Skip to main content

ICRS Wednesday

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.13.2007

My plane was leaving Atlanta at 4:45 pm, so I had a few hours to kill before heading over to the airport. I went and took some pictures of the ICRS floor:




Here’s the Zondervan booth:




On your way down to the conference floor, you have to use four elevators going down to the exhibit hall level. Zondervan made a huge banner for the 2nd elevator, and guess who’s on it with her name even bigger than Karen Kingsbury???









Um, yeah … I kind of took a lot of pictures of MY NAME BIGGER THAN THE SIZE OF MY CAR!!!

Update: My husband mentioned that the above might seem like crowing or bragging. I hope it didn't come across that way. I was just awed and excited at what Zondervan has been doing for me, a mere debut author. I feel very blessed in the publisher God has given to me.

I chatted a bit with Kay Marshall Strom, who is just the nicest person. I also saw Rachelle Gardner (my macro editor), her friend Vicki Caruana, and Jenn Doucette. We had a lively conversation about what to give and NOT to give your children’s teachers for Christmas.

For all you parents, mugs and figurines are OUT. Staples, OfficeMax, Barnes and Noble, Borders gift certificates. Staplers since they have a tendency to grow legs and walk away. Same with three-hole punchers.

I happened to meet up with Ane Mulligan and my new friend Nora St. Laurent, and we had the funnest lunch in the convention center. On the way out, we met up with Andy Meisenheimer (my Z editor who’s not my editor) and chatted with him about drooling mastiffs.

I rode to the airport in the Atlanta Link shuttle and chatted with a couple bookstore owners from Oklahoma. One is a nonfiction writer, and I offered to ask around to find nonfiction Christian writers’ groups that she might want to join.

While waiting in the airport at the gate, I saw the same college guy who had sat next to me on the plane from San Jose. We spent the time waiting talking to each other. His name is Jeremy and he’s just the nicest kid. I want to adopt him. We talked about volleyball more, and knowing God’s will for what you should do.

It was an uneventful flight (thank goodness) and Captain Caffeine met me in baggage claim. My bags were out rather quickly, too!

When I came home, Snickers’ butt was wiggling at 200 wiggles per hour and she wanted to lick every square inch of me—very gratifying to be welcomed home this way. Yesterday, she stuck close by me all day as if she were afraid I was going to leave again.

Guess I shouldn’t tell her about the Oregon Christian Writers Conference at the end of the month, eh?

Comments

Can't wait to meet you at OCW.

As for gifts for a teacher--I've tried something twice and gotten great results both times.

I bought my son's kindergarten teacher a wheelchair for her birthday. Well...it wasn't exactly for her. I ordered a $13 (or so) wheelchair through World Vision in her name to be given to a handicapped person in a third-world country. Turns out her inspiration for going into teaching was being an aide for a disabled student--who received her first good wheelchair during their time together. I had no idea, but God did. Brought her to tears.

Next, since that went so well, we ordered drought-resistant, quick-growing seeds. Sent by World Vision to Africa under my daughter's teacher's name. The teacher's daughter is of African descent...really meant a lot to her though I didn't even think of that connection when I picked it.

Whew...sorry for the long-winded post. Hope I didn't bore you. :-)
Trish Perry said…
Camy, thanks so much for drawing the ACFWers to your blogs about the conference. I read them all just now and thoroughly loved the experience.

Girl, you can WORK a conference! I think I would just wander around aimlessly, too shy to meet all of the authors you met and featured. I always think I'm interrupting something very important by "inserting" myself into "famous author" groups, LOL! At ACFW in September, I'd love to get some pointers from you.

You looked fantastic in your various outfits. And I'm so there with you on the room of one's own. Roomies are fun, but so is a bit of privacy during such a whirlwind week.

See you in Dallas!

Trish
Kristy Dykes said…
Thanks for The Camy Tang IRCS Report. Fabulous! Pics, too. Thanks for sharing.
Anonymous said…
Wow, your name is HUGE on the banner... You go girl! :-D
Your name on that banner was the first thing that caught mny eye as I entered the World Congress Center. I was SO jazzed to see that, girlfriend!!!

