Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Kimberly A. Cook

The Power Of Curiosity And Chicken Teriyaki

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by Kimberly A. Cook         (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

We writers never know what story might touch a person or their family. Being interested and curious about people lets us hear all kinds of great and exciting stories, collecting adventures like pirates of old. A recent event reminded me of this treasure trove we take for granted every day.

Ron's Chicken Teriyaki - the best on the planet!
Ron’s Chicken Teriyaki – the best on the planet!

While visiting the Oregon Shakespearean Festival in Ashland in September 2011, my friend Carol and I hot-footed it over to our favorite restaurant, The Red Hibiscus, for the fabulous chicken teriyaki. We met the chef, owner and veteran Ron Yamaoka and had a great visit. I took pictures and Ron even gave me his recipe!

Read the blog post here. https://kimberlyacook.com/2011/10/25/a-chefs-hawaiian-tale-in-ashland/

This past January I got an email from Ron’s daughter. She told me Ron had passed away in January and a friend sent her my blog post. She had never seen the original post and was surprised and wanted to thank me for the article. I sent her my condolences. I told her I had more photos from that day and asked if she would like to have them. She quickly replied yes.

Sent them off this weekend and got a quick note back from her. The family is preparing for his March service in California and she is collecting photos. She really liked the other pictures of her Dad and the restaurant, even the food. It was a pleasure to send them on to the family.

Ron’s final resting place will eventually be at the Punchbowl National Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii. I told her I would stop by and say hi to him on my next visit. We go about our writer days finding out about people and having them graciously share their lives with us. What seems an everyday writing occurence to us can impact a loved one or friend much later.

Never forget the power of people and their stories. We are all touched by the smallest ripples in the universe. Keep exploring, writing and collecting stories; they are the tales of our lives.

Have You Had A Jammie Day Recently?

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by Kimberly A. Cook               (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

The sun is out here today in Oregon and it’s party time! So as we head into a long weekend for a lot of us, I wonder how many of you have scheduled a Jammie Day recently? An official Jammie Day is when you stay inside in your jammies all day and watch tv and eat what you want because you can, not because you’re sick or snowed into the house.

Every mind and body needs some downtime and Jammie Days are one of my favorites. Stack up the movies to watch, corral the snacks of your choice and relax at will. The rains are supposed to make an appearance tomorrow, so that may be Jammie Day time here in Oregon. Enjoy your weekend and maybe one of those movie collections you watch is the Star Wars trilogy, oldies but goodies. Watch for these “Star Wars” Alpacas if you do! Happy Quirky Friday!

How Much Social Media Does A Writer Need?

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

It depends on the writer. Now before you throw banana peels at the computer, pause for a moment. Think. Do textbook writers need blogs? Do technical book authors need blogs? Does anybody really need social media or blogs? Depends on your writing goals.

I resisted writing a blog forever. Being the type of person I am, if everyone is doing something, I head in the opposite direction; less crowded and I’m quirky. My writing web site went online in 1997, so I embraced the whole Internet medium, but I try to evaluate if each potential time suck away from writing helps my marketing bottom line first.

Spec Ops Cat leaves social media and web duties to his staff. Naps are his top priority.
Spec Ops Cat leaves social media and web duties to his staff. Naps are his top priority.

Twitter was my first love, since the challenge of telling a story in 140 characters lit up my journalist brain. When I figured a blog would be good to promote my book(s) and it felt like my own newspaper, getting training became important. Bought Kristen Lamb’s book, “Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer,” and then enrolled and lurked in her online class. She has great common sense advice and instructions on how to manage the blog beast. She emphasizes  making a schedule that works for your life and then stick to it like super glue put on with duct tape. Be consistent. (See Lamb’s blog link under Writing Biz on the right)

Facebook is not my friend. For the last two years I volunteered to manage a fan page for a non-profit, growing from 800 to 3,600 followers. FB and I don’t see eye to eye and some of the new changes creep me out. I do not need to know the status of anyone’s farm animals, I can barely keep up with my backyard patio herb pots. My personal/business FB is on hold, referring folks to my blog.

