Meet Camy Tang, a Loud Asian Chick

Camy Tang is a self-described “loud Asian chick who writes loud Asian chick lit.”

I am…well…a quiet Caucasian chick who writes about adoption. Still, when Camy and I met at a writers’ conference a couple of years ago, we hit it off famously and vowed that we are kindred blogging spirits. Just for fun, we decided to make guest appearances on each other’s blogs.

I was thrilled when, a couple of weeks ago, I heard that Camy’s first novel, Sushi for One?, won first place in the Debut Author category of the 2008 American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year contest. (Try saying that three times, fast!)

Camy was thrilled, too. She told me, “I was so excited at the awards ceremony that I screamed like a banshee and said something really stupid for my thank you speech.”

I recently gobbled up the first two novels in Camy’s Sushi Series:  Sushi for One? and Only Uni  (the third book, Single Sashimi, was released in August).

For years, I avoided reading Christian fiction because it was too sickly-sweet, too predictable, and the characters were just too darn wholesome. But when I started making friends with Christian novelists, I figured I’d better at least give their work a look-see.

It has been so refreshing to read—and enjoy—this unique new voice in Christian fiction. In the Sushi Series, Camy creates four single, 20-something Asian-American cousins who belong to a large extended family dominated by a manipulative grandma whose goal in life is to marry off her granddaughters.

Each book in the series focuses on a different cousin. In Sushi for One?, we meet Lex Sakai,  a spunky, volleyball-playing athlete who has compiled a huge list of traits Mr. Right must fulfill. Only problem is, all of the guys she dates are Mr. Wrong.

In Only Uni, we learn more about Lex’s cousin Trish Sakai, a flirt who has done more than her share of sleeping around, and is now attempting—rather unsuccessfully—to make amends for her wild lifestyle. Turning her life around is complicated by the fact that her gorgeous ex-boyfriend is stalking her.

I love the characters’ snappy banter, flawed relationships with one another (and with the various men they date), and their struggles to discern what God wants for them. I appreciate the way Camy gives us glimpses into Asian-American culture and into a tightly-knit extended family. Unlike most chick-lit, where you know how the story will end after the first page, I was surprised by the plot twists and turns, particularly in Only Uni.

If you want a refreshing change from the lusty, foul-mouthed, Prada-wearing heroines that populate most chick-lit novels, give Camy’s books a try. You won’t be sorry.

Camy has graciously agreed to give away copies of Single Sashimi to THREE readers of my blog! To enter the giveaway, simply post a comment below this entry. If you want, tell us why you love/hate chick lit, Christian fiction, or sushi. Or ask Camy a question. I’ll announce the winners on October 20, 2008.

Tomorrow, I’ll feature an interview with Camy Tang. You can visit Camy at www.camytang.com or stop by her blog, Camy's Loft.