Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.31.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 876. We used a Starbucks gift card we’d gotten 877. Levenger is having a Grand Winter’s Sale! Don’t think I’ll be able to afford anything, but it’s nice to look and drool. 878. I remembered to take my medicine while I was on vacation. I thought I’d forget. 879. I got the cutest silver charm bracelet from my nieces and nephew. It has charms with Japanese characters on one side and the English translation on the other. 880. I got an idea for a Christmas present for my sister-in-law for next year 881. I mailed out my rebate for my Microsoft Office 2004 882. I’m halfway through my critiques! I’m almost done with my manuscript! 883. I’m so thankful for my friends who critiqued this manuscript for me. They’re so insightful. Each one catches different things, so they really compliment each other. 884. We changed the sheets yesterda...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.29.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 851. I had a good vacation time with family. 852. It was so nice to come back with all those Merry Christmas comments from you guys! Thanks! 853. My dad was really pleased with his Christmas gift, and so was my mom 854. It was wonderful to sleep in my own bed. I slept like a log. 855. Although I cut my finger, it’s healing nicely 856. I’m on day 32 of my Bible in 90 Days. Job is hard to read. It’s not black and white, which makes me have to pay attention carefully. Not everything Job’s friends say is untrue, and not everything Job says is really what God wants to hear. Job gets pretty bitter. 857. Captain Caffeine got a chance to sleep in when we got back from vacation. 858. I got some new books for review 859. Writing.com sent me a cute bumper sticker with their Christmas card 860. I got an Amazon gift e-mail so I’m going t...

I'm taking a break from blogging. Have a great Christmas! Camy

Captain’s Log, Supplemental 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 ! 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. This is the end of my series of blog posts, and eventually I’ll post the entire article on my Story Sensei blog . And if you have ideas of your own, leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list! Gifts for Writers, part six (continued from part five ) Gift coupons are great gifts for the busy writer! Anything you can do to give the writer time to write is always welcome. Some ideas: • A load of laundry • An hour of babysitting • Walking the dog • An hour of errands/shopping • A sink of dishes • One cooked meal • Vacuuming for the week • Cleaning the bathroom, or kitchen counter • Mopping and/or sweeping the floors for the week • Clearing the living/famil...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.22.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 826. Blogger is now out of beta! Yay! Soon there will be cooler stuff. I think—from what I read on the website—there won’t be word verification anymore, but I’m not positive about that. 827. I’m done with Sharon’s manuscript and it was GREAT!!! 828. I sent off my article for Christian Women Online 829. I had a great talk with my Marketing Director about my cover. 830. I had a great talk with my friend Stephanie Quilao ( Back in Skinny Jeans ) about the covers, and her perspective. I really trust her advice because she’s a marketing guru and Asian American, so she knows not only progressive Asian American culture, but also marketing trends. 831. I got my Les Miserables the complete symphonic recording CDs! I’m uploading it to my iTunes. 832. I am totally enjoying getting back into Musicals. I used to love them in college an...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.21.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 801. I finished another article for TheHighCalling.org. 802. I looked up a verse in my new TNIV Bible. It was cool. I love that Bible. 803. My Miss Saigon CD arrived! 804. I’m listening to Phantom of the Opera for the first time in years. It’s beautiful. 805. We had a good Bible study last night. 806. My husband and I had a good discussion in the car on the way home from Bible study. 807. I finished making my cards to give away 808. I had a great time talking with a client/friend on the phone the other day 809. I got my Scarlet Pimpernel CD! 810. I’m very glad I got the Concept cast of The Scarlet Pimpernel because I just realized the Broadway cast doesn’t have two of my favorite songs from the Concept cast, “Home Again” and “Marguerite,” unless they’re called different names in the Broadway version. 811. I think I’ll st...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.19.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 776. It’s going to go as low as 28 today! I’ve never been so glad for the extra space heater as now. 777. I finished my latest synopsis critique yesterday 778. I worked on some cards 779. I’m on day 30 of my bible in 90 Days, I’m back on track again. It’s encouraging how God paved the way for the people to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem. I love how He had prophesied about Cyrus years before it actually happened. 780. My friend and awesome writer Audra Harders (she was one of the 2006 Genesis FaithWords Finalists) got a part time job! It’s right up her alley and it leaves time for her to write! 781. I’m using my new laptop to crit my friend Sharon’s manuscript! It’s rather exciting. 782. I got books from Avon! They’re for review. I’m looking forward to reading them! 783. My husband got the wrong smoothie in his order and s...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.18.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 751. I got to sit out from the high school small groups at youth group and work on my manuscript. I got a lot done. 752. Leading worship at youth group was fun 753. My husband and I had a good discussion in the car about marriages, divorce, etc. 754. We had a good youth group leaders meeting, talking about future direction 755. We mailed off a bunch of packages and all our Christmas pictures to family. 756. We gave out some of our Christmas gifts to the youth staff (early this year!) 757. I had some very yummy potstickers 758. Tasting the liquid chocolate ganache was wonderful 759. I finally synched my iPod. 760. I read a few more pages from my Betty Neels book 761. My scarf is done! 762. I learned a neat way to cast off my scarf 763. I made a pretty fringe on my scarf! 764. Captain Caffeine and I made LOTS of chocolate truf...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.17.2006 I got behind on revisions AND making Christmas presents today, so no Sunday Prayer. However, feel free to still leave a prayer request for next time. One of my closest friends, Sharon, is in a lot of physical pain and I feel very convicted to pray for her today. Lord, I come to you and lift up my beloved sister Sharon to you. Please touch her body and heal her from these symptoms. Touch her spine and make it whole. Touch her head and stop the pain, dizziness, achiness, disorientation. Make everything stable again. Touch her entire body and help her symptoms to stop. Give her rest. Help her to be able to relax and sleep. Cover her with your grace, Lord, and give her relief. Surround her with your arms of love and help her so that no matter what she has to do, she can do it for you. Thank you for your grace, Lord. Amen.

