Catching up

6/17/04
The time has just sped by. I finally finished a bit of Spring Cleaning, and now that I can see the floor in my guest bedroom, somehow my mind feels less cluttered, too.

The biggest news is from yesterday. I received a call from Sharon at Arabella Magazine, who said that they want to publish a short story I submitted to them in March! I'm so stoked. The story is "Dom Perignon," a romance about love at first sight in a San Francisco art gallery gala. God is soooooo good. This is a faboo publishing opportunity He's given to me.

I'll also have an article being published in "Nikkei Heritage," a quarterly journal published by the National Japanese American Historical Society. The Fall/Winter edition is themed "War," and my piece is a light-hearted description of how World War 2 impacted life in the Hawaiian country town of Waialua, O'ahu, where my grandmother lives. I had a great time interviewing my grandmother and my mother, and I learned a lot about the rich history of the time. My grandmother is one of the few people old enough and mentally sharp enough to remember the time back then, so it was a joy to record her reminiscences.

I'm now working on a new manuscript, a sequel to "The Corinthian Rules." It's coming along slowly, and I am trying to bathe the process in prayer so that I can write this for God's glory, and not my own. The one, tentatively titled "The Ephesians List," is also set in San Jose, with Asian characters. I am also thinking about gearing this book specifically for the secular market, rather than the CBA, but I still need to pray about it.

Right now, an agent is reviewing "The Corinthian Rules" to determine if he wants to represent me. I also emailed my manuscript to Jeff Dunn at RiverOak, because he had requested it.

I read "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers" by Renni Browne and Dave King (2nd edition), and I think it's an absolute necessity for every writer. I feel like my manuscript is so much cleaner and tighter now that I've applied the principles in the book. This ranks up there with "Techniques of the Selling Writer" by Dwight V. Swain.

I had a wonderful opportunity to read Meredith Efken's "SAHM I Am," a manuscript recently bought by Steeple Hill. It's hilariously funny! I learned a lot about Stay-At-Hom-Moms that I never realized before, while at the same time laughing my head off. I can't wait for it to come out—I want to buy copies for friends and family who might like it.

I also read Kristin Billerbeck's "What a Girl Wants." Ooooohhhh she's a riot! (Besides being a cool person, too!) I lent it to my friend Lorianne Lee, and she thought Kristin perfectly captured the foibles of life in Silicon Valley, surrounded by engineers. I also wrote a review for it, which is on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Christianbook.com.

I read "Oxygen" and "The Fifth Man" by John Olson and Randy Ingermanson—terrific! Great science fiction! A nice faith message in both books, but not "in your face." I had "Oxygen" signed at Mount Hermon so I could give it to my dad for his birthday, but shamefully I admit I read it before sending it to him.

I'm still impatient to write full-time, but I am also praying for PATIENCE to wait on God's timing. I have received so much encouragment from the Lord and from other Christians about my writing, and I really do think God intends for me to write full-time one day. Just not right now. I need His strength to persevere until He gives me the signal to GO.

Well, that's it for now!
Camy