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Dear Writer, You Need a Hobby

~ Kim Olgren ~ Leave a comment

Stephen King does jigsaw puzzles, plays guitar, and bowls. Emily Dickenson loved baking. Agatha Christie traveled with her husband. E. Cummings painted. Jackie Collins is into soul music and photography.

Hobbies. Every writer could use one or two.

“Why would I need a hobby? Don’t I have enough to do as a writer?” You may ask.

While writers do have full schedules (surprisingly, “other” people do too), spending time on a hobby can be beneficial in many ways.

  1. Certain hobbies help keep you healthy. Stephen King is among may writers who have been known to take a daily walk. Here in Colorado many writers have outdoor hobbies such as hiking, biking, running, paddle boarding, skiing, and much more. Physical hobbies help your body release feel-good chemicals in your brain and rid your body of toxins, helps you focus better, and sleep better, and that helps you write better. Plus, expending energy on physical hobbies, actually gives you more energy for everything else, including writing. Many times, these hobbies are combined with other hobbies like photography or camping.
  2. I used to help out one of my hubby’s former employers with tagging merchandise. It sounds monotonous, poking those little plastic things with a tag through item after item, case after case of…stuff. Sounds downright mind-numbing right? Wrong! I had some of my most creative ideas when I was doing this work. Why? Because my inner critic was focused on doing the job and not poking myself with the tagging gun, which left my imagination unsupervised and free to make up whatever it wanted to. The same goes for seemingly repetitive hobbies like knitting or crocheting. These hobbies allow the mind to unwind and stretch out.
  3. You need to get out among the people sometimes. Yes. I said it. You have to go OUT. Look, you can’t make good stories in a vacuum. If you’re not getting out once in a while, you’re missing the opportunity to gather valuable story fodder. Hobbies like spectator sports, joining a park and recreation softball league, a dart league, or just walking the mall make you get out amongst your fellow humans and help to remind you of how people act, for better or worse.
  4. Hobbies help fill the well. When I’m relaxing with my hubby on the sofa watching TV and crocheting, just chilling, I’m filling the well. When I’m walking my dog or playing ball with her in the back yard, I’m refilling the well. When I’m chilling with a good book that I’m reading just for fun (yes, you should do this too), I’m refilling the well. Do whatever refills your well. Do it regularly. This is one of the most important things writers can do for themselves.
  5. Finally, hobbies can help you overcome your writing problems. Have a sticky plot problem? Take a walk or play the guitar. Trying to figure out how best to get those love interests together? Go hang out at the mall and people watch the couples (but don’t be creepy about it, no one wants to be that person). Feeling stuck? Bake something, even if it’s cookies out of the refrigerated section at the grocery store, so that you can feel like you’ve accomplished something when you take the final product out of the oven.

So, my writer friends, if you haven’t already picked up the thing that helps you unwind or helps you get inspired, fear not! There are tons of things to do. Some of the writer I know do things like:

Photography

Hiking

Crochet

Video Games

Cooking

Reading (for pleasure)

Movies

Music

Playing and instrument

Drawing

Knitting

Painting

Puzzles

Camping

Board games

Role playing games

Make jewelry

Quilling

Calligraphy

Sewing

Needlepoint

Volunteer work

And many more! Think about what interests you and Google from there. The possibilities are seemingly endless.

Relax and write on my writerly friends.

Previously published on Writing from the Peak, the Pikes Peak Writers blog.

How To Migrate From The Note7 To A Samsung S7

~ Kim Olgren ~ Leave a comment

There is only one way to accomplish this task. It must be done wirelessly over wifi. If you are reading this, you’ve likely tried the cable thing suggested in the instructions that came along with your new S7 and are already frustrated and annoyed. Especially if you replaced your Note7 with the “new” Note7 in the recall before the final recall. Or, as I like to refer to it, the mission abortion of the suicide bomber phones, but that’s a different discussion. For now, let me help you out with some hard-earned info. You can make the transfer without spending hours in a phone store or in an aggravated state of techno-red-hot-hatred at home.

In order to successfully migrate everything over to your new S7 you will need to find two things on you Note7.

