Creativity

by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Last night I listened to a radio program about how our tech toys and tools are making us forget to play. We’re so plugged in we can’t unplug and unwind. If we can’t play our creative muse will take a walk. Maybe it’s time to back away from the tech.

Recently I switched from a Blackberry cell phone to an Android. We are still getting used to each other, but what has overwhelmed me is the number of apps available on the thing. Who on the planet has time for all these apps?

There are a few apps I see doing good things, like the PTSD Coach app the Department of Veterans Affairs has come up with to help veterans manage their PTSD symptoms. Yes, there is an app for that, see here http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/7895/mobile-app-helps-veterans-manage-ptsd/

The ebook apps work for me, of course. But I’m not sure why AT&T thinks I need 10 different apps to manage my account. They came loaded on the phone. There are the apps to check up on the other apps. While I am enjoying my new tool, I really am able to shut it off and put it to bed. It needs a nap and so do I.

On Sunday I actually sat on the lawn swing in the back yard for a few hours and read an old school paperback book. Outside. Natural light. No batteries required. Amazing. With all the demands of our busy world, our creative brains need a break. Daydreaming is required work for writers. We need brain down time to let our subconscious run free in the woods and solve our writing dilemmas.

Perhaps the increase in yoga and meditation these days is to give our brains a chance to unplug from the non-stop digital streams and just be a brain. No batteries needed. Give your brain a break today. Go play!

by Kimberly A. Cook                    (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Back from a wonderful vacation. Headed over the mountains to Sisters, Oregon with my BFF and had a blast. When I was packing I remembered ABB, or Air Bunny Bear, my mascot. ABB flew with me on all my missions in the Air Force Reserve. He has his own camouflage sleeping bag and a couple  of uniforms, including his blue ABB cape. It seemed like a good idea to reactivate him and take him along.

A seasoned traveler, ABB’s been to the beaches of Florida, sat in snow during Christmas in Alaska and been on the flight deck of a C141b at 37,000 feet; I have the pics to prove it. He hasn’t gotten around much lately, so I’m pretty sure he was jazzed to get out on the road again.

Lots of folks have personal mascots or good luck charms they take with them on journeys both before, during and after military service. It’s these memory tokens or “memory tags” which remind of us of people and places past. There is even a platoon of combat gnomes who have shipped out from Oregon to keep our troops company overseas.

A favorite movie of mine, “Amelie,” follows the adventures of a jet setting gnome too, long before the Travelocity Gnome showed up on the scene. My backyard and desk sport several Travelocity Gnomes, because you never know when you might need a gnome security squad.

Think back about the special mascots you’ve traveled with, sent as pieces of home or maybe even one you received while overseas. Radar of M*A*S*H tv fame had his teddy bear.  Mascots tell us about ourselves and the folks we run into who have their own; all are great inspirati0ns for stories. Got a mascot?

by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

An author talked about how most of the writers she knew had some type of hobby where they made things. She felt even though writers have all this creativity streaming onto paper and keyboard, we still needed a way to be physically creative.

Besides hoarding, er collecting, books and shoes and fabric and yarn, my preferred hobby is jewelry making. Started at age ten, the same age when I knew I was a writer. Being the packrat, I still have most of my jewelry treasures and continue to add to the collection.

An unexpected surprise occurred last week that made we wonder what treasures we all have and overlook so easily. A work colleague recently lost her grandmother and sister-in-law. She met with her family to divide things up, sort memories so to speak. They both had jewelry. She asked if there might be anything I would be interested in. “If you have leftovers, I will give them a good home,” I said.

The next week she arrived with two bags of jewelry and this fabulous jewelry box for me to take home and add to the collection. I was stunned. Not only is the jewelry box adorable, I’ve never seen one like this before, but I was touched to know she felt I would give her grandmother’s special treasure box loving care.

When I thought about it, I realized my jewelry collection contains beads from my editor Cindy’s mother, my friend Joann’s mother, my brother-in-law’s mother’s button collection, my grandmother’s jewelry, and my mother has given me rings she can no longer wear.

Each piece of jewelry is an intimate possession from another person’s life. When I started collecting jars of broken jewelry at Goodwill at age ten, somehow I knew those treasures needed a loving home. Perhaps that is one reason I’m a writer who collects and tells veteran’s stories too, so they have a new home and sparkle for all who want to read the tales.

