Sushi for One?

Hi! I’m Camy Tang, also known by my friends as the loud Asian chick. (I’m not really THAT loud, they just like to give me grief!)

Tricia asked me to talk about what it’s like to get my first novel published, and my writing journey to get here. My first novel coming out is, natch, a dream come true for me. But more than that, it’s a benediction from God.

When I first started writing years ago, I was more interested in fame (my name on a book!) and fortune (boy was I naïve) than in serving God and bringing Him glory with my stories. So God asked me to give up my writing.

I resisted for a loooooong time. But there’s no way to win against God when He commands us to do something, and so eventually, I did it. Went cold turkey. Put away my manuscripts, my story idea notes, my computer disk backups.

I must have been in complete denial because I became a biologist, of all things.

But, with the way the world (specifically the San Francisco bay area) works, I got laid off from my job. And then God told me that I could write again.

Yup, just like that. He didn’t have to tell me twice.

I got a lot of rejections. I did a lot of work in learning the writing craft and about the publishing business and market. I got even more rejections. I had the meanest contest judge comments you’d ever seen. I got still more rejections. My husband told me to suck it up when I whined too much.

And then Zondervan said they were taking my story to editorial committee. Talk about stress. Then they said they were taking it to pub board. I thought I was stressed before, but it was nothing compared to the waiting this time.

And then my harried agent called me. It was The Call. And my life has not been the same since.

Moral of the story: Submit to God. Be ready to suffer—a lot. And if you’re in His will, it’ll happen. He knows what’s best for us.

Sushi for One came out September 1st, but it’s been years in the making—God making the right attitudes in me, the right skills I needed, the right people in line to get it published. It’s a fun, flirty, fluffy read that I hope you’ll enjoy!

Tricia, thanks so much for letting me jabber on your blog!

Oh, and comment on Tricia’s blog in the next week and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win your very own copy of Sushi for One! Woo-hoo!