Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.31.2011 While doing research on a new book proposal, I was reading a book set at Christmas and was inspired to make hot chocolate. But not just any hot chocolate--I wanted to try to reproduce the orgasmic (yes I just said orgasmic) hot chocolate that I had with my friends Allie Pleiter and Danica Favorite at City Bakery in New York City. Allie blogged about it at the bottom of this post. It was seriously that good. So I found several recipes and cobbled together this one: Pour 2 cups milk into a saucepan, whisk in 1 teaspoon cornstarch. Heat on medium heat until steaming, then add 12-13 ounces bar chocolate (not baking chocolate) chopped into small pieces. Whisk to melt the chocolate, enjoy with pretzels in lieu of the wonderful pretzel croissant we had at City Bakery. Unfortunately, while good, the hot chocolate was not thick enough. The City Bakery stuff literally globbed into the cup, it was that thick. Next time, I think I will add less milk an...

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.27.2011 I’m over at the Girls, God, and the Good Life blog with something a bit less serious (like that’s a surprise) about a secret I learned relating to my work efficiency and concentration .

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.25.2011 I’m over at the ChristiansRead blog today with an article that might interest some of you: I was running today and came up with this neat way to explain ebooks and DRM to people. I hope this helps some of you who are confused about the different ebook readers and types of ebook files. Click here to read the rest of the article.

Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.20.2011 Sorry the blog looks weird (actually, I’m not sure if it looks weird on your computer browsers, but it does on mine). I’m in the process of moving to a new host server. My website was down for a little while earlier this week (so if you emailed me and it bounced, I’m sorry about that!) but things should be fine now. In all the moving, my blog design wasn’t moved over seamlessly but I’ve got a website guru looking into that for me. In the meantime, sorry for the construction! :) If you haven’t yet, please check out my website and let me know what you think. You might have seen this design from a few months ago, but it changed a tiny bit when I switched to my new host server. http://www.camytang.com Also, I just launched a new Street Team contest. So if you haven’t signed up for my Street Team yet, what are you waiting for? It’s fun and you can win lots of prizes!

Freezing Point by Elizabeth Goddard Casey Wilkes didn't realize her simple human-interest story would put her life at risk—again. After fleeing her home and journalism job in Portland, she wanted to live under the radar for a while. But when her interviewee starts dodging her questions, her reporter instincts kick in and she finds herself in over her head…. Homeland security agent Jesse Mitchell has been undercover as an ice sculptor for months, trying to infiltrate a smuggling ring. He wants to avoid trouble, and that's just what Casey brings. Now someone has a target set on Casey. Saving her could blow his cover, but leaving her unprotected endangers him even more—especially his heart. Excerpt of chapter one: Beautiful…but dangerous. Jesse finished shoving the last block of dry ice into the back of the specially designed truck—well insulated, yet ventilated to allow for sublimation—the melting that would give off deadly CO 2 gas. The solid form of carbon dioxide...

Princess in Peril by Rachelle McCalla When insurgents attack the king's motorcade, scattering the royal family, bodyguard Levi Granaldo has one goal—to protect the princess. Even though he knows Princess Isabelle distrusts him. On the run together, they flee to New York, to the shelter of a sanctuary established by Levi's father. But their safety can't last. After a surprise attack divides the pair, Isabelle is forced to face some hard truths. The danger she's in is getting deadlier by the day…and she'll never be able to face it without Levi by her side. Excerpt of chapter one: The royal motorcade lurched to an unexpected stop. Her Royal Highness Princess Isabelle of Lydia glanced at Levi Grenaldo, her recently appointed bodyguard, expecting him to make some reassuring gesture that would indicate nothing was amiss. He didn't look her way. In the silvery sheen of his mirrored sunglasses, Isabelle saw only the rear bumper of her brother's limousine s...

Getting ready to leave for Los Alamitos tomorrow. A little stressed with the extra things popping up, like a charge from a web hosting site, where I cancelled a week ago! Argh! Why do these things always happen when I'm about to go out of town??? I hope I'm not forgetting anything. Isn't that just the worst feeling?

The Captain's Mission by Debby Giusti When one of his soldiers is killed by live ammunition during what was supposed to be a simple training exercise, Captain Phil Thibodeaux wants answers. Even if it means working with the Criminal Investigation Division that seems certain to pin the blame on him. But after CID agent Kelly McQueen defends his conduct, Phil realizes that there's more to the dedicated agent than meets the eye. Maybe she's someone he can trust, after all. And he'll need someone to rely on as investigations lead him to doubt everyone else—even his own soldiers. Excerpt of chapter one: "Cease fire!" U.S. Army Captain Jean Philippe Thibodeaux screamed into the handheld radio microphone from inside his Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The order echoed back to him as the "cease fire" was relayed across the live-fire range to the three platoons involved in the training exercise at Fort Rickman, Georgia. Under Phil's command, his two-h...

Nightwatch by Valerie Hansen Fire captain Mitch Andrews can't forget the three young children he saved from a fire. A suspicious fire that left them orphans. In the care of foster mother Jill Kirkpatrick, he knows the little ones will be loved. Even if the sweet, strong widow won't let Mitch close to her. But suddenly the kids—and Jill—are in terrible danger…and one of the children is missing. Mitch and Jill will risk everything to find the stolen girl and keep a makeshift family of five together forever. Excerpt of chapter one: Boom! Fire station windows rattled. Overhead lights vibrated. Captain Mitch Andrews froze, held his breath and braced himself with both palms on his desktop. ''What  in the world was  that?"  someone shouted down the hallway. Mitch figured every telephone in Serenity was already tied up by folks asking each other the same question. Their dispatcher would be fortunate to receive information giving a halfway accurate location ...

Hi guys! Sorry I went AWOL, I was on deadline for a book. I just turned in the manuscript for the second book in my Protection for Hire series. (The first book is out in December.) Anyway, I did some light reading to celebrate and picked up a book I've been wanting to read for a long time, The Bartered Bride by Erica Vetsch . It was a good read, sweet and short with a good ending. Reading the book also made me realize that I love bartered bride plots, where the heroine is sold to the hero has his bride. In Erica's book, the characters are betrothed and not yet married, but I also love plots where they get married and then fall in love with each other. So what are some of your favorite plots? I also posed this question on Goodreads if you want to join the discussion there!

Building a Family by Lyn Cote Lawyer Eleanor Washburn defends wayward teenagers and supervises volunteers for Habitat for Humanity without missing a beat. But she is unnerved by fascinating single dad Pete Beck—especially since his chaotic life includes a little girl wishing for a mother. Sweet Cassie has Eleanor yearning for what's been missing from her lonely existence. Soon, both dad and daughter are chipping away at Eleanor's defenses. Can she find the courage to risk losing her heart to this ready-made family? And here's a word from Lyn: Building a Family  touches close to home. Literally I set it in a fictitious town of Hope WI within easy driving distance of my own hometown in the northwoods of Wisconsin. I also mention a regional mascot, the Hodag. Don't know what a hodag is? Follow this link and tell me what you think! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Hodag Does your locale have any mythic creatures or figures? Excerpt of chapter one: Under the int...