  1. Find the NFC and reset in Settings > Phone at the bottom of that list. You’re going to need to turn this on in order to transfer data wirelessly to your new device. Turn it on.
  2. Find the Smart Switch application in Settings > Personal > Backup and reset. You’re going to need this to transfer all the applications to run and manage your phone. Click on Smart Switch to open and let that hang out for a bit.

From here, you can transfer the sim card from your Note7 to your S7 as stated in the instructions, start up your S7 and begin following the prompts. Take your time. Do this when you are not in a hurry to do anything or go anywhere. Save yourself some anxiety. Transfer times will vary with the amount of data and apps you have. Mine took a little under an hour. I don’t play games so I don’t have much in the way of apps, and I keep my music on an iPod, but I do have a ton of pictures.

It really can be that simple. Yes, you will put the phones back to back and yes there should be a sound when you do. Just keep an eye on it until both phones say they are done. The new one will be done last because it will be saving everything at the end.

That’s all there is to it. Have other tips to share about the Samsung S7, feel free to discuss below.

Book Review: The Gaiad

~ Kim Olgren ~ Leave a comment

the-gaiad

In a society increasingly buried under the weight of its own insularity, an ancient and shadowy group selfishly guards a secret with the power to change everything. Tonight, on a stage in front of thousands, one of their members commits a horrible, shocking act. In the audience is Detective Fleur Romano. Bitter and world-weary, she vows to uncover the reasons behind the horror she just witnessed. In the process, she’ll discover that she’s led her lonely life ignorant a fundamental truth, a truth first discovered by a man who walked the earth millennia ago, a man mysteriously familiar.

In this powerful debut, William Burcher is willing to explore unique and fantastic themes with realism and grit. The GAIAD boldly poses big questions. What do we lose, as we separate ourselves from the earth and each other? What would the future hold, if suddenly something changed with that most fundamental of relationships—the one we have with our own planet?

Three Stars

three-stars

An original storyline based on a big idea.

The Gaiad’s intriguing premise is what brought me to it after meeting the author at a local writer’s event. Burcher tackles big, societal questions and challenges how we might think about our planet and our relationship with it through the eyes of a somewhat jaded police detective, the secret society she is about to come in violent contact with, and members of a civilization who lived their lives in a much simpler way that was more in harmony with the earth and her gifts.

Overall the writing is good. There were some awkward sentence structure issues and a couple of sudden instances of profanity that didn’t seem to mesh smoothly with the general theme and plot to me. Especially when uttered by the ancient people in the book. No, I’m not some prude who can’t handle a little profanity. This is where the three stars come in. The Gaiad is a good book with a great plot. The few things that pulled me out of the book were not nearly enough for a sub-par rating.

If you’re into alternative philosophies, thrillers, mysteries, and secret societies, I would encourage you to give this book a read.

Remember, just because this book wasn’t quite my cup of tea with crumpets on a beautiful spring day in an English garden, doesn’t mean it’s not yours. As it goes with any book, if it sounds interesting to you READ IT! Then help the author out and kindly REVIEW IT! Reviews are critical to any writer’s success.

If you’ve read The Gaiad, feel free to let me know what you thought. Let’s discuss.

 

 

Her Hacker Husband (working title)

~ Kim Olgren ~ 2 Comments

A little snippet from the opening of a first-draft work in progress…

Let me start by saying I might be crazy, but I am pretty sure I’m not.  I fully believe my husband is cheating on me (maybe worse) and using different programs that he has either written or found to help him do it.

 I know nothing about programming so I would not be able to tell you if what I think is happening is possible, but if it is, I want someone to help me find out. Is it possible to hack into someone’s phone and watch every move they make? Eavesdrop on their conversations? Control what they see or don’t see on their phone? I think he has added software or programmed my phone to keep me from finding out what he is doing behind my back and to spy on me.

 I am looking for someone willing to help me find out if he has added code to my phone to keep me from viewing files and track me, find out what he’s up to, and help me find proof that I’m not crazy…

 Anyone interested please email. Discretion is of the utmost importance.

