Military Romance Author
by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
Seems we are heading for a week of record temperatures here in Oregon and our duck web feet don’t take kindly to temps above 82 degrees. But the polar bears at the Oregon Zoo will have their own cool pool to play in to keep cold. Maybe we should all get a kiddie pool, red plastic ball and dive in!
Happy Quirky Friday!
by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
Last Thursday I ran errands to several places I was not excited to visit; usually I’m a little more logistically together to avoid the pharmacy, grocery store, post office and gas station the day before a major holiday weekend. But life happens and I ended up at those busy spots.
Walking into the pharmacy waiting room it was packed with folks. They were serving number 298 and I was number 316. The digital message on the wall let me know I should expect to be served in 22 minutes.
Sitting down on a cushy bench, I decided to do what writers do best: observe. People watching is fascinating. Learned several things. Everybody was pretty orderly. The pharmacy folks slammed at the windows were being pleasant and taking time to chat with people, but getting the job done. The noise level was quiet.
Friends, relatives and hired drivers were helping each other out. It was pretty low-key. It struck me how with all the craziness in the news on our nation’s birthday eve, we may not be the most fashion forward folks all the time but, the majority of Americans are kind.
The experience made me keep my eyes open on the rest of my stops. A man held the door open for a lady with a large package. USPS counter workers told people to have a Happy Fourth.
The woman who pumped my gas, yes we do not pump our own gas in Oregon, was perky and friendly and had on a bright red shirt for the occasion. At the grocery store walking out I saw another shopper helping an elderly gentleman locate the employee who had checked him out earlier. Stranger helping stranger.
Heard on the news the Boston Pops even moved up their concert one day to be able to party and keep everyone safe too. Is this a great country or what? Got bad weather coming? Party first!
Perhaps those of us who have served in the military realize the special meaning of our national birthday since many times we have not been on U.S. soil to celebrate, and we know others serve as the nation plays.
It’s always a good idea to open our eyes, look around, see the bigger picture in the small everyday details and tell the stories. That’s what writers do.
“You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.”
Erma Bombeck
by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
Have a happy Fourth of July everybody! Thank you to our troops serving around the world today so we can party as a nation. Now head for the hot dogs and potato chips!
Watch this video on YouTube.
by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
If you haven’t seen this cute video you are in for a treat. Seems a stray cat at the St. Petersburg Zoo in Russia decided the lynx cat’s house looked much better than his, especially with heat. The obviously Spec Ops trained kitty found his way into the enclosure and they soon became best buds.
The zoo has officially adopted the stray cat and you can see he/she looks to be eating quite well. I love a happy ending. Happy Quirky Friday!
by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
Been trying my best to find the perfect summer video to share and then threw my hands in the air and went with a favorite. Back in simpler times when people went away to resorts for the summer, who were those people anyway, activities and dancing were part of the experience. The closest thing I did was be an aide at Camp Westwind on the Oregon Coast. It involved washing dishes and getting thrown in a feed trough by an albino pony. I learned macrame too, but no dancing.
So the best movie about those “times” for me will always be “Dirty Dancing.” With the amazing Patrick Swayze and wonderful Jennifer Grey, it is still a lifetime favorite. Summer starts tomorrow, so put on your dancing shoes and enjoy the sun! Happy Quirky Friday!
by Kimberly A. Cook (Twitter@ WarriorTales)
My fiction characters are running amuck. Even with the best of intentions, I realized they were getting beyond me in the current book. Remembered a tool author Linda Needham told me about. She has a humongous whiteboard in her office and uses different colored sticky notes to represent the characters in each chapter. That way she can see who is where.
My whiteboard is on the small size, so not enough room. I decided to use an Excel spreadsheet instead. Now, I’m one of the those right brains who would rather dig slit trenches than use Excel, but I’ve learned détente. Actually, the thought of using different colors really won me over.
Gathered up my horde of highlighter pens and crayons and off I went. Put chapter numbers on the top and lines for character names and colors on the side. Then I proceeded to start from chapter one and work my way through the manuscript. Using 8 1/2″ x 14″ paper I can get about 27 chapters on a sheet.
Each character is assigned their own color. Also came up with the idea to draw a circle when a character is mentioned so I can fix or expand that on editing. Managed to get about 17 chapters dissected this past weekend. Found out I had more walk-on characters than I realized. Seems new people are always jumping into this book.
Not sure I’m getting a true handle on my characters, but it is helping me realize who is where and get reacquainted with all the folks running around on the pages. If this tool works for you, yeah. If not, no problem.
The coloring part is fun. I love the smell of crayons in the afternoon!
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