddly toys, cute nightwear and cosy slippers, in an attempt to show they cater to all styles and tastes.  And I thought: why shouldn't I?

So, to celebrate Valentine's long weekend, I'm making two of my best romances free for you to download to your Kindle from Amazon this weekend only.  I hope you enjoy one, or both of them.

The Nightclub - a contemporary romance with suspense:



When cash-strapped Laura becomes a nightclub hostess and finds love, she learns that a world of sex, drugs and corruption is not a good place for either her, or love to survive.


Download your free copy from Friday February 11th, only from Amazon:  Getbook.at/TheNightclub



Shopping for Love - a contemporary romance


Primary school teacher, Emma Bennett shops for an elderly neighbour, while software developer Greg Harper does the same for his aged grandfather.  

When two people shop out of love for others, it seems inevitable that they should find it for themselves.  But jealousy, spite, greed and corruption attack from all sides.  Will that push the price of love beyond their reach?

Download your free copy from Friday February 11th, only from Amazon:  Getbook.at/ShoppingForLove





Friday, January 7, 2022

Finding Writing Inspiration by Guest Author Savannah Cordova (@savannahcordova)

Where to Find Writing Inspiration When You Think There's Nowhere Left to Look

So you’ve re-read your favorite books, watched your favorite movies, even started a dream journal – anything to find inspiration for a new story. But, you’ve found nothing worth writing about.

Before you retire that pen and paper, check one more time. They say you always find what you’re looking for in the last place you look, so search a few more places for that pesky inspiration.

Here are my five favorite places to find writing inspiration. They’re free, easy, and instant, and I always have something to write about every time I sit down to write. And now you can too.

Music that tells a story

Take a scroll through your music library. What do your favorite songs say? Songs tell a story as much
as prose does, so put your music on shuffle and really listen to the lyrics. 

You can find an entire story condensed into the four-minute run time of a song. What does the artist choose to highlight in those precious few minutes? Let’s look at “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey as an example. The lyrics present us with vignettes of different scenes. We see images of midnight trains and busy street corners. We even smell a few of the characters in this song. There’s a lot of life being lived in the lyrics of “Don’t Stop Believing”. 

But, even with so much given to us, there’s a lot happening under the lyrics. We only see characters for a single verse, but the chorus of the song connects them all to the same sense of longing — of looking for more out of life. So what’s happening with these characters? Why did Journey choose to highlight them? And what do we think happens to them after the song finishes?

Create character profiles for the characters in your favorite songs. Tell us what’s happening to them before and after the four minutes of lyrics we get about them. Extrapolate a backstory from the information given in the song. Give them a voice and actions. Put them in new scenarios. When you’re writing, check out our favorite writing playlists for each genre.

Art with a story

If you’re a writer, you’re an artist. You’re creating art every time you sit down to write. So, why not look to fine art to inspire your own? Fine artists often tell a story in their work, leaving the viewers to decipher it for themselves.

Take Georges Suerat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” as an example. 

There is a lot going on here. The longer you look at this painting, the more you see happening. There are children running around, rowers on the water, and, in the foreground, a lady with a monkey on a leash. Take the woman standing at the water’s edge in the yellow hat. Maybe she’s in conflict with the woman sitting behind her. What could they be arguing about?

There are thousands of stories waiting to be seen in this painting. We can only glimpse a fraction of a second of these people’s lives, so we’re forced to imagine who they are, where they came from, and what they’ll go on to do.

Take a trip to a local museum or a virtual tour of one you’ve always wanted to visit and pick something that speaks to you. What is it saying?

Bonus: Art work is a brilliant thing to practice your ‘show don’t tell’ skills with. We’re shown so much in this work – how can you show just as much with prose?

Pictures with a thousands words to say

Much like art, a photograph can tell you so much about a person. Take out an old box of photos your
parents actually had developed, or check out that coffee table photography book. What photos catch your attention? Take note of why. 

This exercise may spark memories of your own life story, but maybe you find a photograph that you have no background knowledge on. What does the photo say to you? What do you imagine happening before and after this photo was taken?

You can even pick a handful of photos and write a story that links them all together. Include the details that made each photo stand out to you.

Stories unfolding around you

As writers, our biggest job is to start noticing. Notice what’s happening around you while you’re out for the day. Notice the way the grass smells, notice how people do that half-run-half-walk thing as they cross the street. Go to a cafe and eavesdrop a little on what people are talking about. Take in as many details about your day as you can.

