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Showing posts from July, 2020

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 ...
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Camy's romantic suspense novellas - prices go up 8/1

Just a reminder, prices go up on August 1st, which is this coming Saturday! Necessary Proof and Unshakeable Pursuit now in print and on sale! Two novellas in my romantic suspense Sonoma series,  Necessary Proof  and  Unshakeable Pursuit , are now available in a  two-in-one print book  for the first time! Previously, they were only available as ebooks. For a limited time, this two-in-one print book is only $8.99! The price will go up on August 1st.  Buy  Necessary Proof and Unshakeable Pursuit  print book on Amazon. In celebration of the print book release, I'm also reducing the price of  Unshakeable Pursuit  ebook to only $0.99. The price will go back up on August 1st.  Buy  Unshakeable Pursuit  in  Kindle ,  iBooks , and  Kobo  ebook formats. Necessary Proof  is still available as a FREE ebook on Kobo, Nook, and iBooks (I'm working on getting Kindle to price match). You can als...
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Clean Romance Christmas in July sale!

There are 30 clean and Christian romances in this ebook sale, including my book, The Spinster’s Christmas , which is only 99 cents! But hurry because the sale ends July 30th! A Regency romantic suspense Spinster Miranda Belmoore has become a poor relation in her cousin’s house. She determines to escape a life of drudgery and disdain from her own family members, who are embarrassed by her straightforward speech and unconventional behavior that does not match with proper society. She is beginning to believe what they tell her—that she doesn’t matter to anyone, not even to God. Former naval captain Gerard Foremont is having difficulty adjusting to life back on land, bitter that his career has been cut short by his severely injured knee. A Christmastide houseparty with the Belmoores reunites him with his childhood friend, Miranda, but he is appalled at the verbal abuse she endures and wants to help her. The festivities are disrupted when a cloaked intruder attacks Gerard, with Mi...
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"Held" by Natalie Grant

I was walking today and this song was on my playlist. It’s a favorite song of mine, but it really spoke to me today, and I thought it might lend some comfort to people who might be feeling a lot of pain because of the current world situation. My prayer for you is that God will hold you, also. And feel free to leave me a prayer request , spoken or unspoken, so I can pray for you.
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Marketing Stress

I’ve been reading more marketing books lately. The self-publishing market has changed so much in the few years since I first started self-publishing, and I haven’t released anything in several years because of those bad bouts of writer’s block ,so I wanted a refresher course on ebook marketing. I’m not very good at marketing AT ALL, and quite frankly I don’t like it very much, but I know I have to do at least some marketing for my books. But I started feeling overwhelmed and stressed about the thought of all the advance marketing I will need to start doing. God was watching out for me, because I had previously arranged to call an author friend of mine, MaryLu Tyndall , in order to ask some advice about target audience. So we talked, and she heard all my fears and stressing about marketing, and she basically talked me down from the rafters. She reminded me that God is in control of my marketing and book sales, and I should pray and do only the marketing I feel God telling me to do...
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One-Skein Pyrenees Scarf knitting pattern

I got into using antique patterns when I was making the scarf my hero wears in my Regency romance, The Spinster’s Christmas . I wanted to do another pattern which I think was in use in the Regency period, the Pyrenees Knit Scarf on pages 36-38 of The Lady's Assistant for Executing Useful and Fancy Designs in Knitting, Netting, and Crochet Work, volume 1, by Jane Gaugain, published in 1840. She is thought to be the first person to use knitting abbreviations, at least in a published book, although they are not the same abbreviations used today (our modern abbreviations were standardized by Weldon’s Practical Needlework in 1906). Since the book is out of copyright, you can download a free PDF copy of the book at Archive.org. I found this to be a fascinating look at knitting around the time of Jane Austen’s later years. Although the book was published in 1840, many of the patterns were in use and passed down by word of mouth many years before that, so it’s possible these are ...
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Update on my writing

I hope everyone is doing well and not getting too stir-crazy from the shelter in place. Things are not that much different for me since I work from home, although it’s kind of nice having Captain Caffeine working from home, too. I try not to bother him when he’s working so we kind of ignore each other most of the time, but we usually eat lunch together, which is really nice. When he was working at his workplace, I would only drive to eat lunch with him once every few months. Lately I’ve been working hard on my Lady Wynwood’s Spies series , a Regency romantic adventure. (If you’re a writer, I’m also blogging daily about my writing at Camy’s Writing Diary Blog in an experiment to document my writer’s process and try to improve my productivity. It might not interest every writer, but I wanted to put it out there in case it could help some writers struggling with their writing habits.) When I’m writing Regency, I like to read a lot of Regency romances to get into the mindset of Rege...
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Shincha Genmaicha green tea review - MastersTeas.com

Sadly, this is the last of the teas I’m reviewing for MastersTeas.com. It’s been so fun to taste the different teas, especially since they’re such high quality and have such complex flavors. Today I’m reviewing Shincha Genmaicha . From the website: Our 2020 Genmai Cha is a lovely early spring version, with fine roasted and puffed rice perfectly in balance with the sweet, tender young leaves. The nuttiness of the rice accentuates the soft umami notes of the tea with hints of crispness in the finish. Unlike the affordable luxury it has become today, historically, tea was a pricey commodity. The Japanese peasants found it difficult to afford much tea and would mix it with roasted rice, which was abundant and cheap. Thus, they were able to squeeze more cups from the same amount of leaves. A recipe born of poverty, Genmai Cha has acquired an uptown chic and is now a favorite of urban dwellers in Japan and the West. This tea contains a moderate level of caffeine Steep at 170° for...
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How can I pray for you?

Photo credit: lalalime.blogspot.com I asked God to make me a prayer warrior, and I realized I was missing out on the chance to pray for all of you, my online friends! So how can I pray for you? I will try to remember to post this at least once a month so I can pray for you. Prayer requests can sometimes be private things, so to keep your privacy, I’ve made a form you can fill out that will keep your requests just between you and me. Also please be sure to fill out the form again to update me if you sent me a prayer request in the past. I’d love to hear how you’re doing. Loading…
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