Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

romance readers

Happy Galentine’s and Valentine’s Days!

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Happy Galentine’s Day Eve and almost Valentine’s Day!

As a romance writer, this is my season. It’s the best time to shop for Valentine goodies to decorate my home office. I start doing recon in January to get the good stuff. And this year I scored big time. A welcome mat with Snoopy mailing Valentine’s Day cards. On sale. For $13.99. (See above)

Pretty sure it’s staying outside until the Turkey mat switches in November. If I can get a perfect Valentine doormat on sale? Golden. It was the last one. Obviously, divine intervention.

My rations are stocked up too. A new candy obsession is the Reese’s thin peanut butter cups made with dark chocolate. Be still my heart. Somehow, I’ve convinced myself they save calories. I write fiction for a reason, people.

We are having crisp weather here in Oregon with lots of sun. But that ends early tomorrow morning with potential snow and freezing rain. Always a good time to stay inside when my neighborhood becomes a skating rink. After all, tonight is the full Snow Moon. But I switched out my dead TV cable box all by myself, so let the romantic comedy movies play!

Sending you all Galentine’s and Valentine’s Day wishes.

And candy, if I could. You know my top favorite right now.

Never forget.

Love is the most powerful force in the world.

Snoopy believes.

And so, do I.

Glue Book Gorgeous!

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Inside cover of my holiday glue book and first page. Plus, at left, my first envelope glue book cover. Book club paper from Michaels I had to have, up top, plus  Tim Holtz holiday stickers to use. Let the pasting begin!

There is a new obsession in my life. Glue books! What are those you might ask?

Pretty simple. You glue stuff into books.

You can make them from papers, old print books, expired planners, composition books, a mail envelope, sketchbooks. It’s endless. I started down this rabbit hole after making my own watercolor journal with sewed signatures from a class with artist Laly Mille. In the meantime, I decided I needed to collect holiday magazine images to help when I write my Christmas books. In case that is in July. To put me in a festive mood when it’s scorching outside.

So, one day on YouTube, I stumbled across the Nicole Relax.Cut.Glue. channel. Imagine my surprise to learn she is in Oregon too! Not only is she fun to listen to, but she does beautiful work. Now, I’m a rookie gluer (is that even a word? paster?), but back in 1998 I started my personal journal in an oversized lined book I bought at J.K. Gill. (Still use it) Does anybody remember that stationery store?

I’d pasted several full-page magazine pages in it, featuring a quirky New York bookstore and a Calvin Klein ad. And fortune cookie slips. A drawing of Puss N’ Boots. You know, the usual. Once again, ahead of my time.

Then the two ideas merged.

I could make a Christmas glue book! Turns out folks have been doing this for ages, and I’m late to the party, but I’m all in. I loved the green spiral sketchbook from Michael’s that Nicole used in one video, so I got it on sale, then purchased the glitter glue she uses. (I tried the glue sticks, but I managed to attach myself to everything in my office, so I prefer the liquid glue with the applicator.) And I bought a cake frosting spreader, also from Michael’s, because our Dollar Tree did not have the one she uses.

Next, I was so inspired I MADE a glue book cover out of a 9 x 6-inch mailing envelope based on her tutorial. (See below.) Because heaven knows I have a not so miniature Office Depot in my home office closet. (I love the smell of Post-its in the morning!) Next on my project, I will be cutting paper and using a rubber band to secure the sheets, as she demonstrates.

The deep dark secret that goes along with this new passion is I have WAY TOO MANY magazines, old holiday cards, and pretty calendar pictures in my house. Being a writer and photographer, EVERYTHING gives me an idea or sparks a story. But now, I have a way to put them into themed books and hopefully STOP collecting more scraps. Take the best of the best.

Which reinforces one of my 2025 intentions, since I jettisoned New Year’s resolutions years ago.

Intention number two is: use it up.

That applies to everything from craft paper to postage stamps to freezer food to napkins to chocolate.

Writing about chocolate, there’s a lot of chaos in the world right now, especially in the United States. To those of us on the West Coast, the devastating fires in Los Angeles are affecting many things, including moving adoptable pets to our shelters to relieve the burden on those in California. Organizations did the same thing when the August 8, 2023, Lahaina fires devastated Maui and took so many lives. And the recent California fires affected the Maui Humane Society again when their normal flights of animals to the mainland had to be temporarily curtailed while incoming pets from California were moved north and east.

Plus, huge blessings and thanks to all the firefighters and amazing pilots continuing to battle the fires today. Our contingent of Oregon firefighters is still down there.  A firefighter story is on my future books to write list, has been for a while.  