Take notes of what you notice. Whether you carry a notebook with you and write things down everywhere you go, or journal at the end of your day, it’s important to really soak in what you’ve noticed. Add these details to stories you’re writing, or use them to launch a new narrative.

Did the clerk at the grocery store say something that caught you off guard as he was packing your groceries? Maybe the bank has a distinctive smell of fake leather chairs, pen ink, and hand sanitizer. That person you overheard on the phone, what’s their life story? These details are real, and will help bring your prose to life. It may even help spark your creativity to start writing again.

Inspiration on the go

No matter how you’re collecting inspiration for your writing, take note of it. Whether in your phone’s
notes apps or in an analog notebook, keep a running list of what stands out to you during the day. Do some journaling in this log as well. Write scenes of what’s unfolding around you, write the story points you’ve uncovered from a photo or song, or scribble your 3am I-just-woke-up-from-the-weirdest-dream thoughts here. 

You’ll create a never-emptying well of ideas and passages to draw from for a new short story. The key to this is that this log should be uncensored. Don’t judge this writing, it’s not for publication — it’s all for you to work through ideas and keep gold nuggets of inspiration in.

Having an idea log can save you so much time in your writing sessions. Instead of staring at a blank page, wondering what in heavens you’ll write today, scan your notes for anything that jumps out at you at the moment and run with it.

The more you open yourself up to unusual inspiration, the more you’ll find. As writers, we can’t sit and wait for inspiration to strike, or we may never write another word again. Go out and find your own inspiration — and then lock it away in your notes so it can never escape you.

Savannah Cordova is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects self-publishing authors with the world’s best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Savannah enjoys reading contemporary fiction, listening to audiobooks, and writing short stories.


Wednesday, November 24, 2021

The Only 5 Things That Will Actually Motivate Me to Write by Guest Author Savannah Cordova (@savannahcordova)



If there’s one thing we scribblers know, it’s that writing is
hard. It’s even harder if you’re a chronic procrastinator like me, and harder still if bad habits were formed in youth. You think you can skate by on minimal effort forever — and then you crash into the wall of real life.

This is what happened to me when I entered the workforce as a content writer. No longer could I hem and haw over English essays, or dive back into my WIP whenever I felt like it. Now I had to regularly produce thoughtful content that I couldn’t BS my way through.

I needed to change my work patterns, and I knew it would take drastic measures. To that end, I developed these five tactics to kill my unproductivity — and I’m sharing them today in the hopes that they might help you as well!

1. Ensuring that distraction is not an option

First off, when it’s time to start writing, I literally remove every single distraction from my purview. I
work at a small table facing a window, with my back to the rest of the room. There’s nothing on the table except my laptop and coffee. And I use noise-cancelling headphones to keep from listening to my partner’s work calls instead of my inner creative voice.
 

If I know I’m going to be extra distraction-prone — often just as I’m starting a new project — I even make sure to have all my chores done the day before. That way, I can’t use the “productive procrastination” line to delay my writing, nor will I be distracted thinking about chores. 

This segues into what actually tends to be the bigger problem for me, and I imagine for most writers: digital distraction. A minimalist workspace is all well and good, but it won’t save you from the perils of the internet! So when I have to make serious writing progress, I block distracting sites and put my Freedom.to into “Locked Mode”.

Yes, some days I still have to turn off my WiFi completely. But 95% of the time, blocking those distracting sites does the trick. The mere knowledge that Twitter isn’t an option lends me the fortitude I need to focus.

2. Having someone else rely on me

Then again, sometimes it’s not enough to remove external distractions; sometimes you need external motivation as well. For me, this often manifests in the form of another person — specifically, someone who’s relying on me to get my work done. 

Of course, you can’t always contrive this in your writing process. But I have learned to take advantage of it wherever possible, often collaborating with people on longer writing projects. It turns out that splitting work is not only more manageable from a quantity perspective, but also more personally incentivizing! 

You may not typically work with others on your writing, but in my experience, it’s worth a try. If you’re struggling, rope in a friend or colleague! Even creating an outline together will force you to think about the structure and get you a little closer to actually writing it.

But again, the true power of this tactic stems from having someone else rely on you — so the more invested they are in the piece, the better. (And the more they care about you, the nicer their encouragement will be!)

