Tuesday, April 22, 2008

I got tagged!

By Kammi Rencher

Janet Jensen tagged me, which means that you all have to read seven random and perhaps wacky things about me. (Or you can all skip this post--problem solved!) :)

1. I’ve been married for 3 ½ years. Both my husband and I are from southern Utah. We don’t have any children (yet) but we do have an extremely smart, gorgeous, vain cat.

2. I’ve hiked Angels Landing in Zion National Park four times, without touching the chains. (Don’t know what Angels Landing is? Go here: http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-angels-landing-trail.htm) (Warning: do not try this hike if you are afraid of heights!)

3. I play 4 instruments and was the band president in both high school and college. I was in the marching band at BYU. (Yes, I was a band nerd.) Any guesses as to what I played?

4. None of the men in my family like to go fishing with me, because I always catch the most fish and the biggest fish. It really irritates them when people start coming over to ask my advice on fishing. (The truth is I don’t know what I’m doing right. I figure as long as I don’t become too knowledgeable about fishing, I’ll have permanent beginner’s luck.)

5. I won a gold medal in a national Judo tournament.

6. I almost got eaten by a shark in Hawaii (well, a big fish anyway…well, a fish…it wasn’t REALLY a shark…but some fish look a lot bigger and scarier than they really are if you come nose-to-nose with them while snorkeling for the first time).

7. When I was young, instead of being a normal kid and wanting to be a ballerina or a firefighter or a rock star, I wanted to be an accountant. (Ridiculous idea! Can you imagine spending all day doing math? What was I thinking?)

Now I’m tagging:
Elodia Strain: www.elodiastrain.com
Shirley Bahlmann: www.shirleybahlmann.com
Randal Chase: atonofauthorsandawannabe.blogspot.com
Lisa McKendrick: atonofauthorsandawannabe.blogspot.com
Christine Thackeray: christinethackeray.com
Rebecca Talley: www.rebeccatalley.com
Tamra Norton: www.tamranorton.com

And here's what they're supposed to do:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

9 comments:

Janet Kay Jensen said...

So I'd like to know how you ended up in publishing (cuz you are my hero for accepting my book)!

LOL at the snorkeling story. I've never been scared by any creature I've encountered while snorkeling, except those things with the 2 long white legs and black fins.
Janet

Rebecca Talley said...

Thanks for sharing these things about you. It's always fun to get to know people better.

I've already posted my answers to this tag over on my blog (Paul West tagged me). And, never mind what David Woolley said in the comments on my blog--he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Thanks for tagging me.

Kammi said...

Aw, Janet. I'm blushing. :)

Honestly, I kind of fell into book publishing. I loved reading and writing when I was young (I wrote my first story before I learned the entire alphabet...yes, it's kind of hard to decipher). I went to school at Dixie College and then transfered to BYU. They'd just started the English Language and Editing programs the semester I started, and I was more than happy to switch from English to Elang/editing. I landed several editing internships, including one at Covenant and one at LDS Church Headquarters, and before I knew it I had a job working with Cedar Fort.

I was a book editor at first. Lee Nelson was the Acquisitions Editor at the time, and he would encourage us book editors to read submissions when we had time, and I loved doing it and was so vocal about my opinions that I more or less drove Lee to retirement. (Well, not really. He'd planned to retire before I came along, but I guess he figured I was a prime candidate for the Acquisitions job.)

So, that's how I ended up as the CFI Acquisitions Editor. I really love doing it, and am glad I've had this opportunity to work with so many authors and so many books.

Marcia Mickelson said...

Well, I hope you stick around for a long time at CFI. That's cool that you're so good at fishing you put the guys to shame.

My guess is that you played the clarinet at BYU?

Carlene Duda said...

Hey, I was a band nerd also. I loved the marching formations for the games and marching in the Daffodil parade. I played the flute and piccolo. I am the flute player for our ward and stake choir. My twin sister plays the bag pipes, oboe, clarinet, piano, and saxaphone.

Kammi said...

Carlene, we're two of a kind. :) I played flute in symphony and piccolo in marching band. I also played the clarinet in ensemble. I still play the piano, but I don't get much of a chance to play the other three.

Janet Kay Jensen said...

Bagpipes! I love bagpipes! If I'd been in a marching band, well, I would have needed a GPS system to avoid turning the wrong way and making the entire line of players topple down like dominoes.

Tamster said...

Those were the 4 instruments I would have guessed. Maybe because I know other women who have played those. So how long ago were you at BYU, Kammi? And did you go to BYU, Carlene, and if so, when? My cousin was the piccolo section leader for the marching band when she was there. She graduated in Dec. '94. Just thought maybe we could play the "Do You Know?" game! :-)

Kammi said...

I graduated only a few years ago from BYU, so wasn't in the band with your cousin. Kudos to her for being a section leader, though! By the time I got to the BYU marching band, I had no desire for responsibility and therefore I was just a lowly, normal piccolo player.