Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Kimberly A. Cook

Why Are Many Creatives Monetarily Challenged?

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by Kimberly A. Cook         (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

It never ceases to amaze me how people can make money. That is, people except moi. When it comes to being an artist trying not to starve, other folks seem to figure out how to make it happen. Article on CNN.com yesterday talked about how some folks are making money off of YouTube – for themselves. Really.

Now, one entrepreneur said YouTube is more than cat videos. Well, I was thinking of going with cat videos, given Spec Ops Cat’s upkeep. SOC has two videos up on his YouTube channel from several years ago, but he has staff issues. But these new money making YouTube creative types get others to subscribe to their channels, then go viral and then make money. Wowsa.

Amazing how like writing this all sounds – creative arts are creative arts. The article also outlines how much work it is but they love it and they like being their own bosses. Sounds like my fantasy for retirement; write, eat snickerdoodle cookies and get paid on a regular basis.

When you write the ebook, market the ebook, then write more ebooks, it all takes time and dedication. While we try to build our author platforms doing what the experts “say,” sometimes we lose why we started writing in the first place.

Listening to a recent interview with Elizabeth Gilbert on YouTube about how she handled the huge success of “Eat, Pray, Love,” she said, “I stayed off of the Internet for a few years.” What? I about fell out of my chair. You can do that???

In the quest for a farthing, peso or a buck for our writing efforts, we need to remember we are still in charge and can write for many different reasons. Sometimes turning a passion into a job takes all the joy out of it. Only we can figure out why we write and adjust our goals, lives and expectations accordingly.

In the meantime, we can still watch cat videos. Like Maru from Japan above, one very famous cat with a box addiction. Seriously, more than 11 million hits on this one video!

Read CNN.com article here: http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/21/showbiz/youtube-famous-american-journey-irpt/index.html?hpt=hp_c3

Too Much Moose Help For Halloween?

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by Kimberly A. Cook           (Twitter@ Warriortales)

I know trick or treaters are getting bigger each year, but this guy doesn’t even have a candy bag!

Plus what are those folks doing opening the door to take pictures with hundreds of pounds of active moose meat in front of them? Calling 911? Yup! Shut the glass door!!

Doing my part to help you all get ready for Halloween. You might want to stock up on moose mints, just in case. Happy Quirky Friday!

What Is Your Writer Uniform?

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Wandering around my favorite antique mall last Friday I came upon this gem of an outfit. It got me to thinking about Halloween costumes. Then I thought about what costume do I wear as a writer? We all have our private and public fashion style, but our writer costume, what would that look like?

So much going on here and red too! Loving this creative outfit.
So much going on here and red too! Loving this creative outfit.

There are my comfy writing clothes which will never be seen outside my home and then the official author outfits to wear for book signings and speeches. Every outfit is armor for a writer, depending on our current mood, audience, what’s clean and quirkiness.

While we clothe our fiction characters for their roles and a book’s cover is a very important marketing costume, like the runways in Paris our writer costume changes over time. It’s true, you only get one chance to make a first impression, either in person or with the cover of your book.

It’s also a given you need to know what you are writing and the mood or costume you want your series of books or the genre to reflect as a writer. One of my favorite exercises is to take the covers of my favorite author’s books and figure out where my book covers would fit. Spreading them out on the floor really shows a theme or “costume” for their books/brand.

This exercise is also a time and money saver, since it is much cheaper than hiring one of those New York book cover design artists. It gives me an idea of how I want my covers to look and I can then take high-caliber examples to the local graphic designer to design my covers. Both cover do’s and don’ts help the designer know what “look” you are trying to create.

We figure out our own character costume each morning by getting dressed to go out into the world in our “worker,” “Mom,” “author” or “pirate” uniforms, so remember to wear your writer costume too. Mere mortals may not be able to see our writer uniform, but we wear it all the time. What is your favorite writer outfit?

Got Trained Squirrels In Your Neighborhood?

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

I need staff. Wrote my blog post Thursday and forgot to post it. Life happens. But Fall is upon us and the leaves threw themselves off the trees this past week. Happened pretty fast here so I know the holidays are galloping toward us. With everything we have to accomplish during the coming season, it helps to have trained troops for backup.

Seems one man has figured out how to get his backyard squirrels to take on the task of carving his Halloween pumpkin. Probably a retired Command Sergeant Major. Watch these pumpkin carving artists in action. Happy Quirky Friday!

Are Writers Really Swashbuckling Pirates In Disguise?

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Waiting for new books from our favorite authors is like the night before Christmas; we hope we get what we asked for and the gift lives up to our fantasies. One of my favorite writers is Elizabeth Gilbert and her new fiction book is titled, “The Signature of All Things.”

Gilbert is famous for her memoir, “Eat, Pray, Love,” but her first love is fiction. We have that in common. In the October 2013 issue of “The Oprah Magazine,” there is a wonderful interview with her about her writing life now and how she came to write this book.

A great quote in the article from Gilbert is, “Creativity is a scavenger hunt. It’s your obligation to pay attention to clues, to the thing that gives you that little tweak. The muses or fairies – they’re trying to get your attention.” Writer Katie Arnold-Ratliff does a very nice job of interviewing and profiling Gilbert. Pick up a copy of the magazine if you get a chance.

The scavenger hunt is such a wonderful metaphor for the creative process. It’s also how I buy clothes, shoes and houses; I know it when I see it. The same is true for my story ideas and plot lines. One small book review launched a novel idea and then a series outline. I gather random items into my memory and later a book idea or three spit out. Totally a fun scavenger hunt.

Paying attention is the hard part. With all the distractions, interruptions, noise and tech in today’s world, we have to be diligent to hear our muse speak up and point out clues on our daily journeys. Perhaps that is one of the things I love the most about being a writer, creativity feels a lot like being a pirate in search of booty – even in a grocery store line.

Can’t wait to buy my copy of Gilbert’s book this week, I always get hard copies for my keeper shelf. So climb aboard and raise the sails on the story ship. Fly the Jolly Roger high up on the mast. Let your muse sail into adventure today wherever ye are bound!

Back To Neka’s Cubs

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Time for Quirky Friday and we survived last weekends big storm and the monsoons. My alpaca socks came in very handy. Sun is out and there is good news at the Oregon Zoo. The youngest cub has been in the nursery hospital for nine days, but got put back in with her siblings this week. Mom Neka started cleaning her right away, so all fingers are crossed the little furry one will continue to make progress against her chubby sisters.

Seems these kits haven’t quite found their roars yet, so pretty silent video, but how cute are these babies? Have a great weekend and enjoy Quirky Friday!

P.S. Sir Stuffington, the pirate cat, has gathered $3,000 from around the globe in donation booty for the Multnomah County’s Animal Services since his Internet stardom. He is also going to get some surgery for his jaw injury. They are using the donated money to create care kits for foster feline parents. Cats rule!