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

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...

Pink Sunshine Shawl

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I’m a Book of the Year winner!

Captain's Log, Stardate 09.22.2008 I won first place in the Debut Author category of the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year awards! Here are all the winners! Debut Author Sushi for One? (Camy Tang) Zondervan, editor Sue Brower Bayou Justice (Robin Miller writing as Robin Caroll) In Between (Jenny B. Jones) Contemporary Novella Finally Home in Missouri Memories anthology (Deborah Raney) Barbour Publishing, editor Susan Downs Moonlight & Mistletoe in A Big Apple Christmas anthology (Carrie Turansky) Remaking of Moe McKenna in Race to the Altar anthology (Gloria Clover) Historical Novella Love Notes in Love Letters Anthology (Mary Davis) Barbour Publishing, editor Rebecca Germany Beyond the Memories in Missouri Memories anthology (DiAnn Mills) The Spinster & The Tycoon in The Spinster Brides of Cactus Corner anthology (Vickie McDonough) Lits Splitting Harriet (Tamara Leigh) Multnomah Books, editor Julee Schwarzb...

Poll for the title of my book!

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is The Wedding Caper by Janice Thompson . My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie , both by Laura Jensen Walker . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on the blog posts above . On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for The Wedding Caper and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Pick my title! The Zondervan Marketing Department is torn about which title would be best for my debut novel. So you guys get to weigh in! Here are your choices: Solo Sushi Sushi for One Single Sushi Solo Sashimi Leave a comment about which you prefer and WHY. I’ll run this poll for a couple weeks to figure out which will be the title for my new book! TMI: Writing: I posted another "Health and the Writer" post at WriterQuotes , and an agent post at my Story Sensei blog . And in case you missed it, my review of The Guy I’m Not Dating by Trish Perry is ...

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...

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