Odds and ends

Captain's Log, Stardate 12.13.2005

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, the PT kicked my butt.

Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses.

Got a few stem cell articles:

This article discloses an amazing study where scientists were able to coax adult stem cells to change into brain, nerve, heart muscle and pancreatic cells. It was previously thought that only embryonic stem cells could be changed into these types of cell, but if adult stem cells can be used for therapy, there's no need to destroy embryos. This would also eliminate any risk of rejection of the therapy cells.

This article details how researchers are working to both immortalize sperm stem cells and also possibly "push" them back into pluripotent stem cells, which is what embryonic stem cells are. This is great to show that therapies may not need embryonic stem cells.

This is a totally awesome article about a drug that triples the number of umbilical cord stem cells for use in therapy. This could also lead to research on increasing the number of adult stem cells from other parts of the body--like brain, liver, kidney--for use in treating Alzheimer's or stroke victims.

TED DEKKER!!!
Gina Holmes has a cool 3-day interview with Ted Dekker starting today through the 15th! Check out her blog First Novel Journey.

FIRST DRAFT
FirstDraft group is a notification-only email loop that sends daily links to writing website articles. This is a terrific resource for writers to keep honing their craft. I love this group. I've learned so much from the articles.

They have just moved from YahooGroups to GoogleGroups. Membership is free, and you can option to receive individual emails, digest format, or no email and read the posts online.

Writing: I finished revising my suspense manuscript! I feel bad since it took me a lot longer than I thought. I need to get my butt in gear. It's with a few tough critique partners, so hopefully it'll be in great shape for when my agent pitches it at CBA Advance in January.

Next up: Research for my Chicklit/Suspense. I think it'll be really cool. I'm researching things I feel passionate about. That's the important part. That's what'll come through in the writing.

Comments

upwords said…

Camy,

Sorry about the PT. Ted Dekker, huh? I'll be over soon! LOL And First Draft is really informative. Or at least it used to be. I'll have to check in. The stem cell stuff is so interesting. Thanks for posting it. :)

Blessings,
Mary G.

Tue Dec 13, 07:36:00 PM 2005

Unknown said…

TOUGH critique partner? Hmm...dare I take offense to that? LOL

Wed Dec 14, 06:51:00 AM 2005

Dineen A. Miller said…

Way to go, Camy! Glad you finished. Can't wait to read more!

Wed Dec 14, 11:11:00 AM 2005

I’m done

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.17.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is THE PREACHER’S DAUGHER by Lyn Cote My Monday book giveaway is BLIND DATES CAN BE MURDER by Mindy Starns Clark . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for THE PREACHER’S DAUGHTER and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. I’m done. At the beginning of the year, I made a goal of three books this year. That’s four months per book. I started this manuscript January 15th. I finished in the wee hours of May 17th, so it took me about four months, a day and a few hours. Yay me. I’m going to bed now. Yes, this is the espresso maker on the right, and a professional coffee grinder on the left. By the espresso maker, I mean the one I promised to my long-suffering husband if I got a book contract, as a reward for letting me quit my biotech job and write full-time.

Romantic guys

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.13.2006 Heroes: I’m a TV junkie, I admit it. I’m hooked on the new series called Heroes. (It’s like X-Men, but before they realized their powers and came together to become the X-Men. And without the funky costumes.) Okay, regardless of the X-Men type storyline, one of the heroines—a high school girl—is talking to a boy she likes, the quarterback of the football team. He’s sweet-talking her and being very flattering. She says he doesn’t really know her very well. He goes into this romantic spiel about how he notices she draws unicorns in the margins of her notes in class, etc. Now here I pause the TiVo and turn to Captain Caffeine. Skeptical Asian wife: “That’s so un-guy-like! How realistic is it for a typical guy to say something eloquent and romantic like that?” Captain Caffeine: “It sounds romantic because he’s the quarterback of the football team.” Confused Asian wife: “What do you mean?” Captain Caffeine: “If he were a computer geek, he would sound like...

ICRS Tuesday

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.11.2007 I started the day with a great meeting with Al Hsu , an editor at InterVarsity Press. We discussed Asian Americans—fiction, non-fiction, the church, family. He’s been in publishing for many years and is very wise. We had a great discussion. I also met his wife Ellen, who’s totally nice and is also into card-making! I wandered the floor and happened to meet Robin Jones Gunn. She asked if I’d eaten yet, and since I hadn’t, said to join her for lunch. On the way to lunch, we met Mark Mynheir, and he gave me a copy of his book, got The Void . Isn’t that cool? Robin has so much wisdom. I loved having lunch with her. She gave me such good advice, both professionally and spiritually. I hope I’ll get a chance to have lunch or dinner with her at the ACFW conference in September. I met up with agent Steve Laube, and walked with him to his next meeting, but on the way we were hailed by Cec Murphy and agent Jeff Dunn. Jeff had been the first editor to request...

I GOT A CONTRACT!

Captain’s Log, Stardate 03.29.2006 I had a wonderfully funny blog post planned for today, but I got sidetracked by some news yesterday! Zondervan has offered me a three-book contract on my Asian chick-lit series ! I’m still stunned by everything that’s happened. The series is actually a 4-book projected Asian chick-lit series about four cousins who fall under the infamous family title "Oldest Single Female Cousin," and their ruthless, wealthy grandma applies pressure on each of them to improve their lack of love interests. I think the first book is tentatively scheduled to be released in August 2007. The blurb on the series is on my website here . Brandilyn Collins posted to the ACFW loop about my writing journey, and Tamara Cooper asked that I share it. And since you all know how much I like to talk , here it is. My writing journey: Like most writers, I have wanted to write since I was very young. (In high school, I wrote a fantasy novel that will never see the light of day ...

Ironman

Captain's Log, Stardate 11.12.2008 I realize I’m late in posting this, but I just saw Ironman a couple weeks ago and it was FABULOUS! It was the most entertaining movie I’ve seen in a long time. I even liked it better than Mr. and Mrs. Smith (although that flick is a close second). I think because the acting was great. Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow were fantastic. I especially liked how the Pepper character is an older woman with more maturity than, say, MaryJane in Spiderman . Pepper was strong, intelligent, and relatively cool under fire. And did you guys catch the Easter Egg at the end of the credits??? Awesome!!!

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