Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

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Are You Procrastinating Or Writing The Wrong Genre?

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by Kimberly A. Cook       (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

No matter what writing project we’re working on, the next one is always more fun and exciting. Much like Scrat from the “Ice Age” movies who is constantly in search of the golden acorn – there’s always a better nut on the other side of the fence.

So how do we know if the current writing project we want to shove in the shredder right now is our true calling as a writer or a diversion from our soul writing? Got me. Trial and error is what has worked in my past.

One trick I’ve tried on myself is to imagine I was going to be marooned on a desert island and I could only take one book, no Nook, Kindle or iPad. What book would I take? This can eat up hours of time thinking about it, try it.

But then what we might want to read for pleasure is not what we may want or need to write. So my other trick is to tell myself I can’t write that stuff anymore and see what my gut says. If I get a happy high-five and confetti throwing, I can pretty much deduce this was not a project from my heart.

Writing is work and commitment, so it’s best to date the right genre upfront if you can. One author friend learned to write with Romance Writers of America and then switched to fantasy, her true love. She’s had a great career with TOR.

One of my favorite authors, Janet Evanovich, built her career in romance fiction and then moved over to mystery. Not only did most of her romance readers follow her, we are quite happy that heroine Stephanie Plum has two men to choose from in her life. Viva variety!

Nora Roberts writes both romance and mystery fiction because she can and she’s a producing juggernaut of an author. Debbie Macomber found her romance fiction niche from the beginning and built an empire.

There is no magic test and sometimes we just need a change. I write both non-fiction and romance fiction to keep both sides of my brain happy and balanced; my inner journalist and hopeful romantic get along better that way. My friend Cindy Hiday published in romance fiction and is now veering into women’s fiction. If the genre fits, wear it!

Are You Smarter Than A Cat Or A Border Collie?

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Me neither. This adorable duo has more brains than most of us as we start into the new year. If you’re trying to give your activity and fitness levels a kick in 2013, take lessons from these two athletes. The real trick for all of us is to move, stay busy and have fun doing it!

With everyone getting back into the work mode next week after the holidays, let’s see what new tricks we can teach ourselves in 2013. Perhaps the best one is to play with our pets and let them train us! Now, if I could get them to write my books…..

Happy Quirky Friday!

How Can We Organize Ourselves And Our Writing For 2013?

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by Kimberly A. Cook         (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Today we say hello to 2013 and start with clean calendars to plan our writing goals. My friend Carol and I say every year,  “This year we’re going to get organized!” We’ve been saying and doing that for more than 25 years and we’re still not done. It’s a process.

Spec Ops Cat does his part to get the office paperwork ready for 2013.
Spec Ops Cat does his part to get the office paperwork ready for 2013.

This past holiday season I took some time to think outside the box and the basket. (See Spec Ops Cat at left) With four manuscripts in various stages from final editing to first draft, I wanted to figure out a way to combine my business needs with my writing time.

It dawned on me I can finish all four manuscripts first and THEN publish them when I choose. Just because I finish a book doesn’t mean I have to rush it out the door to publication. Getting the four books completed first will also help me to budget my finances this year. Duh!

We get so used to striving and straining in a certain direction, we forget to consider if we’re on the right road in the first place; or the correct writing project or the right location. Downtime and thinking time are required parts of being a writer. I’ve set some simple but big goals this year and I’m looking forward to hitting them. It’s also reducing my stress level.

Two of my goals are to spend more time on my photography and having fun. I’ve started having fun by adding this “Authors Are My Rock Stars” calendar to my office. Yeah! http://www.amazon.com/2013-Authors-Rock-Stars-calendar/dp/1402270992/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357006123&sr=8-1&keywords=authors+are+my+rock+stars (And maybe in 2013 I’ll figure out how to shorten and rename these links on WordPress!)

