Monday, March 10, 2008

Camy Hits the Beach

That title sounds like a movie from the 60s, doesn't it? Haha. Camy Tang's guest blogging today, and after reading about her adventures on the sand, you can enter to win a copy of her newest release, Only Uni, by leaving a comment.

Here's Camy:

This was an easy-peasy
guest blog to write because Julie likes two of my favorite things—chocolate and the beach!

Growing up in Hawaii,
we went to the beach fairly often. As a child, I burned within seconds of stepping onto the sand, so I had to endure that nasty coconut oil sunscreen (anyone remember that?) that smelled “okay” but felt like Mom was slathering snot on my body.

My mom is from Oahu’s North Shore,
so we most often went to beaches in Haleiwa. When I was a child, they weren’t as crowded or as dirty as they are now, and even then, my parents preferred the quieter beaches further north up the coastline, near Waimea.

Those beaches usually only had a few local Hawaiian families rather than droves of tourists, and there was clean, bright sand to play in. My dad would go out snorkeling and leave my brother and me playing in the shallows. We both had had swimming lessons since we were two years old, and in those days, no one thought about the safety of leaving two kids playing on a beach, surrounded by a few other families, even though those people were strangers. We never got kidnapped, anyway.

The difference I noticed between Hawaii beaches and California beaches
is the temperature. While Hawaii beaches are like sand-colored omelet pans sitting over a high heat burner, California beaches were more like sand-colored omelet pans sitting over a medium heat burner. Much easier on the feet, anyway, and even downright cold in winter.

Chocolate kisses in your pocket melt within 50 yards of a Hawaii beach (as I know from—ahem—personal experience) but you can actually eat a chocolate bar on a California beach without needing to drink it out of a cup. Before reading Julie’s book, I had never even put chocolate and the beach together because of my previous experience with Hawaii beaches (versus the lovely stretches near where she lives in southern California).

But why not? Two of my favorite things! Maybe next time I go back to Hawaii, I’ll eat a rapidly melting Fudgesicle on the beach in honor of Julie.

Camy Tang is the loud Asian chick who writes loud Asian chick lit. 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 five boxes of books and 25 copies of her latest release, ONLY UNI.

22 comments:

Fedora said...

Thanks for the blog today! I hadn't heard of your writing before but now I'll be looking for it! (And boy, California beaches are COLD! Those kisses in your pocket will not be the least bit melty, at least not from the outside temperature!)

ReviewsbyHeidi said...

This was fun!
I've got Camy guest-blogging for me on the 20th~ can't wait!
Heidi
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ReviewsbyHeidi

Unknown said...

oooo, two of my fav things too. Give me an idea - why don't I take some chocolate with me when I visit the beach this week while I'm in CA? Yum!

Looking forward to meeting you (Julie), as well.

Michelle

Julie Lessman said...

LOL ... "slathering snot" ... nice alliteration, Camy, uh, I guess.

Fun interview ... and even more fun book. Don't enter me in the contest, though. I'm lucky enough to have already read Only Uni, and it's great!!

Hugs,
Julie

Cherie J said...

LOL! Great interview! You have such a great sense of humor Camy.

Anonymous said...

fun interview! thanks for sharing!

Janna said...

Now, Camy - the funny thing is I don't like the feel of that coconut stuff either, but I love the smell of it... to me its not the beach unless the smell of coconuts is in the air!

Janna
ryanx6[at]msn[dot]com

Crystal Laine said...

Ok, the ONE thing that turns my stomach is snot. I wasn't sure I could read this, but I'm glad I ventured forth.

I was the teacher all the other teachers came to get for anything--mice, blood, throw up--anything--but NOT runny noses. Ok.

But I learned another thing about Camy and that was cool.

This chocolate and beaches stuff has been fun!

And like Camy, I burn to a crisp in the sun, on the beach. I like it, but it is like preparing for a nuclear blast getting ready to go.

Julie Carobini said...

I'd like to publicly thank Crystal for facing her demons here on this blog. LOL

Ivÿ said...

love the interview. :)
and i love chocolates.

hope to win a copy of her book! :)

ivan[dot]manalansan[at]gmail[dot]com

Anonymous said...

all this talk of beaches makes me long for my childhood days growing up on the water. So long ago, I'm surprised I can remember . . .
I would love a chance to win Camy's book. mamakane @ yahoo .com

Patty said...

I've been anxious to read this book. I read the first one and loved it, so count me in.

pleblanc_1 at charter dot net

Hope Chastain said...

Please enter me for this one, too, thanks! (Camy, ewwwww. LOL. I think Mom used Coppertone on me. We have movies of me and my little boyfriend when we were two on Honolulu beaches [no video camera yet]. Now if we only had a movie projector that still worked!)

hope _ chastain [at] yahoo [dot] com (no spaces)

Anonymous said...

Now that was fun & I'd love to read this book.

Thanks for the chance to win it!!

ChristyJan said...

I've been blog hopping between both of your blogs.

Please enter me to win a copy of Camy's book.

Anonymous said...

Julie and Camy, great guest blog! Camy, don't venture to the northern coast of Cali, if you like the central coast temps...chilled chocolate and frozen toes in the summertime! I've been lucky to live near the coast up and down Cali, but I love it here in Santa Barbara. Been to Hawaii once as a tourist and enjoyed it alot, but have always wanted to camp out near Waimea. Still time for that, eh?

Loved Sushi for One and looking forward to Only Uni.

Blessings,
Becca
becca dot dowling at yahoo dot com

Mimi N said...

Julie, or Camy, that was a great blog. Your sense of humor came pouring through as usual! Good luck down the road with that fudgesicle.

Blessings,
Mimi

mnjesusfreak[at]gmail.com

Donna said...

I love reading this blog. I loved the discription of the coconut lotion. I too love the smell and we are so thankful for the new spray lotions. Takes care of the whoe snot factor. I don;t have a beach near by but I can get my hands on chocolate. Please enter me in the contest.

Julie Carobini said...

I'll be picking the winner around 1 pm, PST.

--Julie

Julie Carobini said...

p.s. That's 1 pm, pst, today, March 11 :)

Stacey said...

I used to look for tanning oil that smelled like Pina Colada, so coconut doesn't bother me. But my tanning oil didn't feel like snot during application. Yuck!

Thanks for the guest blog. Camy is incredible! I'd love a copy of Only Uni, so please include me in the drawing. Thank you.

stacey_dale[at]yahoo[dot]com

Camy Tang said...

Thanks for the guest blog spot, Julie! Who knew my snot comment would get so many takers?
Camy