I gave an interview at the Avon signing at the RWA conference at the end of July and they just aired a clip of it on NPR! http://www.npr.org/2012/08/15/158699571/a-rainbow-of-happy-endings-in-ethnic-romances Update: Here's the link to the transcript if you can't do the audio: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=158699571

I decided to go to RWA conference , oh, this morning. I’m registered! Who’s going? My editor got me into the Avon booksigning Friday July 27th from 9:45 to 11:15 am (Zondervan is owned by Harper Collins, who owns Avon). I’ll be signing Protection for Hire so if you want a free autographed copy, be sure to come by! My problem is that there are so many Avon authors whose books I want to get autographed copies of!

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.08.2011 I decided to update my list! So here it is. The highlight of my year is always the ACFW conference in September. It’s my favorite conference for so many reasons, some of which are: the friends I get to see there the industry professionals I get to meet the workshops the hotel (I am SO not a “roughing it” girl.) I’m terrible at forgetting what to bring every year, so once again I’m pulling out my list. And I also thought it might be a useful list for other people who might be going to conference, too (not just the ACFW conference, but any writer’s conference). So here goes, in no particular order: 1) business cards and/or bookmarks . For me, bookmarks are usually easier since writers are readers, too, and can always use a bookmark. 2) A one-sheet of my latest proposal. Dineen Miller did a great blog series on One-Sheets: http://www.acfw.com/blog/?p=137 , http://www.acfw.com/blog/?p=170 , http://www.acfw.com/blog/?p=203 , http://w...

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.12.2010 If you're on Facebook, you'll see I posted pictures from ICRS, but in case you haven't see them yet, check them out on my Scrapbook ! (I put them on my scrapbook in case blog viewers have a hard time viewing webpages with lots of pictures.)

Captain's Log, Stardate 10.07.2009 Yes, it’s true! It took so long because I had SO MANY DANG PICTURES! I met lots of friends and lots of authors! I wanted to be nice to those of you guys on dialup, so I posted the pics here on my Scrapbook blog . Enjoy!

Captain's Log, Stardate 06.20.2008 Today, the 2008 ACFW Conference registration opened up and writers are getting excited! I credit the ACFW conferences with my publishing career. I met my current agent at an ACFW conference, and I met my current editor at an ACFW conference, even before she became an editor! Most writers balk at the cost, and I won’t lie, it’s not cheap. Plus you have to factor in the cost of the hotel room and airfare (and can I get an amen at how ridiculous the airfare prices are now???). But for me, because I felt truly called by God to write Christian fiction, the cost was worth it. I knew I needed to attend the workshops and talk to both other writers and industry professionals. I didn’t think of it as “networking”—I thought of it as meeting people as excited about writing as I was. I wanted to meet other writers and “talk shop” with someone who could respond both coherently and with passion. (When I talk writing with Captain Caffeine, he tries to follow me,...

Captain's Log, Stardate 04.08.2008 Congratulations to all the finalists of the 2008 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis contest for unpublished writers ! Chick lit/mom lit/lady lit: Annalisa Daughety Tiffany Kinerson Sara Richardson Lynda Schab Erica Vetsch Contemporary Fiction: Christina Berry Dan Case Lynne Gentry Jennifer L. Griffith Jim Rubart Contemporary Romance: Annalisa Daughety Kathleen Haynes Cara Slaughter Sandra van den Bogerd Linda Yezak Historical Fiction: Yvonne Anderson Lori Benton Mona Hodgson Christina Miller Rachel Moore Historical Romance: Patty Smith Hall Myra Johnson Allison Studer Erica Vetsch Karen Witemeyer Mystery/Suspense/Thriller: Ed J. Horton Melanie L. Jones Janice Olson Donna Alice Patton Jane Thornton Romantic Suspense: Dani Pettrey Kelly Ann Riley Julie Scudder Jane Thornton Jenness Walker Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Allegory: (there are six finalists because there was a tie for the 5th finalist spot) Lynda K. Arndt Valerie Comer John W. Otte Jim Rubart ...

Captain's Log, Supplemental I finally got them up! I don’t have many, unfortunately. There here at my Scrapbook blog .

