Mount Hermon recap, part 4, Genesis finalists

Captain’s Log, Stardate 04.20.2006

Got a lot today, so here we go.

Continued from Mount Hermon recap, part 3:
I got a chance to get to know Sarah Anne Sumpolec better. She’s a funny, fresh firecracker of energy. Loved her. If you have teen girls, they’ll love her Beka novels.

I hooked up with my friend Donna Fleisher again. That woman is walking encouragement, let me tell ya. I’m giving away an autographed copy of her latest novel, VALIANT HOPE, on my website contest.

I met Judy Gann for the first time, and she is such a sweet, gentle, sweet woman. And did I mention how sweet she is? She gave me a copy of her devotion book, THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT, for those living with the challenges of chronic illness. Now don’t freak out, I don’t have a chronic illness, but I will always suffer from the surgeries on my knee, and she wanted to encourage me with her book. Isn’t she just da bomb?

I hung out and made mischief with my friend Charise Olson, who lives down the road from the Mount Hermon campgrounds. She got great feedback on her missionary women’s fiction novel from both Mick Silva (Waterbook) and agent Steve Laube. The funniest part of the conference was when she “discovered” her tagline: “Having a good day? I can fix that.”

I got to see Lynette Sowell again! She’s such a sweetheart. I didn’t get a chance to talk much with her, but I hope she had a great conference. This was her first time at Mount Hermon.

My friend Randy Ingermanson was mentoring at the Fiction Mentoring Clinic. We spent many late night hours with the rest of the Night Owls in the coffee lounge: Dineen Miller, Rich Bullock, Brandilyn Collins, Steve Laube, Meredith Efken, John Olson, Lynn Thompson, and a rotating cast of Others.

I got a chance to hug Gayle Roper—I love that woman.

I went out to dinner a couple times, once with Charise, Cyndy Salzmann, Pamela Dowd, Janet Lynn Mitchell, Patti Hill, Cathy Elliott, and Katherine Hyde. We went to Riva Fish Market and I had FRIED FOOD! Yum! I wept because I had to leave several large pieces of calamari, shrimp and a scallop on my plate.

Susan Meissner won Writer of the Year! In celebration, I will see if I can get an interview with her on my blog and give away a few of her books.

Tomorrow: How I made a brand-new acquaintance cringe.

It is my great pleasure to announce the 2006 Genesis contest Category Finalists!

Contemporary Romance:
Kaye Dacus
Annette M. Irby
Glynna Sirpless
Kristian Tolle
Betty Woods

Historical Romance (there was a 3-way tie):
Janet Dean
Andree Eisenberg
Charlene Glatkowski
Pat Gonzales
Audra Harders
Lisa Marie Nelson
Donna Robinson

Romantic Suspense:
Anita K. Greene
Kelly Irvin
Robin Miller
Kelly Ann Riley
Jill Eileen Smith

Mystery/Suspense/Thriller:
Alice Loweecy
D'Ann Mateer
Sandra Moore
Wayne Scott
Cheryl Wyatt

Science Fiction/Fantasy/Speculative Fiction (there was a 2-way tie):
Beth Goddard
Rebecca Grabill
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirta Ann Schultz
Sherry Thompson

Women's Fiction:
Janice LaQuiere
Erin Keeley Marshall
Marian Merritt
Ane Mulligan
Julie Saffrin

General Fiction (includes General Historical, Multicultural, Young
Adult, Contemporary Fiction, Chick-Lit):
Mary Ann L. Diorio
Mike Ehret
Heidi Gennaro
Lynne Gentry
Christina Miller

My heartfelt congratulations to all the Category Finalists!

"Sincerely" by TRUE (from Violet Evergarden)

I’ve been watching the anime Violet Evergarden on Netflix and it is possibly the most beautiful anime series I’ve ever seen. The animation by Kyoto Animation is top notch, the storyline (based on the light novel series ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン by Kana Akatsuki (暁佳奈)) is emotional and unique, and the original soundtrack by Evan Call is out of this world. The vocal songs in the series are also really beautiful, but the best one is the opening song, “Sincerely” by TRUE. She not only has a beautiful voice, but the melody and lyrics are absolutely gorgeous. I can’t rave about this song enough. 知らない言葉を　覚えていくたびおもかげのなか　手を伸ばすの Each time unknown words come to mind, I reach my hand toward the traces they leave. だけど一人では　分からない言葉もあるのかもしれない But there may be words That I can’t comprehend all alone. さよならは　苦くてアイシテルは　遠いにおいがした例えようのない　この想いはとても怖くて　だけど　とても愛おしくて “Goodbye” is so bitter, While “I love you” carries a far-off scent. This incomparable feeling Is so very frightening… bu...

Window shopping

Captain’s Log, Stardate 03.14.2005 Knee update: I went to the doctor today for a checkup, and saw his assistant. I’ve been concerned because there’s still inflammation in my knee joint, and it’s been almost 4 months since the surgery. She said she’d talk to the doctor about it tomorrow and call me. Sometimes he suggests laying off the PT to see if that causes the inflammation to go away, but I don’t know if that will work because lately I’ve been pretty active outside of PT. At PT today, the therapist did ultrasound and some sort of electrical current on the joint. Hopefully that will make the inflammation start to go down. I’ll know by tomorrow, probably. Writing: Mt. Hermon conference starts this Friday! On Thursday night, I’ll be at the Santana Row Borders bookstore to help out (and hopefully learn a bit, too) at a booksigning for several of the ACFW authors who are attending Mt. Hermon . That should be lots of fun. I had a good brainstorming time at ...

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...

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...

Captivating, chapter 3

Captain’s Log, Stardate 06.30.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is CONSIDER LILY by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt. My Thursday book giveaway is LOVE ONLINE by Kristin Billerbeck and Nancy Toback . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for CONSIDER LILY and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Haunted by a Question: Sorry, this is really long again. As before, some things I liked and some questions. Eve—What Happened? The authors say: “[Eve] brought strength to the world, but not a striving, sharp-edged strength. She was inviting, alluring, captivating.” I don’t know if I buy that. I don’t know if I really see how being inviting, alluring, or captivating is a strength. I understand how restfulness (restful inner beauty?) can be a strength, or solidity like a rock. To me, that’s strength. But being alluring? Captivating? Then they talk about “Why do so few wom...

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