Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

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Truly Thankful

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Getting ready to start my pumpkin pie baking and I wanted to send a quick thank you out to all our military service members, foreign service officers, and all their families serving around the world and across the USA. Of the many things I learned in the military, the big takeaway was we are one big crazy family in this nation of ours.

Everybody has nutty relatives, I think I am that person in my family, truth be told. We can’t agree on the best sports teams, beer, or how to hang the roll of toilet paper or raise the dog. We do like food of many different types with various hazardous spice levels. I think we can be called a “snack nation” for our love of sweets and junk food. Have you seen the holiday drinks at Starbucks this year?

Whether it’s pumpkin or pecan pie, light, dark or no meat, one thing is for sure; I am thankful to live in a country that is still a teenager in our young two-hundred plus years of development. And we all know how challenging trying to corral a teenager can be. Like dressing a cat. Who knows he’s going to the veterinarian. Requires metal chain mail.

I propose a toast of sparkling apple cider to our troops around the world, who keep us safe while we stuff ourselves with turkey, ravioli, or pizza as we watch football games or parades.

To our military service members, active, Guard and reserve – stay safe and know you are in our hearts today and always.

And whenever I think I’m having a bad day, I watch what some of our Marines were doing on Nov. 22 in Norway.

The Polar Plunge. Ice breaking training.

Bless Them All.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Every Chicken Has A Back Story

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Now this would catch your eye and curiosity right? But it’s not too out of the norm here in Oregon. But I need to know this chicken’s back story. Stay tuned!

by Kimberly A. Cook

Bagged the bird! For those of you who thought I’d lost my mind last week, my poultry paparazzi patrol paid off. Did a quick recon before leaving for my fiction critique group last Saturday to see if the violin playing chicken was in attendance. No fowl. Dang it.

Got in the car and headed for my meeting. Ready to make a left turn and looking right, chicken ahoy! I ignored my left turn signal, and the car behind me, and turned right to get a quick chicken pic. Using my vast stealth abilities from the military, I parked a block away and then went chicken stalking. Got two pics. Here is the best one.

Now this fowl encounter has become a quest. I want to know the chicken’s back story. My journalistic roots are tingling. When did the chicken take violin lessons? Why here? Why now? Why the outfit? Does the chicken have a website? Do all chickens wear Birkenstocks? Or flip-flops? (I’d say thongs, but I don’t want to confuse people and I really don’t want to go there with this chicken.)

Saturday is the big Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade so we all know what that means, rain. Not sure the chicken will show if it doesn’t like to get wet. But I’m intent on getting an interview.

When writing fiction, the author always needs to know the back story of each character. Where do they come from? What happened to them to make them do what they do now? What is their biggest goal? Worst fear? In my fiction books I’m writing, there are quirky animals too. Of course. And like their human counterparts, they all have back stories which explain their motivations.

In “real” life and fiction, everybody’s story is important. We all matter. Our stories matter. What better life long pursuit than to fight for our own happy endings?

How do we do that? We find out each other’s back story. Don’t judge a book by its cover or a chicken by its violin.

Every chicken has a back story!

Summertime Crazies?

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Face sleeping. When you know it’s a long holiday weekend.

by Kimberly A. Cook

Its been a weird week. Since I’m not watching the news, can’t blame it on that. Mother Nature is acting up all over the place, but it seems odder, like dragons are waiting in the wings. Or I need more chocolate. Or both.

Saturday morning decided to wander over to the Farmer’s Market to get some asparagus. On my way down the sidewalk an apparition appeared at the market driveway. An adult-sized chicken was playing the violin. Doing a rather nice job of it too.

Of course, the one time I didn’t have a camera on me. We’ll see if he/she shows up Saturday.  I’ll be poultry paparazzi. Maybe it was the holiday weekend nutties.

Did bag the asparagus and bonus strawberries, their first appearance. Go fruit!

Decided to work like a maniac on the house and yard on Saturday and Sunday, not sure why. Then went out for lunch with family on Memorial Day. Filled up on pasta and bread sticks and that shot the rest of the day. Carb overload.

Tuesday I ventured out for an appointment and to run errands. In quick succession this is what happened; someone cancelled my appointment – not me – so they worked me in. Driving to the store some brat threw mud or something at my car and a shopping cart had attacked Subie when I came out of the store. I drove home and my driveway was blocked by the roofer’s trucks.

All minor things, but I was pretty sure I needed to hide under the bed. Went into my home office and found Spec Ops Cat sleeping on his face. Obviously, the cat had the best idea all along.

I did watch the Las Vegas Golden Knights kick butt on Monday night at the Stanley Cup playoffs, so all ended well. We will not talk about last night’s game. Ate way too many “Goobers” trying to help the team score.  They look like pucks! Kinda. (Dollar Tree store. One dollar a box.)

All of this is probably a way to admit I’m procrastinating working on my big tech project; moving and consolidating the web site and blog and redesigning it all. I’ve even been writing to avoid doing it.

If the blog suddenly goes missing, don’t blame me; it’s the dragons.

To quote the plaque on my desk;

“I have flying monkeys and I’m not afraid to use them!”

Trying To Get Organized?

