Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.29.2006 Susan May Warren is one of the nicest writers I know, and today I get to interview her! Her latest book is from Steeple Hill Café, and it’s about a single chick who goes to Russia for a missions trip. EVERYTHING’S COMING UP JOSEY "I need you," the tall, good-looking missionary had said . . . but he'd been speaking to Josey's entire church at the time. Had she taken it too literally? Because she was no longer in Gull Lake, Minnesota. She was a missionary. In Russia. For a year. True, Josey had wanted to skip town when her sister married her ex, and her secret crush/best friend got engaged. But Russia? Yet after a few weeks the idea grew on her. She could speak enough words to buy fruit at the Moscow market, and the missionary role was feeling . . . right (although her bagel-thieving roommate tested her daily). Even the frosty Russian weather was no big deal for this Minnesota girl -- it was getting her love life to thaw tha...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.28.2006 Leave any prayer requests in the comments and I’ll be praying this week. You don’t have to be Christian to leave a prayer request. If you’d rather not advertise to everyone on the blogosphere, just leave an unspoken prayer request or email me. If I forgot your prayer request, email me. Not to be mean or anything, but if you don't email me or comment to update your prayer request, I'm only going to pray 3 Sundays. Father, thank you for today, another day with you. Please be with those who are grieving, and help them heal. Please help Heather to make her June 1st deadline. Heal Pammer’s body from all its illnesses. Give her strength, energy, and good health to get done everything she needs to. I pray for complete success for Squirl’s surgery, and a smooth, fast recovery. Please be with her as she finishes her manuscript. Help Dineen keep plugging away at her manuscript, and not be distracted. I pray for justice for Robin and her family. Encourag...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.27.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND by Kristin Billerbeck . My Thursday book giveaway is LIFE INTERRUPTED by Tricia Goyer . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Bikini shot: Snickers is very cute, but sometimes she’s dumber than dirt. Here she is lying out in the hot sun. Now if I had a permanent fur coat, I’d avoid sunbathing. Does she? Nope. And the thing on her nose is grass, because she had just rubbed her face in it, I guess because her nose was itchy. Okay, ’fess up. Any dumb animal stories?

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.24.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is ONCE UPON A CHOCOLATE KISS by Cheryl Wolverton . My Monday book giveaway is A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND by Kristin Billerbeck . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for ONCE UPON A CHOCOLATE KISS and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. What Zondervan needs from me: Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water... So here I was, thinking I’d never need to do a stupid one page synopsis ever again now that I’m contracted, right? Guess what they need by September 15th for the next book in the series: ** My current bio (no problem, I love talking about myself) ** A one or two-sentence summary (You mean like a pitch??? One of those 30-second things that I never thought I’d need to do again?) ** A completed Marketing Information Form (Okay, I just got this, and it’s a TON of stuff. A lot of...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.23.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is ONCE UPON A CHOCOLATE KISS by Cheryl Wolverton . My Monday book giveaway is A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND by Kristin Billerbeck . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for ONCE UPON A CHOCOLATE KISS and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Unequally yoked: I have a lot of Christian friends married to non-believers, or who used to be non-believers. I can’t even fathom the kinds of issues they have to deal with on a daily basis. This new blog Spiritually Unequal Marriage is for encouragement and practical advice. It’s a totally awesome ministry. Even if you’re not in a spiritually unequal marriage, please go show your support and say a prayer. TMI: Writing: Several friends insisted I need to reward myself for finishing my manuscript, so I went to Safeway and bought four pounds of bing cherries. These...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.22.2006 Kristin Billerbeck is one of the funniest writers I know. Her books are always entertaining. If you haven’t read any of her chick-lits, buy them or ask for them at your library. And she’s guest blogging with me today! Today she’s guest blogging about her latest book, A GIRL’S BEST FRIEND . THREE FRIENDS. ONE SPA. AND AN INFINITE AMOUNT OF OVERSHARING! From the outside, Morgan Malliard has it all: diamonds at her disposal, a willowy figure, a doting daddy and all the elegance that money can buy. But money can’t buy happiness—or an identity to call her own—and Morgan is realizing her perfect life has no purpose other than spectacular grooming (which isn’t really a purpose at all . . . unless you’re a chimpanzee). Then a falling-out with her father drop-kicks Morgan into the real world, and she is suddenly forced to get an actual job, wear affordable shoes and cope with public transportation—not to mention deal with that mysterious hottie who ma...