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.16.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 726. How exciting! My online friend and fellow ACFW member Betsy St. Amant contracted this year with Wild Rose Press for her debut Inspirational Romantic Suspense, Midnight Angel , and it’s available in ebook format as of yesterday! The print version, which will be available on Amazon.com, Alibris.com, etc. will be available in January. 727. I did NOT deluge myself with excess stress by standing in that horrific line at the post office. People just standing there looked extra mean and nasty. I forgot how busy the post office is on Fridays. I’ll try to go tomorrow instead. 728. I got my first issue of In Style magazine. It’s for research for my stories, since I’m no longer, well, in my twenties, and want to keep up with issues twenty-somethings are interested in, as well as popular culture. 729. I got the first half of a m...

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 @Home For the Holidays by Meredith Efken My Thursday book giveaway is Balancing Act by Kimberly Stuart . You can still enter both giveaways. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for the @Home For the Holidays 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 ! 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 ...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.15.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 701. I finished the rough draft of my manuscript yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now for revisions so I can get it to my critique partners. 702. I’m glad I got two bunches of celery at the grocery store because I went through the first bunch pretty fast this week. 703. I love eating celery—the crispy crunchy texture, the water exploding in my mouth when I bite into it. 704. I like oatmeal, too—the nutty flavor, the combination of soft and whole grain textures. 705. Made a dinner date with us, my parents, and my in-laws for the 23rd. I’m looking forward to good Mexican food! 706. I exercised yesterday! 707. I’m in day 29 of my Bible in 90 Days. I just started Ezra. It’s very inspiring how the people first rebuilt the altar to the Lord to restart the daily sacrifices even before Jerusalem had a wall, or they had laid the temple’s fou...

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Today, I have mom-lit author Kimberly Stuart ! Kimberly's latest novel is  Balancing Act With her baby on one side and her career on the other, what’s a girl to do? As maternity leave comes to an end for Heidi Elliott so does virtually everything she thought she knew. The substitute filling in for her high school Spanish classes has made a complete mess—not just with her students, but perhaps in way far more personal. Her husband has made a habit of going out of his way to help a beautiful, wealthy, thin client and to further complicate things, an old boyfriend has moved back to the neighborhood. Fiercely independent, Heidi has never been one for group activities, much less church chats and teas. Pushed into accepting an invitation to the Wednesday night Mom’s Group, she finds herself in a sea of polyester, polka dots, big hair and, surprisingly, strong women, who just might hold the lifeline she didn’t think she needed. And now, here’s Kimb...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.14.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 676. I’m on day 28 of my Bible in 90 Days. It’s both sad and yet good that the Levite priests in Israel escaped to Judah to continue to serve the Lord when Israel split from Judah. I guess I’m just sad when I read about the corruption in later years. 677. I exercised yesterday! 678. I think I ate bad smoked salmon dip yesterday, but God was good and helped me not get too sick. 679. My friend Ronie is almost done with her bachelor’s degree in psychology! She takes her last exam on Friday!!!! Woohoo! Congrats, girl! That psych is certainly doing you good with characterization, don’t you think? 680. I fixed our YahooGroup so now Dineen’s e-mails are going through rather than being pegged as spam. 681. My Steeple Hill discussion board friend Hope Chastain got picked to pitch her romantic suspense to Krista Stroever! 682. Dineen...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.13.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 651. Heather is now officially moved! Enjoy cold, snowy, windy Denver, babe. 652. I’m on day 27 of my Bible in 90 Days. It was very inspiring to see how the people gave so freely of their wealth for the temple, and Solomon’s prayer reminded me that everything I have his God’s. 653. I exercised yesterday! I almost didn’t because I woke up so late, but I’m glad I did. The ab exercises almost killed me but I did them! 654. I got a full night’s sleep. 655. Brainstormed with Captain Caffeine about Christmas gifts for the relatives. I think I know what to get our sister in law. All women like jewelry, right? 656. I posted pictures of my office at my Scrapbook blog . Just click on “My Office” on the right sidebar. 657. My wireless trackball was giving me problems, so my husband brought home a regular (non-wireless) trackball for m...

