Camy Tang's Blog, page 130

Completing cleaning chores fast

I’m rather annoyed at this article because the only tips for completing a cleaning chore fast are #s 4 and 5. The rest are simply reminders of things to clean that we don’t often clean.



Any of you guys have tips for how to complete a particular cleaning chore fast? I could use all the help I can get.

Now that CSI:Miami has been cancelled ...

Is it bad to admit I stopped watching it a year or two ago? I was just kind of turned off by Delco’s character. He seemed a bit whiney.



http://tv.yahoo.com/news/cbs-cancels-csi-miami-rob-unforgettable-gifted-man-184457568.html

Preorder A Dangerous Stage, the 2nd book in the Protection for Hire series!

I didn’t notice until yesterday that book 2 in my Protection for Hire series, A Dangerous Stage , is now available for preorder!



Isn’t that cover awesome? Zondervan’s art team ROCKS!



Back cover blurb:



Tessa Lancaster worked for her uncle in the Japanese mafia until she was sent to prison for a murder she didn't commit. Now, after finding God behind bars, she takes odd jobs as a bodyguard to keep her distance from the family business.



In A Dangerous Stage, the second book in Camy Tang's Protection for Hire series, Tessa gets caught up in the web of lies surrounding a shady singing competition. Hired by one of the contestants, she works with Charles Britton---the lawyer who sent her to prison---to discover the dark figures manipulating the contest from behind the scenes.



Tessa's abilities will be tested like never before as she's forced to balance the safety of her client's family and her deepening relationship with Charles. In the midst of the chaos, she holds on to her faith to keep her safe and bring down the shadowy organization.



Order print book:

Barnes and Noble

Amazon.com

Christianbook.com

Booksamillion.com



Buy Ebook:

Nookbook

Kindle

Christianbook.com

Kobobooks.com link coming soon



Click here for info on book 1 in the series, Protection for Hire .



Protection for Hire series trailer

Healthy brunch/breakfast recipes

I downloaded this free ebook, Light and Easy Mother's Day Brunch Recipes from SparkPeople. It’s labeled for Mother’s Day, but I think a lot of the recipes are easy enough to do during the week or at least on weekends when I have a little extra time. If you download it, let me know what you think or if you have ideas for healthy breakfast/brunch recipes.

Plantar Fasciitis strikes again

I first got plantar fasciitis back when I was working in biology research, because I’d spend long hours standing and walking around my workbench while doing assays. I had sneakers on, but standing for four hours at a stretch, twice a day, and no opportunity to sit because of the nature of the assays, was tough on my feet.



Well, it’s back again although not as bad as before, because I’m breaking into my new Vibram FiveFinger shoes and with my flat feet and old plantar fasciitis injury, I should have eased into the shoes even slower than what they recommend. Ah well, hindsight and all that.



Luckily it’s not bad, and I have a book, Fixing Your Feet by John Vonhof (Ignore the hideous cover of the foot sticking out at you.) It’s a really awesome book and it gives good advice and stretches and exercises for plantar fasciitis (assuming it’s not too severe).



So I’ve been doing the stretches, icing my feet, doing a combo ice/heat, and also eliminate (for now) the running in my Vibram’s, although I did go for a short walk today. I’m also doing the exercises, although MAN they’re boring and tough and just blech. (Whine, whine, whine.) I’m also rolling a golf ball under my foot in a massage which actually feels quite nice.



Any of you had plantar fasciitis?

Habakkuk 2:20

The LORD is in his holy temple;

Let all the earth be silent before him.

(TNIV)



I forget so easily how powerful and holy God is, then I read something like this in my daily Bible reading and I have to stop and mediate on it. Somehow remembering how holy He is makes me feel closer to Him.

Just 10 minutes

Lately I’ve been trying to exercise every day, and I’ve adopted a “10 minute” rule for my cardio. I only have to do 10 minutes minimum, but I’m trying to do it every single day. 10 minutes is pretty easy to do, especially on the exercise bike, so I’ve been doing pretty good. I’m not sure if only 10 minutes is actually going to do any good for my body, but I think it’s good discipline.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary

One great resource my friend Dineen Miller told me about is the Expositor’s Bible Commentary (abridged) that’s available as an e-resource on the Olive Tree Bible software app. It’s originally a hardcover book from Zondervan that’s an abridged version of the 12 volume set.



(All I can say is, thank goodness it’s abridged. I could not handle a 12 volume commentary set. I am just not that smart.)



So anyway, when I’m reading my Olive Tree Bible (I’m using TNIV) with a split screen with the Commentary on the other side of the screen, it syncs the verses of the Bible Commentary with the verses I’m reading, which is really cool.



Right now I’m in Jephaniah which has always confused me when I read it before, but this time, thanks to the Commentary, I now understand the historical and political setting of the book of Jephaniah and some of the meanings behind the prophecies. It’s so awesome!



If you are looking for a commentary that won’t feel like slogging through academic pea soup, this is a really great one. I’ve been enjoying using it so far.



If you don’t use the Olive Tree Bible Software app, you can also order the Expositor’s Bible Commentary (abridged version) in a two hardcover volume set at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Christianbook.com. I’m not entirely sure, but I think this is the same as the Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary, which is available (used) in two volumes as Old and New Testament on Amazon, and Old and New Testament on BarnesandNoble.com.

Olive Tree Bible software app

I discovered the Olive Tree Bible app for iPad and iPhone thanks to my agent, Wendy Lawton, and ever since I got it, I’ve absolutely LOVED it for my Bible reading. (It’s available for PC and Android, too.)