To refill my photography cup, I decided to get a subscription to “Outdoor Photographer” this year. Stumbled upon photographer Ian Plant’s blog and his fabulous top twelve photos of 2012. These are gorgeous. http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/blog/ian-plant/2012/12/twelve-significant-photographs-a-year-2012.html

Make a small change and explore a new area of interest or one you’ve neglected for years. A new calendar or even one magazine can send you off on a new journey in 2013. Maybe being a little more unorganized is what we need to do this year and let our muses wander. Who knows what fun we can have by taking a mosey into the new year instead of trying to speed through life.

Happy New Year everybody! Keep writing!

Let’s Bounce Into 2013 Together

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Hope you are enjoying the holidays. Emotions have been like a ping-pong ball this past month and I’m ready to put 2012 in the rearview mirror. The promise of a fresh new calendar and year always gets me motivated. Primary on the list for 2013? Fitness!

Between the day job and writing at home, my butt is beginning to resemble an aircraft carrier; excellent for an aircraft carrier but not for moi. Since Nora Roberts does an hour on the treadmill each morning before she writes, time to gear up. Author brains need oxygen. Frequently.

I always look for inspiration on YouTube and I found this gem by accident. Notice how this fit athlete uses skill and agility to master the challenging game of ping-pong. Before all the modern-day wanna-cats, Dagwood was doing it old school, better and on national tv. This athlete refused to be swayed by big paychecks and fancy reality show deals. She stayed home and did it her way. That’s on my list for 2013 too! Happy Quirky Friday and see you in the brand new spanking year.

http://youtu.be/xfy3CrTYJMY

Happy Holidays To Our Troops Around The World

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

This Friday we head into the holiday weekend and my thoughts and prayers are with our military troops around the world keeping us safe. When we’re away from our families in the military, we make the best of it, but there is a special little place in our heart that wishes we were with our loved ones.

For all our troops around the world, here is a favorite video to let you know we care about you and to thank you for your service. We appreciate the sacrifice and hardships you and your families deal with on a daily basis and especially during the holidays. We wish you all return home safe and sound very soon.

Always on duty, we know the men and women at NORAD are getting ready to clear the airspace for Santa and his reindeer. Thanks again for yet another job well done!

When Schools Become War Zones And Killing Fields

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

(Soapbox Alert)

I posted my blog Friday morning about the mall shooting in my neighborhood and walked downstairs. The report about the Connecticut mass murder and suicide blared from the radio. Words cannot begin to express the tragedy of this event.

In coaching my fellow military veterans to write about their ordeals during war and peace, recalling those images and memories can produce laser sharp pain. Getting the events out in the light and open air does help heal the wounds. Writing down what happened puts the author back in charge and takes away the feeling of being a victim; the writer gets a measure of distance and takes back their personal power. This process will take a long time for the victim’s families and the small survivors in Connecticut.

There are many debates now about how this could happen and what we must do as a nation to stop it from occurring again. As an Army soldier I fired an M-16 on automatic and semi-automatic. No one outside out of the military and law enforcement needs that much fire power. Bambi is not carting an M-60 machine gun around in the woods.

Our national gun culture and lack of mental health resources has been outstripped by the increase and sophistication of rapid fire weapons. Before anyone starts talking about the “right to bear arms” in the Second Amendment, let’s put that in perspective. When our founding fathers wrote that clause they were using muskets. It takes time to reload a musket. Those learned men could not have imagined or predicted the carnage of modern-day firepower.

It may take a village to raise a child, but it is going to take a nation to keep children and their families safe from getting killed in future classrooms, shopping malls or at the movie theater.

When it’s easier to get an assault weapon than a Twinkie in this country, our moral direction is floundering.

We need to look hard at ourselves and what we want our families to face in the future. We have found the enemy and it is all of us who don’t take action and allow another horrific shooting to slide on by. Not anymore. Contact your Congressional representatives and Senators and let them know assault weapons are bad for children and other living things. We’ve had enough and lost too many futures.

We can be the change that makes sure future young and bright lives are kept safe, whether in school, a movie theater or at the mall.

(The best blog post I have read on this topic is from CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen. Read it here http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/17/opinion/gergen-gun-culture/index.html?iref=allsearch)