At a recent writer conference one attendee complained Twitter is turning into a link zone. I’m part of that problem/opportunity. Before the blog I posted three times a week on Twitter, all on Friday. I know there are things like Tweetdeck, but that seems like cheating to me.  My Tuesday and Friday blog postings are scheduled ahead of time, but I don’t get too far ahead in case the world goes crazy and I need to chat about it. My blog feeds to Twitter twice a week. Period. Nobody needs to hear from me more than that right now, people have lives or should get one!

My one big takeaway from all this? If you’re on social media or blogging and not working on your writing projects, then STOP IT. WRITE FIRST. If blogging is your writing project, go forth and blog. But maybe unplugging altogether until you get a first book draft done is what needs to happen.

You don’t need to “build a marketing platform” and “get followers” if your book is two years from being finished. FOCUS!

Feel free to work on your writing and ignore social media, I give you permission. Trust me, social media will be there when you get back and then you can watch even more of those fabulous cat movies. How much social media do you think a writer needs?

Have You Tickled Your Loris Today?

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Once again Quirky Friday is here and I feel sorry for the East Coast. With Snowmageddon Storm Nemo howling into their neighborhood, we know everyone is going to be bundled up inside cooped up for several days. One past time will be checking out YouTube videos and this one is cute.

When you have to stay inside and cuddle, especially if the power goes out, what better playmate to invite under the covers than this adorable little Loris. So best wishes to the East Coast to get through this storm. Stay safe, stay warm, help the Sandy Storm survivors and take care of each other out there. May the tickled Loris and the Force be with you!

Are You Using Details In Your Writing?

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by Kimberly A. Cook           (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Spring is my favorite season, but it’s not here yet. Duh. Cleaning up the dead leaves in my backyard bulb box on Sunday, guess what surprises were lurking underneath? Bulb shoots! Very exciting. Spring will return again. I raced inside, grabbed the camera and snapped a few quick pictures before watching the Super Bowl.

They're alive! The bulbs will bloom again this year. Grow on.
They’re alive! The bulbs will bloom again this year. Grow on.

Writers must watch for and use details in all our prose. Small things make big impacts in stories. In life as in writing, small gestures count. Seeing bulbs break through to herald Spring, hearing a frog croak for the first time and the returning birds flit in the bushes all let readers know winter is coming to an end.

It is very easy with our busy lives and tendency to plug ourselves into tech things to stop observing our environment. What we do in real life transfers to our writing with both good and bad consequences.

Remind yourself to be a writing detective every day while you go about your adventures. Take time to observe and breathe in the sights, sounds, smells, taste and touch of your world. If we bring our observations to our writing we will carry our readers with us on magic journeys of heart and mind.

In Elizabeth Berg’s book, “Escaping Into The Open: The Art Of Writing True,” she has a great line about what is takes to be a good artist. “As a writer, you should have a sticky soul; the act of continually taking things in should be as much a part of you as your hair color.”

Today while we venture out into our day, look for clues and everyday magic moments to fill our creative notebooks. Like bulbs reaching up through the dirt, let’s all work on our sticky souls.

Is A Cat Smarter Than A Shell Game?

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Back to our regularly scheduled programming. Been trying to get back on track with my writing projects after a long and stupid sinus infection. Or maybe I’m just outmatched by these germs which are now getting shock and awe antibiotics to kill them dead. If this doesn’t work, I’m sending in a mini spec ops team with C-4.

With my limping brain power, several projects I finally feel well enough to tackle are teasing me. Which one should I pick first? Perhaps I need to hire Frida the cat to sort it all out. This gambling feline seems to have a system that works. Take some tips from Frida and see if we can all  improve our odds in today’s shell game publishing world. Happy Quirky Friday!