Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.28.2006 Hey guys, sorry this is late. Blogger was wigging out when I tried to post this earlier. Another card I made. I’m rather proud of this one. Don’t you hate it when . . . you schedule Billpay payment to your insurance company premium through your online banking like a good girl and it says the payment went through, but then it shows the money was never taken out of your checking account and you get a statement from the insurance company that you never paid your premium? I’m so peeved. I filed an inquiry with my bank’s Billpay. I haven’t been charged late fees yet, luckily. TMI: Bible in 90 Days: Day 5. Reading about how Joseph interpreted the pharaoh’s cup-bearer's dream and then how the dude went back to work and forgot about Joseph for two whole years made me think about the writer’s life. Often I would get some good news or a lucky break—an editor would show interest and request the full manuscript, or I’d win or final in a contest. It would gi...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.26.2006 Today I’m joined by my friend Patti Hill ! Patti’s first novel, Like a Watered Garden , was a finalist in the prestigious Christy Awards! Patti's latest novel is  In Every Flower , book 3 of the Garden Gates series. Sometimes you get a second chance... Remarriage isn't the happily-ever-after Mibby McManus hoped for. Between conflicting work schedules, a rebellious teenage son, a mother-in-law who can't get enough of the Food Channel, and a cat-in-law bent on destruction, Mibby and her new husband, Larry, never seem to find enough time for each other. Then there's the part Mibby really didn't expect: the constant intrusion of memories. Just when she thinks she's gotten back on track, a phone call from California unsettles everything. It's time for Mibby to face her past or risk losing everything. And now, here’s Patti! What inspired your Garden Gate series idea? Like all potential writers, I'd heard o...

Calm, Cool and Adjusted (Spa Girls book 3) by Kristin Billerbeck From the back cover: Silicon Valley chiropractor Poppy Clayton is as calm, cool and adjusted as they come . . . or is she? Known for her bad fashion sense, a love for all things natural and the inability to get a second date, Poppy is beginning to wonder if she might be misaligned herself. Especially since her best friends, Lilly and Morgan, seem to think so. After all, a “normal” woman doesn’t evaluate prospective dates on their liver function and their spiritual balance, does she? Poppy’s route to self discover will be an unnatural one involving a plastic surgeon (of all people!), a condemned house in Santa Cruz and a wedding date from the dark side. It’s enough to send a girl and her gal pals running for the spa! Camy here: This novel does a great job finishing off the Spa Girls series. Poppy is my favorite character of the three, and this book really gets into her head and reveals more of who she is beyond the health...

Watching the Tree Limbs by Mary DeMuth From the back cover: Knowing something bad will happen if she misses, nine-year-old Mara keeps her appointments. And she’s never told a soul. But despite the fear and shame that ensnare her, she clings to the hope that she can break free. Mara doesn’t know her real name. She doesn’t even know who her parents are. But with the help of her best friend, Camilla, and the mysterious Radio Man, Denim, she determines to unveil the secrets that shroud her life. Caught in a maelstrom of lies and deceit, Mara picks her way through the wreckage of a lost childhood until the day something magical happens underneath the pecan tree. Written in beautiful prose and set against the backdrop of the quirky town of Burl, Texas, Watching the Tree Limbs takes us on a journey through a young girl’s self-discovery and reveals the lengths to which God will go to redeem His precious children. Camy here: This is an extremely well-written novel. One endorser likened it to...

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. My Thursday book giveaway is Dark Hour by Ginger Garrett . My Monday book giveaway is The Guy I’m Not Dating by Trish Perry . You can still enter both giveaways. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for the Dark Hour and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Win an iPod Nano! Exclusively for my newsletter YahooGroup subscribers, I have a huge contest running until January 31st! Get more info on my contest page ! Click to join Camys_Loft My novel title! Thanks for participating in the poll! I heard back from the Z marketing director and she said they’ve decided to go with the overwhelming vote for . . . drumroll . . . Sushi For One? The question mark is deliberate. I’m not sure if I go for it or not--the question mark. One minute I'll love it, the next minute I'm questioning (LOL) it. But then again, it’s not my decision. (Yeah, all you people who...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.22.2006 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 e-mail me. If I forgot your prayer request, e-mail me. Not to be mean or anything, but if you don't e-mail me or comment to update your prayer request, I'm only going to pray 3 Sundays. Lord, bless your day today. Father, I pray for favor for Case with his sentencing judge. Please let everything turn out well for him and his family. Continue to uphold them in your righteous right hand. I pray for success for Robin in the elections. Thank you for Cheryl and Robin’s contracts! I pray for complete healing for Colleen’s mom. Please be with Jaen and her family and provide for them. Help Gail and Bob in everything that needs to be done, and comfort them. Be with Heather as she prepares for her trip. Show her clearly wha...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.20.2006 Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. My Monday book giveaway is Violette Between by Alison Strobel . My Thursday book giveaway is Dark Hour by Ginger Garrett . You can still enter both giveaways. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for the Violette Between and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Win an iPod Nano! Exclusively for my newsletter YahooGroup subscribers, I have a huge contest running until January 31st! Get more info on my contest page ! Click to join Camys_Loft Plug your nose . . . I have never actually smelled stinky tofu, but I have heard a lot about it. It is quite infamous. If you ever get together with Chinese who are from China (usually Taiwan or Hong Kong) or Chinese Americans who have visited those places, they will ALL have stories to tell you if you mention chou dofu . Naturally, I needed to write this into a book. Maybe two books. I had to look up the Chinese...

