Captain’s Log, Supplemental I finished! Now I’m going to bed.

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.30.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 326. I exercised yesterday! 327. Yummy apple blossom green tea from the Republic of Tea 328. My heating pad to keep my lap warm when I can’t write in my comfy bed because the Alphasmart keyboard keeps my husband awake 329. Fall and Winter. Because I’d much rather be cold than hot—when I’m cold, I can put on more layers, but if I’m hot, there’s nothing more to do other than running around nekkid. 330. Have I mentioned already that ROBIN ’S GOING TO BE ACFW PRESIDENT!!! 331. Have I mentioned already that CARA ’S GOING TO BE ACFW PUBLICITY OFFICER!!! 332. Have I mentioned already that ANE ’S GOING TO BE ACFW ZONE OFFICER!!! 333. The excitement as we wait for election results 334. The book I got for review a couple days ago, Merely Players by Kathleen Kovach, my fellow “Night Watch” writing buddy. 335. The Velveteen Mommy by a...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.29.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 301. Powerpoint, because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to put together a neat-o presentation for the awards banquet at the ACFW conference this past year. 302. my eucalyptus and lavender infusion, which I use in my candle aromatherapy diffuser, to help my sinuses 303. book weights—I use them for my Bible study, and for when I eat and read my books. My leather one from Levengers.com is especially nice with the heavy felt lining to protect the book. 304. Christian Fiction Blog Alliance —Free books, some terrific reads, a great way to support Christian fiction 305. FIRST (Fiction In Rather Short Takes) —another terrific way to support Christian fiction 306. colorful ribbons for making cards with—cheap, pretty, with lots of variety 307. Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass—this book really boosted my writing to the...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.28.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 276. The time spent yesterday with Dineen and Heather just chillin’ and watching the 2nd Bridget Jones movie 277. The fact I ate two salads yesterday 278. Carla Kelly’s Regency romances—such terrific writing, great characters. I wish she’d written more. 279. Joan Smith’s clever, funny Regency romances (I really wish she’d write more, although I haven’t seen anything new from her recently. But her backlist is slowly being released as ebooks by Belgrave Books so maybe they’ll publish a new one from her soon.) 280. Julie Ann Long’s entertaining and unique Regency historical romances (I loved her last two) 281. writing workshops on MP3 which I can listen to practically anywhere 282. the really informative RWA workshops I’ve been listening to recently 283. the apple cider vinegar, honey and hot water I’ve been drinking every mor...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.27.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 251. Heather’s moving!!!!! 252. seeing my NaNoWriMo word count get higher 253. CSI: Miami, my new show fixation, especially because it’s always on reruns on A&E. I honestly don’t mind how David Caruso reminds me of Captain Kirk, even though my husband is annoyed by his acting 254. Time Life home repair books 255. Susan Mallery’s sheikh books—my secret vice, but oh I love them, they’re so romantic and hot. 256. laser printers, which make my life so much easier 257. clothes pins to close up potato chip bags—who needs to hang clothes? 258. my Laplander from Levenger.com 259. Media Mail for all the books I mail out for giveaways—my wallet is thankful, anyway 260. padded envelopes for those same books—so convenient 261. Amazon.com—where would I be without it? 262. the 3% back from the Amazon.com VISA credit card—it’s all in ...

Captain's Log, Stardate 11.26.2006 I am in the last five days of NaNoWriMo. I have to write 20,000 words in five days. Please pray! TMI: Diet: Do you know what’s gross? When you rub your hand across your forehead and realize it’s so oily that you don’t need hand lotion. Since when did this happen? Is it the weather? Is it age?

