Camy's Scrapbook

Hi! Welcome to my Scrapbook!

2011-12-29T15:33:00.000-08:00

This is a blog specifically for all the pictures I post. I didn't want anyone to have problems viewing my blog because of my photos, so I decided to move them all here.

The links on the side will send you to whichever photos you want to see.

Thanks for visiting!

Camy

2010 St. Louis - ICRS

2010-07-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

I went to the International Christian Retail Show in St. Louis at the end of June!

Me and Susan Downs, author and editor at Summerside Press

Melody Carlson

Robin Jones Gunn

Sherrie Ashcraft

Tamera Alexander, Sunni Jeffers, Rebecca Germany, Cheryl Wyatt (we were being silly, can you tell?)

Cara Putman

Tracy Higley and Karen Ball

Me trying to steal Christina Berry's Christie finalist medal

Brandilyn Collins

Brandilyn has tried to kill me in print (blog posts) and pictures three times now. Why not make it four? She's stabbing me with a pen I stole from the Moody radio booth. A fitting end for a thief.

Carla Capshaw

Alice Wisler

Roxanne Rustand

Lyn Cote

Sunni Jeffers, Cheryl Wyatt, Tamera Alexander

Bryan Davis and his daughter Amanda. Amanda and I chat about spinning wool!

Tricia Goyer

Anne Dayton and Wendy Lawton

Ronie Kendig and Robin Caroll

Ted Dekker

Tosca Lee

Steve Laube

Zondervan booth

Barbour

Faithwords

ACFW booth with Becky Yauger and Cynthia Ruchti

Bethany House/Baker/Revell

Summerside Press

Cheryl and I took a horse and carriage ride through St. Louis!

Some of the windows are painted on!

This is the ICRS booth for NOTW.com which is one of Captain Caffeine's favorite online stores.

Tosca Lee

Bethany House/Baker/Revell

Harvest House

Tyndale

Kregel

Zondervan

Susanne Lakin

Jennifer Degler

MaryLu Tyndall and Rebecca Germany

Wanda Brunstetter

Kaye Dacus

Ronie Kendig and Mary Connealy

Nancy Mehl

Diane Ashley and Aaron McCarver

Robin Caroll

Julie Lessman

Julie's signing. Check out the line!

James Rubart

Moody Publishers booth (not where I stole the pen, it was from a different booth)

David C. Cook

Tyndale

Travis Thrasher

Randy Alcorn

Susan May Warren and Cheryl Wyatt

2009 ACFW Conference - Denver

2009-10-07T00:49:00.000-07:00

I finally uploaded all my pictures from the 2009 in Denver! I love going to ACFW conference because I always meet so many friends, make new friends, and have a great time in general!

In most of my photos, I'm wearing a reddish/pinkish shawl which I had just finished knitting and blocking. It's the Cap Shawl from Victorian Lace Today, and it took me FOREVER to knit, so you can bet I'm wearing it to within a thread of its life. LOL It was lovely, and I felt lovely wearing it! Debbie Macomber (yes, THE Debbie Macomber! See below) was admiring it! If you belong to Ravelry, you can see the knitting specs here.

This is me and suspense author Brandilyn Collins. Brandilyn has been a friend and mentor to me on my writing journey. Plus she writes REALLY GOOD SUSPENSE NOVELS. If you haven't picked one up yet, you're lame.
From L to R: Karen Ball (author and editor at B&H Publishing), Ronie Kendig (action/suspense author, published by Abingdon and Barbour), Jim Rubart (supernatural suspense author, published by B&H), and my wonderful San Jose buddy Dineen Miller (women's fictiony suspense author, who does the fantastic graphic design work for my bookmarks)
Karen Ball and Gail Martin, Barbour and Steeple Hill romance/women's fiction author
Me and Cara Putman, who writes historical romance for Barbour and romantic suspense for Steeple Hill
Me and Ane Mulligan (women's fiction), one of the funnest people I know!

I had failed dismally when trying to do that self portrait thing with my camera, so Karen Ball taught me how. She's so good! I tried but kept cutting off people's heads. Oh well.
My friend Angie Breidenbach, Mrs. Montana International. She's so gorgeous, if she weren't so nice, I'd have to kill her. She asked to take this picture with her food just to prove to people that YES, she does eat dessert!
Me with Janet Kobobel Grant (left) and my wonderful super fabulous agent, Wendy Lawton, both agents with Books and Such Literary Agency.
I tried again with the self portrait thing with me and my good friend Pam Hillman (totally fantastic, award-winning historical romance writer). As you can see, they should just call me Madame Guillotine.
This one wasn't as bad, but Pam still is missing 3/4 of her brain due to my slicing.
Forget it! Here's a picture to keep of the two of us!
One of my best friends, Cheryl Wyatt, who writes ROCKIN' contemporary romance with military/rescuer heroes!
I'm in the presence of greatness! In the middle is Tracie Peterson (historical romance for Bethany House), and on the right is Margaret Daley (contemporary romance and romantic suspense for Steeple Hill). Even though they're both incredibly popular authors, they're both wonderfully sweet, humble personalities.
My roommate for the conference, the awesome Wanda Dyson (suspense for Waterbrook) and ACFW President, Cynthia Ruchti (women's fiction for Abingdon)
This is me and DEBBIE MACOMBER!!! NYT BESTSELLING AUTHOR!!!! Actually, she's wonderfully down to earth and sweet and nice and a terrific person! And keep reading to find out what we did on Saturday night!
Me and KAREN YOUNG!!! NYT BESTSELLING AUTHOR!!! Karen is really sweet and nice, too!!! If I ever get on the NYT bestseller list, I hope I'm as humble as these two ladies!
Me and my fellow Steeple Hill authors! L to R: Marta Perry, Winnie Griggs, Lenora Worth!
Me and my other best friend, Danica Favorite! I got Danica into knitting, so here we are, knitting!
From L to R: Rene Gutteridge (most of you guys probably know her fantastically popular Boo series), me, Kathleen Y'Barbo (historical and contemporary romance, aside from the fact she's a great writer, I just like saying her last name. LOL), Cheryl Wyatt, Ruth Logan Herne (Cheryl and Ruthy are both with me on the Seekerville blog! Ruthy just sold to Steeple Hill and her romances will release next year!)

