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?