3. Genuine interest in a project

Now let’s talk intrinsic motivation, namely in the form of personal interest — basically, the simple idea
that being interested in something will make you want to write about it more. The key here is that you don’t have to be an expert or a fanatic in order to find something interesting about your subject!

Indeed, you can develop interest along the way — the more you research, the more interested you’ll become. If there’s one element of your subject matter that intrigues you more than the rest, dig into it. Even if this is only a blip in your final project, it will increase your motivation to complete it. And once you tap into your own enthusiasm, it will shine through in the prose.

On that note, you can also try rousing your enthusiasm for the act of writing itself. You might challenge yourself to match the tone of a certain work or the style of another writer. You could also set yourself a specific task, like coming up with evocative metaphors or a personal anecdote to back up your argument. The more fun you have with this, the more your readers will too!

The good news is, if you’re publishing a book, you should already have seeds of intrinsic motivation ready to sprout. Presumably, you started writing because your interest in a subject or story made you want to share it with the world. Even just reminding yourself of this could be all you need to reignite your creativity.

4. Altering my physical state or setting


Once again, this concept is pretty simple: if you’ve fallen into a slump, a physical shock to your system can trigger a similar mental response. I’m using the phrase “shock to your system” a bit loosely here — it can be something uncomfortable, like splashing icy water on your face, but it can easily be another physical change that spurs your brain into action.

For me, what I try depends on how I’m feeling. If I’m just a bit hazy, listening to a catchy song or opening the window for some fresh air might do the trick. If I’m really tired, I might require a strong cup of coffee or a few jumping jacks.

And on the other hand, if I’m feeling anxious or intimidated, I’ll do something to calm myself down. Breathing exercises can help, as can a brisk walk. I’ve also had some success writing with a glass of wine in hand — if this is an option for you, it may relieve some of the psychological blockages that often accompany writing. (“Write drunk, edit sober” is obviously not universally good advice, so do take it with a pinch of salt.) 

Finally, if these stimuli don’t work, you can alter your entire environment: go to the library, a coffee shop, or wherever else you can write. You might be risking distraction by leaving your office cocoon, but if you weren’t getting work done anyway, you have nothing to lose!

5. A deadline with serious consequences

For my last trick, I’ll circle back to basics. Sometimes the only thing in the world that can get me to
write is a looming deadline — and the more real the consequences for missing it, the better.
 

This is easy to implement at work, where consequences may include: colleagues’ judgment, bosses’ lectures, and possibly even losing your job. It’s trickier to impose a deadline on yourself for a personal project… but again, as with everything else in this post, it’s not impossible.

You can join a writers’ group with a critique circle, most of which have time-sensitive guidelines. You can enter writing contests and submit to literary magazines with deadlines. You can even try to get a book deal in advance of actually finishing the book — though I personally wouldn’t recommend this strategy!

Indeed, take what you will from these motivational tips, whether you follow them to the letter or interpret them through your own lens. I only hope you’re able to finally vanquish your own procrastination demons and write freely, whatever that means to you.


Savannah Cordova is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects self-publishing authors with the world’s best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Savannah enjoys reading contemporary fiction, listening to audiobooks, and writing short stories.

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Should Women Rule the World? By Guest Author @JennyTwist1

 

We have virtually no evidence for what human society was like in prehistory. Palaeolithic cave paintings depict animals but very few humans. There are patterns made by human hands and the occasional stick figure but nothing to give us a clear picture of how these societies were arranged.

Did we, for instance, take lifelong partners and live in small family groups? If our nearest relatives, the great apes, are anything to go by, our ancestors most likely had random sex with different partners. Until, that is, human beings made the connection between sex and the creation of new life.

I argued in a previous article (https://manicscribbler.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-earth-mother-rules-guest-author.html) that the earliest societies were not only matrilineal (which makes perfect sense in a society where everybody knows who their mother is and fathers don’t exist) but matriarchal.

It is interesting to speculate what these societies were like and how they compare with the patriarchal societies which followed.

For a start, there seems to have been nothing we would describe as war in the Palaeolithic age. Surely there must have been disagreements and tussles but nothing our ancestors felt worthy of recording in paintings. In fact, we don’t see definite evidence until the late Neolithic, well after the ancient matriarchal societies have been suppressed.

This doesn’t, of course, prove that rule by women is more benign than rule by men. It could be simply that warfare only emerged as the human population increased so much that resources became scarce. That war was, if you like, inevitable, irrespective of the nature of government.

