Skip to main content

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter

I worked on my first Kickstarter and it got approved! It’s for the Special Edition Hardcover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 1: Archer and the release of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 7: Spinster. I contacted my graphic designer about the Special Edition Hardcover of vol. 1: Archer—it’s going to be SO beautiful! The Kickstarter focuses on the Special Edition Hardcover, but it’ll also include vol. 7: Spinster so that it’ll sort of be like a launch day for vol. 7, too. A third special thing that’ll be in the Kickstarter is Special Edition Paperbacks of all the books in the series. They won’t be available in stores, just in the Kickstarter (and later, from my website, and also in my Patreon book box tiers if I decide to do them). The Kickstarter is not live yet, but you can follow it to be alerted when it has launched. (You may need to create a free Kickstarter account.) Follow Camy’s Kickstarter

Another 15 things about books

Captain’s Log, Stardate 03.24.2006

Blog Book giveaway:
My Monday book giveaway (QUEEN ESTHER AND THE SECOND GRADERS OF DOOM) is here.
My Thursday book giveaway (REASONABLE DOUBT) is here.
You can still enter both of them. Just post a comment on those blog posts.
On Monday, I'll draw the winner for QUEEN ESTHER and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned.

Where it started: So I was IMing with Heather and she told me about Technorati, and I went searching for which blogs linked to mine. You know my favorite meme “15 things about books”? I found out that it started here. Isn’t that way cool?

So guess what I’m going to blog about today?

Another 15 things about books:

31) The last book I finished was Virginia Smith’s JUST AS I AM, and it TOTALLY ROCKED!!! GET THIS BOOK! I loved the heroine Mayla as she feels out her new faith and how it changes her life—which involves purple hair, facial piercings, gay friends and an atheistic roommate. I laughed and I cried and had a great time reading this book.

32) I will be giving away an autographed copy of JUST AS I AM on Monday March 27th! I’ll also be posting a wild interview with Ginny Smith (who probably didn’t realize what she was getting into when I asked to interview her—oy!)

33) I also just finished A FAMILY FOREVER by Brenda Coulter. Another great book! The heroine Shelby is prickly and hormonal and illogical. Basically, she’s just like me. LOL.

34) In my TBR pile right now is WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE by Margaret Daley, ALONG CAME LOVE by Carrie Turansky, PINK by Marilynn Griffith (I’m actually about 1/3 through it), SHOWDOWN by Ted Dekker...among others. Dang, there’s a lot.

35) I will be giving away an autographed copy of ALONG CAME LOVE on Monday April 3rd! My victim—er, interviewed author Carrie Turansky is such a sweet, generous woman.

36) I just do not have enough money to buy all the books I want to buy. I need to read both Christian and secular chick-lits to keep up with the market, I want to buy and read my friends’ books, I want to read the bestsellers, the Christy winners, etc. I need to win the Lottery.

37) I just do not have enough time to read all the books I need to read. See above.

38) I love reading with a candle burning, which is stupid since my eyes are glued to the book and don’t even see the darn candle. I like using my candle aromatherapy holder, which has a shallow bowl holding my lavender/eucalyptus aromatherapy infusion, so I guess the aromatherapy is effective even if I don’t see the candle.

39) I cannot read just before bed. I’m too tired to fully get into the book, even if it’s a riveting page-turner, so essentially it’s a waste of my time, I should be sleeping instead, right?

40) When I specifically carve out reading time during the day, I read a lot faster than I originally thought I did. It’s just hard to not feel guilty and to truly believe that my reading time is no longer just “recreation” but now it’s part of “work.”

41) Lately I’ve been able to read with music playing, which I never used to be able to do. Isn’t my brain supposed to be able to process less things simultaneously as I age, and not more?

42) I just read a book that had all the classic things beginning writers are told not to do—slow opening, passive voice, gobs of backstory. I was ready to tear my hair out. The book interested me because the story premise was cute, but the writing drove me bonkers because as a writer, I’m tuned into all those supposed “marks of amateur writing.”

43) I’ve read two books in the past week that I couldn’t finish past chapter five. I’m surprised I lasted that long, usually I can tell I don’t want to finish a book by the end of chapter two. I just don’t have time to read books that either don’t interest me or are difficult for me to read.

