camytang's Xanga

Chinese Take-Out and Sushi for One

Wed, 21 Mar 2007 22:33:22 GMT

Publisher's Weekly came out with an article about a controversy that's been hot in cyberspace for a few weeks now. It's about Asian American Christians, Youth Specialties (yeah, guys, the BASIC youth group uses their resources, you know), and my publisher, Zondervan.

I blogged about it here:

Chinese Take-Out and Sushi for One

Check it out and leave a comment.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 08:06:03 GMT

Need a title for book two

Only Uni

That's the working title of book two in my Sushi Series. I don't think anyone even knows what uni is. And those who do probably think it's one of the grossest things ever eaten. If you haven't figured out by now, I'm hopeless at titles.

So that's where you come in! Any ideas for my new title?

Since the series is the Sushi Series, the name should reference Asian food or Asian food utensils.

Here's the story 411:

Book Description:

This is the second book of a proposed four-book series about four cousins: Lex, Trish, Venus and Jennifer. This is Trish's story, while each of the other books focuses on the other cousins as heroines. The cousins appear in all four books. They are all Asian American, fourth generation. Lex and Trish are full Japanese ethnicity, while Venus and Jennifer are half Japanese and half Chinese.

Sushi Series Overview

Four cousins—Lex the Jock, Trish the Vamp, Venus the Swan, and Jennifer the Oddball—commiserate their single status in the San Francisco Bay Area. As the only Christians in their large extended family, they vow to fight the stigma of the infamous family title, Oldest Single Female Cousin. But they have very different ideas about not acting as desperate as they feel about their bleak love lives. Who knew God would have His own plans of true love for each of them?

Book 2 story blurb

Flirty biologist Trish Sakai has alienated her best friends and her family because of her wild behavior with her artist ex-boyfriend, Kazuo. Then she finds her father kissing another woman, and her mom suffers a heart attack. Convinced God is punishing her for her sexual promiscuity, Trish comes up with three rules from First and Second Corinthians: 1) Stop looking at guys, 2) Only date Christians, and 3) Persevere in hardship by relying on God. If she follows them, God will restore her life to the way it was before her mistakes. If she can somehow regain her chastity, she won't feel as dirty and unworthy as she does now. They're only three rules. How hard can it be?

Spenser Wong finds himself attracted to his coworker Trish, but his dinner invitation gets slammed down with a lame excuse about Corinthians and rules. That cools his ardor pretty quick. But then Spenser discovers that his old enemy Kazuo needs Trish as the "muse" for his unfinished masterpiece painting due in a few months for a gallery show. Kazuo pursues Trish with everything he's got, but Spenser decides to throw a wrench in Kazuo's plans by pretending to pursue Trish himself.

Trish is going nuts trying to stand firm against two hunky guys. Her three simple rules aren't so simple anymore . . .

Well??? Any title ideas?

XXXchurch.com

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 22:44:29 GMT

Jesus loves porn stars.

I first read about XXXchurch in Relevant magazine. They are an organization that seeks to help people addicted to porn, whether non-Christian or Christian, whether teens, career people, or pastors. They are also committed to making the modern church aware of the problems of porn addiction and to bring it out into the open so that people can receive healing.

They are a brave bunch. Every year, they rent a booth at the largest porn convention in the country and seek to reach the people who attend. God is moving through them to rescue his people.

Check out their website at www.XXXchurch.com.They have resources and articles not just about porn, but also about tough topics that the church tends to shy away from, like masturbation (Save the Kittens). They also offer resources for parents (Pete the Porno Puppet).

There’s also a project called Pornmobile Confessions which has a podcast. It’s not only a powerful documentary, but it’s also open to music artists who are willing to donate their songs for the tape. You can check out the website for more information.

Win an iPod Nano! Exclusively for my newsletter YahooGroup subscribers, I have a huge contest running until January 31st! Get more info on my contest page!

Sex is Not About Waiting

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 22:26:52 GMT

This is a cool article by Michael Lawrence:

Sex is Not About Waiting

Win an iPod Nano! Exclusively for my newsletter YahooGroup subscribers, I have a huge contest running until January 31st! Get more info on my contest page!

Camy's HUGE website contest!

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 05:22:14 GMT

It's finally here!

I have a gigantic new website contest that runs until January 31st, 2007!