Me and Kathleen Y'Barbo (Yhh Baaaahrb bohhhhhh... :)LOOK!!! IT'S ME AND DANICA KNITTING WITH DEBBIE MACOMBER!!! HOW FREAKIN' COOL IS THAT????? We had a great time!!!
L to R: Pam Hillman, Cheryl Wyatt, Dineen Miller, Sara Mills (historical mystery with Moody), Ronie Kendig, agent Steve Laube, Robin Caroll (romantic suspense with Steeple Hill and B&H), Ginny Aiken (contemporary romance with Steeple Hill)
Same peeps, without Steve, with me.
Fellow knitter and writer Linda Burklin! She gave me some stitch markers, which she sells on eBay. They're totally sweeeeet!
Me and one of my favorite people in the world, Mary DeMuth! Mary writes women's fiction, published with my publisher, Zondervan!
L to R: Beth Adams (editor for Guideposts and a totally cool person), Andy Meisenheimer (editor for Zondervan) and moi. Andy isn't my editor, which he likes to rag me about.
Me and Debbie Vogts (contemporary romance published with my publisher, Zondervan)! I love this woman--she and I totally BONDED at ICRS this year. Plus she's just a really really nice person. One day I'd like to visit her farm, but don't tell her that. She might move.
Me and Winter Peck (Winnie!) a blogger/writer I've known for what seems like forever! Her husband is in the military--remember to pray for our troops!
Me and fellow Love Inspired Suspense author Liz Johnson! Our first books with Steeple Hill came out in the same month! Isn't she adorable? I wanted to pack her up and take her home with me. :)
This is one of my fabulous Genesis coordinators, Erica Vetsch (historical romance author with Heartsong Presents)! I LOVE HER! She made coordinating the Genesis contest way fun!
More greatness! Me and Donita K. Paul!!!! Donita won the 2009 ACFW Mentor of the Year award!
Me, Cheryl, and in the middle, another really good friend, Syndi Hawkins! Syndi was another awesome Genesis coordinator for me!
Me and my totally stupendous editor at Zondervan, Sue Brower! She is just awesomeness embodied!
Me and my fellow Steeple Hill author, Betsy St. Amant! Betsy writes terrific contemporary romance and she's also on the ACFW Loop Moderator Team with me. Isn't she just the cutest thing? Can you believe she just had a baby? I met her husband too, he's so nice!
My fellow partner in knitting crime (not really, but we really could get into some bad things if we set our minds to it) Allie Pleiter! Allie writes contemporary romance for Steeple Hill and she is showing off that gorgeous knitted shawl she made!
This is Cara Putman showing off the beautiful (if I do say so myself) Melon Shawl which I knit for her! It's from my favorite knitting book (at this moment), Victorian Lace Today.
Me, Dineen Miller, and Ronie Kendig. Don't we look just totally HOT???
Ronie, me, and in the middle is awesome romance author Lena Nelson Dooley! Lena just bought my favorite knitting book, Victorian Lace Today, so she can make the Cap Shawl I was wearing for much of the conference!
This was our dessert for the Saturday night awards banquet. That's the ACFW logo on a square of white chocolate!! Isn't that just totally awesome??? Oh, and the uh, triple chocolate mousse dessert wasn't bad either...
Me and Brandilyn Collins--we are smokin'!!!
Agent Chip MacGregor looks so spiffy in his traditional Scottish garb!
Me and Jim Rubart, who did the Powerpoint for the awards banquet
Me and Gail Martin
Me, suspense author Colleen Coble (Thomas Nelson) and Kim Woodhouse (yes, from Extreme Home Makeover!) I love these ladies!
Evangeline Denmark (Donita K. Paul's daughter, but a fantastic writer in her own right!)
Me and Janet Kobobel Grant
This is one of my good friends Tosca Lee! She writes amazing books (see my review of Demon) and she's sickeningly gorgeous. I'd hate her if she weren't just totally awesome.
Me, Tosca, and another great friend, Meredith Efken! Meredith adopted a baby girl from China and has written a novel about Chinese adoption, Lucky Baby, which comes out next year!
Cheryl and her husband, Billy, who did the sound and recordings for the entire conference. Aren't they a handsome couple?
Me and Cheryl. I'm telling you, her dress was fantastic!
Margaret Daley and Cheryl
Left: Pam Hillman showing off the Large Rectangle with Center Diamond Pattern shawl that I knit for the Silent Auction (and she won!). I knit it with this lovely alpaca yarn in sky blue. In the middle is my fantastic editor at Steeple Hill, Tina Colombo James!!! It was sooooo cool to meet her in person for the first time at the conference!
This is Mindy Obenhaus, another of my AWESOME! Genesis coordinators!
Angie Breidenbach wore her Mrs. Montana International getup at the awards banquet (she looked totally awesome, by the way, but I forgot to get a picture of her), but Chip hijacked her stuff for a little photo opp...
Angie and me the next day! We don't look too tired, right?
Me and romance/women's fiction author Andrea Boeshaar! Andrea has always been so wonderful to me--she gave me fantastic advice at my first ACFW conference. She also writes fabulous books!
After the conference, Danica and I went to have High Tea at the Brown Palace Hotel! Here are some pics of the hotel--isn't it gorgeous?

And naturally I'd take pictures of the food! These were our desserts. The one with the nut sticking out was a mini pecan pie, the round one in front was a mousse on a cookie/biscuit, behind that is a white round thing that was a mini macaroon, and the square things in the middle with the red sugared fruit were petit fours.
Our sandwiches were delish! Cucumber and cream cheese, curried egg salad, and turkey rolls.
And scones! With Devonshire cream and strawberry jam.
And that was my trip to Denver in September! Next year the ACFW conference will be even better!

