Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Kimberly A. Cook

Adapting Skills for Writers, Veterans And Rhinos

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

When I left the Army I joked I could work for Barnum & Bailey Circus or Mayflower Moving and Storage; supply and logistics training comes in very handy after the military. While we writers are constantly adapting to changes in the publishing world and upgrades in technology, basic skills and training help us to shift our careers and stay relevant in the marketplace.

The same could be said for the military skills of many veterans today. On Thursday night the Animal Planet will start a three-part mini-series about former military members called in to help stop poachers from decimating the White Rhinos in Africa. Once again, adapting.

Watch the video preview here: http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/battleground-rhino-wars/videos/rhino-wars-taking-down-the-bad-guys.htm

I’ve always thought military veterans would make the perfect animal rescue teams specially trained by Humane Societies to work here in the United States and around the world during disasters and wartime situations. The challenges the troops faced fighting in Iraq and coming across the Baghdad Zoo, with some animals caged and some loose, comes to mind.

I wanted to spread the word about this program which I support on many levels; our veterans working after their service working to help save the world’s Rhinos. As animal guardians of the planet, not only must we protect, witness and record animal’s stories, we must make sure the Rhino’s story does not end forever.

If you have time, check out the show Thursday night at 9 p.m. on Animal Planet. For more information about the series go to  http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/battleground-rhino-wars

It’s Doggie Dance Friday!

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

It’s been a weird and wild week here and now the sequester-mess. While D.C. tries to get its act together, here is a hard-working little dog showing folks what a true work ethic really means! He does the doggie dance with style and stamina. Let’s salsa!

Hope you’ve had a great week. Happy Quirky Friday!

Are Writers The True Crown Jewels Of Content?

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by Kimberly A. Cook               (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

A peculiar thing seems to happen when I buy or like something; the item gets discontinued, cancelled or the new model is released a week later. This happens with everything from nail polish to tv series and Mystic Mint cookies.

Crown jewels at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey during my 1983 visit.
Crown jewels at the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey during my 1983 visit.

So imagine my chagrin at Sunday’s article in the New York Times about Barnes and Noble turning their focus from making Nook hardware to providing digital content – aka books and writing. I recently purchased the Nook tablet, right before the new HD ones came out, to add to my first generation Nook.

While my office closet looks like a graveyard for tech gadgets and I just found out I need to drown my old Blackberry phone in salt water for a week and then drill it to make sure no one ever gets my data – one quote in the article gave me hope. At the end the person states that content distribution is one of Barnes & Nobles strengths and content is their crown jewel.

Guess who the real crown jewels are? Us writers and authors! Because without us, there are no stories and no content. Felt like buying myself a new tiara. (I have a plastic one from Party City, but I think real jewels are needed for it to be an official crown jewel.)

While all these big companies fight over who is coming out on top in the ereader/cell phone/tablets wars and AT&T wants to charge us for making our future cars rolling wifi hot spots, when it comes to true software – writers rule. Without our imagination and brain software there is no content for these mega companies to dispense or we can sell it our own selves with the advent of Indie publishing.

It’s always a good business decision to take stock, sit back and realize while the big conglomerates fight over hardware production, we can go about our empire building by using our very own imagination brain software to write our tales and entertain and educate our readers. We are the crown jewels!

Read the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/business/media/barnes-noble-weighs-its-nook-losses.html?_r=0

Otter Eddie Shows Us How To Keep In Shape

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

With writing being a sit down occupation unless you have a standing desk, keeping in shape is important for our brains – not to mention our butts.  More oxygen in, more creativity out. Then there is the ever-present writer hazard of turning into a capital C from being hunched over the keyboard. For those of us with carpel tunnel or arthritis, moving is the answer to ease the stiffness and stay in shape.

Otter Eddie at the Oregon Zoo showed off his moves this week to help with his elbow arthritis. He took up basketball to keep his joints mobile and I think our Portland Trailblazers could use him on the roster.  Check out his video clip and know it was such a hit, Eddie ended up on the main CNN web page this past Wednesday. Now that’s otter style! Happy Quirky Friday!

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!