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.26.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 201. Eatsmart Veggie Crisps—yummy and healthy and not very oily 202. Honey Mustard and Onion Nibblers—mmmmmmmmmm 203. my cute pink business cards, thanks to Dineen for designing them 204. my KitchenAid stand mixer—I seriously don’t know what I’d do without it, even though I don’t use it very often 205. my hand chopper from Pampered Chef—this was one of my favorite wedding gifts. It’s so useful and great design, easy to clean. 206. my stoneware 8x8 pan from Pampered Chef—it totally makes things easier for me to bake, especially since I tend to burn something every time I do. This gives me a little bit of fudge time on my baking. 207. cranberry juice, which keeps UTI away 208. colored pencils for marking my study Bible—doesn’t bleed like pens 209. pretty beaded book thong bookmarks—they’re just so pretty even though regular ...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.24.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 176. That my friends understand that THIS IS NOT IN ANY KIND OF ORDER, YOU DOOFUSES! (ROBIN!) 177. Barb , for the beautiful elements she makes and posts for people to download for free 178. That we can pray to God for things as serious as our health and our jobs, but that we can also come to God for things like our writing, book deals and contracts, and release dates. I recently saw an e-mail about this—God says to come to Him for everything so why not for our books? They’re written for His glory. 179. The kids in my church youth group, whom I don’t want to name by name because of internet security, but who are God’s gift to me in so many unexpected ways 180. The parents of my youth group kids, who totally love the Lord and seek His will for their children 181. The staff workers of my church youth group, whom I also don’t w...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.23.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 151. the day spent with Heather and Dineen yesterday 152. Thanksgiving dinner with my husband today 153. the writing I got done yesterday 154. the honest prayer time I had yesterday 155. my new TNIV Bible, which is lime green and square shaped and so very hip 156. Ane for being my adoptive mom 157. Angie Poole and Pattie because I love praying for them 158. Dee Stewart, because the woman’s always so totally with-it 159. Delia, for being such a sweetheart 160. Ron, because we were talking about him today and how we wish we could have even a tenth of his clever wit, we’re totally jealous 161. Stuart, for talking to me like I’m one of his Saurian buds even though I don’t write sci-fi. Oh, and for teaching me how to say “Bite me!” in Saurian. Very useful, dude. 162. Kelly Mortimer for being diabolically diligent, selling Robin’...

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 The Cubicle Next Door by Siri Mitchell . My Monday book giveaway is Calm, Cool and Adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck You can still enter both giveaways. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for the The Cubicle Next Door 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 ! My Blog Bible Study in Isaiah: Zion will be restored by justice; Those who repent will be revived by righteousness. Isaiah 1:27 I thought this was the theme of chapter one in Isaiah. God wants his people to repent but he also promises judgment. This spoke to me about his character—He is active. He will move and he has moved. I can’t take lightly the Word of the Lord, what he’s promised to do, the actions he says he’ll ...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.22.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 126. Heather arrived in San Jose yesterday 127. We had a great time at Aqui drinking margaritas 128. We had an even better time hanging out at my house and talking and drinking decaf tea with sugar and cream 129. the Genesis contest judges’ thank you cards I got from entrants—better late than never! I’m very glad they sent them. 130. Tracey Bateman for always being so cool to talk to 131. Rachel Hauck for giving great advice 132. Diann Hunt for being so nice to me even though I could totally be an axe murderer except for the fact that Colleen vouches for me 133. Denise Hunter, for the same 134. Susan Meissner for having just the sweetest smile on a person, it makes me want to smack her ;) 135. Marta Perry for always being encouraging and kind to new writers 136. Trish Perry for being such a great conference me...

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 The Cubicle Next Door by Siri Mitchell . My Monday book giveaway is Calm, Cool and Adjusted by Kristin Billerbeck You can still enter both giveaways. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for the The Cubicle Next Door 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 Myths of the Fatherless : My online friend Kathy Holmes just published her book. Here’s a blurb: Myths of the Fatherless One Daughter's Discovery Every little girl loves her daddy. But what happens when that daddy is missing? Or another man steps into his place? Society has accepted many myths about what that means to a child. MYTHS OF THE FATHERLESS attempts to dispel those myths by sharing...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.21.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 101. Crystal , because she and I click even though we haven’t actually known each other that long and I respect her as an excellent judge of writing (but if only she’d get her butt in gear and write!) 102. Marilynn Griffith, for being so funny whenever we get together to talk 103. everybody else I’m probably forgetting because I’m totally paranoid about forgetting some of my closest friends because my memory is a sieve 104. Marilyn Hilton for being such a Godsend when I was contemplating quitting work to write full-time 105. Donna Fleisher, for being so much at peace with everything, I totally envy her 106. MaryLu Tyndall because I can say I knew her before she was famous, plus she always smacks me with her good sense 107. Shelley Bates, for understanding how hard it was for me to read Pocketful of Pearls but being patient...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.20.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 76. The ACFW book club and the neat books discussed each month 77. My SAYSF online group of snarky, encouraging, funny women. 78. Heather for being an encourager 79. Pammer for being my spiritual sister 80. Cheryl for being a prayer warrior 81. Robin for being a b*tch 82. Dineen for being so loving 83. Ronie for being so sweet 84. Sharon for being my mentor and my friend 85. Charise for being so matter-of-fact funny 86. Meredith for surviving the flying termites with me 87. Mary D. for being such a tower of strength and humanness 88. For this cough, which is making me take things easy 89. The flavor of rosemary and garlic 90. Real hot chocolate 91. Chocolate chip almond scones 92. My fabulous scone pan from Williams-Sonoma 93. My pizza stones from Pampered Chef 94. My little chawanmushi pots 95. The Japanese bowls that we...

