FEATURED AUTHOR: Camy Tang

Editor Note: It is always a pleasure to introduce you to a writer friend who has reached her goal of publication. I met Camy online and I loved her willingness to share her knowledge and be a encourager. Her sense of humor drew me to her blog and kept me coming back. She belives in the power of prayer and is a great teacher.

The first chapter of her book had me cracking up and I knew I was in for a treat. I highly recommend you pick up her book, you'll enjoy it. Stop by her sites and see what you've been missing.

It is my pleasure to introduce you to a new writer who I know will have a long career.


Camy Tang is a loud Asian chick who writes loud Asian chick-lit. She grew up in Hawaii, but now lives in San Jose, California, with her engineer husband and rambunctious poi-dog. In a previous life she was a biologist researcher, but these days she is surgically attached to her computer, writing full-time. In her spare time, she is a staff worker for her church youth group, and she leads one of the worship teams for Sunday service.

SORMAG: Tell us about your current book?

TANG: 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 older cousin 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 a Christian, and he has a 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.

SORMAG: What aspect of God do you most hope readers will take away after reading your book?

TANG: There was a song that inspired the black moment of this book, "Held" by Natalie Grant. I wanted to capture that feeling of being held tightly in God's arms no matter what horrible things have happened to us, no matter what we've done, no matter how we've forged ahead without Him. I'm hoping I help readers not to find an answer to everything, but just to remind them that God loves them.

SORMAG: Writing this book, what did you learn about yourself and God?

TANG: Each novel is a gift from God. He not only inspires me, He gives me the motivation to keep plugging away, chapter after chapter, day by day. I've come to depend on Him a lot more than I used to through the process of writing an entire 90,000 word novel.

SORMAG: What aspect of writing do you love the best, and which do you hate the most?

TANG: I love the creative process of figuring out who my new characters are, what the new plotline is going to be. What I hate the most is the getting up to walk around every hour so my back doesn't ache and my poor old body doesn't break down too fast. LOL

SORMAG: How did it feel to hold your new book?

TANG: I cried. It was also the moment at which my husband really felt that my whole "writing thing" was real, so that also made me cry.

SORMAG: Was there ever a time before you were published you thought of quitting?

TANG: I actually did quit, not because I wanted to, but because God told me to.

Back then, I had the most stinky attitude--I was more interested in my name on a book than in giving Him glory. So, God told me to lay down my writing.

It was tough. I didn't want to do it, tried to convince myself I didn't hear God correctly, but He kept nudging me until I finally surrendered. Stopped writing. Put away my manuscript and my computer disks and didn't write a single word of fiction for several years. My brain kept thinking of stories, but I never wrote any of them down.

It wasn't until I got laid off from my biology job that God told me that I could take up writing again. I knew then that He thought I was ready. I've been praying for humility and the attitude of a servant, because I know He wouldn't want me writing any other way.

SORMAG: What should a new writer know about the publishing business?

TANG: It requires a lot of work to learn good writing craft, more than people realize. Someone who wanted to become a concert pianist wouldn't sit at a piano for the first time and hammer out a Mozart concerto. They'd start off with simple pieces and learn better craft and technique.

Writing is the same way. People can't simply write a novel and expect it to be perfect and publishable. Writing requires a lot of learning of craft, of the writing business. Some writers do sell their first manuscripts, but most do not. Most writers learn more craft with every manuscript they write. I wrote five manuscripts before I sold.

SORMAG: Tell us a little about your critique business.

TANG: I specialize in looking at a writer's synopsis and being able to pinpoint large-scale structural problems with a storyline. Often a writer will have good writing skills, but there are problems with their story structure, which is sometimes why they're rejected. I can see if there are problems with character arc, story pacing, rising and falling action, climax and epiphany.

I have a Story Sensei blog where I post writing tips three days a week so people can learn to doctor their own manuscripts. It's cheaper than paying me, and trust me, I know that writers are mostly all broke.

SORMAG: What do you do to make time for yourself?

TANG: I've been learning recently to just say NO. I'm starting to realize that I need to protect my creative writing time and not let other things distract me. I've cut back on some of my critiques so that I could have more time to write.

SORMAG: How can readers get in contact with you? (mail, email, website)

TANG: website: http://www.camytang.com/
blog: http://camys-loft.blogspot.com/
Story Sensei blog: http://www.storysensei.com/

Right now on my website, I'm holding a huge website contest, giving away baskets of books and an iPod Nano! You must be a member of my newsletter YahooGroup to enter:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Camys_Loft/join

Thanks for having me here, LaShaunda!