Camy Tang and Sushi...

COME MEET CAMY TANG...

I am so glad to have Camy Tang back with us today to talk about her new release
"Only Uni". It is the follow-up to her first book "Sushi For One" which I enjoyed
so much I put it on my Top 7 Most Entertaining Books of 2007 list. In "Sushi"
we met Lex and her crazy, kooky, fun and loving (in their own way) large family.
Only Uni follows up with the same family from the perspective of Lex's cousin
Trish. The irony here is that in "Sushi" I started out liking Trish
but by the end of the book I really perceived her as selfish and
shallow and didn't like her much at all. Consequently, I wasn't sure
that I would like "Only Uni" because it was going to revolve around
selfish Trish. Enter the moment that I received Only Uni and started
reading it... a few hours later I declared (out loud to no one), "I do
believe I like "Only Uni" even better than "Sushi For One"!" Now onto
finding out more about this book from Camy herself...

1. Camy, when you wrote "Sushi For One" did you start out intending to 
write a series of 3 books about the cousins or did it develop into that?
Does it change the way you write a book if you are writing a single book or a series?  
I originally wrote Trish's story first, in a (very, very bad)
manuscript titled THE CORINTHIAN RULES. At that time, I wasn't
thinking about writing a series. But after I started working with my
first agent, I talked with Marilynn Griffith, and got the idea about
making the story into a series. I wrote the series proposal. The
Zondervan publishing committee didn't like THE CORINTHIAN RULES and
wanted another story in the series first, so I wrote Lex's story,
SUSHI FOR ONE.

It doesn't really make much difference in how I write the book if I'm
writing a series or a single title. I still do the same in-depth
characterization even if it's only for the one book. But I do have to
admit it's a lot less work if I do the in-depth characterization and
have 3 books out of it!

2. One of the things I really liked about "Only Uni" is that Trish is a
flawed character from the beginning.  And anyone who reads "Sushi" knows
this when they start reading.  Because I knew she was flawed right away
I watched her journey through the book a little differently... as I realized
she was trying to change and find her way again I got in her corner and really
started rooting for her.  Was it fun to write about a character that is less
than perfect, and are any of her flaws taken from personal experience or is Trish
purely fictional?

Trish is actually a lot like me. I struggled with my singleness in the
same way Trish does, which was another reason I had written her story
first in THE CORINTHIAN RULES. Her story changed quite a bit from THE
CORINTHIAN RULES to ONLY UNI, but her flaws are still the same--her
struggles with her self-image, her desires, her determination to
change.


3. Trish goes through a search during this book, she's searching for the right
church, the right relationship with God, and finding her friendships and trust
with her cousins again.  I loved this part of the story as I think most of us
have gone through something similar in our lives at some point or another.
How do you strike that balance at church with being involved and a servant without
getting taken advantage of - I've heard that 20% of the people at church do 80% of
the work and I've certainly seen that to be true for the most part...

Oh, tell me about it! I see it in my own church.

It's funny you mention this, because we discussed this issue at our
youth group meeting a few weeks ago. While God does desire us to serve
at our church, I don't think He likes it when we overcommit ourselves
and neglect other things that are more important.

Because I see so many people in my church family being taken advantage
of, I enter into ministry with a lot of prayer. I don't agree to do
something unless I've prayed hard about it, and I try to never commit
when I'm first asked--I always tell them I need time to pray about it.
That way, I can ask God what He wants me to do, and I can look
realistically at my time and resources. I have to really make an
effort to keep my priorities straight and not become overcommitted.


4. Trish is similar to the prodigal son in this book, she messes up and comes back -
but she still has to suffer the consequences of her misguided actions.  I have
children and while I know they will make mistakes and have consequences, as a mother
I hate to see them hurting.  How would you explain this concept to people in a way
that can be easily understood?

You touch on a topic that I feel very strongly about. Our current
American culture likes to allow people off the hook and never pay the
consequences of their own actions and decisions. While God forgives us
for our sins, often we still have to pay the consequences.

I tell my youth group kids this all the time--you have to learn to be
accountable for your actions. Sometimes God lets us off the hook, but
sometimes He doesn't. If we are held accountable, we can always trust
He'll be there for us, and that everything eventually works out for
our good, but it's still required for us to stand up under the
consequences of things we've done.