2009 Denver - ICRS

2009-09-03T00:15:00.000-07:00

After spending a week with my friend Danica, I went to a small authors' retreat/mini-conference in downtown Denver. I don't have many pics of the event, but here are a few:

Me and Robin Caroll--I love this picture! It's such a good one of both of us.
Me and Robin again. I don't remember why I'm on my cell phone...

This is a group of friends who waited in the lobby before going out to dinner. Other authors at the retreat were going to the Christy award ceremony, but we opted out for Cheesecake Factory instead! From left to right: Cheryl Wyatt, Margaret Daley, Cara Putman, me, Allie Pleiter and Robin Caroll standing behind us.
Here are some of the people who went to the Christys: Kim Sawyer, Patti Hill, Lori Copeland, Angela Hunt, Karen Ball. Don't they look purdy?
This is us at Cheesecake factory!
We took this picture because we thought it was appropriate that the Cheesecake Factory was right next to Writer Square!
This is a large group picture of the authors at this retreat.

After the retreat, we went to ICRS! International Christian Retail Show. Huge convention for Christian retailers/bookstores.

This is Shelley Adina, Danica Favorite, and Cheryl Wyatt in front of the huge blue bear statue outside the convention hall in downtown Denver.

Danica, me, and Deborah Vogts
Danica, Amy Clipston, me, and Cheryl Wyatt. She looks peeved because I pinched her butt! LOL
Aren't we gorgeous? From left to right: Danica, Cheryl, me, Robin Lee Hatcher, Deborah Vogts, Tamera Alexander, Amy Clipston
This was cute: me and MaryLu Tyndall, except she kept closing her eyes for the shot, so...
...in lieu of toothpicks to keep her eyes open :)

Here we go!This was at the Barbour booth. We were stoked because we hadn't yet seen the cover for Wildflower Bride. It's not the real book--inside are the pages of another book! LOL but we liked how they displayed all three of the titles together like this.

Debbie Vogts and Amy Clipston
Christy finalist Mary Connealy! That's her Christy medallion around her neck!
Me, Brandilyn Collins, and her daughter Amberly, at their booksigning
Me and Mary Connealy at her booksigning as I try to oh-so-sneakily steal her Christy medallion...
Tamera Alexander and me! Isn't she gorgeous? I want to look that good after having kids. Well, without the kids part.
On Monday, there was a special reception given by my publisher, Zondervan. It was totally cool! Here's me with my Marketing Director, Karwyn Bursma. She rocks!!!!

LOOK! AT! WHO'S! IN! THIS! PICTURE!!!!!! THE SHEER COOLNESS FACTOR OF ALL THESE AUTHORS IS OFF THE CHARTS! AND I GOT TO SCHMOOZE WITH THESE COOL PEOPLE!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Standing left to right: Amy Clipston, Debbie Vogts, Sue Brower (my wonderful editor), Terri Blackstock, me.
Sitting left to right: Amberly Collins, Robin Lee Hatcher, Karen Kingsbury, Brandilyn Collins

Me and The Awesome Melody Carlson!
Me and Irene Brand
Cheryl Wyatt, me, Robin Jones Gunn, Danica Favorite
Me and Karen Kingsbury!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me and supercool Mark Mynheir!
Me and Sharlene MacLaren (I love this woman! She's like a stick of dynamite in that little body!)
Two of my favorite people from Zondervan: Joe Questel (he works at Symtio, which is the digital/audio arm of Zondervan's sales team) and my Marketing Director Karwyn Bursma
Me and Kim Woodhouse!
Megan DiMaria and me!
MaryLu Tyndall, Mary Connealy, Wanda Brunstetter, Kaye Dacus, and Kelly Eileen Hake had this big shindig at the Barbour booth. I took a few candids of MaryLu being charming. ;)

Cheryl is scolding Mary for something. LOL
All is forgiven!

Mary Connealy, me, Cheryl Wyatt, Kaye Dacus, and Kelly Eileen Hake
Me and Wanda Brunstetter
MaryLu next to the display of her books! Like Mary's book Wildflower Bride, the book for The Raven Saint isn't real--it's another book's pages inside the cover--but I love love love the cover of The Raven Saint!
Yes, we contemplated theft of the book since the cover is so cool!
Amy Clipston had her first booksigning! I took pictures of her line so she could see how much in demand she was!
There's Amy!

Amy and me after the signing (whew! that was tiring)
Deborah Vogts also had her first booksigning!
Her line was pretty big, too!
Debbie and me after the signing!

Here is me for my booksigning! It was a couple hours after Debbie's, in the same booth.
I actually wasn't signing Sushi for One, I was signing Single Sashimi, but oh well. I actually got to take the poster home, but then I LOST IT!!! AAAAAARRRGGHH!!!!! I set it down somewhere and when I went back to look for it, it was gone. :(
Here are some pictures of the publisher booths. Here's Zondervan!
I was amused by this book. Wonder why...
Baker/Revell/Bethany House booth
B&H booth
Tyndale booth
David C. Cook booth
Barbour booth (this is only one side of it, there's another side)
Moody
Kregel
Guideposts
FaithWords

2009 Denver - Alpaca farm

2009-08-24T22:40:00.000-07:00

While I was visiting my friend Danica in Denver, she took me and Cheryl Wyatt to an alpaca farm! Being a knitter, I really wanted to see alpacas (I just finished an alpaca lace shawl!) and there is a farm really nearby Danica's house!

Aren't they pretty looking? Kind of like a cross between a deer and a llama.

They had just been shorn about a month earlier, so their fur is very short and still clean.

Here's a little baby alpaca. He was very curious about us--kept getting close to us, although not close enough for us to touch him.

This poor lady was pregnant and about to foal any day.

The babies were very attracted to Danica's kids.

Oops, I was taking a pic of the alpacas, not the pile of dung.

The guy giving us the tour gave us some alpaca treats so they'd come close.

This alpaca just suddenly baaa'd when Cheryl was petting it.

Isn't this cute? That's Danica's younger daughter.

Yes, alpacas are like my dog--greedy guts. They swarmed when they realized we had treats.

This is one alpaca who had its leg amputated. It's doing remarkably well!

Mama and baby. Isn't Mama cute with her little mop of hair on top?

