Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

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Got Your Ducks Organized?

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by Kimberly A. Cook          (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Holy cow cakes! Lots of writers/people checked out my post on Tuesday, thanks everybody. I’m trying to catch up with all the great feedback. Always amazes me when real people are actually out there and make a comment. Thank you for the support.

Part of any new year is getting organized and right now I am working on taxes. Oh joy. I’d rather be writing! But this “other” paperwork needs to be completed too. So for inspiration I found this video about getting your ducks organized. Fits the Quirky Friday fun theme, so enjoy! Have a great weekend and keep writing what you love.

So You Want To Know How To Get Published?

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by Kimberly A. Cook           (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

It might be easier to explain how to build an Ark. From scratch. But since a friend asked for a writer friend, let me give this a shot. A long time ago in a galaxy far away before the Internet, traditional publishing lived in New York City and writers tried to get agents who then submitted their work to publishing companies who decided who would get published.

Then along came the Internet in the mid-1980s and web pages and writers were called content providers. (Always hated that title.) A new product called ebooks came into being in the early 2000s and soon a group of rebels (authors and writers) realized they could overcome the Death Star of New York publishing houses and authorpreneurs/publishers were born in the great Indie publishing skirmishes which continue today.

Are you a cookie, cupcake or pie writer?
Are you a cookie, cupcake or pie writer?

So one decision you need to make about getting published is whether you want to be with the traditionals or join the rebels. But wait! Before you make that decision first you need to figure out what kind of author or writer you want to be for the long haul. This is crucial. I wrote a blog post about this very topic in November 2011, so please read it here.     https://kimberlyacook.com/2011/11/01/which-dessert-would-you-choose/

To summarize the post, decide if you are a one book cookie, a two book cupcake or a career pie. Before you publish any book, please decide if this is a career, a hobby or a one time event. It makes a big difference on how you spend your time and book money.

If you want to go the traditional route, research is in order. Check out www.writersdigest.com and check the listings for agents and publishing houses and the genres they accept in the annual Writers Market, both online and in hard copy. If you want to publish a gift book or children’s book, research those markets. There is a real difference between wearing your writer/art cap and your business/marketing helmet. We have to be able to do both jobs when it comes to the world of publishing.

If you decide to go Print On Demand, self publishing or ebook only, read the blogs I list under Writizing Biz for some great advice and folks to follow. There are pirates and scallywags out there who will take a ton of your money and not deliver the finished product you hoped for, so be diligent in your research and ask advice from others. To thine own book and career path be true.

Don’t be a writer unicorn who gets left off the ark by playing silly games. Strap on your business gear and get ready to enter the publishing wars; power to writers and readers!

How Can We Organize Ourselves And Our Writing For 2013?

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by Kimberly A. Cook         (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Today we say hello to 2013 and start with clean calendars to plan our writing goals. My friend Carol and I say every year,  “This year we’re going to get organized!” We’ve been saying and doing that for more than 25 years and we’re still not done. It’s a process.

Spec Ops Cat does his part to get the office paperwork ready for 2013.
Spec Ops Cat does his part to get the office paperwork ready for 2013.

This past holiday season I took some time to think outside the box and the basket. (See Spec Ops Cat at left) With four manuscripts in various stages from final editing to first draft, I wanted to figure out a way to combine my business needs with my writing time.

It dawned on me I can finish all four manuscripts first and THEN publish them when I choose. Just because I finish a book doesn’t mean I have to rush it out the door to publication. Getting the four books completed first will also help me to budget my finances this year. Duh!

We get so used to striving and straining in a certain direction, we forget to consider if we’re on the right road in the first place; or the correct writing project or the right location. Downtime and thinking time are required parts of being a writer. I’ve set some simple but big goals this year and I’m looking forward to hitting them. It’s also reducing my stress level.

Two of my goals are to spend more time on my photography and having fun. I’ve started having fun by adding this “Authors Are My Rock Stars” calendar to my office. Yeah! http://www.amazon.com/2013-Authors-Rock-Stars-calendar/dp/1402270992/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357006123&sr=8-1&keywords=authors+are+my+rock+stars (And maybe in 2013 I’ll figure out how to shorten and rename these links on WordPress!)

To refill my photography cup, I decided to get a subscription to “Outdoor Photographer” this year. Stumbled upon photographer Ian Plant’s blog and his fabulous top twelve photos of 2012. These are gorgeous. http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/blog/ian-plant/2012/12/twelve-significant-photographs-a-year-2012.html

Make a small change and explore a new area of interest or one you’ve neglected for years. A new calendar or even one magazine can send you off on a new journey in 2013. Maybe being a little more unorganized is what we need to do this year and let our muses wander. Who knows what fun we can have by taking a mosey into the new year instead of trying to speed through life.

Happy New Year everybody! Keep writing!

Think You’ve Got A Crazy Writing Niche?

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by Kimberly A. Cook            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Spent several days at home recently when my head was declared a hazmat area by my doctor. Antibiotics were prescribed. I camped in the LaZBoy with the Hallmark Channel and Spec Ops Cat. Needing a diversion after 36 modern movies I slipped in the “White Christmas” DVD, my all time favorite holiday movie.