I am giving away a huge basket of books AND an 8 GB iPod Nano!

This contest is exclusively for my newsletter YahooGroup subscribers, so join today!

1st place winner will receive a copy of my book when it comes out (September 2007), a basket of books by other Christian authors, and one of the brand new 8 GB iPod Nanos. (The winner can also elect to receive a 4 GB colored Nano instead of the 8 GB Nano, which is only available in black.)

2nd place winner will receive a copy of my book when it comes out, books by other Christian authors, and one of the new, extra-small 1 GB iPod Shuffles

3rd place winner will receive a copy of my book when it comes out and one of the new, extra-small 1GB iPod Shuffles

20 Honorable Mentions will receive a copy of my book when it comes out.

You read that right! 23 winners in all!

Go to my website for more information.

Oh, and if there's anything in the rules that are confusing, please e-mail me so that I can fix it. Cuz you know, they make perfect sense to me.

Got my book title!

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 05:21:30 GMT

My novel title! Thanks for participating in the poll! I heard back from the Z marketing director and she said they've decided to go with the overwhelming vote for . . . drumroll . . .

Sushi For One?

The question mark is deliberate.

I'm not sure if I go for it or not, but then again, it's not my decision. (Yeah, all you people who think writers actually get to pick their titles? Nope.)

Poll for the title of my book!

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 20:41:59 GMT

Pick my title! The Zondervan Marketing Department is torn about which title would be best for my debut novel. So you guys get to weigh in!

The book is Asian chick-lit--think Bridget Jones meets Amy Tan. If they were both Christian.

Here's the blurb:

Will Lex Sakai be able to surrender her “perfect man” list and give Mr. All Wrong a chance?

Lex Sakai’s family is big, nosy, and marriage-minded. When her cousin Mariko gets married, Lex will become the oldest single cousin in the clan. And that makes her a moving target for Grandma Sakai, who insists that Lex bring a date to her cousin’s wedding.

Of course, Grandma Sakai has some perfect candidates for Lex. Too bad they don’t speak English! And Lex herself has used her Bible study class on Ephesians to compile a huge list of traits for the perfect man. But the one man she keeps running into doesn’t seem to have a single quality on her list. Aiden Young is not her type. He’s not a jock, he’s not employed, he’s not a Christian, and he has some bad history with Lex’s cousin, Trish. It’s only when the always-in-control Lex starts to let God take over that all the pieces of this hilarious romance finally fall into place.

Here are your choices for titles:
Solo Sushi
Sushi for One
Single Sushi
Solo Sashimi

Leave a comment about which you prefer and WHY. I’ll run this poll for a week to figure out which will be the title for my new book!

I finished my revisions!

Tue, 17 Oct 2006 03:08:15 GMT

I finally finished my manuscript revisions! I was done at 4 a.m. this morning and e-mailed them to my editor. These are substantive edits (large-scale, high-level structural edits) for book one in my Asian chick-lit series.

Now I have to finish book two, which is due January 1st.

I also have to launch a huge new website contest that'll go live this week, hopefully. This contest has TERRIFIC prizes (just think where my husband works...).

The contest is exclusively for my newsletter YahooGroup subscribers, so if you don't belong to my YahooGroup, sign up now:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Camys_Loft

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 08:09:05 GMT

CWO – Girly girls

Captain’s Log, Stardate 09.12.2006

Blog book giveaway:
My Thursday book giveaway is A FAMILY FOREVER by Brenda Coulter.
My Monday book giveaway is JADE by Marilynn Griffith.
You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for A FAMILY FOREVER and post the title for another book I'm giving away.

Check out Christian Women Online (click on the button above) to see what other women are blogging about this quote.

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, "What! You too? I thought I was the only one!"

~ C.S. Lewis ~

I am NOT a girly-girl. I prefer jeans and pants over skirts (a remnant of having my skirt lifted in middle school—traumatic, I tell you). I rarely wear makeup. I prefer sports bras over the lacy ones, or the underwire ones, or even the “boost your bust a cup size” wonder ones.

I was also never a jock in school (think pudgy and slow).

I was a brainiac, with all the geeky baggage that went with it. But even the true brainiacs were a little strange, so I never fit in there, either.

Friendships were transient in school, even when I started working. I got along with whoever I happened to be with. Yes, I actually had an accommodating personality back then.