Here are some young alpacas--too old to stick with the adult females, but not big enough to hang with the adult males.

Don't you think they have pretty eyes?

I loved the babies!

This one had unusual light blue eyes!

Cheryl is laughing here because this one alpaca loved being petted so much, he wouldn't move!

This is a llama. They have them in the pen with the alpacas to help guard the flock. They will react if they see any coyotes and warn the flock.

Isn't he huge? He was kind of intimidating.

Those bicolor alpacas were so neat!

Here were the adult male alpacas.

Isn't this black one cute? His fur was really soft.

This is apparently an award winning rooster.

Look at fuzzy! Isn't he cute?

Here's that curious little baby again!

The paddock is really big.

Good bye, fuzzy! Thanks for letting us hang out for a while!

2009 Denver - Audra's house

2009-08-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.2009

In July this year, I went to Denver for a variety of reasons--and my friend Audra Harders is one! Me and my friend Danica Favorite visited Audra one day during my visit.

If you haven't read the short version of my trip, click here.

This is the view from Audra's porch. Isn't it nice? The weather was totally awesome.

I mentioned on Audra's blog about the turkey gobbling that I heard, and I thought the sound was from a chicken? Here is the monstrous beast. You couldn't pay me enough to go catch this tank for Thanksgiving dinner.

I love rabbits. This is because I am NOT a gardener! So when I saw some cute wild cottontail bunnies, I had to take a few pics.

Audra had some nice chickens. Actually, I'm assuming they're nice because they belong to Audra. I really couldn't tell a nice chicken from a cranky one. I think the one below is a rooster. Am I right or wrong?

Audra's bunny is an award-winner. I just thought he was cute. :)

Here's Audra's handsome, long-suffering son, who helped me milk a goat. Yes, you read that right, I wanted to milk a goat. Why? Because I have a goat in Jenn's backyard in the fourth book in the Sushi series, which will be released as an ebook novella (and as Print on Demand) this fall sometime. If you belong to my newsletter YahooGroup, you get a chance to download the ebook free when it releases (for a limited time).

I admit, I was a bit scared to touch the goat. She didn't seem particularly happy to see me.

I had never seen sheep before! They were so cute! (Can you tell, "cute" was my theme word for the day?)

This, I think, is a pygmy goat, but if I'm wrong, somebody say something.

Goat = not happy. Camy = enthralled!

Getting ready to milk the goat. Audra had to help.

Milking a goat! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! Actually, it was kind of neat. The teat felt softish and leathery. I think I was expecting it to be smoother.

This is Audra's herd of goats.

Baaaaaaaahhhhh...

Of course, being a knitter, I had to pet the sheep! They were really soft. Nice shot of my big butt (gee, thanks, Danica! ;)

Again, sheep = not thrilled. Camy = enthralled!

Bunny was SO CUTE!!! And SO SOFT! Isn't he a big guy?

Ooooooh he was so cute!

Me and Audra! Under the Spanish olive tree that was making Danica's allergies act up.

NASCAR in August

2008-10-14T02:28:00.000-07:00

These are my photos from when I went to the Michigan NASCAR races with my friend Cheryl Wyatt back in August.

I've never been to NASCAR. Let me tell you, it was a complete culture shock for me. But in a good way.

No, I didn’t get to see a race. Yes, I’m lame. Well, what really happened was that when the race started, I had a really bad sinus headache from the dust in the infield (that’s where we were camping) so I didn’t really feel like going anywhere.

But we got to drive on the track! How cool is that? It was the only way in and out of the infield.

We were there with the River band (abandcalledriver.com), a Christian band that has a subtle but powerful ministry among the NASCAR fans.

Here's the track!

This is the camping area in the infield.

River's stage

The first night, there was a small show (half the band was at another concert out of state) and these NASCAR drivers showed up. I have NO idea who these guys are, but if any of you are NASCAR fans and can enlighten me, please do! The wierd thing (for me, anyway) is that these twenty-somethings are like millionaires. Can you believe it?

A fighter jet flew over when the races started. Cheryl went nuts.

This is River playing the second night (the full band)

I think this is the president of the Michigan Speedway.

Me and Lisa. She is just the coolest person alive.

Here's the track on our way out

Brainstorming in North Carolina

2007-11-21T15:16:00.001-08:00

I was invited to a brainstorming weekend in North Carolina in early November. It was six of us: me, Lynette Eason, Pamela (Pammer) James, Jennifer Hudson Taylor, Missy Tippens, Cheryl Wyatt.

We got to stay at his rustic cabin (read: no internet, no long-distance calls, no cell phone service). It was the perfect place to brainstorm together and write!

I flew into Illinois, and Cheryl and I drove down to North Carolina. While I was at Cheryl's place, she got her Steeple Hill Love Inspired book club shipment, and guess what was in it? Her debut novel, A Soldier’s Promise!

These are Pammer's kids, Shadow and Gregory. They and their grandpa drove Pammer to Cheryl's house. Aren't they handsome? They're very gentlemanlike boys, let me tell ya.

Me, Pammer, and Cheryl went to meet a friend of Cheryl's in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Afterwards, we met Lynette before driving to the cabin. Before we set off, we had a DELICIOUS bite to eat at the Mellow Mushroom. BEST mushroom pizza I've had yet! The decor was totally 70s and very cool!

Driving through North Carolina

Okay, yes, I'm a dork. We went to Fat Buddies (in Franklin, North Carolina) and I had one of the best racks of baby back ribs I've ever eaten.

We stopped by Dalton's Christian Bookstore after Fat Buddies and I got to sign stock. It was really cool talking to a bookstore owner. They were gearing up for Christmas at the time.

These are the woods in the back of the cabin. Aren't they gorgeous?

There are more pictures here:

Lynette's blog
Jennifer's blog

2007 ACFW conference - Dallas

2007-10-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

This are pics from the 2007 ACFW conference. I don't have as many as I'd like, I had a new camera and ran out of battery life way too quickly.

