Book reviews

Captain’s Log, Stardate 08.30.2006

Blog book giveaway:
My Thursday book giveaway is THE GUY I'M NOT DATING by Trish Perry.
My Monday book giveaway is the Coffee Cup Bible Study books by Sandra Glahn.
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 GUY I'M NOT DATING and post the title for another book I'm giving away.

Book reviews: I posted a couple book reviews (below) for your viewing pleasure:

BAD HEIRESS DAY by Allie Pleiter
RECONSTRUCTING NATALIE by Laura Jensen Walker
PINK by Marilynn Griffith

And no, I didn’t get paid to say nice things about them.

TMI:

Writing: I posted another synopsis writing tip at my Story Sensei blog. And I’m working on book 2 for Single Sushi. Please pray for me if you get a chance. I feel like the creative well has run dry. Any suggestions?

Diet: I exercised today! It felt really sluggish at first, possibly because it had been 3 days since I last exercised and because my diet has been heavy on the protein all weekend. I noticed when I eat a lot of meat, my body tends to feel kind of heavy.

So maybe that Blood Type Diet is working for me, after all (my blood type is supposed to go light on the beef, pork, and lamb). It probably wouldn’t work for everybody, but it seems to for me.

I am totally loving Power Yoga! And today on Denise Austin, she mentioned doing light stretching at night as a good way to prepare your body for sleep. So all you guys going to ACFW conference in September, let’s do yoga in the hallway at night. :)

Comments

Delia said…

When I eat a lot of meat, I feel the same way; heavy and sluggish. My husband is exactly the opposite. In fact, he once did the Atkins Diet and it worked great for him. Me, ha, I lasted two days on it and couldn't stand the way I felt. I need lots of fruits and veggies. -and breads and pasta and...um...chocolate-

Wed Aug 30, 05:48:00 AM 2006

Domino said…

The well's run dry? Not a chance. Not you.

Sometimes you have to just prime the pump. My suggestion is to do something seriously silly. Walk away from the computer and pantomime a scene for a couple of minutes. Get expressive with your body. Do little boy imitations of Spiderman, if necessary. Then, go sit at the computer and step into character.

Let it flow...

Wed Aug 30, 09:03:00 AM 2006

Anonymous said…

This is going to sound crazy, but I can get the creative juices running again if I force a limit on my writing time. I make a list of all the chores I need to do. Then I set a timer for 15 minutes and can only write during that time. When the dinger goes off, I have to do the first chore on the list. Once it's finished, I set the timer for another 15 minutes. Even if I'm in mid-thought, I stop writing when the dinger goes off. That way I have something to return to when it's my 15 minutes. Plus, I'll do anything to avoid chores. By the end of the day, I have pages pluse a clean apartment.

Another trick I have is to "forbid" myself to write or even think about the story. Then I leave the apartment to walk, to shop, to go for coffee. By the time I get home, I'm so eager to get to my writing when I may have been dreading it before.

I also get inspiration from music and chick flicks. And my family, of course. Though they may wince when they see what I wrote.

Praying that the well will be full the next time you dip your bucket in...

Wed Aug 30, 12:51:00 PM 2006

Chinese Take-Out and Sushi for One

Captain’s Log, Supplemental My agent sent me an article from Publisher’s Weekly that discussed this incident: Chinese Take-Out Spawns Christian Controversy And here’s also a blog post that talks about it in more detail: The Fighting 44s This is Soong-Chan Rah’s blog: The PCS blog In sum: Apparently Zondervan (yes, my publisher), who has partnered with Youth Specialties, had put out a youth leaders skit that had stereotypical Asian dialogue, which offended many Christian Asian Americans. In response to the outcry, Zondervan/Youth Specialities put out a sincere apology and is not only freezing the remaining stock of the book, but also reprinting it and replacing the copies people have already bought. I am very proud of my publisher for how they have handled this situation. The skit writers have also issued a public apology . (I feel sorry for them, because they were only trying to write a funny skit, not stir up this maelstrom of internet controversy. I’ve been in youth work long enou...

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...

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures...

I sold to Steeple Hill!

Captain's Log, Supplemental Remember that romantic suspense proposal I blogged about earlier? Well, it just sold to Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired Suspense line! I am so jazzed! I am beyond jazzed! The story’s working title is Sinister Spa The story's title is Deadly Intent and here’s a blurb (but it’s probably not what will appear on the back of the book): Massage therapist Naomi Grant could use a massage herself. With her father at home recovering from a stroke, Naomi is put in charge of the family’s elite day spa in Sonoma county. The new responsibilities sit awkwardly on her shoulders, and things only get worse when handsome Dr. Devon Knightley breezes into the spa, demanding to see one of the female clients. And the woman is found dead in Naomi’s massage room. Suddenly, Naomi is a suspect and her family’s spa is shut down. How could God let this awful thing happen? Devon only needed to see his ex-wife about a family necklace she still hadn’t returned, but when she dies and...

Excerpt - A HUNDRED YEARS OF HAPPINESS by Nicole Seitz

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.05.2009 Update: Sorry, this giveaway is closed. A Hundred Years of Happiness by Nicole Seitz A beautiful young woman. An American soldier. A war-torn country. Nearly forty years of silence. Now, two daughters search for the truth they hope will set them free and the elusive peace their parents have never found. In the South Carolina Lowcountry, a young mother named Katherine Ann is struggling to help her tempestuous father, by plunging into a world of secrets he never talks about. A fry cook named Lisa is trying desperately to reach her grieving Vietnamese mother, who has never fully adjusted to life in the States. And somewhere far away, a lost soul named Ernest is drifting, treading water, searching for what he lost on a long-ago mountain. They're all longing for connection. For the war that touched them to finally end. For their hundred years of happiness at long last to begin. From the beloved author of The Spirit of Sweetgrass...

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