Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Kimberly A. Cook

Can You Take Harbor Seal Photos From Your Porch?

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by Kimberly A. Cook         (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

My last photography posting had so many nice people comment and like it I decided to follow-up with another photo topic. When I worked on the newspaper and took my own photos, there was a system I learned from my photography classes in college.

This is actually a mid-range photo since I was so far away. The pulled back photo made the harbor seals look like raw tapioca.
This is actually a mid-range photo since I was so far away. The pulled back photo made the harbor seals look like raw tapioca.

First take an overall shot of the area/subject, then look for details and close-ups to describe the story. That is how I ended up with photos for my feature stories and/or photo essays. While I might not use all of the photos in the newspaper, in fact I rarely did, taking more shots saved the day when I’d need to hunt for pictures to help fill space.

Now I keep those same rules in mind for a potential blog post, article or video I might be working on in the future.

To illustrate the system, here are pictures I took on a recent trip to Depoe Bay, Oregon, one of my favorite places on the planet. Munching a leisurely breakfast that Saturday, my sister let me know the harbor seals were hauled out on the rocks.

This is what a zoom lens, leaning against a post and keeping your breathing even can do. That's not tapioca after all.
This is what a zoom lens, leaning against a post and keeping your breathing even can do. That’s not tapioca after all.

Grabbed the camera and sauntered down the porch of the condos to get an aerial view. One cannot wait when the time, tide, seals and weather all create a photo opportunity – getting all those variables together is a rare event. So I grabbed both Canon cameras to ensure I would have focal length to get up close.

Details count. Did you see the Blue Heron in the first photo above?
Details count. Did you see the Blue Heron in the first photo above?

Photographers know the sweetest light to take photos is the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, but tides and seals have their own schedules. Some of the photos I took are not as color-saturated as I would like, washed out by the sun, but I’ll take it.

Always have a camera, cell phone camera or video camera with you. You never know when seals may show up to interrupt your breakfast!

Got Some Knitting Time? The Penguins Need Us!

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by Kimberly A. Cook           (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

I’m always looking for new fun things to knit and a friend alerted me to this current need. The penguins Downunder in Australia need sweaters to help them recover from oil spills. Knitting sweaters for penguins? Does life get any better than that?

So for this Quirky Friday let’s all whip out our knitting needles and get busy knitting small sweaters for our fav flipper guys and gals. Check out the video. Happy Quirky Friday!

Do You Have Writer Persistence?

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Cleaning out the papers in my office last weekend , a lifelong quest, I stumbled across my production worksheet for 2013. Very organized, all my writing projects listed, it was a plan. Unfortunately life intervened and not one of those projects got finished.

Persistence gets bulbs out of the ground to become flowers. Make like a bulb and bloom. Spring rocks!
Persistence gets bulbs out of the ground to become flowers. Make like a bulb and bloom. Spring rocks!

But, it does give me a head start on my 2014-2015 to do list! The cliché “life is what happens while you’re making plans” is a cliché because life does happen. The older I get the more I’ve learned to give myself a break, to put on my big girl shoes and keep moving. The universe does respond to action and it’s harder to hit a moving target, so serpentine! as my Drill Sergeant would say.

So it was with heartwarming glee that I read about an author who was rejected 111 times over nine years trying to get his fiction novel “The Lost Get-Back Boogie,” published. When it did get published, it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. See, it does happen. Persistence can pay off.

The author? James Lee Burke. A co-worker at the day job was reading his book, “In The Moon of Red Ponies.” I’m always spying on what people are reading; market research. She told me his words were “strung together like silk.” Now that makes me sit up and stare. What writer wouldn’t kill to have a reader describe their prose that way?

Needless to say, I will be getting a book or two of his to put in my read pile. Whenever I get a little blue about where my writing career is not going, these kind of success stories lift my spirits and make me keep chugging along. Am I doing this for the money? Hell no. I write because I must, pure and simple.

If I can entertain and educate along the way, that’s gravy. Maybe one day I too will be one of those 45-year overnight successes. It could happen! Be persistent with your writing dreams, they might come true. Surprise yourself.

Link:      http://jamesleeburke.com/about_the_author.html

Oregon Zoo Elephants Romp In Their New Digs

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by Kimberly A. Cook         (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Back to the Zoo! Recently the ladies of the Oregon Zoo elephant herd, with the lovely Miss Lily, got to check out part of their expanding space. This elephant size remodel is being done in stages and with help from the pachyderms.

Seems sample lots of sand were brought in and tested by the elephants to find their perfect brand. Turns out our Portland pachyderms prefer that fabulous sand used on golf courses on their tootsies and it drains the rain really well.

So far the girls and babies have checked the place over, but the real test will come next with Tusko and Packy, the big boys. Since the trainers say Tusko “breaks everything,” can’t wait to see if we’ve built it “Tusko Strong” or not.

Check out what the ladies did in their new digs and how they inspected their new play toys. Happy Quirky Friday!

Have You Pruned Your Writing Lately?

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by Kimberly A. Cook           (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Last Friday we had a sunny day. Since the monsoons were rolling in Saturday, I jumped out into the yard first thing and pruned my roses. Since I’m not really sure what I’m doing, I’d looked at how the landscapers pruned my Mom’s roses. Pretty severe.

Rose bushes before the great prune-off .....
Rose bushes before the great prune-off …..

Hacking away at the poor bushes reminded me of editing. Like the time I threw out two-thirds of a fiction manuscript and started over. Painful but necessary. It got me to thinking of the top three edits writers need to make, but many times do not. I know these three because I have done them all and still do; then I have to self-prune my writing.

1. Back story overload: Because you know everything about your character from her favorite nail polish to her indigestion issues does not mean the reader needs to know it. We create our characters so we can react how our characters would react and know their motivations. DO NOT put every single item about your character in the book or the first chapter. Sprinkle observations and quirks throughout the manuscript to unfold layers of your heroine and let the reader get to bond with her. Do not overshare or for the younger set do not TMI. (Too much information!)

2. Research hurling: This is a close cousin to back story overload. Research hurling means the writer throws every single tidbit they discovered about the time period, horse carriages, leather harness, brass wax and currier combs into the story. Stop the madness! Pick important details which move the story forward or provide some scene setting but don’t slow down the story. If you get bored editing it, a reader will be comatose.

3. Starting before the action: Everybody does this, really. Then the good writers edit it out. The reader does not need to know exactly what year, political structure or cult history brought the hero to this point in his life – we need to know what is happening right now. Instead of explaining the entire history of the Reno Rodeo, how about starting with the hero trying to escape from the pounding hooves of the bull he’s been thrown from onto the dirt. Drop the history stuff in later as the story requires or if it is important to the character arc. If it doesn’t advance the story, don’t use it.

Self-editing is one of the hardest things to do for beginning writers and all writers. But the more times you edit, the better you become at letting your story free from the overgrowth of deadwood which doesn’t let it grow. Hopefully like my pruned rose bushes. Prune away!

Rose sticks afterwards. Stay tuned for June!
Rose sticks afterwards. Stay tuned for June!

It’s Cougar Triplet Time!

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Are these not the cutest guys on the planet? Besides the fabulous lion cubs we had at the Oregon Zoo, we also had three cougar cubs show up from a rescue. They are on their way to the East Coast  Tuesday to start their new lives – all together, two sisters and a brother.

I love a happy ending. Happy Quirky Friday!