Okay so it looks like I fell off the planet. Promise - I'm still here. The last four years have been ... hard. There's no other word for it. Everything is fine. I'm fine, but I've been the caregiver of my mom who has Dementia. Between her needs, work, etc I seem to have lost control of my time. I am still writing and am trying hard to get back to my blog.

In case you weren't aware Phaze and HSWF which where under the Mundania Umbrella have closed. I was smart enough to get my titles back before all this happened. I'm happy to say the three books I sold to HSWF have been picked up by Melange Books and are available through their Satin Books imprint. I have even sold a new title to them called Magical Quest due out in 2022

I have also been lucky enough to find a publisher for my Vespian Way series. I'm now with Blushing Books under the name of Bethany Drake. I have five titles out with them right now and am close to submitting two more. There's Desire's Destiny, Desire's Duty and Desire's Promise. Then there is two in my werewolf series, Tears of the Queen and Legend of the Tears. I have just finished the rough draft of the third book in the series and have plans for a fourth one the moment I submit it.

I'll probably still be sporadic here on the blog. Unless I win the lottery and can hire someone to help me I can't avoid it, but know I'm still here still working hard in the background and am hoping to do better at keeping my blog alive.

Barb:)



Saturday, May 7, 2016

Welcome my Latest Guest Kim McMahill returns! @KimMcMahill

I want to welcome Kim McMahill.  First I’d love you to introduce yourself.

Thank you for having me on your blog.

I grew up in Wyoming, which is probably where I developed my sense of adventure and love of the outdoors. I started out writing non-fiction, but my love for exotic world travel, outrageous adventures, stories of survival, and happily-ever-after endings soon drew me into a world of romantic suspense. Along with writing adventure novels I’ve also published over eighty travel and geographic articles, and contributed to a travel anthology and cookbook. I’ve recently relocated to Colorado, which I’m very excited about. Not only am I right next door to my home state and much of my family, I’m back in my beloved Rocky Mountains. When I’m not writing, I enjoy gardening, traveling, hiking, and cheering on the Wyoming Cowboys and Denver Broncos.

Tell us about your latest release.

A Taste of Tragedy is the second novel in the Risky Research Series. In the first novel, A Dose of Danger, a researcher and her team believe they had discovered a miracle weight loss pill, which makes them the targets of a deadly group intent on controlling the multi-billion dollar-a-year diet product industry. In A Taste of Tragedy, a company uses and promotes a potentially deadly sweetener in its Healthy and Delicious Foods line. The product turns the company into a global powerhouse, but when their newest vice president uncovers evidence that the healthy foods she’s been hired to promote may be dangerous, she is forced to reevaluate her priorities. As questions mount and the body count rises, she finds herself caught in the crosshairs of an organization that will stop at nothing to hide its secrets and protect its profits.

Now I have a few questions for you – I have found readers do like to know fun things about us writers.

1.) Who is your favorite author? Do you feel you write like them?

Clive Cussler is my favorite author and the king of adventure novels. I would love to write like him, but our different life experiences and my female perspective on the adventure novel will always provide a unique spin on any story.

2.) What was your favorite book growing up?

Charlotte’s Web

3.) Are you a plotter or a pantser and why did you choose that method?

I’m a little of both, and the degree of each depends on the story. Shrouded In Secrets had so many complex scenarios to keep track of that I had note cards and maps pinned to a cork board and a fairly detailed chapter-by-chapter outline. I always keep a running chapter-by-chapter cheat sheet at a minimum, but if the story is flowing, I just let it go and see where I end up.

4.) Do you consider writing a career or a hobby? Why?

Definitely a career. I put too much time and effort into my craft and into marketing to consider it anything less.

5.) What are you working on now?

I’ve got the basic plot fleshed out in my third novel in the Risky Research series, A Foundation of Fear. The fourth is still in my head. The series explores the lengths a deadly group of criminals will go to in order to control the 40 to 100 billion dollar-a-year diet product industry.

6.) What one piece of advice would you like to pass on to an up and coming author?

Keep your expectations realistic. No matter how good your work may be, the competition is tough and getting noticed takes as much work and skill as writing that great novel.

7.) If you had the ability to time travel and your first visit was to see a younger version of yourself what would you say to that younger self?

Don’t sweat the small stuff or worry about the future. You will be one of the fortunate few who find the love of your life and soulmate, and you’ll get to experience a magnificent journey together.

8.) You just got a million dollars, whether it’s from an inheritance, the lottery, or a sweet book deal doesn’t matter. What would be the first thing you would buy for yourself?

I would take my husband on a very long exotic cruise.

9.) If you could un-invent one thing in the world what would it be?

The smart phone has changed society in immeasurable ways, and I can’t say very many of them are good. The device has made certain things easier, but it seems almost like a drug and being addicted to anything is scary.

10.) What is your favorite movie/TV Show? Why?

One of my all-time favorite movies has to be Sahara. It is based on a Clive Cussler novel of the same name. It is an entertaining adventure where the characters are trying to stop an ecological disaster of epic proportions, yet somehow Cussler always weaves in a few things that make you laugh or at least smile. I’m also quite fond of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Everyone always dreams of a little adventure, but it takes strength to go outside your comfort zone and grab it.





Blurb:

Morgan Hunter sacrificed everything for her career. She had yet to encounter anything she wasn’t willing to do to succeed . . . until now. When she uncovers evidence that the healthy foods she’s been hired to promote may be dangerous, she must reevaluate her priorities. As questions mount and the body count rises, she finds herself caught in the crosshairs of an organization that will stop at nothing to hide its secrets and protect its profits. With no one else to trust, Morgan is forced to seek help from the man she drove away, but whom she never stopped loving.


Excerpt:

“Here, let me help you,” Morgan said as she draped Devyn’s arm around her shoulders.

Morgan tried to relieve as much weight as she could from Devyn as she helped her hobble to the waiting vehicle. Once Devyn was seated in the cramped back seat, Morgan dug out her emergency supply bag. She handed Devyn a blanket and a bottle of water. “I have a first aid kit, but I think you need something a little more than a bandage.”

“It’s just a few scratches. I’ll live.”

Morgan could see why Nick trusted Devyn with his back. As she looked at the battered and bruised woman, who had taken off into the desert in the middle of the night in bare feet to prevent a criminal from getting away, she had to admire her. Devyn had to be in extreme pain, yet not a complaint escaped her lips.

“Make room in the back,” Nick huffed.

Morgan looked up to see Nick trudging toward her with an inert Aaron slung over his shoulder. She raced to the tiny back cargo area and moved a few items around so Nick could squeeze the body in the vehicle.

“Is he dead?” Morgan whispered.

“Not quite, but we need to get him medical help A.S.A.P. The bullet didn’t hit any vital organs, but I’m not sure how much damage he suffered from the knock to the head”

Morgan watched as Nick set the man down in the vehicle, and then she joined Devyn in the back seat. Turning around and kneeling, she was able to lean over the seat and assess Aaron’s injuries. She folded up a handkerchief and placed it over Aaron’s gunshot wound and applied pressure. She wasn’t sure which was bleeding more, the bullet hole or the bump and cut to the head, but she had to try and slow the blood loss any way she could.

“That’s all we can do for now,” Nick said. “Just keep the pressure on the best you can.”

Morgan nodded as Nick secured the back and then got behind the wheel.

“You okay?” Nick asked as he turned to face Devyn.

“I’ve had better days, but sadly, I’ve had worse.”

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