Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Writing

Is A Lazy Weekend Good For Your Creative Muse?

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by Kimberly A. Cook           (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Interesting weather weekend. Heat, humidity, thunderstorms, rain, lightning, wind, clouds. Sometimes all at the same time. Sunday morning I realized I had the heating pad on for a sore muscle, the air conditioning going and it was raining outside. Welcome to wacky weather.

Before planting, all but four of these guys got in the ground. Yes, I'm a yard art slut and that is Gnomeo and Juliet.
Before planting, all but four of these guys got in the ground. Yes, I’m a yard art slut and that is Gnomeo and Juliet.

Part of what did not happen this past weekend was me cleaning up more of my office. Seems I wanted to play and working on de-cluttering didn’t feel like fun.

The tune “Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days Of Summer,” kept running through my mind.

By Sunday I had the lazy part down pat while I watched men run around at the World Cup with a lot more energy than I had.

Sometimes we need to park ourselves and sit. Just sit. Take time to think and dream and imagine. Daydreaming is an official requirement for writers, especially fiction writers. It also gives me time to scan the stack of magazines I buy and then barely have time to read.

Perfect Sunday. Weird weather means staying home is not only allowed, but recommended. Spec Ops Cat also requires a certain amount of lap time and he felt his quota was abysmal this past week. He got caught up.

There were two petunia and two fuchsia plants leftover from my garden planting weekend to go into the ground. I knew I should get them in the dirt but the rain and lightning convinced me they were on their own for another couple of days.

Sometimes the best thing to do on a summer Sunday is to putter, rest and snuggle with magazines and a cat. The office is not going to clean itself,  the clean up elves have a better union and don’t work on Sundays. It will all wait. September sounds good.

Taking time to refresh ourselves is important. Because even our creative muse mind needs a lazy summer day. Plus you don’t want to deal with a cranky pet, spouse, kids or friends. Enjoy some lazy summer days!

 

What Is The Real State Of Our Union?

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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.

Captured this while waiting for a left hand turn signal light in May. Fabulous.
Captured this while waiting for a left hand turn signal light in May. Fabulous.

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

 

Do All Facts Belong In Fiction?

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by Kimberly A. Cook                     (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Not necessarily. Especially the “but it really happened that way” kind of facts. Fact is no guarantee it works in fiction writing. Case in point. Saturday I had lunch at my favorite café and antique store with my Mom. She spied a car that had driven up and parked. (Okay, people were driving it.) The car appeared to have a leak under the engine.

New fav mug from my sister. The yellow behind Bugs Bunny reminded me about the yellow shirt/tan shorts guys and had to tell her the tale.
New fav mug from my sister. The yellow behind Bugs Bunny reminded me about the yellow shirt/tan shorts guys and had to tell her the tale.

Last month I went back out to my garage after getting home and found my Subaru smoking. Engine off. In my non-smoking garage! Towed to the dealer the next day, found out a rock had pierced my oil filter and oil was everywhere. If I had driven it, very possibly rolling Subaru flambé.

So, with safety in mind, Mom told me the driver was a male wearing a yellow shirt and tan shorts. Off I went on a seek and alert mission. Down aisle one I spied a man just inside the front door with yellow shirt and tan shorts. Score! He denied having driven up in a red car. Okay.

Down aisle two and imagine my surprise; another man with yellow shirt and tan shorts. What are the odds? Asked if he had driven up in a red car and he said no. Think his wife thought I was trying to pick him up. I couldn’t figure out why these men were not fessing up.

Back at the café I found Mom talking to some folks from the café, which overlooks the large store. I could not see the people, but her “Are you from Montana?” got her chatting with them. Turns out they were the folks, the air conditioning overflow was the culprit and it had driven them nuts when they first got the car too.

By this time, I am back eating lunch and quite puzzled. Then, who do I see, but a woman and a different man in a yellow shirt and tan shorts come into the café. The Montana folks with the peeing car. Verified by Mom, this was the third guy in the store in a yellow shirt and tan shorts. Who sent out the yellow shirt, tan shorts memo?

Did it happen in real life? Yes. Would most readers believe it? Maybe. By the third time there would need to be a twist in the story to hold the reader’s attention. Real life stories are not necessarily the right stories for fiction. Truth can be stranger than fiction, but fiction needs to be believable.

How’s that for a head scratcher!

What Would A Writer’s Perfect Summer Be?

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by Kimberly A. Cook         (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

When the lazy days of summer roll around, bellying up to the keyboard in my home office seems like a drag. I want to sleep on the lawn swing and doze in the sun spots like Spec Ops Cat.

Sitting and smelling the roses and watching wildlife can refill our energy and provide us with some creative calm in this crazy world. It also opens us up to watching for surprises, unexpected gifts.

On my way into the building at my day job yesterday, I wondered if the resident ducks would be camped out in the storm water swale, not ten feet from the front of the building. Hadn’t seen Mom and Dad Duck for a bit, so hoped to get a peek of them paddling around in the water.

Mom Duck with babies hiding in plain sight. Have you passed by baby ducks?
Mom Duck with babies hiding in plain sight. Have you passed by baby ducks?

Spied Mom Duck and then baby ducks! What an unexpected joy to see the little feather balls gliding around keeping close to Mom. Dropped my bags and grabbed the camera to get a few pictures. Also means we have to watch out in the parking lot since they take off across it at any given time of the day.

While you are day dreaming of summer days and upcoming holidays with extra writing time, slow down and enjoy the everyday part of your writer life. Ponder what the perfect writer’s summer would be for you and then make one of those things happen.

Dream big and stay open to creative ideas and everyday happenings. You might find ducklings!

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize

they were the big things.” – Robert Brault

 

Can Excel Help Right Brain Fiction Writers Control Their Characters?

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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.

Fun with Excel, highlighters and crayons. One way to herd your fiction characters.
Fun with Excel, highlighters and crayons. One way to herd your fiction characters.

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!

Life Gives Us Unexpected Pleasures When We Slow Down

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by Kimberly A. Cook                 (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Spent the past week on an unexpected stay-cation at home and it was wonderful. Seems we run around so fast we never get time to just be. While visiting my favorite antique mall and café, I spied a marked down jar of jewels. Score!

Marked down from $25! Happy Dance!
Marked down from $25! Happy Dance!

I snapped it up and kept it until I had time to enjoy the sorting process. Got my favorite bead storage container, I keep a stash, and spent a pleasant hour discovering new treasures. It feels like bead therapy to me, bringing order out of chaos and finding surprises.

The process was interrupted by Spec Ops Cat wanting to help out. Whether it is checkbooks, knitting, composing on the computer or trying to read anything, he thinks a RECON is in order.

There were more pins and buttons than I expected in the jar, but it made me wonder about who wore the pins and why I had four from one convention. The little mysteries of life. I’ve read research which says women can start to lose their passions at age 10, so figure out what you did then and try it now. Reading, writing and jewelry making were big for me at 10 and still are among my favorite things to do.

Spec Ops Cat helping out. Kinda.
Spec Ops Cat helping out. Kinda.

Of course, in those days, I’d get these same jars filled with broken jewelry parts at Goodwill for a few dollars and have a field day sorting my finds. This $15 jar was a big bargain since everyone has caught on to recycling and making “steam punk” jewelry these days.

But I spent a wonderful time playing with my new jewels and dreaming up new creations I want to make.

When we’re not thinking about creating characters, building plots and editing, a childhood pleasure can give us a quick vacation without even leaving home. When did you last take a break and just play?

Fini!
Fini!