Captain's Log, Stardate 05.21.2006 Leave any prayer requests in the comments and I’ll be praying this week. You don’t have to be Christian to leave a prayer request. If you’d rather not advertise to everyone on the blogosphere, just leave an unspoken prayer request or email me. If I forgot your prayer request, email me. Not to be mean or anything, but if you don't email me or comment to update your prayer request, I'm only going to pray 3 Sundays. Thank you, Lord, for being with us this week. Please comfort and encourage all those who are grieving, Lord. Help Heather with her work, her writing, and her prayer life. Help her to make her June 1st deadline. Heal Pammer’s various sickies and hurts. Help her with her writing, help her to do what you desire from her life. I pray for complete success of Squirl’s surgery, and easy, smooth, quick healing. Please also be with her now as she writes her new ms. Help Dineen with her writing, to know her story and characters. Help her no...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.20.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is BLIND DATES CAN BE MURDER by Mindy Starns Clark . My Thursday book giveaway is ONCE UPON A CHOCOLATE KISS by Cheryl Wolverton . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for BLIND DATES CAN BE MURDER and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Pretty flowers: I like doing picture blogs for Saturdays. Here’s another one. These are the gladiolas (I think they’re gladiolas, anyway) in my backyard. Or is it gladioli? Anyway, I didn’t plant them—they’re from a previous owner, and they were almost dead when we got the house, but they survived and now I have lots of stalks and still very few flowers. But the one I have is pretty.

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.19.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is BLIND DATES CAN BE MURDER by Mindy Starns Clark . My Thursday book giveaway is ONCE UPON A CHOCOLATE KISS by Cheryl Wolverton . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for BLIND DATES CAN BE MURDER and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. MaggieB: I discovered Margaret Becker by accident when I was in high school. Those were the days before Barnes & Noble or Borders, before Amazon.com or Christianbook.com. I don’t even think there was a Tower Records, or if there was, it was too far out of the way for my parents to drive me there, because—yeah—they had the car keys. A closet-sized Christian gift store opened up in Ala Moana Shopping Center, and we were passing it so we stopped. I had gotten into Amy Grant and wanted to see if there was anything new. Some cool-looking (remember, this is the 80’...

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.

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.16.2006 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. No Camy: Since I’m writing this on Monday for you East Coast people, it means I’m still writing, hoping to make my midnight deadline, which I don’t think I’m going to meet. But please keep praying for me! I might make it by midnight tomorrow night. This was from my wedding4 1/2 years ago. This is my Grandma, and I'm wearing her grandmother's (I think it's her grandma's, maybe it's her great-grandma's) kimono.

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.15.2006 Today I get to interview mystery chick-lit writer Mindy Starns Clark! Many of you might recognize her from her MILLION DOLLAR MYSTERIES series. Mindy’s latest book is  BLIND DATES CAN BE MURDER , a Smart Chick Mystery (book 2). Isn’t that title terrific? Blind dates give everyone the shivers…with or without a murder attached to them. Jo Tulip is a sassy single woman full of household hints and handy advice for every situation. Her first romantic outing in months is a blind date—okay, the Hall of Fame of Awful Blind Dates—but things go from bad to worse when the date drops dead and Jo finds herself smack in the middle of a murder investigation. With the help of her best friend, Danny, and faith in God, Jo attempts to solve one exciting mystery while facing another: Why is love always so complicated? And now, here’s my interview with Mindy Starns Clark! BLIND DATES CAN BE MURDER just released last month. Tell us about the book, including ...

Captain's Log, Stardate 05.14.2006 Leave any prayer requests in the comments and I’ll be praying this week. You don’t have to be Christian to leave a prayer request. If you’d rather not advertise to everyone on the blogosphere, just leave an unspoken prayer request or email me. If I forgot your prayer request, email me. Not to be mean or anything, but if you don't email me or comment to update your prayer request, I'm only going to pray 3 Sundays. [I cheated this week—I copied and pasted most of the prayer requests because I’m so busy—but I did pray them all as I read through them.] Thank you Lord, for your love and grace. Comfort those who are grieving, Lord. Give them exactly what they need. Help Heather with her new client and help her add 18K to her manuscript. Please help Pammer find time for her writing. Give her discipline, focus, motivation, strength. I pray that Squirl’s surgery will go well and smoothly, and that her hip will be healed completely. Thank you for th...

Captain's Log, Stardate 05.13.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is PINK by Marilynn Griffith . My Thursday book giveaway is THE PREACHER’S DAUGHER by Lyn Cote You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for PINK and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. No Camy: Not blogging today. I'm doing work. Have fun talking about me behind my back. Snickers is cute when she's sleeping. Too bad she's such a butthead when she's awake.

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.12.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is PINK by Marilynn Griffith . My Thursday book giveaway is THE PREACHER’S DAUGHER by Lyn Cote You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for PINK and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Chick-lit: I did take time today to catch up on a couple e-mail loops I’m on, one of which is the chick-lit loop. There’s been a really good discussion about where the genre’s going—if it’s evolving, if it’s dying, what? Most people had good points. One woman especially said something that resonated with me, and which I think applies to most other genres as well: A lot of chick-lit now being published is a lot of the same rehashed storylines. You know what I’m talking about—bridezilla, weirdo mother, dating lots of losers, etc. It’s making chick-lit readers bored. As chick-lit writers, we have to take the essence of chi...

