Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Kimberly A. Cook

Back To Clackamas Town Center Mall Because Santa Needs Us

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

This has been a tough few days for my neighborhood. A lone shooter killed two people in our mall, wounded a young girl and then took his own life. My family and friends were all checking where each other was on Tuesday afternoon. One friend had just left the mall, two others were on their way and I was going after work from my day job.

I am grateful to our Clackamas County Sheriff Deputies who trained for this scenario earlier this year, the supporting law enforcement officials, plus the amazing work of Clackamas Fire District 1 and all our first responders. The mall security staff did their jobs with precision and bravery and mall employees and shoppers worked together to prevent a much greater tragedy.

The mall reopened an hour ago and I am off to shop at my favorite stores. You can’t let the crazies win. When an incident like this happens and Santa has to duck and cover and be rescued by a SWAT Team, you know angels were very hard at work on Tuesday.

We will remember the two wonderful people we lost and support their families, the loss to the distraught gunman’s family, help the wounded girl and her family and support all the employees and affected shoppers to get through this tragedy. Hold your loved ones close and be thankful for your friends and family.

On this truly Quirky Friday for those of us here in Clackamas County, I offer this video to help us start healing. Celebrate each day. Embrace the true meaning of the holidays as my fellow employees and citizens acted with goodwill toward each other on Tuesday. The good and brave of us outnumber the bad in our great nation. It gives me hope for the world.

http://youtu.be/S9leSsJAFu4

Think You’ve Got A Crazy Writing Niche?

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Spent several days at home recently when my head was declared a hazmat area by my doctor. Antibiotics were prescribed. I camped in the LaZBoy with the Hallmark Channel and Spec Ops Cat. Needing a diversion after 36 modern movies I slipped in the “White Christmas” DVD, my all time favorite holiday movie.

The clothes in the movie make me drool. My favorite is the dress worn by Rosemary Clooney when she sings her solo. Designed by Edith Head, this drop dead gorgeous gown is built for us women with curves. Those were the days!

After the movie I decided to see what I could find out about the gown on my trusty Nook Tablet. (Google “Rosemary Clooney black gown” and see what happens yourself) Pay dirt! Not only did I find pictures, I discovered a cottage industry around the clothes in the movie. One blog post followed a seamstress trying to make it from scratch http://sewing.patternreview.com/SewingDiscussions/topic/48642

Then I found the Rosemary Clooney Museum in Augusta, Kentucky! Who knew? www.rosemaryclooney.org Not only do they have costumes from many of her movies, but a reproduction of the red Christmas gown. The museum recently bought the sparkly blue dress from the movie’s sisters number off eBay; from a vintage store who didn’t know what they had. Boggles the mind. The museum has the largest collection of “White Christmas” movie memorabilia in the world and George Clooney items are at there too. Must book a trip!

This goes to show you, any topic can be a niche. I’m beginning to think the niches are getting their own niches these days. So if you love a quirky topic like 1950s dress designs, there might be an app for that, but there sure are blogs. Or start your own! My military niche is rather large but I can pick and choose my quirky topics so it gives me total freedom.

It also means I can find a military connection to almost any topic on the planet. “White Christmas” is a case in point. It’s a grand story about Army buddies, falling in love and honoring those who have served. Priceless.

We’ve Got A Bouncing 300 Pound Baby Girl and Elite Elves Too!

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Last Friday when my post went up, little did we know our bouncing 300 pound baby elephant had been born to Rose-Tu early that morning at the Oregon Zoo. Her docs wanted to make sure everything was fine before letting all us expectant parents know. She is a cutie. Check out her latest video below.

And, two of my favorite holiday shows are on Sunday night, Dec. 9, at 8 and 8:30 p.m. on ABC tv – “Prep & Landing” and “Prep & Landing 2: Naughty & Nice.” If you’ve seen these precision documentaries about how Santa makes his stealth rounds, watch them again for tips. If you are new to this glimpse into operational efficiency for Team Santa, make sure to watch! It’s totally tinsel! Happy Quirky Friday!

http://youtu.be/5fvCZ4_IVCo

Keeping Pearl Harbor Memories and Sacrifices Alive

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by Kimberly A. Cook             (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

The first war story I recorded for a 1976 school project belonged to John Watson, my brother-in-law’s great-uncle. He worked as a shipyard worker in Pearl Harbor for the U.S. Navy. He was laying in bed on his first day off in thirteen weeks. He and his roommate, Lonnie, heard a lot of firing. They thought it might be practice firing, but it didn’t sound right. They turned on the radio.

The Battleship Missouri Memorial watches over the USS Arizona Memorial on election day, Nov. 6. Copyright 2012 Kimberly A. Cook
The Battleship Missouri Memorial watches over the USS Arizona Memorial on election day, Nov. 6. Copyright 2012 Kimberly A. Cook

“All workmen return to Pearl Harbor immediately, Japs are firing on us,” came across the radio waves. The two men made it to Pearl Harbor thirty minutes later and went through the main gate just as the second wave of Japanese fighters were coming over. “I don’t think they ever caught up with me though,” Johnny joked.