Never underestimate the power of an unexpected gift. Take the time to wonder about the types of stories you write and how you started to collect those tales. Perhaps all writers are treasure hunters of a different sort, always looking for gems in the rough. Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, according to the song, but gathering and writing stories are the true gems in a writer’s life.

by Kimberly A. Cook                             (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Yesterday in Portland, Oregon we broke a temperature record, 88 degrees! After two cold summers back to back courtesy of La Nina and the wettest March on record this year, its welcome. Since the amazing crop of moss was finally pried off my patio by the power washer, it seems like summer may actually arrive before July 28th this year.

The early morning dawn is always awake with possibilities and hope. When I looked out and saw one of my favorite roses opening a fresh bloom yesterday, I hurried outside to take a picture. It got me daydreaming about summer and summer reads.

The rose is near my favorite lawn swing and thoughts of curling up on a warm afternoon with a book made me consider making a top three reading list for this summer.

Perhaps I should make a short list of books with three specific goals in mind. Granted I am reading all the time, but I felt pondering this assignment would be a good brain exercise. So here are the three categories; one book on writing you have on a bookshelf but have never read, one epic fiction book you loved and will re-read and last but not least, a new book you have never read.

My list is still in the making, but there are some contenders. For epic fiction re-read it’s a toss-up between The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher and The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye. Never read craft books on my shelves could be either A Writer’s Coach by Jack Hart or Story by Robert McKee.  (There are a ton of writing books on my shelves, so give me a break if everybody but me have read these two.)

Brand new reads? Let me walk my fingers across the piles of books throughout my house. Rather like bon bons stored in the freezer, there are always new books to read in my home, in addition to the ebooks stacking up on my Nook.  So think about a simple summer book reading list of your own. What choices would be on your summer three list?

By Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

When we writers pack for vacation, one of the most important lists we make is which books to take. We look forward to those lazy days away from home when we can’t fix the plumbing, clean the gutters or do laundry, we only have time to explore and read. With the ease of ereaders, we can take 1,500 books with us, but definitely with a lot less weight and bulk. Recharging plug or car adaptor required.

In my house I have a keeper shelf, or a couple to be honest. Those are where the books I consider wonderful friends reside; never to end up in the sell online or donate pile. We should think about what makes those books so special and why we love them so much.Is it the dialogue, the scenery, our passion for zombies? Do we prefer the western, the romance, science fiction or biographies? Recently I’ve stocked the keeper shelves with favorite children’s books I read growing up. Rereading them helps us learn about the writers we have become and why.

One way to drive ourselves completely nuts is to create a top ten all-time favorite books list. In our minds only. While I have a top ten writing books list, I never want to put my all-time favorite book list on-screen or paper. Perhaps I don’t want to tempt the universe that I won’t find more books for the keeper shelves.

So dream a little. If you were marooned on an island for a year and could only take one book with you, what would it be?

by Kimberly A. Cook         (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Research is fun for writers. Or it could be. It depends on what we’re looking for and why. Given the time of year, pouring over tax info is not at the top of my list. What is really fun for writers is noticing a pattern which turns into an idea by serendipity or coincidence. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines serendipity as “the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.”

The universe speaks to writers with ideas, occasionally flashes of brilliance, but mostly with small clues. We notice a topic and then later it pops up again. Now with our radar up, more details or connections emerge and we get curious. Another reason writers and cats are so closely acquainted; curiosity.

My rule of three, look into something when I notice a topic three times, can turn into exploration with the most amazing results. This happened recently. Seems my military writing muse decided there was a vacuum in my writing workload. I’ve just finished the critique of a former student’s book about serving in Vietnam plus I am writing/editing three of my books. But before I can get my student’s book critique mailed off, another possible story surfaces. Literally.

Details and patterns are emerging about World War II submarines.  Now I don’t write about World War II, so this is doubly intriguing. But I am following the trail of clues, including the above photo I happened to snap in 2008, because my muse is quite curious about how this story unfolds. There is energy in the path. Right now it’s a mystery, but story vibes are present.

We writers must be open to going down a road we said we would not travel, when something pulls us toward a story.  I think our muse’s like to mess with us, but the beckoning of an important story waiting to be discovered can be like a siren call from the sea. Be open to a story calling your name to come explore.  Are you open to an unknown writing journey?