44) I finished BLUE LIKE JAZZ by Donald Miller a week or two ago. It was quite good, insightful into the values of my generation. What I really liked about it was how it challenged Christians to act out their faith more, to overcome our ingrained judgmental reactions.

45) I was lucky enough to score an advance copy of Rachel Hauck’s LAMBERT’S CODE, which doesn’t come out until June (yay, me!). I’ll review it closer to its release date. It was very good. I didn’t quite relate to all the issues discussed because I don’t have children, but it was extremely well-written. I would hold it up as a fine example of excellent writing craft to any beginner or intermediate writer.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Camy, I think we may have been twins separated at birth. Maybe one of those "Parent Trap" kind of arrangements. Don't know. We are soooooooo alike when it comes to reading. Down to the candle. And the huge TBR pile waiting for our attention. Though I do read before I go to bed. Helps that I'm single, so I don't have anything else clamoring for my attention. I've found that I've gotten behind on my chick lit reading though. Been reading more "traditional" romance since my current WIP follows that more than my usual sassy chick-lit voice. But as of April 30 (I'm hoping), I can get back to my usual sassy self. ;)
Unknown said…
You need more money to buy books and I need for the books to slow down. I have a hard time keeping up. I would like more time to read the books that received awards and more ABA books. But I'm certainly not complaining. I'm reading Creston Mape's Full Tilt, just started but so far so good and Peretti/Dekker's HOUSE is on the way. I can't wait.
Stuart said…
Ooh look forward to the Ginny interview. She is a hoot. :)
Anonymous said…
Sounds really good. I know what you mean about reading books. I just found that out with 2 I read recently. One more or less read itself--I breezed through it. The other was slow going with sentences that were too complicated and sometimes even unnecessary. When I was copy-editing one writer's work, I got sick and tired of the passive voice. It leaves a lot of dangling modifiers and those are bad because you're trying to identify what the author is actually talking about.

On the whole I usually finish books that I start. But at least the subject matter has to interest me. And that's why I'm usually reading it. There are a few writers, however, that I just can't read. I don't know what it is about the book or the writing style or whatever but somehow they make me feel "creepy"? or something. It's really weird. Three of these writers have gotten very good reviews but for me, I just don't know why I can't get through the books.

Don't ask how many books are in my TBR piles. I won't even venture a guess. I just know that I'll never be able to read them all. For one thing, I guess my tastes have changed with the years, at least in some areas.

As far as music goes, I'm just the opposite. I loved reading with a symphony or other orchestral work playing (no songs, for the most part). For the last 10 years or so, I've suffered from sensory overload. That's why I sometimes desperately need total quiet. Even watching a long movie can make me really antsy at times.

And right now, I definitely do not have enough money to buy the books I want to buy. I really wonder sometimes why I'm still doing it at all.

Oops, got to stop. My whole right arm, from fingertips to back muscles, is one big pain--the worst I've had in quite a while. Maybe I've been writing too much.

Popular Posts

Camy's Big News about a new (old) series!

I joined two Christian suspense multi-author anthologies that will release next year in May and October! The May anthology is Danger in the Shadows , and the October anthology is Don’t Blink . I have taken down Year of the Dog from my blog and will instead finish editing/rewriting it for the May anthology, Danger in the Shadows . I decided to do this because I was only working on Year of the Dog sporadically, and I wanted to set a deadline for myself to finish it sooner. To complicate matters, I’ve been unhappy with my decision to leave Sushi and Suspicions as a stand-alone rather than putting it in a series. And I’ve also been unhappy with putting The Lone Rice Ball as a 5th book in the Sushi series when it’s more romantic suspense than the other books in the series. Now that I’ll be writing Year of the Dog for the anthology, and because I haven’t yet released Sushi and Suspicions and The Lone Rice Ball as individual ebooks, I decided to switch things around. I’m rem

French trellis scarf

Captain's Log, Stardate 12.19.2008 Just to warn you, I might have several knitting blog posts this month since I’m finishing gifts. I just completed a beautiful scarf from Victorian Lace Today in a taupe heather color wool laceweight yarn. I’m very proud of this scarf because it’s the first time I knitted with beads. I used these “crystal honey” color beads that I added to the florettes on the two end borders and in lines along the sides of the scarf. (If you’re on Ravelry, more info on the yarn, needles, etc. is here .) This is what it looked like while I was still knitting it. And this is the finished product. These are low resolution pictures. If you want to see higher resolution pics, you can visit this album in my Photobucket.com account .