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by Kimberly A. Cook

At the end of each year my friend Carol and I say, “Next year we’re getting organized.” We’ve been saying that for more than thirty years now. I don’t think it’s taken. Not for lack of trying mind you. It comes down to stuff and paper. No matter how I try, eventually one day I’m overwhelmed. Today could be that day.

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Spec Ops Cat got a new kitty cave bed last weekend. He loves it. Temporarily put it on the chair. Now it’s permanent. I could use a Kim cave myself.

 

It’s a constant battle. Stuff I can rotate and control to some degree; I purge clothes and books on a regular basis. Kitchen items and towels are a little harder. But paper really takes the cake.

One of the hazards of being a writer is clipping newspaper articles, hoarding books, keeping travel handouts and collecting office supplies. When you have a Scrat brain, every handout, business card and coupon can spark an idea.

Going digital hasn’t helped. The number of bookmark folders on my Samsung tablet alone are mind boggling. So I keep trying.

Add to the mix my Mom’s recent move and all kinds of interesting stuff ended up in my house to process. Of course, that has forced me to get rid of the leftover garage sale items to Goodwill so Subie can actually open her doors inside the garage.

Now, truth be told, if I hadn’t dragged home the wooden park bench from my Mom’s backyard that needs refinishing, the garage would have been okay. Kinda. But once I sand it, scrub it and paint it pink, it will make a fabulous addition to the fairy rock garden this summer. My name is Kim and I’m a project-aholic.

But paper. Yuck. Almost finished sorting the receipts for taxes. Now that is a land speed record for me to have that done in January. Go me.

But, it’s raining and dark outside. A new box of jewelry goodies I ordered has been open for two weeks and I haven’t been able to play with it yet. Its siren song is calling me across the office. Then I have a bunch of Hallmark holiday movies still clogging my DVR.

Plus those Christmas cookies never got baked and the ingredients are still waiting on the kitchen counter. Playing with jewelry parts, watching a movie and eating fresh baked cookies. Forget the paperwork for today.

I’m sure I’ll need to follow Spec Ops Cat’s lead and take a nap too.

Tomorrow I’m going to get organized! How about you?

 

Happy Birthday Beatrix!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Today is Beatrix Potter’s birthday, that champion of little rabbits in coats with brass buttons.  What better way to spend a Friday than having bunny dreams.

An extraordinary woman, especially for her time, she is an enduring artist, author and treasure. What she accomplished in countryside land conservation with the proceeds from her “little bunny book” is legend and part of the National Trust in the United Kingdom. If you havwen’t seen the movie “Miss Potter,” take a look at this trailer and put it on your list.

Rabbits rule! Go Peter!

Have a great weekend and Happy Quirky Friday!

 

Got Secret Sea Lions In Your Camera?

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by Kimberly A. Cook             (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Sun fever. That’s my excuse for no posts the last two weeks. The bright orb came out for three days in a row, so I grabbed Mom and we bugged out for the beach. The Friday traffic was light, the sun kept shining; we were sure we’d get struck by lightning, but nada. Yeah!

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This is one of the coves on the North Point at Depoe Bay. You can see the city in the background along the sea wall.

 

Took my almost new Canon PowerShot SX530 HS with me to put it through its paces. This beauty has focal length from 24-1200mm with a 50x zoom and 16 megapixels for about $250.00. It’s my first foray back into larger body cameras after leaving my metal 35mm Minolta’s behind in 2006 to go digital with the Canon ELPHs. Sometimes you just need a bigger lens. Smirk.

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When I went full zoom from the same spot above, look who showed up? A faithful seagull subject. Thank heavens the clouds came in so his colors show up nicely and he/she is not bleached out.

 

Anyway, a big perk is the plastic body so it doesn’t weigh a ton like my vintage 35mms. When I worked on the newspaper I carried a 28 wide and a 100-250 zoom on two camera bodies and tried not to break my neck. Weighs less than a pound. This seems the best of both worlds, plus no film!

Of course, the manual has so many gadget settings it may take me years to figure them out, but I was out stalking marine wildlife and taking shots to test it. Much fun. Mom is working on her photo skills too, so we were girls on a mission.

One thing I did was make like a human tripod, since I didn’t bring one along on our walk. Both tripods were safe in the car back at the condo. I ended up leaning against a post and bracing my legs and then my elbows on my chest. It helps, really.

The clouds came over as a bonus since we were out at 2 p.m., not the best time for getting photos. But you take what you can get and go with it. When the wind picked up we scuttled back to the condo. Upon perusal of my many pics, I cracked up when I saw the ones of the buoy.

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One photo trick is to get the path to take the viewer into the picture. This one I used both the rope and posts on the left side and the path on the far right. Between trees three and four from the left, is where the buoy is in the next pic.  It’s a ways out there, trust me.

 

Surprise sea lions! The 50x was at its max zoom, I was concentrating on being a tripod and just trying to get the buoy in the frame, so imagine my delight to find sleeping sea lions in my picture, lounging on the buoy. You never know what might show up in your pictures.

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A tripod would have helped this exposure. As the “marine mammal editor” on the paper I was always mixing up the harbor seals with the sea lions. Harbor seals are like fat sausages and sea lions have the big flippers and small ears.  Sea lion on the right, I’m holding judgment on the other two.  Next time I’m taking both tripods!

 

So keep taking pics and being surprised. It’s part of the adventure!