As for women leaders being naturally more nurturing and non-violent we know that this is not universal. Some of the most memorable women rulers were every bit as cruel and despotic as their male counterparts, Catherine the Great, for example, or our own dear Margaret Thatcher, who certainly had no aversion to war.

What we can say, with reasonable confidence, is that war on any significant scale did not exist before patriarchal government became the norm.

The discovery that men had an equal role in the creation of children led to a fundamental change in stone age societies. The only way of ensuring that a man’s woman (or women) only gave birth to his children was to strictly control her sexual activity. Now that women had been stripped of their magic they no longer had the power to resist men’s superior physical strength, and so women, rather than being the magical creators of life, were to become mere vessels for the incubation of the seed of men.

Quite apart from the obvious loss of quality of life that brought, it meant women, far from being the rulers of these societies, no longer even had a voice. Virtually all human societies since the stone age have been ruled by men, for men. The struggle for equality has been going on for thousands of years and is still a long way from reaching its goal.

And today, watching a video of policemen kneeling on a helpless woman, I find myself wondering about the Genesis myth. Poor Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, innocent of sin, beguiled by the serpent into eating the forbidden fruit. What was the secret knowledge that was imparted to them? Not, surely, that they were naked and should be ashamed. If God created them naked, what could be shameful about it?

Could it be that the knowledge that caused them to be expelled from Paradise was the understanding of how children were conceived, which passed  the power to men?

 


 

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/dec/12/humans-were-not-centre-stage-ancient-cave-art-painting-lascaux-chauvet-altamira

 About the Author:

Jenny Twist was born in York and brought up in the West Yorkshire mill town of Heckmondwike, the eldest grandchild of a huge extended family.

She left school at fifteen and went to work in an asbestos factory. After working in various jobs, including bacon-packer and escapologist’s assistant (she was The Lovely Tanya), she returned to full-time education and did a BA in history, at Manchester and post-graduate studies at Oxford.

She stayed in Oxford working as a recruitment consultant for many years and it was there that she met and married her husband, Vic.

In 2001 they retired and moved to Southern Spain where they live with their rather eccentric dogs and cat. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, knitting and attempting to do fiendishly difficult logic puzzles.

Since moving to Spain she has written four novels and numerous short stories.

In July 2018 she was awarded the coveted TOP FEMALE AUTHOR award in Fantasy/Horror/Paranormal/Science Fiction by The Authors Show.  

Friday, April 9, 2021

Released: A Measure of Madness by @KimMcMahill

I would like to thank Lynette for hosting me once again on her blog so soon. I last visited a couple months ago and discussed the Progression of a Series, specifically my Risky Research Series. In that post I mentioned the upcoming April 9, 2021 release of the fourth installment in the series, A Measure of Madness. I would also like to mention that I also recently released a prequel micro-read to the series, Midnight in Montana, which is free to download from the usual sources. But for now, here’s a bit more on the latest novel, A Measure of Madness.


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 those responsible for so much death to live out their lives in paradise.

Excerpt

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.

Sliding into the driver’s seat, she locked the doors and fished the keys out of her pocket. She dared a glance back. Sofia was still firing at Ramon and J.R., but was clearly too far gone to get off an accurate shot. But she had effectively given Devyn the time she needed to get 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 around. Cranking the wheel hard, she spun the vehicle and barreled toward BR-116.

About the Author

Kim McMahill grew up in Wyoming which is where she developed her sense of adventure and love of the outdoors. She started out writing non-fiction, but her passion for exotic world travel, outrageous adventures, stories of survival, and happily-ever-after endings soon drew her into a world of romantic suspense and adventure fiction. Along with writing novels Kim has also published over eighty travel and geographic articles, and contributed to a travel story anthology. She has had the opportunity to live in Hawaii, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, and Colorado, but has finally returned home to Wyoming. When not writing she enjoys gardening, traveling, hiking, puzzles, playing games, and spending time with family.

Connect with Kim at:

Kim's Blog

Follow Kim on Twitter 

Kim's Facebook Page

Find Kim on Instagram

Kim's Goodreads author page 

You can check out the Risky Research Series video trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clZIRJ1s-Fo&feature=youtu.be

To learn more about the author or to purchase the Risky Research Series or other novels by Kim McMahill, visit her page on 

AmazonUK

or 

 AmazonUS