Janna's 1st Most Entertaining Book of 2007

My sister Janna is listing her top seven most entertaining and most life-changing books of 2007. We have similar taste, and I "helped" her connect with several of the authors. This week I'll be posting several of her interviews with authors. Enjoy the first one with my friend Camy Tang!

"SUSHI FOR ONE" by Camy Tang! This book is such a fun read that not only introduces many of us to a different culture, but at the same time it is very relatable to many of us that come from a close family (like myself). It is categorized as "Fiction / Christian / General" on the back of the book, and I've heard some refer to it as Chick Lit which is a very popular category right now, but I have to say for all the Chick Lit I've read this year - "Sushi For One" is the most enjoyable I've read yet! When you pick up this book you will be pulled into Lex's world of friends, family and finding Mr. Right (or not)... Now come meet Camy Tang -


1) Sometimes people think of authors as being bigger than life and not "real", so I thought we would start off with a very important question, one that will show people just how real you are! "What dessert can you not resist when it is time to indulge?"

Creme brulee!!! I love custards and creams, probably because, like many Asians, I'm a little lactose intolerant--naturally I'd want what I shouldn't eat! My mom started making homemade creme brulee a few years ago, and I could eat an entire recipe! Good thing she only makes it for special occasions.

2) I picked "Sushi For One" as one of my Top 7 Most Entertaining Books of 2007, but in an increasingly popular genre of chick-lit - why did I pick this one? To me Sushi broke out of the cookie cutter mold of chick-lit and was very original - Did you incorporate a lot of your own family life into "Sushi For One"? I incorporated the experiences of all the people I know and their families. All of us have at least one nagging relative who thinks a woman's life isn't complete without a man, and who also thinks they know the perfect person for said woman to marry. Grandma Sakai's bullheadedness is, sadly, quite realistic even though her character is fiction. As for the rest of Lex's family, I wanted to create a large family that readers would be enveloped by and yet would also find intriguing with the different aspects of Japanese and Chinese American culture.

3) One of the unique things about Sushi is that while it has the Asian/American settings and culture threading through it, many of us can identify with the overwhelming family involved in all aspects of our lives - do you have huge holiday gatherings with your family like Lex does?

My family isn't as large as Lex's, but my sister-in-law does have a gigantic family that has huge parties. I also have friends who have large families--and large get-togethers--exactly like Lex's. However, whatever the size of an Asian American family gathering, it's usually filled with food, just like in the parties Lex's family gives. The spread at an Uncle's birthday party in the middle of the book is exactly the yummy stuff served at my own family parties. In fact, for my book launch party, my church family made all the dishes listed in that scene! It was fabulous.

4) In Sushi Lex compiles a list of what she wants in the man she marries based on Ephesians. You are married now Camy, but did you have a list like Lex? No, although I think it would have been good if I'd had at least a wise list of traits a good husband would hopefully have. I work with the teen girls at my church youth group, and I do recommend to them that they think seriously about characteristics their future husband should have--a strong faith, willingness to communicate, ears open to listen to her, etc. If a girl has a few standards in mind, she hopefully won't be taken in by a charming, uncommunicative, condescending sort of guy.

5) I can't wait until February when "Only Uni" comes out - who is this book about?

This is Trish's story. In Sushi for One, she wrestled and lost against some difficult things (mostly to do with how an unhealthy relationship can influence a girl away from friends and family), so Only Uni will follow her spiritual journey--with a lot of wacky bumps along the way.

6) How many more books in the Sushi series can we look forward to? The third book, Single Sashimi, is Venus's story, but Jenn's story wasn't contracted, so I'll be writing a novella on Jenn that I can offer free to subscribers of my newsletter YahooGroup: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Camys_Loft/join

7) What projects are you working on for after the Sushi series is wrapped up? I can't say much since nothing is contracted at this point, but I'm working on some Asian Young Adult romances (think Amy Tan meets Princess Diaries). They're a lot of fun! I'm also working on another Asian romance for my 18-35 readers --this one involving dogs. :) I'll be holding a website contest for my newsletter subscribers in March to celebrate the launch of Only Uni, so I hope readers will subscribe! I'll also have a blog tour for Only Uni at the same time. I still give away Christian fiction on my blog three times a week, so anyone interested in a good read should stop on by:
http://camys-loft.blogspot.com/
Thanks for having me here, Janna! Camy

Here's the link on Amazon to buy Sushi for One:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0310273986/

Be sure to leave a comment with a way to reach you in case you win
if you would like to be entered in the drawing Camy is doing for
"Sushi For One". You don't want to miss a chance to win this great book!



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Cara here. To see Janna's 7 most life-changing, make sure to check out her blog. By the way, this is the first time I've seen the cover of Single Sashimi. Wow! Another gorgeous cover. Congrats, Camy!