I can take notes and they can be as wordy as I want since it’s electronic and the notes are stored next to the verse as a little icon I can click to read it. I can also highlight in five or six different colors.



It’s especially helpful for church, because when I’m listening to the sermon, if I want to take notes on the pastor’s message, I can take notes directly in my Olive Tree Bible. Whenever I took notes before, there wasn’t space in the margins in my regular Bible, and if I took notes on the worship service program, I would never transfer the notes to my Bible later or do anything with them.



What’s even cooler is that you can have several different translations of the Bible. For example, I have both NIV and TNIV. It’s really fast to switch. I’ll usually use NIV for youth group but I like TNIV for my daily Bible reading.



And here’s something neat: when I take notes in one translation or highlight a verse, and then switch to another, the notes icon and the highlights transfer over to the other translation (as long as I “anchor” the note to an entire verse and not a single word in the text). So no matter which translation I use, I have my notes and highlights already transferred over.



Olive Tree has a very robust search engine that I use whenever I need to search the Bible for a verse. I’ve used it a lot for when I’m writing and need to look up verses for my manuscript.



You can also split the screen and upload other books like commentaries and maps or other translations of the Bible and the app will sync the verses of the two books to each other, so if I’m reading Job 1:1, and I have a commentary open on the other side of the split screen, the commentary will be on Job 1:1.



So anyway, I’ve probably gushed enough about this, but I have to say that this software app has really enhanced my Bible reading and made it absolutely fantastic. I’ve never been so into the Word of God.

A page from Stalker in the Shadows

In case you haven’t read it yet, here’s a page from the book to whet your appetite. I absolutely love Shaun O’Neill--I modeled him after actor Karl Urban except with very blue eyes and blond short hair. (photo from Flixster.com)



From the back cover:



"Consider this a warning."



Lately, nurse Monica Grant feels she's being watched. Followed. And then she receives a threatening letter—accompanied by a dead snake. If she doesn't stop her plans to open a free children's clinic, she'll end up dead, too. Terrified, Monica turns to former lawman Shaun O'Neill—who believes the same madman murdered his own sister five years before. She understands how much it means to the handsome, heart-guarding man to save her—and her dream. Even if he has to lure a deadly stalker out of the shadows—straight toward himself.



Excerpt:



Monica nodded, but they were interrupted by a bustling at the front of the restaurant as her aunt, Becca Itoh, hurried into the dining room. Several of the other customers looked up at the disturbance she created in her panic, but Detective Carter rose to his feet and gave Becca a hard, meaningful look and a subtle gesture with his hand. Becca’s gaze flitted around the dining room, then she walked calmly to join them at their table.



“Are you all right?” She gave Monica a hug.



Monica’s hand grasping her aunt’s shoulder clenched once, then relaxed. “I’m fine.”



While she explained what had happened, it gave Shaun an opportunity to study her. She tucked her long, wavy hair behind her ear when she concentrated on something, and her clear eyes seemed to glitter like golden gemstones, framed by her dark lashes.



He could tell that she was aware he was staring at her, but her gaze didn’t waver from her aunt’s face even an inch.



When their gazes had met earlier, his attraction for her had hit him like a train wreck. It was still the same today as it was when they’d first met years ago. Then, there had been an ardent fire in her eyes which she hid behind a cool demeanor. Holding him at arm’s length, like he had Ebola or something.



Today, she’d again tried to be cool when he first came up to her, but for a moment during their brief conversation, before he’d angered her, he’d seen a flash of warmth in her amber eyes, a softening of her mouth. It somehow soothed him in a deep place inside.



He had been confused, so of course he opened his big, fat mouth and ruined everything by getting into an argument with her about Phillip Bromley.



It was for the best. He would be stupid to get involved with a woman like Monica Grant. Any woman, actually. All the women in his life ended up dead.



He hadn’t taken care of Clare well enough. He hadn’t been able to save those illegal immigrants who had been killed by the coyote at the border.



He felt like he’d failed all the people in his life he was supposed to protect, and he wasn’t about to let another one in.



She might end up dead, too.



But sitting here, looking at her, it was hard for him to remind himself that she was better off without him. As he studied the curves of her face, the color of her lips, he had to admit that she was even more magnetic than when he’d last seen her.



“Clare never found out who the stalker was?” Becca asked Shaun, drawing his attention from the glossy dark waves of Monica’s hair.



“He never met her face to face. She kept trying to find out who he was so she could issue a restraining order on him. She tried backtracking the packages he sent her, but couldn’t come up with any proof of who it was.”



He glanced at Monica and resolved to speak privately to the detective about his suspicions. No need to alarm her, but he had to give the police everything he knew so this guy wouldn’t slip away between their fingers. That frustration nagged and ate at him like an ulcer.



Before, after his sister’s death, he’d done too little, too late. Clare was already gone, but he’d been driven to find her killer. And then what would he do when he found him? Shaun had never had to answer that question.



Until now. Because if this were the same man, here was a chance for Shaun to catch him.



He hadn’t yet turned in his application for the Sonoma police department. He hadn’t quite understood why he’d been dragging his heels, but now he was glad because it gave him time to investigate Monica’s letter-writer—assuming the stalker followed the same pattern as he did before.



The man had already taken his sister’s life, and maybe others in the years since her death. He had to stop him from terrorizing any more young women.



He knew who it was. And this time, he wouldn’t let him get away with it.