UPDATE: CONGRATS TO MY FRIEND ROBIN CYNCLAIR ROBIN CAROLL (just one R) (also known as Robin Miller, who will probably have to change her pen name) WHO WAS JUST CONTRACTED WITH STEEPLE HILL SUSPENSE!!! You go, girl!

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. My Monday book giveaway is Violette Between by Alison Strobel . My Thursday book giveaway is Dark Hour by Ginger Garrett . You can still enter both giveaways. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for the Violette Between and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Win an iPod Nano! Exclusively for my newsletter YahooGroup subscribers, I have a huge contest running until January 31st! Get more info on my contest page ! Click to join Camys_Loft Look out November . . . I registered for NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month! I’ve known about NaNoWriMo for several years, but this is the first year I’ve actually registered for it. To be honest, this is also the first year my novel-writing-schedule has happened to be timed right so that I can participate. In other years, I was either at the end of a manuscript, or I wasn’t even in the preliminary stages of plotti...

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. My Thursday book giveaway is Hot Flashes and Cold Cream by Diann Hunt . My Monday book giveaway is Violette Between by Alison Strobel . You can still enter both giveaways. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for the Hot Flashes and Cold Cream and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Pick my title! I’m still holding a poll for the title of my book! Go to this blog post to cast your vote! Perfume and Cinderella dresses: I entered a contest put on by Vera Wang to celebrate her new fragrance, called Princess. (It was free, what can I say?) I just got a sample of the perfume today. It’s . . . okay. It doesn’t stand out for me. It might just be how my body chemicals react with the perfume. The contest is giving away this gorgeous Vera Wang gown. It’s targeted at teenagers, so the size of the dress is size four. Now I don’t know about you guys, but that’s ju...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.14.2006 Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie , both by Laura Jensen Walker . My Thursday book giveaway is Hot Flashes and Cold Cream by Diann Hunt . You can still enter both giveaways. On Monday, I'll draw the winners for the Laura Jensen Walker books and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Pick my title! I’m still holding a poll for the title of my book! Go to this blog post to cast your vote! Writers’ retreat: I’m the luckiest girl in the world. Why? Because today, me and Dineen Miller are going to a Marriott hotel to hole ourselves up and write. It’ll be an intense writing session until we check out Sunday morning. The doubly cool thing is that this Marriott hotel is supposedly just like the one in Dallas, where we stayed during the ACFW conference last month. Those beds were heavenly. So I’ll be back Su...

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...

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie , both by Laura Jensen Walker . My Thursday book giveaway is Hot Flashes and Cold Cream by Diann Hunt . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on the blog posts above . On Monday, I'll draw the winners for the Laura Jensen Walker books and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Pick my title! I’m still holding a poll for the title of my book! Go to this blog post to cast your vote! Devos: I just got Joanna Weaver’s Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World . I’ve heard a lot of great things about this book, and I’ve also met Joanna, who is a wonderful person. I’m really looking forward to reading this. I admit, I root for Martha. (In fact, I wrote a short story based on the story of Lazarus’s death here .) I understand how busy-ness can take away from important spiritual things like devotional time, but I have to say that fr...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.11.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is The Wedding Caper by Janice Thompson . My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie , both by Laura Jensen Walker . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on the blog posts above . On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for The Wedding Caper and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Pick my title! I’m still holding a poll for the title of my book! Go to this blog post to cast your vote! My Alphasmart, how I love thee! Let me count MORE ways... ** Taking notes during a writing workshop (although sometimes the key clacking annoys people—the newer Dana and Neo models don’t make as much noise). ** Not being tempted by the internet, e-mails, blogs, etc. ** Not being apprehensive about bringing it with me to youth group because even if someone runs into me or knocks my bag around, my Alphasmart is more durable than a laptop. ** Needing onl...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.10.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is The Wedding Caper by Janice Thompson . My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie , both by Laura Jensen Walker . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on the blog posts above . On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for The Wedding Caper and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Pick my title! I’m still holding a poll for the title of my book! Go to this blog post to cast your vote! My Alphasmart, how I love thee! Let me count the ways... (Okay, so I wrote this a few months ago when I was being silly) ** Sitting in bed with a bedside lamp, taking advantage of the middle of the night brainstorm. ** Out in the backyard on a picnic blanket, while the dog runs and chases squirrels across the back fence. ** In front of the TV, taking notes while SportsCenter is playing (Those guys have the neatest metaphors! They’re more hip than the ...

