Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Writing Muse

What Is Your Writer Uniform?

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Wandering around my favorite antique mall last Friday I came upon this gem of an outfit. It got me to thinking about Halloween costumes. Then I thought about what costume do I wear as a writer? We all have our private and public fashion style, but our writer costume, what would that look like?

So much going on here and red too! Loving this creative outfit.
So much going on here and red too! Loving this creative outfit.

There are my comfy writing clothes which will never be seen outside my home and then the official author outfits to wear for book signings and speeches. Every outfit is armor for a writer, depending on our current mood, audience, what’s clean and quirkiness.

While we clothe our fiction characters for their roles and a book’s cover is a very important marketing costume, like the runways in Paris our writer costume changes over time. It’s true, you only get one chance to make a first impression, either in person or with the cover of your book.

It’s also a given you need to know what you are writing and the mood or costume you want your series of books or the genre to reflect as a writer. One of my favorite exercises is to take the covers of my favorite author’s books and figure out where my book covers would fit. Spreading them out on the floor really shows a theme or “costume” for their books/brand.

This exercise is also a time and money saver, since it is much cheaper than hiring one of those New York book cover design artists. It gives me an idea of how I want my covers to look and I can then take high-caliber examples to the local graphic designer to design my covers. Both cover do’s and don’ts help the designer know what “look” you are trying to create.

We figure out our own character costume each morning by getting dressed to go out into the world in our “worker,” “Mom,” “author” or “pirate” uniforms, so remember to wear your writer costume too. Mere mortals may not be able to see our writer uniform, but we wear it all the time. What is your favorite writer outfit?

Why Can’t We Use Our Ruby Red Slippers?

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by Kimberly A. Cook             (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Met with my writer support group on Saturday. Wonderful bunch of folks. We don’t critique, we talk about our works in progress and writing challenges. This time everyone had personal issues which were messing up our writing lives. Or the other way around.

My very own ruby red slippers. Dreams do come true.
My very own ruby red slippers. Dreams do come true.

Afterwards it dawned on me that no matter what happens in anyone’s life, mine included, we still have to do the work. Writers have to write. The elves are not writing for us and no one else can perform a Vulcan mind meld to get it out of my gray matter.

Since I am currently on knitting sabbatical, it reminded me that sometime no matter how much you want to write your muse is tired or fried and it’s just not time. We have to acknowledge that we are mere mortals and sometimes we need to pace ourselves and rest.

Which made me think about my ruby red slippers. Many years ago when I was at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., I made a point of seeing Judy Garland’s ruby red slippers from the movie “The Wizard of Oz.” Yes, the same movie that is being re-released in 3D in theaters Friday for one week and on a 75th Anniversary collectors DVD edition Oct. 1; how’s that for story staying power?

I told a friend many years later that one day I wanted to have my very own ruby red slippers. When you ask the universe……be careful. Several months later she gave me a bag. Inside were my ruby red slippers, complete with sequins, and in my size. OMG.

She found them at Goodwill for $5. They were the only ruby red slippers in the store. Now, I had no idea that’s where you buy ruby red slippers, but I love them. Not the same as Judy’s, but close enough for me. Tried them on last night just to make sure they still fit. They do. Clicked my heels together to see if they would write for me. Nope.

Writing might be easier if that had worked but the journey is part of the creative process, even when you wish magic would do your work for you. If we build the words, the magic will come; to borrow loosely from “The Field of Dreams” movie.

I know my writing time is getting closer, I can feel my muse flexing its muscles ready to spill out again. And that is how the ruby red slippers came to be in the first place, from the imagination of an author who made them silver to a movie costume designer who changed them to ruby red. All the artists did their work and we ended up with ruby red slippers.

Judy Garland’s ruby red slippers are one of the most asked about items the Smithsonian has in its collection.  But of course! Do you have ruby red slippers?

Read more about the slippers here: http://americanhistory.si.edu/press/fact-sheets/ruby-slippers

When Is A Box Or A Drawer A Good Thing For Your Book?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                                               (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

True confessions time. Last weekend I put my book in a box. Literally. I took it off my desk and put it in a plastic container with a lid and stuck it in a corner. We both need a time out. Now some writers might think I am avoiding hard work or procrastinating or all of the above. Probably.

My book in the box. (I keep all my manuscripts in 3-ring binders.) Back away from the box.......
My book in the box. (I keep all my manuscripts in 3-ring binders.) Back away from the box…….

However, when I am avoiding my entire home office because the manuscript is in there, it’s telling me something else is going on with the book. Like, maybe I don’t want to write this book at all. Forget the fact it is a second edition, originally published in 2006, it’s almost done – except for all the final grunt work.

A big part of this is the “been there, done that” where’s the new hot spicy fun stuff part. But a bigger part I am coming to realize is after specializing in my military niche for 16 years, its wearing a little thin on me or I am too thin in the creativity department right now. Think both apply.

Rather than slog through the grunt work and produce a second edition book with mediocre updates, I decided to give both of us recess time. Immediately felt better. Yes, the siren call of my other fiction and non-fiction manuscripts are luring me, but right now my right brain wants to do one thing; knit.