Contemporary Romance (includes romantic comedy) 3rd place: Jennifer Hudson Taylor , By His Plan 2nd place: Jennifer Lynn Cary , On The Court 1st place: Audra Harders , Rough Ride Historical Romance 3rd place: Audra Harders , Precious Possessions 2nd place: Jennifer Hudson Taylor , Promised Blessings 1st place: Pam Hillman , Stealing Jake's Heart Romantic Suspense 3rd place: Suzan Robertson , The Circle Game 2nd place: Dineen Miller , Manna Reign 1st place: Marci J. Burke, Shadow of Doubt Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Allegory 3rd place: Rebecca Grabill , Out of Darkness 2nd place: Chris Mikesell , Revival 1st place: Sally A. Apokedak , The Kisses of an Enemy Historical Fiction 3rd place: Marcia Gruver , Love Never Fails AND Yvonne Anderson, Mom's Mirror 2nd place: Tina Helmuth , Hidden Snares 1st place: Carla Stewart , A Dandelion Day Young Adult 3rd place: Sally Apokedak , Prisoners of the Throne 2nd place: Linda Fulkerson , The Rod of Schmazel 1st place: Rachael Phillips , Song of the Orph...

Captain's Log, Supplemental I was at the Oregon Christian Writers Conference from July 30th through August 2nd, but then I also spent time with my friend Donna Fleisher, seeing the Oregon coast. I posted pictures here.

Captain's Log, Supplemental I’ve put up my pics only from ICRS here on my scrapbook blog . The pics are mostly the same, but there are a few new ones, including this: SUSPENSE WRITER STEPS OFF THE DEEP END AND TRIES TO KILL CHICK LIT AUTHOR AGAIN! Brandilyn Collins, who tried to kill Camy Tang once before on her blog , again attempts homicide at the 2007 ICRS convention during their joint booksigning. More pics from my booksigning here on my scrapbook blog .

Captain's Log, Supplemental The ACFW Conference is only a couple months away! I’m totally excited about the awards ceremony. Besides the Genesis contest winners, ACFW will also announce the Book of the Year winners, the Mentor of the Year, the Editor of the Year, and the Agent of the Year! Today I’m very happy to have my agent Wendy Lawton with me. Wendy is one of the nominees for Agent of the Year, and I heartily hope she wins it! Wendy Lawton, me, and Debbie Macomber You've attended various conferences over the years. In your opinion, what makes ACFW's conference stand out from the others? The content is focused entirely on fiction, the presenters are knowledgeable and approachable, the atmosphere is fun and friendly and the attendees are among the best prepared anywhere. Any advice you'd like to offer to a 1st time conference attendee? I'd love for attendees to remember that building a writing career is usually a slow process. It takes a number of meetings, lots ...

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 co...

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.11.2007 I started the day with a great meeting with Al Hsu , an editor at InterVarsity Press. We discussed Asian Americans—fiction, non-fiction, the church, family. He’s been in publishing for many years and is very wise. We had a great discussion. I also met his wife Ellen, who’s totally nice and is also into card-making! I wandered the floor and happened to meet Robin Jones Gunn. She asked if I’d eaten yet, and since I hadn’t, said to join her for lunch. On the way to lunch, we met Mark Mynheir, and he gave me a copy of his book, got The Void . Isn’t that cool? Robin has so much wisdom. I loved having lunch with her. She gave me such good advice, both professionally and spiritually. I hope I’ll get a chance to have lunch or dinner with her at the ACFW conference in September. I met up with agent Steve Laube, and walked with him to his next meeting, but on the way we were hailed by Cec Murphy and agent Jeff Dunn. Jeff had been the first editor to request...

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.10.2007 I overslept this morning and didn’t make it to the CAN breakfast meeting, but I did get up just in the nick of time to get to Sharon Hinck’s booksigning of The Restorer . She had a great signing—lots of people in line. I met up with Meredith Efken and Tracy Higley, and we “seeded” the line for a little while until it became apparent the line would propagate itself. I also got to meet Tosca Lee in person (she’d commented on my blog a couple days ago, I think) and get a copy of Kimberly Stuart’s Bottom Line to give away. Siri Mitchell saw me and came up to graciously give me a copy of Moon Over Tokyo , since she was signing at the Personality Party and non-exhibitors couldn’t get in. Isn’t that nice of her? I also saw Jenn Doucette, Laura Christianson, and Jennifer Schuchmann while walking the floor. I also saw Marilynn Griffith briefly. We went to Harry Kraus’s signing and I got All I’ll Ever Need . Then we went to WaterBrook Multnomah, but were t...