Then something in me snapped. Well, besides my sanity.

I don’t know how it happened, but I started actually finding my personality. And it wasn’t accommodating and pleasant as a good Japanese girl should be.

I stopped stressing so much over my lack of a sense of tact. I stopped being embarrassed by the fact that I’d actually like to be a fiction writer. I stopped being restrained if something struck me as funny, or sad, or unfair.

I stopped trying not to care about how I looked, because darn it, if I want to be skinnier for my own peace of mind, I’m not going to be ashamed of it! Why did I have to be a good Christian girl and be fully content with my body shape? I want to look like Jessica Alba and Jennifer Garner, and I won’t be ashamed to admit it!

I thought I’d chase away all the friends I had around me at the time. But God has a sense of humor, that way.

He actually sent MORE people into my life. As if He was telling me, Finally! It took you long enough to figure out who you are. Now I can pair you up with people who’ll like the new you.

I found people both locally and online who have become strong friends. They are my sisters in Christ and my prayer warriors. The funny thing is, they like me for who I am.

And do you know what the dumb thing is? Here I went through my entire life feeling alone, feeling like I was the only one. And as soon as I stopped trying to fit in, I met people who are just like me—who always felt alone, who felt like they were the only one.

It really did start within me—God had to mold me into who He wanted me to be. Then He sent the friends to bond with me. And now I realize I’ve never been alone.

P.S.--> Fellow CWO blogger Amydeanne has a FABULOUS graphic of the quote on her blog!

TMI:

Writing: Rachelle Gardner (my editor) said the nicest things about me on her blog! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

I’m working on my Marketing Info sheet for Z. My only problem is that I’m still trying to figure out a stronger connection between the hero and the villain.

Diet: I’m not quite back on track. I only did 30 minutes of exercise this morning. I ate lots of veggies for lunch, but I’m eating leftovers—Chinese food and the fries and pastrami from this weekend. I’m doing okay on portion control and stopping when I’m full, though. I think I’m only at 1500 calories today.

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Sun, 20 Aug 2006 02:52:29 GMT

A Novel Idea

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.19.2006

Blog book giveaway:
My Monday book giveaway is GEORGIA ON HER MIND by Rachel Hauck.
My Thursday book giveaway is MURDER, MAYHEM, AND A FINE MAN by Claudia Mair Burney.
You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on each of those blog posts. On Monday, I'll draw the winner for GEORGIA ON HER MIND and post the title for another book I'm giving away.

A Novel Idea: Meredith tagged me, what can I say?

If you could write a novel about any subject, what would it be? (Just the subjectâ€“don't give away your plot idea!)

Or, if just the thought of having to write anything gives you hives, what would you like to read about in a novel that you've never seen done before?

Or if you hate reading fiction (you can get counseling for that, you know), what subject might make you change your mind or try it anyway?

I've written several novels (five, to be exact), so I can answer the first question: If you could write a novel about any subject, what would it be?

A young maid named Cinderella . . . Oh, wait. That's been done before.

A hip 30-something named Cindy Long is laid off from her Silicon Valley high-tech company and the ridiculous housing prices force her to move back home with her psycho stepmother and two passive-aggressive stepsisters.

All Cindy wants in life is to marry a guy who works for Yahoo, Google or Apple, and find a (relatively) affordable pair of Manolo Blahnik stilettos on eBay.

Then her stepmother, dealing with an inferiority complex that dates back to the days when she was the fat girl in school, hides Cindy's invitation to the exclusive Black-and-Red Ball in Palo Alto.

Cindy's Hong Kong grandmother unexpectedly arrives with a fabulous pair of Jimmy Choo knock-offs and a Vera Wang number that only cost her a couple hundred bucks back home. Cindy crashes the party and woos Bill Gates's nephew from under her stepsisters' noses.

They trade cell phone numbers because matching numerous girls' feet to a left-behind shoe is very unsanitary. They marry on the island of Lanai and live happily ever after.

The End

My husband, Captain Caffeine, answered question number two: What would you like to read about in a novel that you've never seen done before?

"A coffee geek takes over the planet."

My dog, Snickers, answered question number three: If you hate reading fiction, what subject might make you change your mind or try it anyway?

"Woof. Pant, pant."

Translation: I'm hungry. Are books edible?