Captain’s Log, Supplemental 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, thank you for today. Thank you for all the exciting changes happening in my friends’ lives. Walk with each of them and pave their paths. I pray for favor with Case with his sentencing judge. Please provide for the family and help them to stay strong in you. Help Robin continue to write for you. Thank you for speaking to Heather about these new directions in her life. Please provide more income for her and smooth her move. I pray for wisdom for Pammer’s doctors about her meds and that you’ll heal her and help her. I pray against the ...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.19.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 51. The way my dog puts her head in my lap. 52. My Levenger fountain pen 53. The feel of a pen gliding over paper 54. The satisfaction of finding out how to automatically back up my files every day to my iPod. 55. For the way God provided a place for Heather to move to at the right time. 56. Nutella and pretzels 57. Figuring out and ordering my mom’s Christmas present, CDs 58. The way I can stick post-its on the wall to storyboard my manuscript 59. My aromatherapy candle burner 60. My aromatherapy cold-diffuser 61. For tithe paid early for once 62. My cutie pink Dooney & Bourke purse 63. High-speed internet 64. How my friend Sharon and I happened to want each other to critique our manuscripts at the same time 65. The French lavender growing in my backyard 66. My gardenia bush 67. My gladiolas 68. My friend Mary’s move b...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.18.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 26. My lovely Takamine guitar with built-in pickup. I love playing it. 27. My husband’s Takamine guitar which he bought for a mere $200 from his friend. 28. My husband’s new Warlock electric guitar, bought at GoodWill for $80 plus the few bucks to fix the severed wire in the input thingamajig. 29. My husband’s new VOX amp, which just arrived today. 30. My dog’s sweet brown eyes hiding her devious butt-headed personality 31. My dog’s wiggling butt when I come home. 32. My husband’s non-wiggling butt when he comes home. 33. The koa wood wind/door chime given to me from my parents. 34. The fabulous seafood pizza I ate at one of my favorite restaurants, Frankie, Johnnie and Luigi Too! 35. The delectable clotted cream biscuits (really cookies) from England I bought at Lunardi’s. Melt in your mouth good. 36. Spicy Thai flavored ...