We are all connected in so many ways. I remind myself to focus on what I can control, be kind to others, and take it one day at a time. Like I did in Army basic training. That’s why rest and relaxation are a real thing in the military. You have to come off the line at some point and take care of yourself.

Glue books are working for me right now. It’s very relaxing.

And walking on my treadmill. And writing.

I started my next book, Forbidden Warrior in the Moonstruck Makeovers series, on New Year’s Eve Day. Seems I can’t go more than thirty days without writing or I get super cranky.

Writing and glue books.

Saving sanity one day at a time!

Find something that works for you.

To the glue books!

No Sew Glue Book/ Journal Tutorial

 

Happy Holiday Wishes

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Cookies with some of my 1950s kitchen diner decor. Simple pleasures make me so happy. (Yes, there is milk in the teacup. Soon to be hot cocoa.)

A quick note to wish you all a happy holiday season. I went cookie baking crazy last Thursday and made Peanut Butter Blossom, Mexican Wedding, and a few gingerbread cookies. Now I need to stuff them all in the garage freezer to avoid munching on the leftovers.

Confession: I’ve already eaten all the New Year’s Eve potato chips and most of the dip. It’s the rain’s fault. And since I refuse to enter the grocery store until after the holidays, I will make do with Ritz crackers. Always have backup snacks.

Saturday, I watched The Six Triple Eight movie on Netflix about the World War II black W.A.C. Battalion that deployed to Europe. Those women were amazing and true examples of leading by example. They paved the way for women like myself, who joined the Women’s Army Corps in 1975. 

For those of us comfy at home, a big thank you to our troops serving around the world to keep us safe while we enjoy the freedom of their sacrifice and their families. It’s a 24/7 commitment that doesn’t stop for holidays or bad weather.

That includes the North American Air Defense Command, NORAD, making sure Santa has safe passage on his trip tonight. You can track him at https://www.noradsanta.org/en/map

As I write this, he is heading for Natal, Brazil. He is on track and on time! 

Wishing everyone a happy, safe, and calm holiday season.

P.S. Santa has just cleared Salvador, Brazil. He’s booking it! Go Santa!

 

 

USPS Smart Locker vs Baby Boomer Author

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I know what you’re thinking. Why do I still have all these? Because I need to get them shredded. I’ve done that for my desktop hard drives and electronic recycled the towers, no problem, but these guys? eClutter. I have to keep Bugs Bunny, right?

Pretty sure my ovaries got scanned at the Post Office last week. (This is not a conspiracy theory.) I was there to pick up mail at my Post Office Box and a package. Didn’t get my usual locker key or yellow note to come to the counter. Instead, a slip of paper with a QR code on it. (We will not discuss my cranky relationship with QR codes right now. I digress.)

Turns out a shiny USPS Smart Locker had been placed in the bay around the corner. I approached the tall pretty blue behemoth against the wall and was trying to figure out how to use the device. Without my reading glasses on, I guessed I needed to punch in maybe six numbers or letters I couldn’t read. Or scan the QR code.

I had the slip hanging in front of my hip bone while I decided if the two little red lights staring at me might be the right place to scan the paper. About three feet away. Next thing I know, the red lights brightened, the box made a noise, and a small upper left door sprang open.

I had not moved.

It appears the machine took action while I dithered.

USPS Smart Lockers

This seems to explain the general state of tech affairs these days. I had some questions about what just happened, but I grabbed my box of Avon goodies and returned to Subie. Sometimes, you just don’t want to know.

As a Baby Boomer, I had to punch tiny holes in lots of stupid paper cards to make one computer program work to earn my business degree in the early 1980s. Then I was required to learn actual code to launch my first author web site in 1997. Let me explain. I am not a techie. Never aspired to that job. Now I use more than twenty-two software programs to publish my books. And counting.

I believe I should get bonus cookie rewards or frequent flier miles for all of these tech shenanigans I’ve had to navigate. That’s not even mentioning five-and-a-half inch really floppy disks, three-inch not floppy disks, my Palm Pilot, two Blackberry phones, and the first Nook.

Don’t get me started on the ramifications of social media if you don’t know what a dial-up modem sounded like with actual AOL mail.

Which is why my heart was so happy recently watching Craft Day on the Home Shopping Network. The host talked about the great uses of an actual camera and the limitations of cell phone cameras. Yes! Preaching to the choir here.

As a former journalist/photojournalist who had to learn to develop film and print photos for the newspaper, before digital, it was a joy to witness fellow camera geeks in 2024. Even if I am still traumatized from losing an entire roll of breaking news photos to contaminated chemicals for a magazine layout, back in the day. Shudder.