 Thanks

Jenna was fairly satisfied with the posting she was about to make on the local electronic classified site. She stared blankly at the computer screen, hesitating to publish the ad, holding the hoodoo shop receipt that she’d found in his jacket pocket. It still smelled like perfume. She must have written it a hundred times to try to make it sound logical and reasonable. Eventually, she realized there was no way to write the ad without sounding like a lunatic. So, she decided to get that out of the way in the first sentence. Then maybe someone might actually take her seriously and contact her, despite better judgment. Hopefully, she didn’t end up hiring a lunatic given what she was asking. She knew if she were in his or her shoes she would feel the same way, but she had to know. There were too many coincidences, too many unanswered questions, not the least of which was whether or not she was out of her mind.

Foolproof Hard Boiled Eggs

~ Kim Olgren ~ Leave a comment

Just in time for Easter:

How to make perfect hard boiled eggs with a a recipe that has never failed me.

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Are you one of those people who struggles with hard boiled eggs? Middles are too done, have icky green color, middles are underdone? You’re not alone and I won’t tell. All egg dishes have their own quirks and tricks, but today we’re going to do down and dirty perfect hard boiled eggs. Step by step. Don’t be intimidated by the number of steps. This is super simple. The whole process takes about 40 minutes and you will spend 33 minutes of that time just…waiting. Are you ready?

Step 1: Fresh Eggs

Fresh eggs taste the best. Period. If they are free range, and chemical free, all the better. Yes, there is a difference. If you are going to eat your boiled eggs with the classic salt and pepper, there is no other way as far as I’m concerned.

Step 2: Start the water.

Fill a pot with enough water to cover your eggs and plenty of room for the number of eggs you’re cooking – accounting for evaporation. Do not add your eggs at this time. You do not need to add salt, vinegar, or anything else to your water. Wait for the water to come to a boil.

Step 3: Poke your eggs

What? Poke the eggs? Yes, poke the fat end or bottom of the egg with a clean pin, just breaking through the shell. This is going to keep the egg from cracking or exploding  when you put it in the water (not violent, but messy). This step allows the air to escape the little pocket there. Especially if it’s come out of the fridge as most eggs do unless fresh from the chickens. The reason: the coating that preserves the egg when the chicken lays it is washed off in commercial operations. That’s why you have to refrigerate store bought eggs.

Step 4: Drop your eggs in the boiling water

Wait! Don’t just drop your egg in the water. Be gentle. Use a slotted spoon to gently deposit each egg into the boiling water and at the bottom of the pot.

Step 5: Set a timer

Set a timer for 13 minutes. Walk away. When the timer goes off, turn off the heat.

Step 5: The ice bath

Ever hear of the Polar Bear Club? It’s a bunch of people who love to jump into frigid waters. Your beautiful eggs are about to join this club. Fill an appropriately sized bowl with lots of ice and cold water with enough room left for all your eggs. Yes, you’re going to put all your eggs in one bowl. Ba, dum, dum. Using your slotted spoon, gently lower each of your hot eggs into the ice bath. This stops the cooking which keeps them from getting that icky green ring around the yolk, which is caused by iron in the yolk interacting with sulfur in the white at high temperatures (although sometimes caused by high iron content in the water).

Step 6: Set the timer

Reset your timer and let the eggs chill out in the ice bath for 20 minutes.

Step 7: Peel

You shouldn’t need running water to peel these (Yay! Water conservation!). Give them a gentle whack on the bottom and a few more all around, cracking the shell but not breaking the egg. You will find that a lot of times half the shell just slips off effortlessly. If you feel the need, give them a quick rinse once they’re peeled. And hey, you can crush those shells and use them for fertilizer for all kinds of plants, tomatoes, peppers, potted plants, and little ones that are really thirsty.

Here’s a look at the end result and it’s just as creamy and delicious as it looks. done all the way through, but not over or undercooked with a bright, sunshiny, yellow yolk.

Hard Boiled

Easy Deviled Eggs

Slice the eggs in half, pop out the yolks, smoosh ‘em up real good, add some Miracle Whip, sweet pickle relish, mustard and paprika. Throw mixture into a baggie smoosh it all to one corner and give it a twist. Snip off the corner and pipe the egg mixture back into the whites and you have easy deviled eggs.