Pamela James, Cheryl Wyatt, me, and Danica Favorite-MacDonald. Pammer is ACFW Vice President, Cheryl was the 2007 Book of the Year coordinator, and Danica taught a terrific two-hour workshop on taxes for the writer (she works for H&R Bock). These are my buds.

Pamela James and Kelly Mortimer. They're both so gorgeous, I want to kill them. ;)

Sarah Mahar, Dianne Burnett and me. Sarah and Dianne both work for CBD (Christian Book Distributors, or Christianbook.com). I met Sarah by chance at ICRS in July (thanks to a random introduction by Robin Jones Gunn), and I got a chance to chat with Dianne for a taped interview while at the conference. They are both fabulous!

Chip MacGregor and me. One of these days, we will co-author an Asian Scottish chick lit.

Sarah Sumpolec and me. Sarah writes incredible Young Adult fiction--she was a finalist in the 2007 Book of the Year contest. She and I sat at the same table for the public booksigning on Saturday afternoon. We shamelessly threw chocolate at Ginny Smith, who was sitting at a nearby table.

Me and Cynthia Hawkins, also known as Synner from the Steeple Hill discussion boards. Synner is one of my 2008 Genesis contest category coordinators!

Here's a pic (taken by Ronie) from the booksigning.

Ane Mulligan and me. I love love love this woman. Ane is one of women behind the popular writers blog, Novel Journey.

Pamela James and Dineen Miller, Dineen (Designer Girl Graphics) was the graphic designer for the entire conference, and she did a stellar job! She's also the designer who did my business cards and my bookmarks.

Pam Hillman and me. Pam is not only the ACFW Treasurer, she's also the winner of the 2007 Genesis contest in the Historical Romance category! When we took this picture, I had to keep from screaming, "You won! You won! You won!"

Betsy St. Amant and me. Betsy is on the ACFW Moderator Team with me and she's a sweetheart! She's always cheerful and upbeat.

Me and Georgiana Daniels. I was so glad I got a pic with Georgiana! We've been friends over the internet (via ACFW) for a couple years now, and I finally got to meet her in person!

Me and Tricia Goyer. If you don't know already (and if you don't, shame on you), Tricia is an award-winning author and a way cool friend (so why does she hang out with me? Who knows.)

Me with two of my favorite people in the world, Sherrie Ashcraft and her daughter Christina Berry.

I stayed with my good friend Ronie Kendig after the conference! We had lots of fun writing together and just hanging out!

My parents' puppy, Kuro

2007-08-05T23:41:00.000-07:00

My parents just got a new dog, a miniature poodle named Kuro, which means "black" in Japanese. According to my parents, he's very naughty.

2007 Oregon Conference

2007-08-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

I had a great week in Oregon (July 30th through August 4th)! I taught at the Oregon Christian Writer's Conference--it was my first time teaching!

My first workshop on "What is Chick Lit?" went okay ... I talked WAY too fast and I didn't have as much information as I thought I had, so I ended after only 20 minutes! Luckily, I had a few friends in the room like Donna Fleisher and Judy Gann, who asked questions and made comments, and we kept the conversation flowing until almost the end of the hour. I ended only 5 or 10 minutes early.

My second workshop on "Internet Marketing for the HTML-Challenged" went really well, partly because I'd already done one workshop, partly because I had more content for this workshop, and partly because my friend Robin Parrish sat in on the class and was able to make some comments.

Karen Ball (B&H) and Chip MacGregor (agent)

These are pics from my very first class on Chick Lit!

Me and Ernie Wenk, who picked me up at the airport to take me to the conference. Ernie's way cool.

These are pics from my second class on internet marketing.

Me and Tami Meier, who was picked up at the airport with me. She's totally nice.

Me with Sherrie Ashcraft and her daughter Christina Berry. These two ladies are fabulous!

Donna took me to Tillamook and we visited the cheese factory!

My first view of the Oregon Coast.

We drove up and down the coast on Friday.

I saw whales! It's hard to see anything b/c my camera has too much of a lag time so I missed a pic of the tail above the water.

I saw sea lions!

2007 ICRS-Atlanta

2007-07-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from ICRS in Atlanta, Georgia. I blogged about it on my blog with some pictures, but here are the rest of the pics.

ICRS Friday
ICRS Saturday
ICRS Sunday
ICRS Monday
ICRS Tuesday
ICRS Wednesday

Friday:

Here’s a picture of my room:

And here’s the view from my balcony:

Saturday:

The Christy Awards!

Gayle Roper and Janet Kobobel Grant

Gayle Roper, Sue Brower, and me

Gina Holmes, me, Ane Mulligan

Me and KAREN KINGSBURY!!!!!!! She even remembered me meeting her last year (and gushing all over her, which she gracefully took in stride). I also met her daughter Kelsey and son Tyler.

Me and Christy nominee, Mary DeMuth

Me and Tricia Goyer

Wendy Lawton (my agent), me, and DEBBIE MACOMBER!!!!!!!

Sunday:

At the Books and Such brunch:
Me and Kathleen Y'Barbo (Janet announced today that Kathleen is now offering her PR services to Books and Such clients for very reasonable, effective packages!)

Sarah Sumpolec and me (I look prego, but I promise it's just the loose dress aided by a good slouch)

Julie Dearyan and me (nice bra strap shot, eh?)

Monday:

Me and Kimberley Stuart

Me and Marilynn Griffith

Me and Tamara Leigh

Me and Tamera Alexander

My booksigning!!!

(These pics are courtesy of Jennifer Schuchmann)

(This pic courtesy of Sarah Sumpolec)

WHAT are we doing??????

Oh. This.

At the Steak and Ale that night:
Tricia Goyer

Sarah Sumpolec

(heads from left to right): Pat Rushford, Brandilyn Collins, Cassandra Woods

Me and Sarah Sumpolec

Me and Cassandra Woods

Me, Tamela Hancock Murray, Julie Dearyan

Me and Sarah again

Tuesday:

Francine Rivers, her daughter Shannon, and me

Melody Carlson and me

Sigmund Brouwer and Andy Meisenheimer

Me and Beth Jusino

Me and Chip MacGregor

Wednesday:

Here’s the Zondervan booth:

2007 Mount Hermon Conference

2007-04-05T00:45:00.000-07:00

Here are my pictures from Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, March 31 - April 3, 2007. I blogged about it here.