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

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

One-Skein Pyrenees Scarf knitting pattern

I got into using antique patterns when I was making the scarf my hero wears in my Regency romance, The Spinster’s Christmas . I wanted to do another pattern which I think was in use in the Regency period, the Pyrenees Knit Scarf on pages 36-38 of The Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting, and Crochet Work, volume 1, by Jane Gaugain, published in 1840. She is thought to be the first person to use knitting abbreviations, at least in a published book, although they are not the same abbreviations used today (our modern abbreviations were standardized by Weldon’s Practical Needlework in 1906). Since the book is out of copyright, you can download a free PDF copy of the book at Archive.org. I found this to be a fascinating look at knitting around the time of Jane Austen’s later years. Although the book was published in 1840, many of the patterns were in use and passed down by word of mouth many years before that, so it’s possible these are

Toilet seat cover

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Update August 2008: I wrote up the pattern for this with "improvements"! Here's the link to my No Cold Bums toilet seat cover ! Okay, remember a few days ago I was complaining about the cold toilet seat in my bathroom? Well, I decided to knit a seat cover. Not a lid cover, but a seat cover. I went online and couldn’t find anything for the seat, just one pattern for the lid by Feminitz.com . However, I took her pattern for the inside edge of the lid cover and modified it to make a seat cover. Here it is! It’s really ugly stitch-wise because originally I made it too small and had to extend it a couple inches on each side. I figured I’d be the one staring at it, so who cared if the extension wasn’t perfectly invisible? I used acrylic yarn since, well, that’s what I had, and also because it’s easy to wash. I’ll probably have to wash this cover every week or so, but it’s easy to take off—I made ties which you can see near the back of the seat. And

Snickers pictures

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.16.2009 Hey, I figure if other people can post pictures of babies and grandkids, I can post pictures of my dog, right? This is Snickers with her favorite toy, her yellow ducky. Actually, its color is more of a "bright" slobber ecru. Try to smile, don't look so sad, this really isn't that demeaning... Let's try to distract her with food so she'll look perky. Oh wait, put the food near the camera, not in your hand... Except now she looks sad and pathetic as she stares at the hot dog, waiting for it and wondering why we're torturing her. "Are you stupid humans done YET???" "While you try to figure out your camera, I'm going to sleep, which I could do better if you'd stop sticking this stupid duck under my head."

I'm a favorite blog!

Captain's Log, Stardate 06.28.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is THREE WEDDINGS AND A GIGGLE by Liz Curtis Higgs, Carolyn Zane, and Karen Ball. My Monday book giveaway is CONSIDER LILY by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt. You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for THREE WEDDINGS AND A GIGGLE and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. I'm a favorite blog! Tricia Goyer conducted a small blog survey, and she compiled a list of favorite blogs from the survey participants. Tricia also blogs at Gen X Parents and WriterQuotes (where I'm a contributor--every Monday is my Health and the Writer column). Novel Journey - Gina Holmes, Ane Mulligan, Jessica Dotta - author interviews blog Author Intrusion - Lisa Samson Faith in Fiction - Bethany House Fiction Acquisitions Editor Dave Long The Uprising - Lisa Koons Rhythms of Grace - Marilynn Griffith Ch

Release day! Christian Historical Romance Anthology!

Today is release day for my Christian Historical Romance anthology, Once Upon a Courtship ! Get it today for only 99 cents! Price goes up next week! https://bit.ly/lissa-spy

Romance, Adventure, Beauty

Captain’s Log, Stardate 06.17.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is RV THERE YET? by Diann Hunt . My Thursday book giveaway is A SOUNDING BRASS by Shelley Bates . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for RV THERE YET? and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Blog Bible Study on CAPTIVATING : The guided journal is good, although it does bring up more questions for me than answers. The authors talk about Shame that inflicts women because we don’t measure up to what people or the church tells us we should be—godly women, patient, sweet, yada yada yada. The problem is, I don’t feel shame. I feel more rebellion. I don’t desire to be like that. I’m happy the way I am. I’m very happy not being a sweet person, serving in the church kitchen. I’m very happy being blunt and straightforward, telling people “no” if I don’t have time to help. I’m very happy being a little i