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.09.2007 Got up EARLY for the Zondervan authors’ breakfast at 8:30 AM Eastern time, which was 5:30 AM California time. Yes, Camy was not a happy camper. However, she felt better after getting some food in her. I sat at a table with Karen Campbell (Zondervan PR), Lee Hough (Alive Communications), Lynn Waalkes (Aspiring Retail, recently renamed to CBA Retailers and Resources), Jana Reiss (Publisher’s Weekly), Brandilyn Collins and Don Brown. Karen Kingsbury gave an inspiring keynote address that made me feel like dreck for writing fluffy beach reads instead of life-changing women’s fiction. (j/k … sort of). I got a chance to thank Lynn for that great article on upcoming voices in Christian Fiction that came out in Aspiring Retail a few weeks (months?) ago, and I also got a chance to express thanks to Jana for the great review in Publisher’s Weekly. Karen encouraged the table to discuss what inspires each of us, and I naturally allowed my irreverent, shallow ...

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.07.2007 I had lunch with David Park and his wife, Sunita. David’s Korean and his wife is Indian, which is unusual and totally cool! They took me to the Silver Skillet , an authentic Southern diner, which had great corned beef hash (haven’t had that since my dad made it for me at home) and I had grits for the first time. Then we went to Octane , a FABULOUS coffee shop. I should have taken a picture of the latte I had—really cool latte art and coffee that was out of this world. Better than Captain Caffeine, I hate to say it. The barista was amazing. Captain Caffeine has educated me in the fine art of coffee, so I was able to fully appreciate the latte at Octane. David and I had a great talk about Asian American churches and his own plans for writing. He’s intending to go to Seminary, I think this fall. We discussed Asian American culture and how it influences Asian American churches. It was great to have discussions with him like that. It’s been emotionall...

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.06.2007 My flight left San Jose at 6:50 AM, which meant I had to get to the airport at 5:30 AM, which meant we had to leave the house at 5:00 AM, which means I got up at FOUR THIRTY A.M. Camy was not a pretty sight. That also might explain why I went to the wrong gate at first, but luckily I was only off by a number and got to the correct gate before they called my boarding group. I sat next to this tall college kid and felt old. I don’t fly well, so I put on my earphones and watched a movie on my video iPod for most of the flight. Near the end of the four+ hour trip, the kid and I chatted a little, and I found out he’s Christian, and he’s a volleyball player! He was coach for a high school boys’ team going to Atlanta for a tournament. We chatted about volleyball injuries for a while. I gave him my bookmark and he said his mom might like my book. I didn’t check beforehand if Omni Hotel had free shuttles to and from the airport, so I wandered to the hotel...

Captain's Log, Supplemental I’m headed to Hotlanta for the International Christian Retail Show. I’ll be gone until Wednesday, but I’m going to try to blog from ICRS. Forgive me if posts are a bit late this next week!

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. Valley of Betrayal by Tricia Goyer In High Places by Tom Morrisey Disclaimer: I had so many great experiences, I’VE PROBABLY FORGOTTEN A LOT OF STUFF. I drove to Mount Hermon with my friend and local writer Marilyn Hilton . We had a great time talking on the way there and back. I took the Career track, taught by my agent Wendy Lawton , Janet Kobobel Grant , Sally Stuart , and Karen Ball . It was awesome! I learned a lot and had a great time meeting and getting to know people better. I met Cathy Elliott , the brilliant author who came up with the PHENOMENAL potential title for book 2 in my series (still under consideration by the Z powers that be). I met Julie Carobini and her fab family. Her son Matt commented on my blog message board, too! Had some great conversations about Asian Americans writing fiction with Russell Nakamura, who was probably the only m...