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: My Thursday book giveaway is The Wedding Caper by Janice Thompson . My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie , both by Laura Jensen Walker . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on the blog posts above . On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for The Wedding Caper and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Pick my title! The Zondervan Marketing Department is torn about which title would be best for my debut novel. So you guys get to weigh in! Here are your choices: Solo Sushi Sushi for One Single Sushi Solo Sashimi Leave a comment about which you prefer and WHY. I’ll run this poll for a couple weeks to figure out which will be the title for my new book! TMI: Writing: I posted another "Health and the Writer" post at WriterQuotes , and an agent post at my Story Sensei blog . And in case you missed it, my review of The Guy I’m Not Dating by Trish Perry is ...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.09.2006 Today I’m joined by my friend Laura Jensen Walker, chick-lit writer and breast cancer survivor! Laura's book,  Thanks for the Mammogram! Fighting Cancer with Faith, Hope, and a Healthy Dose of Laughter , was reissued in paperback last month, and she also wrote a chick-lit novel,  Reconstructing Natalie . And now, here’s Laura! Okay, everyone, it's October and National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so I want you all to check your breasts! Young or old, perky or not-so-perky, you need to know your breasts intimately so that should you ever find--God forbid--an unusual lump that's not the same as your normal fibrocystic lumps, you'll know to get it checked out RIGHT AWAY. Don't wait. Don't delay. That's what I did more than fourteen years ago and why I'm still here today. Except, I didn't know my breasts intimately--it was just a 'fluke' or an 'accident' that I 'happened' to brus...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.08.2006 Sorry, no Sunday Prayer today. I’m frantically working on my revisions. Please pray for me if you think about it. You can also pray through last week’s prayer list here .

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.06.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is Dark Hour by Ginger Garrett . My Thursday book giveaway is The Wedding Caper by Janice Thompson . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on the blog posts above . On Monday, I'll draw the winner for Dark Hour and post the title for another book I'm giving away. TMI: My whole life is a big TMI. But I am making deliberate effort to take time outs for myself. I think I’m actually more productive when I do work, but I don’t have any proof. Writing: I was a lame-o and forgot to post my CAN blog post until just now. So go on over and read it. I also posted another agent post at my Story Sensei blog . And I posted a review of Reluctant Burglar by Jill Elizabeth Nelson below. Had a great time at the writers’ meeting last night. Kristin Billerbeck joined us for the first time. Captain Caffeine came home early and made decaf lattes for them all (he’s been practicing his espresso shot...

Reluctant Burglar by Jill Elizabeth Nelson Book description: Art Stole Her Heart... Now, can she return the favor? If Desiree Jacobs knows anything, it's art. Her father, whose security company is internationally renowned, taught her everything he knew. Most of all, he taught her about honor. Integrity. Faith. So surely God will forgive her for despising the one man determined to destroy her father's good name? Special Agent Tony Lucano knows Hiram Jacobs is an art thief. But what he can't figure out is Desiree. Is she the innocent she claims, or a clever accomplice? Then Hiram is murdered. And along with his company, he leaves Desiree a hidden container—full of stolen paintings. But she can't admit her father was a thief! That would destroy their business, put people out of jobs, and embarrass international museums that have been displaying clever forgeries. No, she must find out why her honest father would turn criminal. And she must return the priceless art to the r...

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is Dark Hour by Ginger Garrett . My Thursday book giveaway is The Wedding Caper by Janice Thompson . You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on the blog posts above . On Monday, I'll draw the winner for Dark Hour and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Continued from part 3 : Genesis contest: Talk about nightmare. Actually, I seriously think there was spiritual warfare going on, because suddenly the Powerpoint program started making the pictures disappear. It had worked fine on my husband’s Mac laptop, my pastor’s PC laptop, and Dineen’s Mac laptop. But suddenly in the conference’s new PC laptop, it went haywire. Oh, did I mention this is about 30 minutes before the doors opened to let people into the banquet??? By the grace of God, I’d saved a copy on Dineen’s hard drive, and the hotel tech guy found a switch that would enable both the conference PC laptop and Dineen’s lapto...

