Interview with Liwen Ho part 2

Today I’m continuing my interview with Liwen Ho! (Part 1 of the interview is here.)

Liwen’s bio:

Liwen Y. Ho works as a chauffeur and referee by day (AKA being a stay at home mom) and an author by night. She writes sweet and inspirational contemporary romance infused with heart, humor, and a taste of home (her Asian roots).

In her pre-author life, she received a Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Western Seminary, and she loves makeovers of all kinds, especially those of the heart and mind. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her techie husband and their two children (AKA munchkins).

Camy here: Liwen is one of the twelve authors participating with me in the Christian Contemporary Romance anthology, Save the Date, which releases September 15.

And now, here’s me and Liwen again!

Your new book One Vow for September will be coming out as part of the Save the Date anthology. Tell us about it.

My novella is a rom com featuring an alpha male and a girl next door type of heroine. They’re coworkers at a women’s magazine where Tristan, being the only male of their department, is a “star”. He’s a bit jaded about love after having been dumped at the altar, but he volunteers to help September do research for an article she needs to write. The fun part of the story centers around the adventures they get into posing as a married couple for said research. I had a lot of fun developing their characters and making them come to life and fall in love.

That sounds like such a great story premise! Are there any symbols or themes in One Vow for September that you want to emphasize, point out, or elaborate on?

Since both of the lead characters are Chinese, I did include some things in the story to highlight the Chinese culture. One thing is the symbolism behind the number nine, which is considered a lucky number because it means “everlasting” in Chinese. If you read the story, you’ll find out why September was given that particular name (and it’s not because that was her birth month). I also address the theme of second chances and trusting in God, especially with Tristan’s storyline where he needed to let go of his past relationship and the fears surrounding it in order to move on.

That’s so neat! I totally didn’t know that about the number nine! (I’m Japanese while my husband is 3rd generation Chinese.)

What do you hope people will take away from this book?

I hope readers will enjoy some good laughs, but also recognize the power of God’s redemption to change our hearts and turn our lives around.

I love redemption books! I find I tend to write that theme quite a lot.

What are your characters' weirdest habits?

September has a slight problem with static electricity, so she carries around a dryer sheet to destatic herself. (I got the idea from a girlfriend who used to do this in college!)

That’s so cute!!!

Do you prefer coffee or tea and why?

Tea all the way!! I love tea—hot or iced, depending on the weather. If iced, I prefer boba tea.

I love boba!!!! Fortunately, we have a really good boba place near our house, but not near enough to walk or bike, which is good for the size of my butt!

You know (or maybe you don't know) how much I LOVE FOOD. One of my favorite restaurants is this Vietnamese sandwich shop that makes a pork and pate sandwich with cilantro on fresh-baked baguettes (dreamy sigh). What's your favorite ethnic food to eat and why?

Yum! That sounds SO good, especially the fresh-baked baguettes. For me, I love sushi. (Which, by the way, is why your Sushi series caught my eye!) My hubby actually worked as a waiter in a sushi restaurant for a few years before we met, so he’s the one who took me to my first sushi place when we were dating. I just love the fresh fish and the different kinds of sushi rolls, including reading their unique names. I also love the tea sushi restaurants serve.

How cool! We should go eat sushi together sometime!

If you could vacation anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Anywhere with a beach, preferably with an ocean warm enough to swim and snorkel in. I love Kauai; I went there on my honeymoon and we’ve taken our kids there as well. I’d love to visit Fiji and stay in an overwater bungalow.

Ooh, an underwater bungalow sounds so neat!

What's your favorite karaoke song and why?

I love “Stop” by the Spice Girls. It’s just a fun song to sing with my girlfriends when we karaoke. The video is cute and the little dance the group does is fun, too.

I remember that song! That’s such a fun song!

If your husband suddenly turned into a piece of furniture, what would he be and why?

This question is hilarious! Does the fridge count? He’s always snacking! I guess that’s more of an appliance though. LOL

LOL My husband is always snacking too!

What childhood books were your favorites?