The clothes in the movie make me drool. My favorite is the dress worn by Rosemary Clooney when she sings her solo. Designed by Edith Head, this drop dead gorgeous gown is built for us women with curves. Those were the days!

After the movie I decided to see what I could find out about the gown on my trusty Nook Tablet. (Google “Rosemary Clooney black gown” and see what happens yourself) Pay dirt! Not only did I find pictures, I discovered a cottage industry around the clothes in the movie. One blog post followed a seamstress trying to make it from scratch http://sewing.patternreview.com/SewingDiscussions/topic/48642

Then I found the Rosemary Clooney Museum in Augusta, Kentucky! Who knew? www.rosemaryclooney.org Not only do they have costumes from many of her movies, but a reproduction of the red Christmas gown. The museum recently bought the sparkly blue dress from the movie’s sisters number off eBay; from a vintage store who didn’t know what they had. Boggles the mind. The museum has the largest collection of “White Christmas” movie memorabilia in the world and George Clooney items are at there too. Must book a trip!

This goes to show you, any topic can be a niche. I’m beginning to think the niches are getting their own niches these days. So if you love a quirky topic like 1950s dress designs, there might be an app for that, but there sure are blogs. Or start your own! My military niche is rather large but I can pick and choose my quirky topics so it gives me total freedom.

It also means I can find a military connection to almost any topic on the planet. “White Christmas” is a case in point. It’s a grand story about Army buddies, falling in love and honoring those who have served. Priceless.

Keeping Pearl Harbor Memories and Sacrifices Alive

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by Kimberly A. Cook             (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

The first war story I recorded for a 1976 school project belonged to John Watson, my brother-in-law’s great-uncle. He worked as a shipyard worker in Pearl Harbor for the U.S. Navy. He was laying in bed on his first day off in thirteen weeks. He and his roommate, Lonnie, heard a lot of firing. They thought it might be practice firing, but it didn’t sound right. They turned on the radio.

The Battleship Missouri Memorial watches over the USS Arizona Memorial on election day, Nov. 6. Copyright 2012 Kimberly A. Cook
The Battleship Missouri Memorial watches over the USS Arizona Memorial on election day, Nov. 6. Copyright 2012 Kimberly A. Cook

“All workmen return to Pearl Harbor immediately, Japs are firing on us,” came across the radio waves. The two men made it to Pearl Harbor thirty minutes later and went through the main gate just as the second wave of Japanese fighters were coming over. “I don’t think they ever caught up with me though,” Johnny joked.

An electrician, Johnny got “juice” on the heavy cruiser San Francisco so she could fire her guns. Her anti-aircraft “one point pom poms” were on the dock so the rigger swung them aboard and they welded them to the deck. She was firing in 20  minutes. “By manual, manual firing them,” he said.

“I’ll admit there were no stops on them and she practically cut one stack off following them planes around. We were firing right towards Honolulu. I had a lot up in the valley I was ready to build a new house on and a 16-inch shell took that lot off the hillside; we found fragments of it,” he said.

“They were firing at anything going away, coming or anything else with anything that would fire. Like I told ya, we fired 16-inch guns at airplanes.”

Last year on the 70th Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association voted to disband their corporate association on Dec. 31, 2011. The travel is challenging for those in their late 80s and early 90s. The memories are still strong and painful. The challenge for the National Park Service now is how to transition their mission to keep the memories and the sacrifice alive and relevant to future generations.

Education and stories are the key for me. Uncle Johnny’s story became my first official war story to record. That one encounter started me on a lifelong journey as a writer, veteran and military storyteller.  For those of us left behind, we must now step up and tell the stories to new generations for those who have gone before. This Friday, December 7th, remember Uncle Johnny and all the men, women, children and civilians we lost on that day in Honolulu and since.

Freedom isn’t free.

Show Me The Writing!

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by Kimberly A. Cook                   (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

A primary rule for all writers is to show, not tell. This is harder than it sounds. We can’t tell readers about a scene, as storytellers we have to figure out how to show them what we mean. An amazing example of showing without telling is the last scene in the current movie, The Descendants.

Finally saw it last weekend. Great film. Bring tissues! Besides the humor and tears, I felt the last scene is masterful in the art of showing, not telling. Have to buy it on DVD so I can watch it over and over to see what other “shows” I might have missed. Layering characters, plots and turning points is an art form in writing and screenwriting.  It’s so nice to find films and books which do it well.

http://youtu.be/CWHNXJ1K4yA

One author suggested taking screenwriting classes to learn how to punch up fiction dialogue. My screenwriting classes gave me a bonus when the three act structure provided me with the perfect way to plot fiction books.  Overlaying the screenwriting teachings from Syd Field’s The Screenwriter’s Workbook (page 47) with the Hero’s Journey work from Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey, third edition (page 8), I was set. We know when a tool clicks for us. 

Trial and error is how we improve our craft and grow as writers. Writing is the other way. We have to actually do it. Amazing how some of us still try to avoid that part at times, myself included. But then we happen to see a movie or read a book which impacts us with excellent craft. The work gives us fuel for the fire in our muse to get our stories right, to touch reader’s hearts.

What book or movie has influenced you?