Captain's Log, Stardate 05.09.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is SHADOW BONES by Colleen Rhoads (aka Colleen Coble) . My Monday book giveaway is PINK by Marilynn Griffith . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for SHADOW BONES and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Spring Celebration: Every year, a whole slew of Christian bands gather to perform all day at Paramount's Great America Theme Park here in the Bay Area. No, I didn’t go. But the high school kids from my youth group did! Eric videotaped their ride on the Invertigo Rollercoaster (the one that goes through a crazy ride in one direction , then repeats the same track in the other direction ). I might be the only one who thinks these guys are insane and insanely funny at the same time, but hey! These are the teens from my church youth group. I love them on most days. http://www.vimeo.com/...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.08.2006 PINK by Marilynn Griffith High fashion meets romance in the Big Apple for a fresh, funky designer! Raya Joseph wants to break free from the beige world around her and celebrate the color of the city. With a sassy pink style and a radical change of hair, she's off to conquer the design world. But it doesn't take long for Raya to meet her match--in style and flair. Flex Dunham, a personal trainer and one of Raya's clients, has got it going on. As much as Raya would like to pursue a relationship with Flex, she has other matters on her mind--and on her heart. Then a blast from the past comes back to haunt her, and Raya can't help but wonder if she made the right decision in keeping her past a secret. Flex seems to be hiding something too. But what? Woven with humor, heartache, and hip friendships, Raya's new life has a lot of colorful threads. But will the end result be a beautiful design? Or will it fall apart at the seams?...

Captain's Log, Stardate 05.07.2006 Leave any prayer requests in the comments and I’ll be praying this week. You don’t have to be Christian to leave a prayer request. If you’d rather not advertise to everyone on the blogosphere, just leave an unspoken prayer request or email me. If I forgot your prayer request, email me. Not to be mean or anything, but if you don't email me or comment to update your prayer request, I'm only going to pray 3 Sundays. Thank you Lord, for your grace upon us all. Comfort those who are grieving, Lord. Give them exactly what they need. I pray Heather is writing a lot this weekend, and please give her a good time of refreshing. Thank you that Pammer’s eyes are okay. That’s your hand over her, Lord. Please guide them in the purchase of the new truck—I pray it’s in perfect working condition. I pray that Squirl’s surgery will go well and smoothly, and that her hip will be healed completely. Continue to lead and guide Dineen in her writing. Help her to ...

Captain's Log, Stardate 05.06.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is three books by Tricia Goyer . My Thursday book giveaway is SHADOW BONES by Colleen Rhoads (aka Colleen Coble) . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for Tricia Goyer’s books and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Held: I love Natalie Grant's music, but especially her " Awaken " album. This song--"Held"--is the inspiration for my heroine's spiritual epiphany scene in SOLO SASHIMI (working title). HELD Two months is too little They let him go They had no sudden healing To think that providence Would take a child from his mother While she prays, is appalling Who told us we’d be rescued What has changed and Why should we be saved from nightmares Were asking why this happens to us Who have died to live, it’s unfair This is what it means to be held How it feels, when...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.05.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is three books by Tricia Goyer . My Thursday book giveaway is SHADOW BONES by Colleen Rhoads (aka Colleen Coble) . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for Tricia Goyer’s books and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned.

MADE OF HONOR by Marilynn Griffith From the back cover: Once, twice, ten times a bridesmaid! I, Dana Rose, do solemnly swear to say "I won't" the next time someone asks me to be in their wedding party. My weak will has gained me a closet full of unflattering bridesmaids' dresses in various sizes to accommodate my ever-fluctuating waistline. As if that isn't enough, the past is paying me a most unwelcome visit (my prodigal brother, my back-stabbing sis). Then there's Mr. Practically Perfect, the ex who not only married someone else, but opened the business of our dreams -- right across from my new shop! It's no wonder I've got problems! I'm thankful I've got my friends, the Sassy Sisterhood, to rely on . . . The Sassy Sisterhood: They get by with a little help from their friends. Camy here: This is the first of my "terrific books" read in 2006. It's so rich, I'm having a hard time summing it up into words that make sense. Thi...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.04.2006 GMA Music Awards: We had recorded the GMA (Dove) Music Awards on Tivo and only watched it last night. I was sad because they edited out the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir! Oh, that’s just so wrong . Anyway, the last performance was Chris Tomlin singing “How Great is Our God/How Great Thou Art.” Whoa. Let me say that again. Whoa. That man can lead worship. And how about a concert hall full of musicians? Dang, that’s awesome to see on video. The recording is available for download on iTunes, but I don’t think it would be as powerful as an MP3 as it was visually. Another performance that I loved was Kirk Franklin! Oh, that man is awesome! He radiates energy on that stage! Love him! Is that enough exclamation points? Here’s a few more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Captain’s Log, Stardate 05.03.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is MOTHER OF PREVENTION by Lori Copeland. My Monday book giveaway is three books by Tricia Goyer . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for MOTHER OF PREVENTION and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Yellow Fever: This video was produced by a couple UC San Diego students, and it's hilariousy funny. Or maybe it's just funny to Asians. Watch it and tell me what you think. It's about 15 minutes long.