M.L. Tyndall is a friend of mine, and I get to post a sneak peek at her new novel, The Reliance , which will come out in January! Tormented by his wife's apparent demise, Edmund Merrick sails away to drown his sorrows-only to find himself trapped in the dark world of a demented Frenchman. When his mind clears from its rum-induced haze, will Edmund find the will to escape? Seemingly abandoned by her husband, Charlisse is thrown into the clutches of the vengeful pirate Kent. Will she be swept away by the undertow of treachery and despair? Can Edmund and Charlisse steer their way to the faith-filled haven they so desperately seek, or will they ultimately lose their love and lives to the sea? The Reliance (Legacy of the King’s Pirates, book 2) by M.L. Tyndall Excerpt of chapter one: The dark hull of a ship loomed ahead, lit by two lanterns, one on the bowsprit and the other swinging from a hook on the mizzenmast. Dim light shone through a porthole below the quarterdeck. Three masts c...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.12.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 626. HEATHER MOVES TODAY!!!! YAY!!!!!!! 627. Heather had to get up at 3:30 A.M. to catch her flight and I got to tease her mercilessly about it. I’m so mean. 628. It’s rather neat how even though people move houses, their blog address remains the same and I can still keep up with them and see how they’re doing. 629. Had a great phone convo with my friend Pammer, who is going to make a GREAT ACFW VP!!! 630. I exercised yesterday! 631. I ordered Xmas gifts yesterday! 632. I ate lots of veggies 633. There was only one bad thing on my list of what I ate, and it was a small amount of potato chips I snacked on with my husband. 634. I moved our small space heater into my office and so now it’s nice and warm in here. I turn it off when it gets to the right temperature so I don’t waste electricity. 635. My parents gave us this silk-f...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.11.2006 Today I have my friend Meredith Efken guest blogging with me! Meredith's latest mom-lit novel is  @Home For the Holidays Sitting by the fireside, humming carols and knitting mittens…not! For these stay-at-home moms, the weeks before Christmas are anything but mellow. How can you balance housework, home crises and the husband without losing your mind? Plug in your laptop! Meet Dulcie, Zelia, Jocelyn, Rosalyn, Veronica and the rest of the women of SAHM I Am. An e-mail loop of stay-at-home moms, they've seen each other through months of domestic drama: babies who won't come, bills that won't leave, kids who won't listen and spouses who won't talk. Now, as the yuletide approaches, the SAHMs are on hand once again, bearing gifts of sisterhood, sanity and the real Christmas spirit. And now, here’s Meredith! This is the season of peace and love, of giving, of friendship. And for we who are Christians, of celebrating Jesus’...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.11.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 601. Heather moves tomorrow! 602. I remembered to replace the battery in my guitar pickup. 603. We got some shopping done today for the Christmas truffles we’re going to make. 604. My parents told me what to get for my relatives for Christmas, so now I don’t have to rack my brains trying to come up with something. 605. The baptism yesterday was really nice even though I didn’t know when I was supposed to walk up and read Emily’s testimony, because I expected the pastor to SAY SOMETHING like “This is Emily,” or “Camy’s going to read Emily’s testimony.” 606. Had a great lunch of ¾ of a Trader Joe’s mini portabella mushroom and roasted garlic pizza. Yummy! Plus it was low fat, and I only ate part of it. 607. Got some cool wines at Trader Joe’s that were only $2 each! I love living in northern California. All the local wines are...