5. One of the fun parts (and common threads of these books) is Grandma Sakai.
She is the ultimate matriarch who wants to be firmly in control of the lives of
those she loves.  I think that's what keeps me from hating her - I do believe that
she really loves her family (the granddaughters included).  I have to ask... do you
have a Grandma Sakai in your life?

Absolutely not, thank goodness! Grandma Sakai is based off of the
grandmas, aunties, and mothers of friends of mine (both Asian and
non-Asian) who constantly nag and scheme to get the single family
members married off. So while she's fictional, she's also based on
reality.

While I do understand that those meddling family members really do
care, I personally come from a family where we respect each other's
personal lives. My family doesn't nag at all, and I'm very glad for
that. I put enough pressure on MYSELF, so why would I want pressure on
me from outside sources?



6. Now this question is purely for my information - we have a Japanese restaurant
not far from us that my husband and I just love (my favorites are Ika Fry and
Edamame), but I am not a huge expert on sushi itself - so share some of your
favorites with me so I know what to try next time I'm there...

Most Japanese food comes in two categories: raw and cooked.

If you're willing to eat raw food, my suggestion is to try tuna (ahi,
maguro) sushi. If the restaurant is good, the tuna will be soft in
texture, fresh-tasting and not fishy smelling at all. The fish will be
pleasantly dry and not slimy. My favorite sushi is hamachi
(yellowtail) which has a slightly stronger taste than tuna, but very
delish.

For cooked Japanese food, one of my favorites is eel (unagi). You can
usually order unagi donburi or unagi over steamed rice. The unagi is
broiled in a flavorful sweet-salty sauce that lends itself well to the
rice. Eel is slightly slimy in texture, depending on how good quality
it is, so don't expect anything dry like normal cooked fish.

My husband and I have gotten unagi before and it wasn't bad at all, I guess I'm
a little too tame though - I like the avocado and cucumber sushi (with nothing raw :-)

7. I liked "Only Uni" so much that I am really excited about "Single Sashimi"
that is coming out next, can you tell us a little about that book and when its
coming out?

Single Sashimi comes out August 2008. Here's the back cover blurb:

Drake Yu. Why would Drake call her after … what, five years? Six?

Venus heard in his voice that resonance that was almost a growl, that
titanium-hard determination to get what he wanted. And he usually got
what he wanted. The voice said: "I want you to work for me."

Not this time… If it was a choice between Drake and McDonald's—she'd
choose french fries. She'd never work for him again. It would take an
act of God.

Venus Chau is determined to start her own game development company and
launch the next Super Mario-sized phenomenon. However, she needs an
investor to back her idea. When Drake Yu, an old nemesis, approaches
Venus with a contracting opportunity at his sister's startup, the
offer to become Chief Operating Officer tempts Venus to think the
unthinkable.

Venus would rather throw away her PS3 than work for Drake again …
except Grandma bribes Venus to do this favor for Drake's wealthy
family with a coveted introduction to the most respected investor in
the game industry. It's also a short job—only a few months—so Venus
won't have to stand Drake's presence for very long.

But one wild youth group, a two-faced assistant, and Grandma's
determined match-making threaten to make them both fail—or go insane.
With the encouragement of her three cousins, Lex, Trish, and Jennifer,
Venus discovers that even a wounded heart can undergo a beautiful
transformation …



8. I've heard your books referred to as Asian Chick Lit or Romance with a
Kick of Wasabi.  I really like that second description, the first one is
probably appropriate as well, but besides your books I've not found myself
to be a huge fan of chick lit.  I just think your books are much meatier than
merely chick lit - how would you describe your style to someone that has never
read any of your books before?

My books are essentially humorous women's fiction with romance, or
just romantic comedy.

Most chick lit is written in first person point of view, so the reader
never gets into other characters' heads very much. I don't think
that's as conducive to romance novels, so I wrote mine in third person
so that I could get into the head of the heroes as well as the
heroines. Knowing what the hero is thinking helps the reader fall in
love with him more, I think.

I'm a huge romance fan, and I don't think I could write any book
without at least some romance in it. While the Sushi series books are
each about a woman's funny spiritual journey and not only about her
love life, there's always the hero for her to fall in love with.


Camy has agreed to giveaway a copy of "Only Uni" to one lucky reader, so leave
a comment with contact information and I'll draw for a winner.  And be sure to
check out the previous post where you can read the first chapter of "Only Uni"
and Camy's author bio. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today and good luck with "Only Uni"!

Thanks for having me here, Janna!
Camy