My agent, Wendy Lawton, who taught the career track with Janet Kobobel Grant, Karen Ball, and Sally Stuart.

Me, Tasra Dawson (she took my author pictures!), and Laura Christianson, a good blogging friend I met last year. All three of us took Ellie Kay's Media training track last year at Mount Hermon.

Me and John Leatherman, a fellow client of my agent, Wendy. John is totally fun to talk to!

These are the guys being silly late one night: Steve Laube, Jim Rubart, Randy Ingermanson, John Olson.

This is the agent panel at the Career Track: (L-R) Beth Jusino, Mary Beth Chappell, Janet Kobobel Grant, Terry Whalin, Steve Laube, Les Stobbe, Wendy Lawton.

We went to dinner at a restaurant on Santa Cruz pier, but there were 13 of us and only two cars. So we crammed--seven of us in Cyndy Salzmann's car.

Poor Jim Rubart was stuck in the hatchback trunk. You can see his head poking out over the top of the backseat. This is Suzie Eller, Vicki Tiede, and Jim.

...and Jenn Doucette and BJ Hamrick

And here's Cyndy driving.

Here was the other car. You might be able to pick out the 6 people crammed inside.

At the restaurant: Here we all are!

Sara Horn, BJ Hamrick, Jennifer Schuchmann, Jim Robart

Jenn Doucette, Cyndy Salzmann, Patti Hill

Jeanette Hanscome, Pamela Dowd, Sharon Hinck

Me, Suzie Eller, Vicki Tiede

Mary DeMuth and me. I love this woman!

Me, John Olson, Randy Ingermanson, Tasra Dawson

Me and Gayle Roper, one of my favorite people in the world.

Judy Gann and Janet Kobobel Grant (don't they look alike? Judy says people mistake her for Janet all the time)

Sherri Sand (Sharon's roommate), Sharon Hinck, Cindy Woodsmall, Beth Jusino

And this is...uh...Randy again.

Marci Seither and me. I'm laughing because she told another joke about her mammogram. The woman is a hoot!

Jim Rubart and me

Steve Laube and his new toy

Me, Cyndy Salzmann, Vicki Tiede

Lori Kincaid (my roommate two years ago), Charise Olson (a friend of mine who lives in the area), and me

My office

2006-12-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

There's a neat thread on the ACFW e-mail loop about writers' office spaces, so I thought I'd post pictures of mine. I'm not the neatest person, so beware if clutter gives you palpitations.

Here's the view from the doorway. I also have a eucalyptus and lavender blend infusion that I use in my aromatherapy infuser, so the room smells comforting and it helps with my sinus headaches.

Here's the tour counter-clockwise, from right to left.

Directly to the right of the door are the closet doors, which are my brainstorming/storyboarding palette.

Next is my desk. I try to keep lots of water bottles around so I don't have any excuse not to drink enough water during the day. You'll also see the mess under the desk, which is my storage area for blank CD-ROMs and extra CD cases. (Those cases are super cheap at Goodwill, if you happen to find them there.)

And my very expensive ergonomic chair, which even Captain Caffeine said was surprisingly comfy. Should be, for the astronomical amount we paid to keep my back healthy.

Continuing toward the left, I have three bookshelves and an embarassingly large number of books in plastic bins. No, I haven't yet read all of them. I got most of them at Goodwill and Salvation army, so I usually picked them up when they were available, not when I had time to read.

Not seen in this photo, but to the right, is where my computer tower is sitting.

I love those plastic bins. We get them from Costco, and they hold everything. Some here have my extra tote bags and backpacks and things.

The weird flat black metal thing on the left is the folded-up dog crate. We don't use it but can't seem to get ourselves to give it away. It got stored in my office when we had to clean out the guest room for my parents to stay in for a few days, and the dog crate never left the office, for some reason.

That's the tour. Not a pretty sight. LOL. But I do enjoy being surrounded by books.

2006 ACFW Conference in Dallas

2006-09-30T00:15:00.000-07:00

I recapped my time at the conference here:

Part one
Part two
Part three
Part four

Robin Caroll with her Genesis award

The 2006 Genesis winners

The 2006 Genesis FaithWords finalists

Me presenting the awards

Me and Malia Spencer

Me and Cathy West

Heather Tipton, me, Cheryl Wyatt, her husband Billy, Pamela James

Angie Breidenbach, Pamela Dowd, me

Heather, me and Marilynn Griffith with the brassiere bags Mary gave us

Me, Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck

Gina Conroy, me, Meredith Efken

The authors from Girls Write Out blog--2006 Book of the Year winners

Heather and Dineen Miller

Kathy Ide, Pamela Dowd, me

Mary Griffith, Lisa Samson, Claudia Mair Burney, Heather Tipton

Me and Gina Holmes

Me and Mary DeMuth

Ma peeps: me, Ronie Kendig, Dineen Miller, Heather Tipton, Robin Caroll

Ronie Kendig and Robin Caroll

Ruth Logan Hearne and Kathy Ide

Me, Heather, Shirlee McCoy

ICRS Denver, CO 2006

2006-07-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

I admit, I didn't take enough pictures while I was at ICRS. But I blogged up a storm about it! It was in Denver in July of 2006.
ICRS part 1: The Saga Begins
ICRS part 2: The Christy awards, and How You Should Not To Make a Complete Fool of Yourself in Front of People.
ICRS part 3: After the Christy Awards, or More Stupidity On My Part.
ICRS part 4: Camy Manages Not to Say Stupid Things At the Baker Dinner.
ICRS part 5: Walking the ICRS Floor on Monday and Managing Not to Trip and Fall Flat on My Face.
ICRS part 6: Meeting with my editor Sue Brower and some marketing tips.
ICRS part 7: The Adventures of Camy on the ICRS Floor.
ICRS part 8: Stalkers and the Personality Party
ICRS part 9: Camy Gone Wild!