The Wedding Caper (Bridal Mayhem Mysteries, book 1) by Janice Thompson When a $25,000 night deposit mysteriously disappears from the Clark County Savings and Loan, Annie Peterson has reason to be concerned and to assume the role of amateur sleuth. Her husband's job at the bank makes him a potential suspect, but knowing him to be a godly man, she can't imagine it. Then again, there is that matter of the weddings to factor in. Twin daughters Brandi and Candy have just received proposals and two weddings are pending. Sure, Warren occasionally jokes about robbing the bank to pay for the ceremonies, but Annie knows him better than that . . . doesn't she? Just about the time Annie thinks she can wriggle Warren off the suspect hook, he mysteriously shows up with enough cash to cover the cost of both weddings. Annie dives into the investigation and the suspects pile up. One by one they fall, leaving her with only one logical choice. Who will it be – a somber-faced loan officer, a...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.04.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is Dark Hour by Ginger Garrett . You can still enter. Just post a comment on the blog post above. On Thursday, I'll post the title for another book I'm giving away. Continued from part 2 : I saw so many of my online friends, I know I couldn’t name them all. It was terrific to see old friends, like Angie Poole , Cynthia Hawkins, Pamela Dowd . It was very nice to finally meet Gina Conroy , and to see Gina Holmes , Ane Mulligan , Tracy Higley , Betsy St. Amant (she is just the cutest thing, she makes me sick), and my Hawaiian buddy Malia Spencer . I also saw the Girls Write Out chicks— Kristin Billerbeck , Colleen Coble , Diann Hunt , and Denise Hunter . I’d already met Kristin at Mount Hermon conference and proved I’m really not a stalker, and I attended the Early Bird session with Colleen and Deb Raney (Fabulous class! Terrific brainstorming!). I met Diann and Denise for the first time, and both ...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.03.2006 Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is Dark Hour by Ginger Garrett . You can still enter. Just post a comment on the blog post above. On Thursday, I'll post the title for another book I'm giving away. Continued from part 1 : Mary DeMuth gave a fabulous morning session for Advanced writers. It was both spiritual and practical, plus she’s a good speaker and teacher. Very open and honest, good points. If you haven’t gotten the MP3 for the conference yet, go get her four sessions. Big congrats to Cara Putman , who was awarded with a contract at the conference! I had the loveliest time talking with Serena Miller on Saturday morning. She needed some advice, and it made me feel so good to be able to help her out. But even more, she was such a calming presence as Kat (conference tech goddess) rushed by a few times to let me know about problems with the Powerpoint. Serena was true to her name—she helped me to feel calmer and less stressed, to...

The Guy I’m Not Dating by Trish Perry Book description: Kara Richardson has finally suffered one breakup too many. She's decided to go the no-dating route to romance, although she's not quite sure how that works. She couldn't have picked a worse time to meet Gabe Paolino. Gorgeous men hardly faze Kara. A personal trainer, she works with hunks every day. But Gabe, the handsome young deli owner in town, proves way too available and way too challenging for Kara's vow of friendship. How will she adhere to her new lifestyle without scaring Gabe away? Enter matchmaking friends, a strange elderly aunt, three demanding teens, and one hard-to-take vixen with eyes for Gabe. Add an overcrowded road trip and plenty of God's blessings, and Kara may discover that the guy she's not dating is the best boyfriend she's ever had. Camy here: This is a sweet, funny novel that does a great job blurring the line between romance and chick-lit. It’s in third person past tense point...

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway is Dark Hour by Ginger Garrett . You can still enter. Just post a comment on the blog post above. On Thursday, I'll post the title for another book I'm giving away. Part one of four: It was a whirlwind conference for me this time, because I had people I wanted to spend time with (agent and editor) and responsibilities ( Genesis contest and the awards ceremony). I felt like I was always running somewhere. As a result, I don’t really remember much about the conference, but here are some predominant memories. I roomed with Meredith Efken again. She’s not only a brilliant writer, she’s a night owl and we never had to worry about waking each other up when going to bed. I saw brief flashes of my friend Randy Ingermanson , and I only wish I had more time to talk to him. Chip MacGregor, who had been Associate Publisher at FaithWords (Time Warner/Hachette Book Group, USA), announced that he is now starting his ow...

Captain's Log, Stardate 10.02.2006 DARK HOUR (Serpent Moon trilogy, book 1) by Ginger Garrett One of the darkest and bloodiest stories of all time comes not from a medieval battlefield but from inside one of the most opulent palaces ever built. The strategies come not from men eager to extend their influence, but from women bent on exercising their wit and prowess in a kingdom not their own. Treason and murder are fair game. Marriage is manipulation, a means to an end. Children are the enemy. And the days of the House of David are numbered-unless one woman can find the strength to conquer them all. About the author: Ginger Garrett is an acclaimed novelist and expert in ancient women's history. Her first novel, Chosen , was recognized as one of the best five novels of the year by the Christian publishing industry. Ginger enjoys a diverse reader base and creates conversation between cultures. In addition to her 2006 and 2007 novels about the most evil women in biblica...