Captain’s Log, Stardate 12.01.2005 Dineen Miller tagged me for this game: List 15 facts and personal preferences about books: 1. I love ’em, love ’em, love ’em. Give me a book anyday. 2. I like Chicklit and Suspense. I also love Regency romances. I will admit to a secret liking for Silhouette Romances—you know, the sweet ones with the teal covers that are often a bit paranormal now? I will also read a Harlequin Presents occasionally—I just finished “The Italian’s Stolen Bride” by Emma Darcy that was entertaining. Plus I got it at Fictionwise.com (ebook) at a discount. :) 3. I can’t list my favorite authors, I know I’m going to forget one. You can see my favorite books if you go to my Amazon.com page and look at my reviews and listmania list. http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/002-5419208-3024040 4. Okay, I can list this favorite author—I love anything by Betty Neels. Her books are so British. I like the quaint, old-fashioned air of them. I also like Gra...

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Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.30.2005 Stem-cell funding still mired in courts I’m sad for the drain on California’s budget, but I’m also glad the judge didn’t just summarily dismiss the lawsuits challenging the stem cell institute. I don’t object to adult stem cells, but these days, most people think embryonic when they hear the term “stem cells.” Embryonic stem cells are made when scientists kill a baby—an embryo—in order to harvest their inner-most cells, called “pluripotent” cells. Business biology This disappoints me. Neaves doesn’t believe that a blastocyst is a human being. As a biologist and a Christian, I know that something amazing happens the second an egg receives a full complement of DNA, even though it’s just a single cell. Whether it’s made in a woman’s womb, in a Petri dish, or “cooked up” with a blanked egg cell and a skin cell, it forms life as soon as that egg cell has two chromosomes. When that cell divides, no matter if there’s...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.29.2005 Got this link from ValMarie , but I also skip over to Romancing the Blog every so often: Santa, Take Note by Shirley Jump Writing: Following Mary Connealy ’s suggestion, I started writing an article “What to expect from your ACL surgery” while the experience is still fresh. I wrote down all the little tips and tricks that made the experience easier. I don’t know if I want to be known as the ACL Girl, but I definitely want to write something that might help somebody else prepare better for their surgery. There’s so much to do, and there are so many little things that can make things go smoothly. I started “advertising” my critique service, The Story Sensei , today. It’s a little scaring jumping into the mysterious world of freelance. I’ll post a more official unveiling. Revisions? What are those?

Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.28.2005 Went to the doctor’s today and saw his assistant. My knee looks so much better than it did last year—no blistering, only a little swelling. After they removed the catheter for the pain pump, I started feeling an inner ache, but it’s still tolerable. I’m upping my pain med dosage a little. I’m now off the crutches and hobbling around with a stiff leg brace. Thanks to everyone who prayed! God is so good! I also have a new message box on my sidebar. I’m so proud of myself for doing that all by my lonesome, despite my html-deficiencies. Leave me a message! Writing: Hope to get more revisions done tonight!

Captain's log, Stardate 11.27.2005 Thanks so much to all my prayer warriors! I'm feeling great today. There's been very little pain and I think there's no blistering. At least, I don't feel the burning pain of blisters like I did last year. Thanks to Robin 's lack of sympathy, I got a lot done the past few days on my revisions. I'm taking a break from writing today to honor the Sabbath. Instead, I'm doing some reading, including a bit of research for my next book. I'm getting some great ideas for characters and conflict. I've noticed that my creativity blooms when I'm writing about something I'm passionate about. Paula wrote about passion yesterday in her blog. My passion may not be quite the same, but I feel it. The ideas fall in showers like cherry blossoms--thick like a fragrant blizzard. My hero has become solidified because I've discovered his inner struggle. He's dealing with an issue I personally care about, so the story is...

More news from the ACL battlefront Captain’s Log, Stardate 11.25.2005 Thanks for the well-wishes and prayers! Pammer, I think you did mention that to me, and I think I intended to try that, but I probably forgot. [sheepish grin] “Oh, I have a castle!” I forgot to mention two things yesterday. “Oh! I have a castle!” Sometime in between gassing me into unconsciousness and waking up in the recovery room, I came into contact with an allergen. I’m talking major allergy attack. I haven’t had one of these since I lived in Hawaii and suffered from attacks every season because of the tropical flora and fauna. It’s no fun going through an entire box of tissues while lying prone with my leg in the CPM machine (It’s a machine that moves my leg slowly from 0 degrees (straight legged) to 40 degrees (bent knee). It’s to prevent freezing of the joints, and I’m to increase the degrees gradually over the next few weeks.) I took a Claritin, which has improved things some. A runny nose post-surgery is NOT...