I switched to digital cameras in 2006 and haven’t gone back. But I’ve always had a point and shoot or my 35mm digital camera, and my mini-camcorder, as companions. Use the right tool for the job. But I do have two-thousand some photos to get off my phone. Managed to get about five-hundred moved, so, my Android can think again.

Everything requires maintenance. And more memory. Including me.

Now vinyl records are the cool new thing and folks are fascinated with typewriters. And 1970s fashions are all the rage.

I may accidently be in style again.

But since my ovaries haven’t been active for years, due to blessed menopause, I’d like to thank the USPS for giving them a scan.

I believe they appreciated the attention.

Sometimes, technology is useful.

P.S. I know someone will ask about AI, aka Artificial Intelligence. That is a topic for another time… I have thoughts… But first, chocolate.

*****

Still figuring out how to use my rebooted blog. Perhaps life with KAC will be my theme. That opens up SO MUCH possible material. Thanks for reading!

If you liked this blog post, you can choose a free prequel from two of my military romance series, plus get my almost bi-monthly newsletter as a bonus, by going here and providing your email. I know your time and email inbox are precious treasures, so you can unsubscribe at any time. It’s true, my quirky sense of humor is not for everybody. I’m good with that. You decide.

“USPS Smart Locker vs Baby Boomer Author” copyright © 2024 by Kimberly A. Cook. Image at the top of the blog copyright © 2024 Kimberly A. Cook

 

 

Back to the Blog 2024

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The first bloom this year on my Veteran’s Honor rose was on the Fourth of July. Perfect timing!

Life is nuts on earth right now. Add social media into the mix and it can get worse. So, to save my sanity and outfox all the “platforms,” I’m firing up my blog again. My own little online newspaper where my three loyal followers can find out what is going on and maybe crack a smile. We need fun!

I spent this last week holed up in my house due to a heat inversion and got stuff done. Excavated my desk, made file labels for folders, rearranged things, even ironed. A friend was speechless about the ironing part. And I accidently started editing my nonfiction writing book.

Note to fellow writers: when you put a project away to sit for a bit, for the love of plum pudding, leave yourself a detailed note. Because when you return to it twelve years later, you have no flipping clue what you were doing. In spades. Never mind Word 97 is no longer in use and what the flock is a formatted page break?

My current fiction book, Mission: Runaway Hearts, will return in the mail from my editor next week, so I have to get cracking on all the other things. I have a long list of production items and a web site overhaul this year. And it’s July! Marketing next year. I’m pacing myself. Good thing I’m retired from my day job, right?

If you want more details about my upcoming books, you can sign up for my Cookie Sheet newsletter. I seem to be on a barely bi-monthly schedule. When I have a stiff wind at my back. And chocolate.

Hoping to head to the beach for a day trip this next week. With parkas and mittens. We topped out around 104 F (40 C) degrees yesterday, so 62 F (16.6 C) is going to feel like the Antarctic. But a restaurant down there has killer chocolate cake, and I must visit my favorite glass blowing artist to see if I need one more heart for my collection. Plus, I need to research a building in Lincoln City for the writing book. Really. It’s not just a cake trip!

Consider this opening blog across the bow a proof of life. I’m still standing and writing.

(To be honest, I’m sitting.)

Cake hunter, Kim

P.S. I have no idea if I can figure out how to get the comments turned back on after last year’s track back attack. No bots allowed on my watch! My blog. This is a kind people space. Don’t make me come over there… The likes button might work. Ah, tech. The true four-letter word. Cake ahoy!

Sending Valentine Wishes

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The Double Delight rose is one of my favorites. You can see why. From my backyard in a past summertime. Ah, summer. Soon…

They say people give the gifts they want to receive, so I must love cards, Dove dark chocolate, and roses. I do! But I can’t push those things through the interweb, so a photo will have to do. Was going to use a picture of my blooming Yuletide Camillias, but it snowed on them last night. They’re a tad droopy and cold this morning.

So, into the archives! Wanted to share a rose bloom from a while ago.

The thing I love most about today is we celebrate love.

And the world needs so much more love these days.

Only one of many reasons I am proud to be a romance author.

Spreading love every day of the year!

Cheers to more love on our planet.

And the comfort only love can provide in challenging times.

Love is the greatest power in the galaxy.

I hope you take some time to be kind to yourself and others today.

And all the fur babies.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

P.S. Happy 164th birthday to the State of Oregon too!