An electrician, Johnny got “juice” on the heavy cruiser San Francisco so she could fire her guns. Her anti-aircraft “one point pom poms” were on the dock so the rigger swung them aboard and they welded them to the deck. She was firing in 20  minutes. “By manual, manual firing them,” he said.

“I’ll admit there were no stops on them and she practically cut one stack off following them planes around. We were firing right towards Honolulu. I had a lot up in the valley I was ready to build a new house on and a 16-inch shell took that lot off the hillside; we found fragments of it,” he said.

“They were firing at anything going away, coming or anything else with anything that would fire. Like I told ya, we fired 16-inch guns at airplanes.”

Last year on the 70th Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association voted to disband their corporate association on Dec. 31, 2011. The travel is challenging for those in their late 80s and early 90s. The memories are still strong and painful. The challenge for the National Park Service now is how to transition their mission to keep the memories and the sacrifice alive and relevant to future generations.

Education and stories are the key for me. Uncle Johnny’s story became my first official war story to record. That one encounter started me on a lifelong journey as a writer, veteran and military storyteller.  For those of us left behind, we must now step up and tell the stories to new generations for those who have gone before. This Friday, December 7th, remember Uncle Johnny and all the men, women, children and civilians we lost on that day in Honolulu and since.

Freedom isn’t free.

Ready Or Not, Here Come The Holidays!

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

When this time of year rolls around, I like to see what the Holdmans are up to with their fabulous light displays. I’ve always found the best way to survive the holidays is to surrender before Halloween. If I lower my expectations and try not to do-it-all, but do a few things, it works out much better.

Today I am decorating the house with my favorite holiday touches and then watching the amazing Holdman over-the-top fabulous light shows. Appreciating true light artists reduces my need to compete in the holiday light arena and saves my electric bill. I fire up my 18-inch high lighted snowman in the window and I am done!

Enjoy the light show and get ready for December! Happy Quirky Friday!

P.S. Elephant Update from last Friday: Rose-Tu is in early labor and the baby’s feet are in the birth canal as shown on the very large ultrasound. Think good baby elephant thoughts!

How Much Does Dr. Phil Know About Book Publishing Today?

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by Kimberly A. Cook        (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

A friend told me about Dr. Phil McGraw’s new book, “Life Code: The New Rules for Winning in the Real World.” He’d seen him talk about the book on the NBC Today Show on Nov. 15 and thought it might be a good read.

Sounded good to me too, so I began my search for the book. Checked the Today Show online on Nov. 19 and the video of that segment had been taken down. Odd. Went to Amazon.com to find the publication date. No publication date and I didn’t recognize the book publisher, Bird Street Books.

Seemed different for a six-time New York Times bestseller to go indie, but this might be a big jump if Dr. Phil went to independent publishing. There must be more to the story. Plus the book was listed at $68 at Amazon.com. That can’t be right, I thought to myself.

Next I checked in at Barnes and Noble, the physical store, since online didn’t have any info for me.  They told me it was out Nov. 13, 2012 release date, but Barnes and Noble couldn’t get it. Now I was obsessed to buy this book. Was this a slick marketing ploy to drive up demand?

One of the first rules of marketing is don’t promote something you can’t deliver. Creating demand with a publicity run up to launch is one thing, but providing a barrier to consumers to buy is not necessarily a good idea. Especially in the holiday book buying season.

Back to Amazon.com I went to see if an ebook would be available. I found out from one review that the book is only available at www.thebooknook.com, McGraw’s son Jay’s new online bookstore. The buyer was not too happy with the option to buy from a different online bookstore instead of Amazon.com.

Checked The Book Nook web site and found the prices online were reasonable, ($26 list price but $22.05 at The Book Nook, up to $50 for the other “bundle” choices with extra goodies) but I really don’t want to start up a relationship with another online bookstore; I’m still recovering from losing Borders. I am comfortable with www.Amazon.com, www.bn.com and www.Powells.com and my publisher. How many book vendors do I need to date?

On Nov. 26 at The Book Nook web site it said this is an exclusive pre sale period, so one hopes the book will soon be in the stores and with the other online vendors, but online rumor control says not until January 2013.  Dagnabbit. Libraries can’t even buy it right now according to one Amazon.com reviewer.

It has been four years since Dr. Phil published a book with a traditional publishing house. The world has turned on its ear since then in the book business. Kudos to him supporting his son’s business venture, but at what cost to the buying public?

I am sure Dr. Phillip McGraw did not take this decision lightly and got good advice, but Coca-Cola did the same thing a few years ago when they changed their main Coke recipe and shot themselves in both feet. A fast retreat to Classic Coke ensued.

The first rule of physicians is “do no harm.” The first rule for today’s authors is do no harm to the reader. As author Bob Mayer puts it so well, “Readers Rule!” in the digital age.

Yes, I realize I’m promoting Dr. Phil’s new book, but I’m not real sure about his distribution methods at the moment. Don’t promise me cookies and milk then give me a lump of coal and swipe my new book Christmas present; to mix my Santa, Charlie Brown and Grinch metaphors.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Available copies of Life Code on Amazon.com by resellers are down to $58 now. Onebook reviewer thinks this is the actual price of the book and went on a tirade instead of realizing it is supply and demand right now. Very limited supply. Watch and learn.