Note: If you are dyeing these eggs there is a chance that the white of the egg may absorb some dye due to that tiny hole you poked in it.

Ta-da! Have a great Easter!

Read Bad Books! Read Bad Books!

~ Kim Olgren ~ Leave a comment

“The hell you say?!”

Yes, if you’re a writer, especially a beginner, you should be reading bad books. You should be reading your ass off if it’s not in a chair writing. Read all kinds of books.

Case in point:

I recently stuck it out with a trilogy that was recommended by someone close to me. There were two reasons I finished this trilogy.

  1. I thought my GOD, this has got to get better sooner or later. 
  2. I can learn from this.

It never got better. Not for me. But I did learn from it. That’s why writer’s should read bad books. Most of us are avid readers and have been long before, or alongside our writing. We know what works and what doesn’t work for us. Reading bad books helps us articulate what those things are that bug us and avoid them in our own writing.

Some of the things that were wrong with this trilogy:

  1. constant typos, spelling and grammar errors
  2. No conflict to speak of despite being a post-apocalyptic story
  3. Sweet but unrealistic storyline (all the darlings survived)
  4. No tension to speak of, the original results of an apocalypse can only carry so far

This stuff throws the reader out of the story and could make them want to <gasp!> put down the book. I know how hard it is to write a novel. I do. I’m currently working on my own revisions on an 85k novel. I’m not saying go out and purposely buy bad books. I’m just saying that when you run across a bad book, give it a chance to teach you something or another.

In my humble opinion, this particular person published too early. This novel needed an editor in the most desperate of ways, further revising, and more polishing. This was a self-published book and is an example of why self-published authors have a hard time being taken seriously. Self-publishing can allow the author to circumvent important steps in the process such as submitting to a competent editor and making appropriate revisions.

As a writer, consider finishing that bad book you put down. Learn from it. Learn how to evaluate the good and the bad. Learn how to articulate what’s wrong for you.  Think about how you would have fixed the problem. Then apply what you’ve learned to your own writing and watch it grow and mature. Also, never. Ever. Skip the editor.

What was the problem with the last bad book that you read? How did it help you make your own writing better?

Book Review: Waking Hearts by Elizabeth Hunter

~ Kim Olgren ~ Leave a comment

Getting an advanced copy of a book by Elizabeth Hunter is like getting a really good early Christmas present. Waking Hearts was just that kind of gift. The Cambio Springs series works so well because the paranormal elements are grounded in plenty of real life. Important real life stuff like heartache, incredible loyalty, family, friendship and cooperation in a small town where everyone looks out for one another. Oh, and of course the best part…love.

One of the things I loved best about Waking Hearts is that it’s centered on a single mom of four, count ‘em, four kids! She’s harried, she’s stressed, she’s a hot mess, and yet she is a rock. Life turned upside down, and in the middle of a controversial mystery with bad guys hunting her and her children she never loses sight of what’s important. Even when she finds out about her long-term friend’s true feelings for her. Feelings he’s carried since they were kids but never had the guts to reveal.

Until now.

Ollie knows that Allie is the only one for him. He knows this is his shot. He would do anything for Allie, including not hesitating in taking her entire family into his home to protect them. We have a real, genuine hero here. The kind of man that backs up what he says. The kind of guy that isn’t taking Allie’s four kids as her baggage but genuinely loves them and cares for them and her. How much bigger can a hero get?

The next thing that’s great about this book is the way that Allie’s friends and community rally around her. Truly, everyone in Cambio Springs is family and they take care of their own, whether they turn into snakes, bears, wolves, big cats, other people or nothing at all, doesn’t matter. This community is tight in all the right ways.

Wondering about the romance? Don’t worry, I didn’t forget. Think you can’t find time for romance when four kids are part of the package? Think again. Where there’s a will there’s a way. Not only do Allie and Ollie find time to be alone together, but when they do, the sparks are even hotter.

You might want to get ready to read this one in one sitting because you probably won’t want to put it down until it’s done. Elizabeth Hunter weaves the kind of compelling story that may actually leave you somewhat breathless at times and with a warm sensation somewhere in the vicinity of your heart.

