Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Kimberly A. Cook

Writers Must Be Young Reader Book Pushers!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                        (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Read a wonderful article on Friday by Frank Bruni of the “The New York Times” about the importance of literacy in our nation and the disturbing pleasure reading figures for young adults. Seems the current digital natives are veering away from reading to plug-in and zone out even more than we thought.

Original keeper books from my salad days.
Original keeper books from my salad days.

It made me think of my book favorites from grade and middle school. I promptly went to the keeper shelf and gathered a few and took their picture.

Interesting to note what I read in my early years is what still drives me now; romance, mystery, suspense. Seems we might know what writers we are to become by what we read as children.

Kids not reading for pleasure is a huge issue. The article quoted a statistic from the Common Sense Media report that reading for pleasure has declined for ages 13 to 17. It goes on to say “Fewer than 20 percent of 17-year-olds now read for pleasure ‘almost every day.’

Whoa! I know teens are busy, but this is not good for many reasons. The article goes on to talk about the symbiotic link between reading and intelligence. Just like exercise the more you do it the fitter you become, body or brain.

It has never been more important for our youth to read for pleasure. This crusade does not belong to only the Young Adult authors, this is a mercenary business need for all writers. If we don’t make young adult readers, we won’t have adult readers!

It’s time to become a book pusher today!

Link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/opinion/bruni-read-kids-read.html?_r=0

 

 

 

Great Course Run Guys!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                      (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

It’s been a wild week here at Quirky central and now it’s time to sit back and relax for the weekend. While I contemplate which of the 3,000 things I may not do on my get it done list, here are two brave foragers out for their morning nuts. Love the play by play calls!

When all else fails, the animals entertain. Happy Quirky Friday!

 

What Type Are You?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Back in the ancient days, I was a business trainer for the federal government. Some of the fun things we did were take tests to know ourselves better and help teach others. Enjoyable tests, not the SATS or anything. One I really enjoyed was the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test.

We answered questions on a large form and then our results came back to tell us which of the 16 “types” we were. The great thing is there are no wrong answers and it explains a lot about group and family dynamics. Mine came back as an INFJ, which translates into a writer and emotional sponge. Always good to know.

Moon pic from last night since today is the Corn Planting Moon. What type of plant are you?
Moon pic from last night since today is the Corn Planting Moon. What type of plant are you?

One of the best books we used is “Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type” by Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger. Not only does this book help you for your own career choices, but it is a goldmine for information to use when creating characters.

The four letters specify if you are an Extrovert or Introvert, Sensing or Intuitive, Thinking or Feeling and Judging or Perceiving. When you get all the combinations possible, it ends up being sixteen.

Each personality type and their motivations are explained in a chapter in the book. Perfect for building fiction characters, figuring out yourself and your family. My sister had taken the test  at one time and we found out we were exact opposites except we both wanted to be in charge. That explained a lot about our childhood! There is usually always one type opposite from the other types in any given biological family. The cliché of a black sheep in the family might really mean a different type!

Learning about ourselves as writers and how we fit into the world is fascinating from a creative and personal standpoint. What type are you?

(P.S. I know I’m a day late posting, but the Trailblazers won Game 4 with their backs against the wall! Rip City!)

 

Two Military Mules Get A Well Deserved Retirement

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by Kimberly A. Cook                          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

While trying to distract myself from the NBA playoffs, go Blazers, I came across this great video about two Ft. Hood Cavalry mules who retired in 2011. Now I have a very soft spot in my heart for mules since I was the last handler for Windriver, Windy to her friends, believed to be the last official Army pack mule when I served at Fort Carson, Colorado.

So this was a great video to see. It appear you can buy anything from government liquidation! Happy Quirky Friday!

 

Did You See Damian’s Shot?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                   (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Fiction is wonderful to write since we get to create worlds and make fairytale endings come true.  Then sometimes real life provides us with those moments. I think Spec Ops Cat is still trying to get his hearing back after the end of Game 6 on Friday night when Damian Lillard put our Trailblazers into the second round of the NBA Playoffs with the buzzer beater shot.

So for today I am going to revel in that perfect moment and prepare snacks and goodies to watch the Trailblazers and Spurs in Game 1 tonight. Sometimes life is about basketball. Here’s hoping all the teams win, but since that isn’t mathematically possible, here’s hoping the best for our Trailblazers. Rip City!

http://www.nba.com/blazers/video/2014/05/02/BlazersWinLillardclutch3ptmp4-3257826/

 

Do Feline Authors Have Plagiarism Issues?

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by Kimberly A. Cook               (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Many beginning writers worry about plagiarism, but it’s a pretty rare occurrence. However, Henri the Cat seems to be having a rather tough go of it in today’s publishing world. Even French cats living in the United States have to be careful when it comes to indie publishing.

Check out his story and see what you think. Happy Quirky Friday! Enjoy the weekend!