We did have fun at lunch, didn't we? Poor Andy - I'll be remembered forever as the chick with the drooling mastiff. LOL

See you in Dallas!
Anonymous said…
Bring her along. : )
Great report, Camy. You really DO know how to work a conference. Maybe you should give a workshop to all us shy ladies. Thanks for the details and the great pics. I loved seeing your BIG NAME. LOL I'm so proud of you and happy for you!
Anonymous said…
Enjoyed the pics, Camy!

As for gifts for teachers, my parents have been Christian school teachers which translates poor pay! So yeah, the 300th Christmas ornament is nice, but, really . . .

Things like restaurant gift cards (just make sure it's big enough so they don't have to add more to eat out there!), Target gift cards, American Express gift cards (my mom gets a couple of those each year and loves them because she can buy new clothes she needs or things they need around the house). Any way to increase their income is great!
Anonymous said…
Thanks for taking us along on your ICRS journey, Camy. I enjoyed seeing ICRS through your eyes--although I was exhausted just reading your posts. :-)

I'm with Donna--bring Snickers with you. She can be our conference mascot.
Mary Connealy said…
CAMY!!! Your name was HUGE, how great!
Thanks for the report.
That picture with you standing beside that row of your books is just too sweet.
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Nowhere but up, darlin'.
Anonymous said…
Now that's just awesome! You go, girl! I know you must be thrilled!
Oh wow! Camy, so cool to see your books and your NAME. I wish I could have been there to see the expression on your face. LOL!
Unknown said…
I read every page, Camy! I'm so jealous. Wish I could've been there. Kathleen told me all about it, but it's just not quite the same. Great to see all of your photos, and how interesting that my old editor (Jeff Dunn) is now an agent. I had no idea!
Anonymous said…
Amazing photos and placement. Congratulations! Looks like so much fun.

Popular Posts

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci...

A Wallflower’s Slip of the Tongue – Free Regency eBook

If you enjoy Regency romance with wit, awkward ballroom encounters, and a heroine who can’t quite keep her thoughts to herself, you’ll love Lissa and the Spy . This free Christian Regency romantic suspense novella is the perfect entry point into my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series. Get it free when you join my newsletter (details below). Miss Lissa Gardinier survived her last London Season by pretending to be as inoffensive as possible. But at this ball, she lets her true thoughts slip yet again . And this time, they involve an unfortunately named spaniel. Excerpt Last year during that first dance with Mr. Collingworth, upon seeing him excitedly discuss his dog breeding, she had been encouraged to also speak without restraint. So she had voiced her exact thoughts rather than hiding behind a vapid facade. “Why in the world would you name a dog Lickspittle Furrybottom?” At Mr. Collingworth’s startled look, Lissa realized that she’d said that out loud now , in this dance with him. “… Not...

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...

Free Christian Romantic Suspense Novels by Camy Tang / Camille Elliot

Curious about what my writing is like? Here’s a list of all my free books and the free short stories, novellas, and novels that you can read here on my blog. I’ll update this post as I add more free reads. Christian Romantic Suspense: Necessary Proof (Sonoma series #4.1, novella) Click here to buy the FREE ebook on all retailers Alex Villa became a Christian in prison, and because of his efforts to help stop a gang producing meth in Sonoma, he has been set up for the death of a cop. Can computer expert Jane Lawton find the evidence that will prove his innocence before the gang eliminates them both? Fantasy short stories: Pixies in a Garden in Kyoto There were pixies in the garden. Since she was in Kyoto, she was certain they were not called pixies, but she didn't know what they would be called in Japanese, and they certainly looked like what she imagined pixies would look like. The King’s Daughter The trees in the King's garden were full of colored pixie lights. The...

Insecurities in writing

Captain's Log, Stardate 10.31.2005 Happy Halloween! I'm filching--er, giving away candy at the front door to all these kids. (The Butterfinger Crisp bars are GOOD.) I just emailed Dee about something that's been bugging me--as I do the rewrites for my suspense, I'm feeling insecure. I got great feedback from Wendy and those authors' scoresheets, so I know what I'd like to do, but I'm having a hard time feeling confident that I can do it. Please, no fuzzy-wuzzy cyber-hugs or anything like that. This isn't something I need encouragement about. I need to sharpen my focus, sift through all I've learned from books, articles, and workshops. Most of all, I need to pray. I know my insecurity often comes from Satan. I give in too easily. I was even expecting it, ever since the ACFW conference . I can't shake it. It's like flapping your hand to get gunk off your fingers, but it's too sticky to let loose. I need t...