K.J. Kruk's Blog, page 2

A Hard Lesson In Leadership

"When times are at their hardest, the greatest leaders emerge with innovation."

— K.J. Kruk

Power Lesson

Any seasoned businessman or -woman with a handful of sense and sensibility can jump into a leadership position and thrive alongside a thriving company. But when times are at their hardest, only creative thought leaders will be able to keep their companies afloat by acting as vigilantes in taking the risks others wouldn't dare dream to take in order to pave a brighter future for their compani...

Business. Fizzness!

I just finished up an interview with a lovely Entrepreneur Magazine and I couldn't help but think back to how all of the questions seemed to stem from this place of foreboding when launching a new career. I'm in my thirties. Before the birth of my book, Leo Gray and the Lunar Eclipse, I had been running a successful real estate and hospitality business in Hawaii for about five years. I knew straight off the bat that I couldn't juggle the two worlds with the proper attention they each required...

How to Transition into a New Career

I just finished up an interview with a lovely Entrepreneur Magazine and I couldn't help but think back to how all of the questions seemed to stem from this place of foreboding when launching a new career. I'm in my thirties. Before the birth of my book, ,Leo Gray and the Lunar Eclipse, I had been running a successful real estate and hospitality business in Hawaii for about five years. I knew straight off the bat that I couldn't juggle the two worlds with the proper attention they each required, ...

An Author's Mirage

While I was riding my camel in Egypt this morning, a blinding white light beamed down from the heavens and tossed me straight into a mirage. As I had never been in a mirage before, I was naturally taken aback by the whole thing, especially the part when a magnificent being (who appeared to be of Swedish origin) appeared through the stratocumuli and flipped open a glimmering, iridescent book. He then proceeded to proclaim these miraculous words of wisdom to me, which I shall now share share wi...

Oh, Virtuous Cup!

It's such a dull and boring thing, I think, to wait for a cup of tea; You wait and wait and wait some more, And then it's far too hot to drink! Alas, the cup was worth the hold, I've never, ever, regretted a sip! Except, of course, for the last, As it was actually more of a drip!

Ode to a Leaf

Another year, Another leaf, Has fallen from the Red Maple: The Great Oak gives false regard, And silence is the Willow; The Old Lime Tree—as it appears—has at long last, taken notice of its fallen fruit; The Noble Fir, despite the cold, offers a cone in its biddable youth! And so another leaf has fallen, Drop! Onto the ground; A blusterous wind picks it up, And carries it all around; Or was it, perhaps, a leaf blower? The truth is, we'll never know... For the Maple’s once budding, crimson lea...

Much To-Do About Publishing

Hello again World, This post is to enlighten those interested in book publishing (or those of you of a more curious nature) on everything I've been doing (besides from trying to write another novel and master the art of social media!) since the launch of Leo Gray and the Lunar Eclipse on March 19th. — I designed and created 5,000 Leo Gray stickers — I designed and printed 100 Leo Gray conference flyers — I designed and created 1,000 Leo Gray postcards (Then I went on to hand-write (and stamp)...

Post-Publication Yodeling

So Leo Gray and the Lunar Eclipse officially went from the 7,000,000th to the 150,000th to the 50,000th best-selling book on Amazon during the week of publication. (That's quite impressive movement for a little self-pushed book!) I'm enormously honored for that and I'm beyond grateful to everyone that has taken time out of their day to read and review Leo's story, including the review that came in from Kirkus Reviews that compared Leo Gray to three superb books: A Wrinkle in Time, The City of...

Of Rabbits and Hares

They say it's an anomaly,  And I say it’s all bonhomie!  In fact, it stirs my curiosity,  That rabbits and hares have different physiologies!  Herbivores they both may be,  One’s diet is not quite the diet for me!  Can you guess which one that is?  Which prefers thistles and bark over nasturtium and dianthus?  Both may nibble-nibble on the grass,  But if I were a Leporid, I’d be from France!  Well, the countryside, that is...  Where I’d feast all day on heleniums and aquilegias! K.J. Kruk

Pre-Publication Ponderings

It's precisely thirty-one days now until Leo Gray and the Lunar Eclipse comes out. (Not that I'm counting, or anything....) I'm not expecting miracles to happen when March 19th finally arrives. Miracles require a tremendous amount of effort from divine celestial-beings, and I'm afraid I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting any in person. But, who knows...Maybe Lady Luck might be feeling extra generous on that day! Either way, I feel like I've fallen behind with marketing and businessy thin...