I loved the Anne of Green Gable series. My best friend and I read them together. I also enjoyed the Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High and some mysteries as well.

I loved Anne of Green Gables, too!

You're off the hotseat! Any parting words?

Thank you so much for this fun interview, Camy!

Camy here: Thanks so much Liwen!

Next week, I’ll post an excerpt of Liwen’s book, One Vow for September, which is one of the twelve stories (along with mine) in the Christian Contemporary Romance anthology, Save the Date, which releases September 15! Preorder now to get 12 novellas for only 99 cents!

Comments

Happy Thanksgiving!

GONE MISSING and the TV show Supernatural

I admit that my husband, Captain Caffeine, and I really liked the TV show Supernatural . We started watching the episodes from season 1 on syndication on cable TV and just got completely hooked. I’m not a huge horror fan, but my husband likes to watch it occasionally, and I ended up liking the show because it had so much humor and tongue-in-cheek moments. I liked that it simply didn’t take itself all that seriously, which made for entertaining TV (despite the monsters). So while I was writing my romantic suspense, Gone Missing , I admit I might have been a little bit influenced by Supernatural . Those of you who have read my blog already know that I completely suck at coming up with character names. I was staring at my computer, trying to find a name for a minor character, when I had the brain fart breakthrough to use the names of the characters from Supernatural . Bwahahahahahahaha! At last count, there are about 33 references to Supernatural in Gone Missing , although a co

Year of the Dog serial novel, chapter 7

I’m posting a Humorous Christian Romantic Suspense serial novel here on my blog! Year of the Dog is a (second) prequel to my Warubozu Spa Chronicles series. Year of the Dog serial novel by Camy Tang Marisol Mutou, a professional dog trainer, is having a bad year. While renovating her new dog kenneling and training facility, she needs to move in with her disapproving family, who have always made her feel inadequate—according to them, a job requiring her to be covered in dog hair and slobber is an embarrassment to the family. She convinces her ex-boyfriend to take her dog for a few months … but discovers that his brother is the irate security expert whose car she accidentally rear-ended a few weeks earlier. Ashwin Keitou has enough problems. His aunt has just shown up on his doorstep, expecting to move in with him, and he can’t say no because he owes her everything—after his mother walked out on them, Aunt Nell took in Ashwin and his brother and raised them in a loving Chri

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

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

Year of the Dog serial novel

About Year of the Dog : A month or two ago, I remembered an old manuscript I had completed but which hadn’t sold. It was a contemporary romance meant for Zondervan, titled Year of the Dog . The book had gone into the pipeline and I even got another title ( Bad Dog ) and a cover for it, but eventually my editor at the time decided she didn’t want to publish it, for various reasons. She instead requested a romantic suspense, and so I cannibalized some of the characters from Year of the Dog and thrust them into the next book I wrote, which was Protection for Hire . Honestly, I didn’t take a lot from Year of the Dog to put in Protection for Hire , aside from character names and a few relationship ties. I was originally thinking I’d post Year of the Dog as-is on my blog as a free read, but then it occurred to me that I could revamp it into a romantic suspense and change the setting to Hawaii. It would work out perfectly as (yet another) prequel to the Warubozu series and introduce

Join Camy's Patreon!

At the moment, I’m releasing all my books in Kindle Unlimited, which requires my books to be exclusive to Amazon. However, I wanted to accommodate readers who prefer other ebook distributors and also reward my fans who might like my books a little ahead of schedule. So I started a Patreon where patrons will get BookFunnel links to download my latest ebooks about 2-3 weeks ahead of the release date. The ebook files are DRM-free and BookFunnel is great about helping you to load it onto your ebook reader or phone/tablet or computer. My Patreon is “per creation,” which means you won’t be charged every month. You will only be charged when I’ve posted a new book. For example, if I post a book on April 15th, you’ll be charged on May 1st. But if I don’t post a book in May, you won’t be charged on June 1st at all. This is because with my health problems, and since some of my books are over 100,000 words each, I’m not able to write a book a month, and I certainly don’t want to charge my

Year of the Dog serial novel, chapter 6

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 s

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

Search This Blog