Captain's Log, Stardate 02.11.2006 Book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway (SAVANNAH FROM SAVANNAH) is here . My Thursday book giveaway (A HERO FOR DRY CREEK) is here . You can still enter both of them. Just post a comment on those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for SAVANNAH and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Random thought--ramen: What is it with my fascination for Asian noodles? I love bread, don't get me wrong--especially if it happens to be toasted with butter and garlic--but the thought of a bowl of thin wheat noodles swimming in MSG-spiked soup makes my mouth water. The last time my parents flew up to California, they brought me frozen ramen imported to Hawaii from Japan--not the dried Top Ramen or Sapporo Ichiban sold at Safeway. This was the expensive, authentic stuff. The frozen Asian noodles are soft and yet firm, which is opposite from Italian pasta--cooked fresh pasta is often softer and more supple than cooked dri...

Captain's Log, Stardate 02.09.2006 Gina: HOORAY FOR MY FRIEND GINA WHO NOW HAS AN AGENT!!! Congrats, girl! Christina: I'm pretty stoked b/c my friend Christina commented on my Xanga yesterday. Christina was one of my high school kids at church when...well, when she was in high school. :) Right now, she's on short-term missions in Japan! I'm so proud of her. She's grown into a beautiful woman of God. And now I've completely embarrassed her by mentioning her on my Blogger blog and my Xanga. Why blog: I've been thinking about blogging lately. I love it. Probably because I like to talk. The problem is, why would a perfect stranger want to listen to me talk? I wouldn't. I'm not looking for pats on the back. I'm seriously wondering what's the purpose of my blog. If it's just me talking about myself, there's only a limited circle of friends who care. I love books, which is why I like giving them away. Is that my only blog purpose?...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 02.06.2006 Bible in 90 Days: Day 29. I didn’t post yesterday although I did read—it was way late and I didn’t feel like updating my blog. Today I finished 2nd Chronicles and started Ezra. Again I’m struck by God’s mercy to Manasseh. He was completely vile in his religious practices, but when he was captured and cried to God in repentance, God forgave him and restored him. What grace! I should never doubt I’ve fallen too far away from God. Writing: I’ve posted my Write Time column over at WordPraize, and I’ll be working on my RubyZine Real Life Q&A column. Diet: Yesterday was horrific at 2000 calories (I hope it was only 2000!), although I redeemed myself with a walk with the dog and 30 minutes on the bike. Today, I had PT and I’ve had a 600 soup lunch. I’m also going to try for another 20 minutes on the bike later tonight.

Captain’s Log, Stardate 02.05.2006 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 email me. If you don’t see yourself and you want to, email me or leave a comment. 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 3 Sundays. Lord, in your wisdom, give us light. You are God of all the earth. Lord, please give Heather wisdom about whether she should get a new computer. I pray everything works out for her. Thank you for healing her from her cold. Please be with Pammer and help her to overcome her fear and doubts. Give her strength so that she will no longer be paralyzed by them. Please help her to finish her rewrites by the end of February. Be with Jules, also, and heal her. Please heal Squirl. Give the doctors wisdom to know how...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 02.04.2006 Book giveaway: My Monday book giveaway (HOW SWEET THE SOUND) is here . My Thursday book giveaway (HIDDEN MOTIVES) is here . You can still enter both of them. Just post a comment on those blog posts. Next week Monday, I'll draw the winner for HOW SWEET THE SOUND and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned. Youth Group: Well, it’s almost Stardate 02.05.2006 here on the West Coast. I went to church youth group tonight. My boyz Eric, Chris and Tim led music—they did a good job. It’s so great to see them serving. It was also a welcome change for me to not lead music and just enjoy the worship experience with God. Genesis: The ACFW Genesis contest is getting busy now that the deadline is looming. I hope we’ll get more entries soon. I’m really hopeful that the Sci-Fi and the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller categories get enough entries to stand alone. Bible in 90 Days: Day 27. I’m continually amazed and heartened by how God forgives. ...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 02.02.2006 End of the Spear: I finally heard about the controversy. That’s really sad how misinformation can spread and how Christians can react with such judgment, but I’m also incredibly moved by the producer’s response. It’s obvious that they spent a lot of time in prayer—that it wasn’t just an emotional or business decision. This is taken directly from Brandilyn Collins : First, Green’s and Saint’s answers regarding what happened: http://www.epm.org/articles/end_spear_chad_allen.html Second, Randy Alcorn’s lengthy article about the controversy and how it is being corrected. And more important, how we Christians should watch out own behavior in situations such as this: http://www.epm.org/articles/end_spear_response.html 2:35 p.m. PST: Since Robin nagged—er, asked, I posted the above last night for the East Coast people. :) Bible in 90 Days: Day 25. I finished 2nd Kings with the exile to Babylon—which is exciting since I had done an in-depth study...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 02.01.2006 Continuing my interview with Shirlee... CT: What is your most memorable moment as a writer? SM: I have two. The day I got THE CALL and learned Steeple Hill wanted to buy my first (and second) book. And last summer when my agent called to tell me I'd been asked to take part in a Love Inspired Suspense continuity. That one was a big deal moment because it came just a week after Steeple Hill offered me a three book contract. CT: When did you first discover that you were a writer? SM: I've always been a story teller, but I think I discovered I was a writer when I took my first creative writing class. That was in high school. CT: Writing a novel is ... SM: like baking bread. It might take a while to do it right, but the results are worth the effort. CT: What's your greatest writing weakness and how do you overcome it? SM: I've got a real problem with pacing my stories, so when I'm writing I ask myself questions - Why a...