So that is what I am going to do for a while, be a creative knitter, write my blog posts, take pictures and see what happens. Maybe my muse needs a sabbatical summer to get itself in gear again. Or maybe there are bigger shifts afoot here in writer brain land. It’s been a bumpy eight months for me for various reasons and I think all the parts of my brain want a summer sojourn.

Warm summer evenings spent swinging in the lawn swing and knitting up a storm may be just what my muse needs to refresh and reinvigorate itself. Or maybe it is making grand plans I have no inkling about. One never knows.

Have you ever put your work in a box or drawer for a time and then gotten back to it? Was it fermenting or decomposing or growing in there? My quirky mind would like to know!

Can You Write A Fridge Magnet?

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by Kimberly A. Cook        (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Some of my favorite writing is on refrigerator magnets. On flight status with the Air Force Reserve, my fellow crew members warned me about ending up with a potential Military Airlift Command home decorating scheme due to shopping the world. I already had a jewelry and refrigerator magnet habit, so I stuck with those two items to collect. Mostly.

One of my favorite frig magnets. Also explains why I have so many shoes.......
One of my favorite frig magnets. Also explains why I have so many shoes…….

My collection of frig magnets is vast and I rotate them out. There is also a bunch decorating my home office file cabinets too. The number of characters on Twitter is a book compared to a frig magnet. One of my recent favorites is “Let go or be dragged.” Found out it is a Zen proverb.

A friend mentioned a favorite quote she saw on a client’s shirt; “Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it,” by David Foster Wallace. That is brilliant.

In these days of blogs by everybody and all the social media sites, it is so refreshing to enjoy the powerful and concise writing of a favorite quote or refrigerator magnet. When one is able to say a lot in a small space, it packs a punch.

There are several places I go on a regular basis to add to my frig magnet collection. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is one such site. A selection from my pink file cabinet proclaims, “We are such stuff as dreams are made on…” from The Tempest, IV, i.  And he wrote plays too!

What is your favorite refrigerator magnet saying? Could you write one of your own?

The Words That Launched A Nation

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by Kimberly A. Cook         (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Next week is our Nation’s birthday. I got to thinking about how this country came to be with ideals and dreams written down on paper. The Founding Fathers, and the Founding Mothers who supported them, were all rock stars and boy could they write.

USS Constitution fires a 17-gun salute during the ship's 215th launching day, Oct. 17, 2012, In Boston Harbor. U.S. Navy photo by 2nd Class Thomas Rooney
USS Constitution fires a 17-gun salute during the ship’s 215th launching day, Oct. 17, 2012, In Boston Harbor. U.S. Navy photo by 2nd Class Thomas Rooney

They fought for independence for our people, nation and a new way of life by signing their names on a document which amounted to treason against the crown. Talk about independent publishing. So what are some of the actual words they used?

The Constitution of the United States

Preamble

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.  

That is a great opening. Tight writing, clear stated purpose and a nation was born. One very important Amendment for all writers is the First, added in 1791.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.  

The Founding Fathers could not predict social media and blogs, but their words still ring true. In these day when corporations own media companies, it makes me smile to know there are hundreds of thousands of rookie reporters around the world observing and documenting with digital video, photos and words.

Another Amendment I’m pretty fond of is the 19th added in 1920.  The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

So a mere 93 years later women are in combat and getting ready to go into Special Forces and Special Operations. Citizenship confers a duty and responsibility on all to not only defend our nation but to make sure we protect the rights which so many have paid the ultimate price to protect.

Writers are the storytellers of every generation. Never underestimate the power of words and your role in that legacy. Write Free!

How Long Does It Take To Finish A Book?

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by Kimberly A. Cook       (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

As long as it takes. It depends on the book and the author. Is there one right way or standard length of time? No. See the only real trick about writing is finding out what works for you – not what works for somebody else. That is the true secret about writing. It also means one has to write. Small detail, but important.

Eighty percent of Americans want to write a book. Only one percent of us do. Celebrate that accomplishment!
Eighty percent of Americans want to write a book. Only one percent of us do. Celebrate that accomplishment!

Recently I met with one of my former Writing War Stories students. He finished his book. Party time and confetti throwing! Doug started writing his book while he was in the waiting area to leave Vietnam. Now, 40 years later, it’s done.

Doug knew it was finished because the manuscript “clicked” and he knew. I’ve told students they will know when it is done, but until one actually experiences the “click,” it is hard to believe. (Being sick of a manuscript does not count, by the way.)

Then of course there are the folks who think the first draft means a book is ready, but that is the time to begin editing. Doug worked hard on his book, had it edited by professionals and went back and did the real “grunt” work to polish the manuscript. Doug is now moving into the business side of writing to decide how he wants to publish his book. I will let you all know when it comes out. It’s an amazing read.

A former coaching client thought his book would be done in six months; four years later it was complete. Getting manuscripts right takes time. Will our books ever be perfect? Nope. But they need to be the best we can make them, or to borrow from the Army, the best books they can be!

In this world of publish anything online and damn the editing, there is a multitude of un-polished and downright stinky work out there; don’t let your book suffer that fate. Easy doesn’t make it done for book manuscripts or basic training. If we give our manuscripts the time, devotion and tough love they deserve, they will rise to the top of the digital publishing pile. Equip them with all the best gear when they go out to meet their readers.

We only get one chance to introduce ourselves and our writing to each new reader; let’s not disappoint our books or ourselves. Write hard!