Go to Elizabeth Hunter’s website for more information on Waking Hearts, the rest of the Cambio Springs series and Elizabeth Hunters other books. You can preorder Waking Hearts right now and it’s out tomorrow, November 24th.

Road Trip Photo Essay: Colorado Springs, CO to Points West…and South, Part II

~ Kim Olgren ~ Leave a comment

As promised, this is part two of our trip to the four corners area. So without further ado, Part II.

Mesa Verde Park covers 81.39 miles of mesas and valleys in the southwest corner of Colorado. The park includes over 5,000 archaeological sites including 600 cliff dwellings. These were the ancestral lands of the Pueblo Indians who later moved further south to join the Pueblo people of Arizona and New Mexico. No one knows for sure, but droughts were probably the main reason for the move. Knowing where they could go, and that the people further south were friendly probably helped make the decision to move a little easier. These people inhabited the Mesa Verde area for 700 years building their apartments in the caves and learning to live and farm the top of the mesas. They are called the Anasazi in the language of the modern Pueblo, meaning “ancient ones” and consisted of Navajo and Zuni people. Oh, by the way, Mesa Verde is Spanish for green table.

Outside the visitors center you will be greeted by the Pueblo Potter, a 2009 limestone sculpture by Adrian Wall.
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But the first thing you see besides the building is The Ancient Ones, a breathtaking statue by Edward J. Fraughton. My picture here doesn’t do it justice, the light was not in my favor. It depicts a scene out of everyday life for these people. A man climbing a cliff face with nothing but small hand and footholds carved out of the rock to hold on to with firewood on his back.
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Here’s a closer peek.
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The next thing we did was plan our visit with info and maps provided by the visitors center. We already knew we were not going to see the Cliff Palace and we wanted to do our own, self-guided tour which left us one clear choice that would take us to Spruce Tree House and Mesa Top Loop Road.

Spruce Tree House is one of the few cliff dwellings you can visit without a guide. To get there you must descend to the valley floor via a half mile of switchback trail (you’re going to climb back up this trail to get out so make sure you are physically ready to do it in the heat and sun) then cross the valley floor and take a short path up to the cave. There are also petroglyphs to see here if you have time to take the two mile, round-trip hike to see them.
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The dwellings reach deep into the cave making use of every nook and cranny.

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Corn grinding stones
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More of Spruce Tree House
20140912_123203 Open Kiva. Kiva’s were underground structures with wooden roofs believed to be used for spiritual and community gatherings. Normally all you would see from these angles would be a small, square hole with a ladder sticking out of it.20140912_123240

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Looking down at Spruce Tree House as we finished climbing back up out of the valley. You can see a couple of the switchbacks here.
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Once we were done gawking at Spruce Tree House, it was time to take on the next leg of our Mesa Verde Adventure, which was actually several rolled into one.

Mesa Top Loop Road is a six-mile driving tour with twelve sites along the way. Some are seen from a distance such as Cliff Palace, the largest dwelling in the park which can be seen from Sun Point and Sun Temple stops.
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Others sites, can be visited during the drive on top of the mesa including an old, man-made reservoir and surface dwellings like these.

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There’s a lot more to see on this drive. Including, a 365 degree view from South Point View (also where the fire watchtower is located).

Speaking of fires…don’t be discouraged by some of the views that you’ll see on the Mesa Top Road Drive. You’re going to see some real fire devastation, but at the same time, your going to see tremendous renewal. The fires exposed a lot of new archaeological sites and more opportunities to learn about the Anasazi people.
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Between 1934 and 2003, the Mesa Verde Park has experienced 12 major wildfires, all determined to have been started by lightning. Since 2000 alone over 24,000 acres have been scorched. But then you will also come across breathtaking views like this…
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and this…20140912_154137

and this…a short hike to South Point lookout, and 365 degrees as far as the eye can see, haze allowing…
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20140912_152128I feel so blessed to be able to travel and see the wonders and history of stuff like this and to have a smartphone with decent camera to record it! Now for some practical stuff.