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 another day from you. I pray for complete healing for Bruce and Doug. Please cover both of them and their families with your power. Please be with Heather as she packs up to move. I pray everything goes smoothly both logistically and emotionally. I pray for overwhelming favor for Case with his sentencing judge. Keep your hand firmly over the entire family and help them to have faith in you. Uphold your righteous ones, Lord. Help Robin do your will as ACFW President, and give her wisdom. Help her not to be overwhelmed, ...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.10.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 576. Thank You God for Your help in finishing this manuscript. I can feel Your power when I stop and pray. 577. Thank you also to all the friends who are praying for me to finish! 578. I rearranged my scene index so now I think I have a better feel for how the climax is going to go. 579. I was really good and only ate half of my Vietnamese sandwich for lunch. It was perfect because I took longer to eat it, so I was just as satisfied as if I’d eaten the whole thing. Those sandwiches are yummy! 580. The Candy Apple tea from Adagio.com is really good! I think I will order more of this and the Candy Cane so I can drink it after the Christmas season ends. 581. I exercised yesterday! I think that means I’ve exercised every day this week! 582. Captain Caffeine was nice enough to go get our dog’s ear cleaning solution from the vet t...

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 Scoop by Rene Gutteridge My Thursday book giveaway is Blind Dates Can Be Murder by Mindy Starns Clark . You can still enter both giveaways. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for the Scoop 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 ! Blog Bible study: Isaiah 7:1 – 8:22 In the face of danger, King Ahaz did not trust God and didn’t want to risk hearing what He’d say or command for him to do. He didn’t truly believe in God’s power to save or His prophet/prophecy. “Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.” Isaiah 7:9b God offers His help to me, and it’s up to me to believe Him and take it. This week’s sections also talked about fear of God. This is a theme I’ve been...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.09.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 551. Heather moves in 3 days! 552. I found a great article, Sex is Not About Waiting by Michael Lawrence. 553. I was really excited because I got the link to switch to the Beta Blogger system, which allows labels and private blogs, but it turns out my blog account is too large to transfer yet. Hopefully soon. 554. I had a really good time with God yesterday in my Blog Bible Study in Isaiah. 555. I made some yummy potstickers (the frozen kind) 556. I exercised yesterday! I had a good upper body workout. 557. I made a eucalyptus infusion. Now I have plenty for the upcoming sinus headache season. 558. Added bonus—I made the infusion in a large glass measuring cup and set it in my office so that I could smell the eucalyptus while it was steeping. 559. There was lots of lovely lavender in my garden for me to harvest yesterday 56...

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 Scoop by Rene Gutteridge My Thursday book giveaway is Blind Dates Can Be Murder by Mindy Starns Clark . You can still enter both giveaways. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for the Scoop 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 ! 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...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.08.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 526. My scarf is coming along nicely. It’s so soft, I love it. 527. I’m starting to eat an ounce of nuts every day. It’s supposed to be very healthy, plus it has the good fats I probably need to lower my cholesterol. And there’s a lot of fiber, too. 528. I’ve been drinking cranberry juice every day, too, for my uterine tract. But I think next time I’ll buy the 100% juice instead of the cranberry cocktail. This stuff was cheap, but there’s tons of sugar. 529. I got my tea from Adagio today! I ordered samplers of Candy Cane (because I can’t find Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane anywhere, I’ll have to go to Whole Foods and look there) and Candy Apple (apple and caramel—Mmmmmm). I also ordered my favorite everyday tea, Adagio’s Irish Breakfast. Again, if anyone wants a $5 gift certificate for Adagio Tea, just e-mail me or co...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.07.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 501. I exercised yesterday! 502. I had writer’s group last night. It was only 3 of us, but it was so much fun. We got to celebrate Shelley ’s new book deal for a YA series! 503. Had some yummy champagne to celebrate Shelley’s book deal. :) 504. I only had 4 pieces of shortbread, and it had oatmeal in it so it wasn’t completely decadent. 505. Dineen took home some shortbread so I don’t have to eat all the rest. :) 506. My MacBook Pro arrived yesterday!!!! 507. I discovered an easy way to elevate my desktop monitor as well as my keyboard and mouse so that I can stand and work without my neck bending down so much. 508. I remembered to post (and yes, this is a feat to be celebrated) another blog marketing post at the CAN Marketing Blog . 509. I am very grateful Captain Caffeine is familiar with Macs, because there were some thin...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.06.2006 I’m participating in the “One Thousand Gifts” list from Christian Women Online. Click on the picture to find out more about it. 476. I exercised yesterday! 477. I ate oats. Granted, it was granola instead of oatmeal, but that’s got to do some good for my cholesterol, right? 478. I’m applying for a campership for Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. I pray I get it so I can go. 479. Standing at my desk and writing definitely kept me warmer and more energized! How neat! 480. I caved in and bought more tea. I’ll eventually use it all, right? I wanted to try the holiday flavor samplers and be able to order more if I liked them. 481. I discovered fellow tea lovers in Sheryl and Sabrina! It’s nice getting recommendations and raving about flavors and types. 482. I started thinking about Christmas cards and presents early this year! Now to buy and send stuff. 483. I made a few Christmas cards! And I bought more ribbon so I can make more. 484. Sharon su...