Skip to main content

What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG

I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
Post a Comment

Sunday Prayer

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.03.2008

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, email me. Not to be mean or anything, but if you don't email me or comment to update your prayer request, I'm only going to pray ONE Sunday.

I’m trying something new with my Sunday Prayer. I’m really bad about doing it on Sunday, so I’ll be updating it during the week.



Dear Lord, thank you for your power.

I pray for complete healing for Malia, Helen, Cheryl, and Sharon.

I also lift up any of my blog readers in need of physical, emotional, or spiritual healing and pray you will touch them.

I lift up Case and his family to you.

I lift up Caitlin to you and pray she got the job. I pray you have directed everything and that everything will turn out for her good. Help her to trust you and stay close to you and your will for her.

I pray for healing for Tamelia’s mom, for remission of the cancer and not too bad side effects of the chemo. Also give Tamelia strength during this time.

I pray for healing for Christi’s dad, for wisdom for the family and doctors, and a successful surgery if that ends up happening.

Please wrap your arms around Melissa right now. I pray for healing for her mom but also your power, wisdom, and comfort for Melissa. You are good, gracious God. Let her know you are always with her.

Thank you for my new contract! I pray for your will for Captain Caffeine’s job direction. Please provide for our family financially. Guide my life, open and close doors, and lead me into what you want me to do.

Amen.
Labels:

Comments

Christi S said…
Please pray for my dad. He has an aortic aneursysm in the thorasic region that needs to be operated on. In order for them to operate, it would have to be Open Heart Surgery. Right now, we're waiting and praying and not scheduling surgery, but probably will do so after Christmas. Thank you!
Tue Aug 05, 07:44:00 AM 2008
Anonymous said…
Hi, Camy. I've asked for pray for my mom before. I just found out last week that her cancer has "upgraded". She now has stage 4. The doctor's never told us that it upgraded. Hospice has been involved for a little over a month. I found this information out from the Hospice nurse. I believe I'm the only one who knows. I don't think it would be right to tell anyone, especially my mom, unless they ask. My mom, Trudi, still isn't eating well. Nothing sounds good or she's nauseous. I suggest 20+ things and nothing sounds good. It's so hard. Now, she's on methadone. I'm so, so sad. I ask for her healing. I just fear and rejoice for her that it may happen by God calling her home to be with Him. It will truly be the worst day in my life and the best in hers. I don't want her to go so badly, but at the same time, I know she'd be better off. I can't even imagine life without her.

Please pray for her and the rest of us. Thank you so much for listening and for praying. Keep serving Jesus to the fullest. May God richly bless you because of it.

- Melissa
Wed Aug 06, 12:50:00 AM 2008
Anonymous said…
Lord, Thank you for your divine guildance and connections. Bring us a clean and responsible renter for our house at your right time. Lead us to the house you have chosen for us in the community that will enrich and encourage your little children in Christ. You know my needs for community and friendship. I am trusting you to workout all things in your greater glory.
Thank you for my husband and the wonderful marriage you have given me. Motivate our hearts and bodies to live healthy lives by eating properly and exercizing together as a family at night.
Thank you for vision and inspiration. Lord, you give me so many passionate ideas that require organization and an army of people to carry out. I believe you have great purposes to achieve through me and my family. I pray that I do not get in the way of myself by acting on inspirations that are selfserving or not inspired by you. I pray that you will gently remind me to stay on task, please let me mark off things on the list. Meet the financial needs of our family. And Lord if you can miraculously give me the time to write books and get a Masters degree and be the excellent wife and mother after you have relocated us to the right neighborhood while serving you that would be an abundant blessing. Thank you for praying with me.

Oh also Lord my friend Dana still longs for another baby. Heal her insides and make your blessing known.
Fri Aug 08, 12:19:00 AM 2008
Camy Tang said…
Amen! Thanks for joining me, Tricia!
Camy
Fri Aug 08, 02:06:00 AM 2008
Rebekah (monkeygirlsmama) said…
I have a friend who just last week found out her 8mo old daughter has 3 tumors in her right kidney and 2 spots on her left kidney. She started chemo on Thursday and will continue on it once a week for 6 wks. Then she will have surgery to remove her right kidney. That will then be followed by 22 wks more chemo. Please pray for this baby girl and her family. I can't even begin to imagine what they must be going through.

Thanks, Camy. (hugs)

Rebekah
littleminx at cox dot net
Mon Sep 01, 07:36:00 PM 2008
Anonymous said…
Hi Camy, I would love prayer for saftey in travel while I am taking a group of 7 people from Canada to Mexico for 2 weeks to a very remote village where we have been brining food for the past year. We are going to start work on building a church so that we can bring them the gosple and feed their souls as well as their stomachs. It is about a 6 hour drive from any thing else so saftey and good health are a big concern. Thanks for the prayers. I will let you know how it goes when I get back :)
Sherri
Fri Sep 19, 12:18:00 AM 2008
Post a Comment

Popular Posts

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...
10 comments
Read more

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th...
18 comments
Read more

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...
21 comments
Read more

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...
2 comments
Read more

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...
39 comments
Read more

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter

I worked on my first Kickstarter and it got approved! It’s for the Special Edition Hardcover of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 1: Archer and the release of Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 7: Spinster. I contacted my graphic designer about the Special Edition Hardcover of vol. 1: Archer—it’s going to be SO beautiful! The Kickstarter focuses on the Special Edition Hardcover, but it’ll also include vol. 7: Spinster so that it’ll sort of be like a launch day for vol. 7, too. A third special thing that’ll be in the Kickstarter is Special Edition Paperbacks of all the books in the series. They won’t be available in stores, just in the Kickstarter (and later, from my website, and also in my Patreon book box tiers if I decide to do them). The Kickstarter is not live yet, but you can follow it to be alerted when it has launched. (You may need to create a free Kickstarter account.) Follow Camy’s Kickstarter
4 comments
Read more

A List of my Free Blog Reads

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

Brainstorm - character occupation

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.23.2009 Hey guys, I could use some help. In my current manuscript, The Year of the Dog , which is a humorous contemporary romance, I have a minor character, Eddie. He’s my heroine’s ex-boyfriend, and they’re on good terms with each other. He’s a bit irresponsible, but not so much so that he’s a complete loser. He’s got a very easy going attitude, he forgets to pay his bills sometimes, he’s friendly and charming. He’s adventurous and fun to be around, but he’s a little forgetful sometimes, and he tends to spend a little outside his income. I need an occupation for him. What would a charming, easy going, slightly irresponsible guy do for a living? He’s not too irresponsible, because otherwise readers will wonder what in the world my heroine saw in him to date him in the first place. She was attracted to his charm, his easy going attitude (her family’s uptight, and he was a nice contrast), and his adventurousness. But his forgetfulness and irresponsibility ...
64 comments
Read more

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...
32 comments
Read more