Money concerns

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.11.2005

Counting the hours until I'm done with work. Tomorrow is my last day. Yay!

On the flip side, I balanced the checkbook today and paid our credit card bill. We pay in full every month, so we're not in debt, but the size of the bill made me stop breathing for a second. Or two. I haven't even paid Marilyn for our RWA hotel bill yet.

Several amounts were for clothes for RWA--did I really spend that much to look pretty? No new outfits for ACFW conference, that's for sure. And I just paid for my plane ticket to Nashville.

Can we really do this? Can we afford to cut our income in half? I need to stop buying books, even if they are for research and market trends. I need to really see if I can rake in some extra cash doing developmental editing, like Marilyn suggested.

(Did I blog about that yet? Marilyn mentioned that I have a good feel for story structure, and I should go freelance as a developmental fiction editor. I have no idea if this would work since I have no copyediting training, journalism experience, or even an English major. But I do have a couple endorsements from friends who are published, I guess. I have to check out Christian PEN today.)

Lord God, there is no way I can do this except by your grace. Help me to trust you and be faithful in my writing.

The San Jose group of ACFWers met at my house last night, it was so much fun. I love meeting and chatting with these women of God. Shelley brought her RITA award so we could all rub her head. :) MaryLu shared the exciting news that she has a "handshake" deal with an agent, one of the agents who will be at the ACFW conference in Nashville, and her manuscript finaled in a contest, too. Marilyn's Momlit manuscript is in committee at several houses--let's hope for a bidding war.

Writing: I am feeling so dry creatively, when the opposite should be true--I should be writing up a storm because I'll be done with work soon. Why can't I go anywhere on this manuscript? I really want to finish it and start the next one, which I'm already thinking and planning. Is this spiritual warfare or just plain laziness? Lord God, please help me. I am at the end of myself, I'm too weak to do this on my own strength and discipline.

The San Jose ACFW group encouraged me to keep praying, keep striving, and not beat myself up over this. Marilyn suggested a writing "vacation" away from my WIP. I do still want to fast a day this month, and I was planning on Sunday but I have a bridal shower for one of my youth group staff workers. I'll have to think about it.

Diet: Wonder of wonders, I hopped on the scale this morning and I'm the same weight as before I went on vacation, despite the lack of exercise and gorge-fests. That doesn't mean I'll stay that way, however, so I pushed myself to do Taebo this morning. It felt good and made the ache in my back go away.

Comments

Anonymous said…

You'll do fine Camy... it won't be long til you have a post on here titled "I SOLD!!!"

Sat Aug 13, 11:15:00 PM 2005

Anonymous said…

Camy, praying for you. It'll work out.

Mon Aug 15, 03:31:00 PM 2005

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th...

A Wallflower’s Slip of the Tongue – Free Regency eBook

If you enjoy Regency romance with wit, awkward ballroom encounters, and a heroine who can’t quite keep her thoughts to herself, you’ll love Lissa and the Spy . This free Christian Regency romantic suspense novella is the perfect entry point into my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series. Get it free when you join my newsletter (details below). Miss Lissa Gardinier survived her last London Season by pretending to be as inoffensive as possible. But at this ball, she lets her true thoughts slip yet again . And this time, they involve an unfortunately named spaniel. Excerpt Last year during that first dance with Mr. Collingworth, upon seeing him excitedly discuss his dog breeding, she had been encouraged to also speak without restraint. So she had voiced her exact thoughts rather than hiding behind a vapid facade. “Why in the world would you name a dog Lickspittle Furrybottom?” At Mr. Collingworth’s startled look, Lissa realized that she’d said that out loud now , in this dance with him. “… Not...

Free Christian Romantic Suspense Novels by Camy Tang / Camille Elliot

Curious about what my writing is like? Here’s a list of all my free books and the free short stories, novellas, and novels that you can read here on my blog. I’ll update this post as I add more free reads. Christian Romantic Suspense: Necessary Proof (Sonoma series #4.1, novella) Click here to buy the FREE ebook on all retailers Alex Villa became a Christian in prison, and because of his efforts to help stop a gang producing meth in Sonoma, he has been set up for the death of a cop. Can computer expert Jane Lawton find the evidence that will prove his innocence before the gang eliminates them both? Fantasy short stories: Pixies in a Garden in Kyoto There were pixies in the garden. Since she was in Kyoto, she was certain they were not called pixies, but she didn't know what they would be called in Japanese, and they certainly looked like what she imagined pixies would look like. The King’s Daughter The trees in the King's garden were full of colored pixie lights. The...

What Is a Brutus Cut? A Regency Hair Trend Inspired by Ancient Rome

Regency Haircuts and Disguises in Lady Wynwood’s Spies In this excerpt from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 8: Traitor , Phoebe prepares for a dangerous mission—one that requires her to disguise herself as a young man. The hairstyle she receives, called a Brutus cut, was actually quite fashionable during the Regency. Read on to find out more about this curious trend and why it suited her new identity so well. Excerpt from Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 8: Traitor : By far, the absolute worst part of Uncle Sol’s plan was that Phoebe had to cut her hair. Of the four agents, Phoebe and Mr. Coulton-Jones would be the least likely to be recognized when they entered the Ramparts building—Mr. Coulton-Jones, because of his skill in altering his facial features and his posture, and Phoebe, because she could play a convincing young man, which no one would expect. A disreputable hat would hide her long hair to an extent, but it would not fool anyone who looked closely. Also, because she would lo...

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...

Search This Blog