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When I said to make sure you are physically ready to hike in Mesa Verde National Park I meant it. I saw at least one ranger have to go down the switchback path at the Spruce Tree House with oxygen and a portable defibrillator. Elevations range from 6,000ft to over 8,500ft. The guided tours require guides for a reason. Access to the Cliff Palace includes climbing down a long, narrow ladder in a sandstone crevice near the edge of the cliff. Don’t push it. Stop and take a break if you need to. Pace yourself. That means go at your OWN pace. The path to Spruce Tree House has benches and rocks to sit on along the way. There is poison ivy on this trail and it is marked. You are forewarned.

Bring plenty of water with you. We were there just two weeks ago and although the weather was mild (in the 80 degree range), the sun still gets hot in a hurry and there is not much opportunity for shade. Although some signs and websites say water is available at every stop on Mesa Top Road, it is not. Don’t take the chance. Bring your sunscreen!

Finally, if you really want to explore the wonders of Mesa Verde National Park. I would recommend making a long weekend out of it. We only saw a small fraction of what the park has to offer. There is a resort area and plenty of camp sites as well. Stay a couple of days and take some time to explore. There is also a restaurant at Far View Area. Nothing fancy. but there’s food, drink, and a gift shop. The park fee is $5 or $10 depending on what time of year it is. The guided tours are $4 unless you opt for the twilight tour and that’s $12. Make sure you get a map and a visitors guide and read them. Make sure you don’t miss and cool or important stuff!

The last leg of our journey saw us leaving our lodgings at the Ute Mountain Casino and Hotel a day early. We traveled to Pagosa Springs and stayed the night there in a really reasonable, tiny, family owned hotel by the highway called the Alpine Inn that I found on tripadvisor.com. We visited a couple of the local pubs, took a gander at the hot springs pools at The Springs hot springs and made a mental note to come back just to go there. We had dinner at the second best and more reasonably priced restaurant in town, Boss Hog’s Restaurant and Saloon. The people were very friendly and the food was decent.
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Our route home took us over Wolf Creek Pass and through the San Luis Valley, down the Cosmic Highway (Highway 17). Note to self, RV camping at the Great Sand Dunes National Park, and/or at the UFO Watchtower should be in my future. I could see how the great, wide open, and sparsely populated San Luis valley could seem like a nice place to land your space craft.

The western side of Wolf Creek Pass started out beautiful beginning with Treasure Falls, about 15 miles east of Pagosa Springs. The falls are named after Treasure Mountain, which legend says, holds the secret treasure of some Frenchmen that snuck into the area and struck it rich.

It was a cool morning so the mists hung over ponds along the way and the air around the falls was crisp and heavy with the smell of deep pine forest. You can do a side trip here and take the trail to the top of the falls for about at 300ft climb. Set aside about 45 minutes if you want to make the 1/2-mile round trip.
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As we made our way further up the pass things began to get strange, then downright eerie, then just sad. Here in Colorado we’ve been battling the pine beetle for some time now. On the front range we have seen some issues, but nothing prepared me for the absolute devastation of so many old pines over such a large area. In this case, it was the spruce beetle. Tens of thousands of acres in the San Juan forest, including Wolf Creek Pass have died leaving vast swaths of dead trees interspersed with other species not affected by this particular beetle. This is a wildfire just waiting for lightning.
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The eastern side of the pass was a little better and dropped us into the San Luis Valley. From Alomosa, we found ourselves on Highway 17, The Cosmic Highway with one more mountain range, the beautiful Sangre de Cristos, to cross to get home.
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If you look closely, that barely discernable, hazy line of demarcation at the foot of the mountains is the Great Sand Dunes. A desert of sand dunes, in the middle of the Colorado Mountains with Medano Creek flowing through them. Again, you can’t make this stuff up.
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With the Sangre de Cristo mountains behind us, we started the last 45 miles of our trip, heading into Canon City, then north back to Colorado Springs.
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Back at home after a full week on the road I was glad to be back in my own bed with my own pillow (big satisfied sigh). We also missed a cold snap in the Colorado Springs area that apparently had brought a dusting of snow to some parts of the area. Temperatures were back inthe 70s and 80s by the time we got back. Oh shucky darn.

I love trips like this where I get see so much. Sometimes it can feel a little bit like sensory overload, with so much to see, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love to travel and see new things and share them with others who may share the same passion. Happy travels everyone! Be safe!