It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas... Last year, I came across an article on gifts for writers, and I expanded on it with an article of my own. I’ll be posting a part of it every Friday and then eventually post the entire article on my Story Sensei blog . I’m starting this series early so your loved ones—er, Santa can start saving up for maybe something extra special. And if you have ideas of your own, leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list! Gifts for Writers, part two (continued from part one ) • Arrange an author's website--domain registration, hosting, professional designer • A set of business cards, or arrange to have the writer work with a graphic designer to design her own business cards I can’t stress enough the importance of a professional looking business card. I worked with two graphic designers—one to create my logo, and one to design the look of my card ( Designer Girl Graphics ). Then I had the card printed using an online company rather than...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.17.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 1. Water, which I’m drinking a lot of lately (yay me) 2. The discipline to exercise 5 days last week and 4 days this week so far 3. A good book I read recently: Scoop by Rene Gutteridge 4. Bills paid on time 5. A spiritual joy in my quiet times that I had been missing lately until I started the Bible in 90 Days again. 6. The golf ball exercises I’ve been using to help my foot problems 7. Denise Austin’s program—challenging but not too hard, not too easy, and only 30 minutes 8. TiVo, which allows me to record and play my exercise programs with ease 9. A new book I just received: @Home for the Holidays by Meredith Efken 10. Another new book I just received: Dear John by Nicholas Sparks 11. My New Living Translation Bible, which makes the Bible in 90 Days reading so easy and engrossing 12. My online friend Marcus Goodyear ,...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.15.2006 Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. My Thursday book giveaway is A Carol for Christmas by Robin Lee Hatcher . My Monday book giveaway is Hazardous Duty by Christy Barritt . You can still enter both giveaways. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for the A Carol for Christmas 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 MANGA INNOVATORS HEAT UP THE INSPIRATIONAL MARKET Realbuzz Founders Hit The Harvest Show To Discuss The Explosive Popularity Of This Japanese Import (NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE) Buzz Dixon and Marlon Schulman, founders of the innovative media company, Realbuzz Studios, will be on LeSea Broadcasting’s flagship television show, The Harvest Show , November 15, to discuss the explosive growth in popul...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.14.2006 Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. My Thursday book giveaway is A Carol for Christmas by Robin Lee Hatcher . My Monday book giveaway is Hazardous Duty by Christy Barritt . You can still enter both giveaways. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for the A Carol for Christmas 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 What was I thinking??? Yup, I’ve got a bad case of NaNoWoes. Meaning my word count is WAY behind (go ahead and wince at my word count on the sidebar there) and so I’m trying to catch up. Please pray. Jenn Doucette has been doing a good job kicking my fanny so give her a hand. TMI: Diet: I have decided my muse is starving, so I’m going to go get diet-dangerous snacks today to try to appease ...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.13.2006 Today I’m joined by my fellow ACFW member (and fellow debut novelist) Christy Barritt ! I’m glad she could join me because she only just had a new baby a few months ago! Christy's latest novel is  Hazardous Duty . Buying a gun to kill your wife: $3,000 Hiring Trauma Care to clean afterward: $1,500 Having that same cleaner uncover evidence that frames you: priceless On her way to completing a degree in forensic science, Gabby St. Claire drops out of school and starts her own crime scene cleaning business. “Yeah, that’s me,” she says, “a crime scene cleaner. People waiting in line behind me who strike up conversations always regret it.” When a routine cleaning job leads her to find a murder weapon the police overlooked, she realizes that the wrong person is in jail. But the owner of the weapon is a powerful foe . . . and willing to do anything to keep Gabby quiet. With the help of her new neighbor, Riley Thomas, a man whose life and fa...

Captain's Log, Stardate 11.12.2006 Sorry guys, I only have two special men and their families on my heart today. Father God, I lift up Bruce and Doug to you today. They have been your faithful servants. They love you and trust you, especially now in this difficult time. Lord I pray for healing. I pray for wisdom for the doctors. I pray for your powerful hand on their bodies. Be with their families. Give them power, grace, and strength. Strengthen their faith and trust in you. Help them to cling to you with all their strength. Hold them in your righteous right hand. Lord, you are God. You are our Lord, our Father. We lift our feeble hands to you and uncover our hearts before you. Cover us with your Spirit and your grace. Thank you that we can pray in Jesus' holy name. Amen.

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.10.2006 Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. My Monday book giveaway is Lost in Nashvegas by Rachel Hauck . My Thursday book giveaway is A Carol for Christmas by Robin Lee Hatcher . You can still enter both giveaways. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for the Lost in Nashvegas 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 It’s starting to look a lot like Christmas... Last year, I came across an article on gifts for writers, and I expanded on it with an article of my own. I’ll be posting a part of it every Friday and then eventually post the entire article on my Story Sensei blog . I’m starting this series early so your loved ones—er, Santa can start saving up for maybe something extra special. And if you have ideas o...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.09.2006 Today I have award-winning author Robin Lee Hatcher on my blog! Robin Lee Hatcher discovered her vocation as a novelist after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. However, she's certain there are better plots and fewer calories in her books than in puffed rice and hamburgers. The winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction, the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance, and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award, Robin writes both historical romance and contemporary women's fiction. A Carol for Christmas (October 2006) is her 50th release, and she has four books slated for release in 2007. Robin enjoys being with her family, playing with Poppet (her high maintenance Papillon), spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She is passionate about the theater, and several night...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.08.2006 Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. My Thursday book giveaway is Coldwater Revival by Nancy Jo Jenkins . My Monday book giveaway is Lost in Nashvegas by Rachel Hauck . You can still enter both giveaways. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for the Coldwater Creek 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 family tree! You know my little graphic? It's actually a fancied-up version of my Japanese family crest, or mon . Traditionally, it's passed down from mother to daughter. This is actually my grandmother's father's crest (Hironaka family) rather than my grandmother's mother's crest (Hirosue family) because we had a hard time finding her mother's crest. My mom just sent me a...