My buddies Sharon Hinck and Patti Hill doing promo on the ICRS floor! Sharon's debut novel came out around the time of ICRS, and Patti is a Christy finalist.

Me and my friend Danica Favorite, also known as Dream on the Steeple Hill discussion boards.

Eileen Key, Claudia Mair Burney, and me. Claudia was signing her debut novel at ICRS for the first time!

My friend Paula Moldenhauer and me

I snagged a picture with Robin Lee Hatcher, who was signing at the Zondervan booth.

Me and my Senior Editor at Zondervan, Sue Brower.

We went to karaoke! When we walked in, Chip MacGregor was belting out "Brown-Eyed Girl."

Mary DeMuth struts her stuff. I think this one was "Everybody Wants to Rule the World."

Susan Meissner singing "The Rose."

Danica sang "The Animaniacs." Gee, think she has kids???

Jeanette Hanscome and Marilyn Hilton sang an amazing version of "Amazing Grace."

Mary sang another one and Chip had to join in.

Susan and Mary are "Stayin' Alive"...

...soon joined by Chip and the gang.

Tricia Goyer research photos!

2006-07-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

I have a guest blog by Tricia Goyer on my main blog, Camy's Loft.

As something unique and different for my blog (because she likes me! :)) Tricia gave me some pictures that some World War II veterans sent her while she was researching for her novel. Not everyone has broadband, so I posted them here on my scrapbook blog.

Here’s what Tricia has to say about them:

One of my favorite parts of researching is connecting with veterans. While researching for Arms of Deliverance, I found some amazing men from the 91st Bomb Group, based in England.

Here's a sneak peek at some of the photos they sent to me to help with my research. These are the photos that helped as I wrote my scenes. Are they cool or what?!

Blessings!
Tricia

This is an illustration of the pilot's control panel sent to me by veteran
John Howland of the 91st Bomb Group.

This is an example of the shirt and pants of an OD uniform sent to me by veteran John Howland. He said, "It wasn't very attractive, but it was wool and it was warm in that harsh English climate."
These are photos of the Norden bombsight and the tracks for 50 cal ammunition fed to the twin 50 chin turret below the bombardier. Also visible is the astrodome used by the navigator and the navigator's table. The photos were sent to me by John Howland. They all play a part in "Arms of Deliverance."

Here's a picture of a WW-II throat mike sent to me by John Howland.

Here is a link to the official website of Liege, Belgium, sent to me by my
Belgian friend, Roger Marquet.
http://membres.lycos.fr/risack/homeg.html

Here are interior photos of a B-17. They were sent to me by Joe Harlick and TAKEN by Joe Harlick during WWII. Here is what Joe had to say:

"The first is snap looking forward from the tail wheel. It shows the two waist guns, the top of the ball turret, and into the radio room. The second is looking from the radio room towards the tail wheel of the two waist gunners in action.

"The third is a photo of me loading a K-17 Bomb Strike Camera in the camera pit under the radio room floor One third of our planes, on each mission, carried a bomb strike camera. The cameras are all preset for shutter speed and " f stop " exposure settings. They would be turned on at bombs away and make an exposure every 6 seconds, then rewind the film. They would continue running until well beyond the target that was hit. The particular camera in the photo makes a 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch negative. We would pick up the film magazine as soon as one of the planes landed and rush it back to the photo lab, process the film, make wet prints from wet negatives. These were hand carried to the commanding officer and woud be referred to during crew interrogation after the mission. They would have immediate answers as to the weather condition, if they hit the target, and an estimate of the damage to the target."

Here is a photo of a Navigator sent to me by Joe Harlick and TAKEN by Joe Harlick during WWII. This was my inspiration for Eddie!

These are more photos from Joe Harlick. Each photo has a caption.

Joe said, "You will find that 99% of my photos are black & white, color film was rare and used mostly by the PR photographers from London. Some individuals had 35 MM Kodachrome film sent to them from the states. The flight crews were not supposed to carry camera's on a mission, but some officers did, especially the latter part of the war."

Our Wedding

2006-06-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

I guess I'll post some pics.

Me and my husband in our first dance. That's my $200 ripoff wedding gown which I was really hating by the end of the night.

I changed into my great-great-great grandmother's wedding kimono for part of the afternoon.

Me and Mom in her gorgeous Ann Namba pantsuit

Me and Grandma (my mom's mom)

Me and Grandma (my dad's mom)

Our wedding cake turned out so great! We got a wedding cake maker from Berkeley, Julie Durkee, to do it. She's amazing. I wanted a Hawaiian Christmas theme, so she made a green "tree" tiered cake with a sugar ti-leaf garland, and then presents around the cake. My mom brought Hawaiian Christmas ornaments to scatter between the cake presents. And her cake flavors were awesome, too! Raspberry cream, Kahlua (or was it mocha?), and tiramisu.

Traditionally, the bride folds 1000 golden paper cranes for good luck before the wedding. I did like 450 or so while friends did the rest (they each took 100 cranes for me). These days, couples give the cranes to an artist who forms them in a picture. Our friend did ours. The two symbols are my Japanese family crest on the left, and the Chinese character of my husband's last name on the right.

Mount Hermon 2006

2006-04-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

These are pictures from the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference, April 7-11, 2006. My Mout Hermon updates are on my blog:
Recap 1
Recap 2
Recap 3
Recap 4
Recap 5
Recap 6
Recap 7
Recap 8

Me and my Zondervan sister Donna Fleishe r

Marilyn Hilton and Sharon Hinck

Authors Kathleen Y'Barbo and Diann Mills with their editor Rebecca Germany (Barbour)

Judy Gann, me, and Pamela Dowd

Me and KAREN BALL WHO MIGHT BE MY EDITOR!!!!

Me and my new blogging buddy Laura Christianson

Me and Tasra Dawson (we were in the Media Mania class together)

Patti Hill and Sharon Hinck

Susan Meissner (she won the Mount Hermon Writer of the Year award! Woot!Woot!) and Steve Laube

Judy Gann, me, Cyndy Salzmann

Take 1--Brandilyn did not like her smile and complained that Meredith (on the left) and Dineen (on the right) were too cute.

