Thursday, October 23, 2008

Camy Tang is my guest today!



I'm thrilled to have a fellow Seeker, wonderful writer and great friend, Camy Tang, at Cup of Faith today!!!! I just finished her last book in the Sushi series, Single Sashimi, and I loved it!!! It's definitely my favorite of the three.

Welcome to Cup of Faith, Camy!

Thanks for having me here, Janet!

Your books focus on the ups and downs of a big Asian family. Can you tell us about your family life growing up? Perhaps share some memories from your childhood?

My family isn’t actually very big (the large Sakai family is based off of stories told to me by friends about their large Asian families). But like the Sakai family, our gatherings are always focused on the food.

(I personally think that Asian people are all obsessed with food, because where they gather, there’s always food around.)

My mom and grandmothers are terrific cooks. My favorite holidays are:

Christmas, because we’d get Mom’s Chinese chicken salad, Grandma’s lilikoi (passion fruit) chiffon pie, and prime rib.

New Year’s, because we’d get Grandma’s mochi soup (mochi rice balls in seafood flavored broth with Japanese greens.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

When I was five. Okay, no, maybe I was eight. I had just read Dragonsong by Anne McCaffrey and knew I wanted to write novels, too.

What was your favorite scene to write in Single Sashimi?

The first kiss! I won’t give it away because it’s a bit of a surprise, but it was SO fun to write partly because it came out of nowhere! I was as shocked as Venus.

Tell us what your typical writing day is like.

Messy.

Seriously. LOL

I typically start off answering emails since I want to get my more urgent writing business out of the way so I can have some “creative space.”

If I have critiquing jobs to do through my Story Sensei critique service, I do them in order of priority (basically, whoever hired me first).

Lastly, I spend time in my writing. When I’m in the brainstorming stage, I try to have as much time slotted as I can, because sometimes it takes a while for the creative juices to get flowing.

When I’m in the writing phase, I can pretty much write anywhere, anytime, for any length of time. This is when my Alphasmart comes in very handy.

What are your favorite leisure activities?

Knitting! Oh my gosh it’s not even funny how much I love it.

In fact, I would even venture to say that I NEED it. The action of knitting relieves my stress.

I don’t know how it does it, but the repetitive movements just help me calm down.

I think everyone should knit. Plus, unlike crochet, you don’t necessarily have to look down when you knit, you can often knit without looking. Like I do in front of the TV. :)

I find knitting relaxing too, but only if its scarves or an afghan, something that doesn’t require getting the shape right. My first knitting project was a baby sweater for our first daughter. I must’ve thought she was part octopus. Even rolling them up, the sleeves were so long, she never wore it. LOL

Thanks for sharing a peak at your life with us today, Camy!

Thanks for having me here, Janet!
Camy

Camy Tang writes romance with a kick of wasabi. She used to be a biologist, but now she is a staff worker for her church youth group and leads a worship team for Sunday service. She also runs the Story Sensei fiction critique service. On her blog, she gives away Christian novels every Monday and Thursday, and she ponders frivolous things like dumb dogs (namely, hers), coffee-geek husbands (no resemblance to her own...), the writing journey, Asiana, and anything else that comes to mind. Visit her website at http://www.camytang.com/ for a huge website contest going on right now, giving away ten boxes of books and 30 copies of her latest release, SINGLE SASHIMI.

8 comments:

Julie Lessman said...

Knitting? Who knew, Camy??? Great interview, Janet and Camy -- always fun to get a little more insight into fellow Seekers.

And I haven't read Single Shashimi yet, but it's coming up in my TBR pile real soon, and I can't wait!

Hugs,
Julie

Myra Johnson said...

Fun interview, ladies! Camy, I totally relate to your system of getting the other stuff out of the way to allow for your "creative space." Exactly how I operate. It's so much easier to get into writing mode if I don't have all these other "alligators" chomping at my ankles.

Hmmm, knitting is relaxing? I may have to give it a try someday. My mom taught me when I was a kid, but I think I've forgotten most of it. I can crochet simple stuff, but my stitches are inconsistent--some too loose, some too tight. And would you believe once upon a time I also knew how to tat???

Janet Dean said...

Myra, I'm impressed you knew how to tat. I know what that is and have some old pieces that were tatted. It's complicated, isn't it?

Janet

Audra Harders said...

Camy, I love the food in your books! The scene set at the restaurant for Grandma's (birthday) made my mouth water!

Hmm, you've got to watch while you're crocheting? I knew I was doing something wrong, LOL!

You have such a busy schedule and manage it well. I can't even imagine. . .

Camy Tang said...

Thanks for hosting me, Janet! I didn't know you knit, too!

Myra, you knew how to tat???? I am so impressed!

Audra LOL You could be like my grandma, who doesn't need to look to crochet her kitchen scrubbie pads--she can do it by feel now.

Camy

Camy Tang said...

Julie, didn't I knit at your house when we were relaxing after dinner? or maybe it was too dark for you to see...
Camy

Cheryl Wyatt said...

Great interview!

Camy's books always make me hungry too. LOL!

And the girl knits faster than ANYONE I know.

Amazing thing to watch.

Hugs

Cheryl

Janet Dean said...

Camy, during the scarf craze, I knit about a dozen. I loved seeing the scarf grow. Instant gratification. Almost.

Janet