Nothing much

Captain's Log, Stardate 06.30.2005

Really, nothing much has been going on with me. Which is a good and a bad thing.

Good because there's no additional stresses in my life.

Bad because there's not much going on in my writing. Sigh. The novella is taking its time in "ripening." I wish it would hurry up.

I shouldn't speak about it in the third person. It's all me. The motivation isn't there. Maybe because work has been same-o-same-o--minor stresses and general tiredness. Or that could just be my excuse.

I am writing some, just not as much as I'd like, not as fast as I'd like. I need to get my butt in gear.

On another note, I've been listening to workshop CDs from the Mt. Hermon writer's conference while I drive to and from work. It's been fabulous. I've learned so much, refreshed my writing knowledge, gotten new ideas. I think I'm going to try to buy more workshop CDs. Some conferences charge a lump sum for all the CDs. Money worth spent, I'm thinking. I wish I'd gotten more CDs from Mt. Hermon.

Speaking of conferences, I'm going to the RWA national conference in Reno at the end of July. It came up rather randomly. Some friends on the Steeple Hill discussion boards were talking about it, and it made me want to go. My friend Marilyn, who lives in San Jose, had mentioned going a few weeks ago since it's so close to where we live--a drive versus a plane ticket. Marilyn found rooms available online and booked us a room, and we'll drive up. Her friend Anne is joining us. I believe Anne writes secular Asian Chicklit. It'll be fun to meet her and talk about that kind of stuff. :)

I had been apprehensive about asking for the time off from work, but my supervisor was really nice about it, even though my two other coworkers have milestones due at the end of July.

Diet: WARNING: might be TMI but I like to get my progress down in black and white:

I've been motivated by the articles I read on eDiets and eFitness. I read about the blood-type diet, which recommends that my blood type eat more vegetables. So I've been doing that lately and actually, I've felt better. I eat a lot of meat mostly because my husband likes meat, but the other day I had vegetable red curry at a Thai restaurant. Not only was it delicious, but I didn't feel as heavy as I usually do after eating Thai curry.

I also made a Hawaiian-style vegetable fried rice that I'm rather proud of. A substantial portion is only about 500 calories. Yay me!

It's nice to live here in California because there's so many fresh fruits available now. The other day I had this mango-plum. It was really good, it tasted like a perfect blend of mango and plum, with a consistency in between, also.

I'm also eating yogurt--fat-free Dannon mixed with some frozen berries and a Splenda packet. I made 100 calorie portions and it's perfect.

I've been exercising at least three times a week. So far this week, I've exercised four times, although today my legs are killing me from the squats and lunges I did yesterday. :) I started interspersing the running with Taebo to prevent the shin splints from getting worse.

Okay, enough procrastination. Back to writing.

Comments

Interview with Tamara Leigh

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.13.2006 Multi-published Tamara Leigh has shifted from Medieval romances to chick-lit! Her newest book is STEALING ADDA published by NavPress. It had been a long time since New York Times best-selling author -- and historical romance writer extraordinaire -- Adda Sinclaire had experienced more than a fictional dose of romance, but when publisher Nick Farnsworth walks into her life, everything changes. Life for Adda ironically reads more like a country song than a bodice-bursting, breathless affair. For starters, she has no actual romance in her life. That might have something to do with the fact that her husband -- correction-EX husband -- ran off with Stick Woman, whom everyone knew would never be more than a mid-list author anyway. To add insult to injury (and another verse to the country song), he not only took their dog but gave it to her. If this isn't enough, Adda's come down with a horrible case of writer's block and finds h

In-N-Out from A DANGEROUS STAGE

Source: tumblr.com via Camy on Pinterest In-N-Out, one of my fav burger joints, makes an appearance in the first chapter of A Dangerous Stage . It's a chain on the West Coast and Hawaii, I'm not sure how far east they have restaurants. They don't freeze any of their food, it's all fresh, including the buns and the french fries. When you order, you can see them use this french fry hand-crank machine to make their fries, it's pretty cool. The specific restaurant in A Dangerous Stage doesn't exist at that location, but there's a couple of them near me and I go there way too often than is good for me, but it's oh-so-yummy!

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

Sweet & Clean Christmas Romance sale

I’m participating in the Sweet & Clean Christmas Romance sale. Check out all the sweet/clean romance books available and stuff your eBook reader! Sweet & Clean Christmas Romance

99c Squeaky Clean Christmas Romance sale

I’m participating in the 99c Squeaky Clean Christmas Romance sale. Check out all the sweet/clean romance books available and stuff your eBook reader! 99c Squeaky Clean Christmas Romance

Year of the Dog serial novel

About Year of the Dog : A month or two ago, I remembered an old manuscript I had completed but which hadn’t sold. It was a contemporary romance meant for Zondervan, titled Year of the Dog . The book had gone into the pipeline and I even got another title ( Bad Dog ) and a cover for it, but eventually my editor at the time decided she didn’t want to publish it, for various reasons. She instead requested a romantic suspense, and so I cannibalized some of the characters from Year of the Dog and thrust them into the next book I wrote, which was Protection for Hire . Honestly, I didn’t take a lot from Year of the Dog to put in Protection for Hire , aside from character names and a few relationship ties. I was originally thinking I’d post Year of the Dog as-is on my blog as a free read, but then it occurred to me that I could revamp it into a romantic suspense and change the setting to Hawaii. It would work out perfectly as (yet another) prequel to the Warubozu series and introduc

Clean Romance Deals

I’m participating in the Clean Romance Deals sale. Check out all the sweet/clean romance books available and stuff your eBook reader! Clean Romance Deals

Daniel 9:9

Dear Lord, Thank you for being so merciful and forgiving to us no matter what we’ve done or where we’ve been. Thank you for loving us so much, even when we find it hard to love ourselves. Even if we have rejected you, you still reach out to us and want us to come to you for love and comfort and forgiveness. Thank you for your magnificent grace. Amen 主よ、私たちが何をしようと、どこにいようと、私たちを憐れみ、赦してくださりありがとうございます。私たちが自分自身を愛することが難しいときでさえ、私たちをこんなにも愛してくださってありがとうございます。たとえ私たちがあなたを拒んだとしても、あなたは私たちに手を差し伸べ、愛と慰めと赦しを求めてあなたのもとに来ることを望んでくださいます。あなたの素晴らしい恵みに感謝します。アーメン

Michael’s Scarf knitting pattern

Michael’s Gray and Brown Scarf I had just written a scene in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 5: Prisoner where my character Michael gives the heroine a very significant scarf. When looking for a stitch pattern, I found the one used in “#31 Comfort either for a Lady or Gentleman” in The Lady's Assistant , volume 2 , published in 1842 by Mrs. Jane Gaugain, pages 125-126 (click on the link to view and/or download the free PDF of the digitally scanned book). When I did test swatches, it turned out to be a pretty eyelet pattern that looks like branches or vines winding upward. I tried the pattern as a parallelogram scarf and discovered that the pattern has a changeable orientation, looking vertical or diagonal depending on how you looked at it. So I decided to use this pattern, knitted as a parallelogram, as Michael’s scarf. I decided to use a smaller needle and add a slip stitch in the pattern to make the eyelets a bit more close and less lacy. When paired with a brown an

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci

Search This Blog