Take 2--Dineen didn't like her smile

Take 3--Gaaaaack!

Meredith Efken, Charise Olson, Sarah Anne Sumpolec (This is early in the conference before we fried our brains out)

Out to dinner with the girls

Charise Olson and Ellie Kay (our instructor in the Media Mania course)

Me and Sarah Anne Sumpolec (YA writer)

Me and Brandilyn Collins (who killed me in her blog)

Me and author Tricia Goyer

My fellow ACFW-West members Jennifer Tiszai (Zone Director) and Dineen Miller

Me and Gayle Roper. She's WONDERFUL.

My husband, Captain Caffeine

2005-12-30T18:22:00.000-08:00

My husband and I met in 1997 here in Silicon Valley, California. He is an engineer, and he conducted a typical engineer courtship--he emailed me for about a month before casually asking if I wanted to watch his volleyball playoffs.

(Well, it only had to work once.)

We married in December, 2001. No kids except for our rather butt-headed dog Snickers.

My husband loves fishing for bass. He takes pictures to prove he actually caught something. I personally wonder if he' s secretly got a plastic fish he whips out for these photos. ;)

My husband says this is the big fish. Not fake.

Me and my husband, at our wedding. He has a green ti leaf lei around his neck, which Hawaiian grooms wear.

My dog, Snickers

2005-12-29T22:32:00.000-08:00

This is my dog Snickers. She's a multi-breed (mutt) we adopted from the Santa Clara Humane Society in February 2003. She was nine months old when we adopted her. We took her to Monterey/Carmel over Thanksgiving 2003 and she had a blast at the beach parks and the Carmel shops, which allow dogs inside. We took her to six rounds of dog classes to try to train her to be more polite when she greets people and other dogs, because she's very energetic and exuberant. Her stylin' fashionwear below is from her "grandparents," my folks in Hawai'i.

Snickers put this frisbee on herself, I promise.

Me and Snickers

We have no idea why she likes to lie on her back like this. Maybe because Mom can't help scratching her tummy when she walks by.

Snicker's stylin' Hawaiian shirt was a Christmas gift from my parents to their beloved "granddoggie."

Snickers likes to lie under our Japanese coffee table, called a kotatsu. It's square with two parts--a frame and a separate table top. The frame has suspended under it a heating element covered with a grille to protect it. You throw a quilt over the frame and lay the table top on the quilt. When you turn on the heating element, you can sit at the kotatsu with your legs under the warmth, and the quilt keeps the heat in.

Snickers and my husband

Murdered Moose
On February 17th, 2006, I murdered this moose by giving it to Snickers. The full story is here.

Moose and Murderer
Mugshots of the moose and its murderer (technically, Snickers murdered it and not me, even though I gave the moose to her).

Pictures from ACFW 2005 Conference in Nashville

2005-09-29T15:45:00.000-07:00

I finally got my pictures up! Some are kind of blurry. I had others, but they were too fuzzy. Dagnabbit, next time I'm just using my normal camera.

Me, the Noble Theme Suspense winner

Squirl and Pammer (Hey, where's Heather?)

Shirlee McCoy and Debra Clopton

Randy Ingermanson, me, and Deb Raney

Merrillee Whren and Gail Martin

My supercool roommate Meredith Efken and me

Margaret Daley and Lenora Worth

Karen Ball and me

Gayle Roper and me

Dineen Miller and me

Dana Corbit and Cynthia Cooke

Colleen Coble and me

Breakfast with friends! (L-R) Cynthia Cooke, Lenora Worth, Heather Tipton, me, Dana Corbit, Pamela James, Cheryl Wyatt, Laurie Alice Eakes

Brandilyn Collins and me

Author panel/booksigning in Nashville. (L-R) Irene Brandt, Joan Hochstetler, Gail Martin, Kathryn Mackel, Randy Ingermanson, Terry Burns, Cyndy Salzmann

Allie Pleiter, me, Mae Nunn

2005 RWA National Conference

2005-07-31T16:03:00.000-07:00

July 27-30, I went to the RWA National Conference in Reno, NV with a couple friends. My blog post about the conference is here. I had a lot of photos that turned out really blurry.

Me, Shelley Bates (RITA Winner!), and Marilyn Hilton (Thelma & Louise cohort!)

Me and Cheryl Wyatt (two of the Fab Four)

Me and Sophia Nash (RITA winner!)

Me and Kathryn Caskie (isn't she gorgeous in her dress?)

2005 Mt. Hermon Conference

2005-03-29T18:49:00.000-08:00

I love attending the Mt. Hermon Christian Writers Conference, held every year near Santa Cruz, California, where it's only a short drive for me. I blogged about it here.

Me, Pamela Dowd, and Cyndy Salzmann

Me, Donna Fleisher, Charise Olson, and Lori Kincaid (my roommate this year)

Me and T. Davis Bunn, who taught the Fiction track this year

Me and Marci Seither

Marilyn Hilton and Jeanette Hanscombe

Me and Laura Jensen Walker

Louise Gouge and Sharon Hinck

Donita Paul and Meredith Efken

Sharon Hinck, her daughter Kaeti, and me

Brandilyn Collins and me

Brandilyn Collins and me being weird

Meredith Efken and Sharon Dunn

Randy Ingermanson and me

2004 ACRW Conference

2004-09-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

American Christian Romance Writers changed their name to American Christian Fiction Writers at this conference in Denver in 2004. I blogged about it here. Most of these pictures are pirated from Heather and Pammer.

Heather and Margaret Daley

All of us at High Tea--Squirl, me, Pammer, Heather, Janet Spaeth, Dream with Bay and Kay, Julie, Margaret Daley and Marta Perry

Janet Spaeth, Heather, Pammer and me

Heather, Margaret Daley, Marta Perry, me and Pammer (we're being so weird)

Heather and me

Janet Spaeth and Heather

Heather and Mary Griffith

Heather and Pammer

Pammer and me

Mary Griffith, Heather and Squirl (ignore the wrong date in the corner)

Heather, Squirl, Pammer and me