Military Romance Author
by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
It’s been a weird week. Whenever I need a boost, I go back to my favorite movies for a pick me up. This is one of my all time favorite movies; a romantic comedy! It has Paris, France and Harrison Ford so how can one go wrong?
Rent this movie, curl up with your remote control and give this one a whirl. It’s a crack up and pretty profound too. Happy Quirky Friday. Enjoy!
by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
Of the many memories I carry from my time in the military, perhaps the uncomfortable ones are the biggest help to me now. Whenever I get grumpy in civilian life, I can always remember a worse time in the military and it cheers me up. Kind of a reverse psychology.
Long line at the DMV? At least I’m not getting shots in both arms at the end of it. Power goes out for a few hours at home? I’m not living without power for days on end, in a tent, in the pouring rain and have to fill the generator every few hours. Can’t find my favorite fresh apples at the grocery store? I don’t have to look at my MREs and really wish I hadn’t gotten beans. Again.
When we get upset at slow Internet speeds, traffic jams and political hijinks on the national scale, we need to step back and breathe. We need to remember we could be someplace else in a much worse situation. Many people in the world are, including right here in the USA.
This past weekend we had record-breaking fabulous spring weather here in the Pacific Northwest. Back East they are getting dumped on by a snow storm. Times like these I am thankful for my freedom, my country and the women and men who are serving in our military right now around the world.
When we look at the Seabees in the Navy photo above, heading into a dust storm in Afghanistan after work or think about The Old Guard who honor the Tomb of the Unknowns in the snow, sleet and wind 24 hours a day, the rest of us are in a pretty good place. Sometimes we just need to stop and be grateful for the way things are right now.
So the next time we are upset about what an agent says about our manuscript, we run out of ink in our printer without a backup cartridge, or the critique group doesn’t like our story; remember, we could be in a tent, in a snowstorm, with someone shooting at us. Checking perspective is a very good thing for writers.
by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
Remember those ropes that hung from the ceiling during phys ed in grade school? We were supposed to get up the damn things. With a growth spurt and weenie biceps, those ropes were my enemy. My technique was to jump as high as I could, try not to slip down the rope too quickly, then just hang there like a stuck monkey.
Army basic training years later taught me to do push ups and I found my biceps. However, if we don’t use them, they turn to mush. Was trolling on YouTube and happened to stumble upon this obstacle course double-cam video following a Naval Special Warfare Instructor through the SWCC obstacle course. The SWCC (“swick”), Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewman, are the guys who get the Navy SEALs in and out and they have the coolest toys, er boats. Check this out and try not to get exhausted watching. No more whining for the rest of us on the treadmill! Happy Quirky Friday!
http://youtu.be/soRbGNI3I2w
by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
The publishing and epub industry is heaving like the Titanic, with publishers and agents trying to rearrange the band, the deck chairs and the captain’s table. Some writers have been caught in steerage, of course. A good thing to do in any storm is to check on what the independent bookstore ships are doing. One small business article this past Friday caught my eye.
Our beloved www.Powells.com Books here in Portland, Oregon, a mega-independent bookseller, is always worth watching. The article talked about how the former site of Powell’s Technical Bookstore is being proposed for demolition to become a “seven-story, 60-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail storefronts,” according to www.oregonlive.com
The article goes on to say the Technical Bookstore “vacated the site in 2010 and moved to a smaller location” across the street from the main Powell’s bookstore. Notice the “smaller location” for technical books? See them moving into real estate and diversifying their revenue streams?
The Powell family presents their $7 million project proposal today to the city of Portland through their development firms. The fun new project will come complete with a bicycle parking room and no on-site parking. Who needs to park when you can walk to the bookstore?
Besides thinking book lovers might want to get in line to sign up for an apartment a short saunter from a block large book treasure, it brings to mind the changes in our industry. If one of the largest independent bookstores in the country is going into real estate development, what does that say to the writing community?
Me thinks we authors have slipped the bonds of steerage and escaped into the epub lifeboats. Grab an oar and let’s row!
Full Article Here: http://www.oregonlive.com/front-porch/index.ssf/2012/04/apartment_building_planned_at.html
by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
Last I heard each of us are on video at least seven times a day. When we are not Tweeting, texting, chatting or being filmed, it seems no one gets away from paparazzi, even a bear in the woods. In Oregon we have our OR-7 wolf, alias Journey, out trying to find a girlfriend and a still motion sensor camera caught him too.
So if you feel you haven’t had your 15 minutes of fame, you might want to think twice about it. Even this bear couldn’t scratch in peace. And we all know how good it feels to scratch. No sound, by the way, just a bear and his or her tree. Happy Quirky Friday!
By Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
One of the great things about being a writer is how few tools we really need to practice our craft. Having progressed from feathers and ink to computers, we can make up stories and novels with very few tools. Paper is everywhere. But then along came the gadgets.
Having survived my recent computer upgrade, barely, we’ve gone from simple tools in the old days to a geek gadget space race. It’s getting complicated. Smart phone or dumb phone? Tablet or iPad? Android, Apple or Blackberry? Flip video, camcorder or a digital camera that also records video? Nook, Kindle Fire or iPad?
It’s enough to make even a semi-sane writer cower under the bed. No matter how much research I do to make my life easier, it seems I always run aground on the gadget reef in the tech ocean. If I pick the product and then buy it, it’s going to tank and be upstaged by another upgrade or innovation. I’ve got bread older than some of my now past-their-prime gadgets. Palm PDA anyone?
Sometimes the good old days look pretty darn good. So after much soul-searching and trying to figure out how to consolidate my gadgets and reduce my costs for roaming and wandering, or whatever they charge us for, here is my next wish list.
I’m keeping the Flip video cameras and my Canon PowerShot cameras for photos and video. Get the new iPad to combine my Nook eReader and Kindle accounts, transfer my email to the iPad off my Blackberry, go back to a prepaid phone for talk and text only, have a screen large enough I can read and carry around with a wireless keyboard to replace my pink notebook and be able to use Squareup to sell books using credit cards at my talks.
Finally, a decision. Looks like I will buy in June. Expect Apple to tank in July. You heard it here first!
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