Camy Tang's Blog, page 4
March 21, 2025
What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG
I just finished writing Year of the Dog! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet:
“Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday.
The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt.
She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway.
“Can you pay the driver, Ashwin?” His aunt’s voice drifted to him from the depths of his living room.
After giving the poor man a largish tip for lugging the four brocade-covered elephants all the way to his doorstep, Ashwin sweated through bringing them inside. “Auntie Nell, what’s in the suitcases?” An offshoot of his brain wildly tried to convince himself that if he just pretended ignorance, his fears wouldn’t come to pass.
No such luck. “I thought I’d stay for a little while. Ashwin, did you know your bathroom is unfinished? You’ve got tile everywhere.”
He paused in the act of shutting the door. Auntie Nell stating the obvious meant she was more upset than she let on. He very carefully said, “You’re always welcome to stay for a few days, Auntie Nell, but is everything okay at Yuina’s?”
“Yuina is fine.” Snippy. And avoiding a direct answer.
Uh, oh. “Did you have another fight with her?”
Auntie Nell’s petite form barreled back into the living room. “I have always gotten along with your cousin, but I swear, she could annoy the cockroaches out of a shed.”
“Auntie Nell ...” Actually, Auntie Nell hardly ever got along with her daughter, Yuina. The two were simply too different.
“She actually ordered me—ordered me, Ashwin—out of her kitchen when I was just trying to help her out like any good mother.”
He could imagine what Auntie Nell’s version of “helping” looked like. Hoo, boy. The two women had very different ways of cooking and cleaning. He would guess it was the cleaning part that the uptight germiphobe Yuina objected to.
Auntie Nell continued, “But if I just relaxed around the house, Yuina just did her own thing and barely spoke to me! I felt like a hotel guest.”
A headache started pounding right behind the bridge of his nose. Yuina lived for her engineering job and often got so caught up in work she didn’t even remember to sleep or eat, much less “waste” time in stilted conversation with her bored mother. If only Uncle Ramsey were still alive to mediate between the two strong-willed women. Yuina was usually too clueless to deliberately pick a fight with her mother, but Uncle Ramsey would always somehow keep them from rubbing against each other too much.
And now, all they had was Ashwin and Dusty. No wonder they fought like cats and … madder cats.
Year of the Dog releases in the anthology Danger in the Shadows in May 2025. So you won’t have to wait very long to read it!
March 19, 2025
March 19, 2025 Weekly Patreon Roundup
REMINDER: Lissa and the Spy free ebook!https://www.patreon.com/posts/123137155/
REMINDER: Year of the Dog chapters rearranged
https://www.patreon.com/posts/123823907/
NEWS: Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 7: Spinster now on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!
https://amzn.to/43zcYfy
eBooks for sale this month
3/3 - 4/4: Historical Romances
https://books.bookfunnel.com/historicalromancebehindcloseddoors/mt3vujnpxa
Free eBooks
3/6 - 4/8: Spring into Romance with these Christian and clean/sweet freebies!
https://books.bookfunnel.com/springintoromancechristiancleansweetfreebies/jlan9aii6i
3/1 - 3/31: March Menace: Christian/Clean Suspense/Mystery/Thriller
https://books.bookfunnel.com/march-menace-2025-03-CRS/p1qxmm0c13
Robin Patchen
Christian Suspense, Romantic Suspense
https://www.subscribepage.com/round-robin-2025
Cynthia Hickey
Suspense Thriller
Sometimes a normal winter afternoon is anything but normal. When an escaped mental patient takes a woman and her three children hostage, the mother must dig deep for strength and determination she didn't know she had to save herself and her children. This short story thriller will leave you breathless. By best-selling, award-winning author.
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/b5p9mhnrdj
Currently posting on Patreon:
Early access chapters and annotated chapters:
Year of the Dog: up to Chapter 48
Protection for Hire: up to Chapter 7 (on hiatus until after Year of the Dog is done posting)
Lady Wynwood and the Senhora’s Bargain (bonus story for Tier 2 and higher): Completed posting!
Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 7: Spinster: Completed posting!
Access to older chapters has been opened up to other tiers.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-98508510
Thanks again for being my subscribers!
Camy
March 17, 2025
Mokule‘ia Beach Park from Year of the Dog
In chapter 27 of Year of the Dog , Mari takes the dogs running at Moluke’ia Beach Park. My grandma and my parents would often take us here to swim when we were kids. It has a lot of rocks near the shore, but the sand is soft and fine, and the rocks are fun to snorkel around.
The last time I went to Hawaii, I took some photos of the beach, so you can see what it looks like. Running on the beach is actually super tough, so Ashwin isn’t a weakling or anything like that—Mari is just a beast!
March 12, 2025
March 12, 2025 Patreon Roundup
I’m sorry I missed last week’s roundup! I found yet another plot hole in Year of the Dog and I’ve been trying to fix it. It doesn’t help that I got vaccinated and then got flu symptoms. That took me out for 2-3 days so I lost some time to work.
BONUS: Lissa and the Spy free ebook!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/123137155/
NEWS: Year of the Dog chapters rearranged
https://www.patreon.com/posts/123823907/
Check out all the sweet/clean romance books available and stuff your eBook reader!
3/3 - 3/31: Clean and Wholesome Books
https://books.bookfunnel.com/cleanbooks777/v0csz5poqm
I’m in the Don’t Blink anthology (releasing in October) with Heather Gilbert, and she’s offering a free ebook if you join her newsletter!
Heather Gilbert
Clean Mystery/Thriller
3/6 - 4/8: Spring into Romance with these Christian and clean/sweet freebies!
https://books.bookfunnel.com/springintoromancechristiancleansweetfreebies/78nthrvbxp
Mary Alford
Christian Romantic Suspense
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/abhfwziesp
Currently posting on Patreon:Early access chapters and annotated chapters:
Year of the Dog: up to Chapter 42
Protection for Hire: up to Chapter 7 (on hiatus until after Year of the Dog is done posting)
Lady Wynwood and the Senhora’s Bargain (bonus story for Tier 2 and higher): Completed posting!
Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 7: Spinster: Completed posting!
Access to older chapters has been opened up to other tiers.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-98508510
Thanks again for being my subscribers!
Camy
March 3, 2025
Wahiawa Botanical Garden from Year of the Dog
In chapter 21 of Year of the Dog, I mentioned the Wahiawa Botanical Garden annual calendar and the brownea flower that was the flower of the month. Wahiawa Botanical Garden is a really beautiful place where my grandfather used to work. He got lots of unusual plants that he grew in his backyard, including this really beautiful brownea flower, which is still blooming today in my parents’ yard.
I don’t think they actually have an annual calendar (which is in the chapter), but I would like to think the brownea flower would be included.
This 27-acre garden and forested ravine dates back to the 1930s when this land was used by sugar planters as an experimental arboretum.
The last time I went, I also took pictures, which includes a really beautiful eucalyptus tree.
I’m afraid I’m not a great photographer or I would have framed them better. Sorry!
I love the Botanical Gardens because they’re just so beautiful!
If you’re ever in Hawaii, consider going to the Wahiawa Botanica Gardens for an hour or two (it’s a rather small place) smack dab in the middle of Wahiawa. It’s one of my favorite places to go, and I think admission is still free as of this writing.
February 28, 2025
Writing Progress on Camy’s next book
Join my Patreon or my email newsletter to get regular updates in your inbox!
February 26, 2025
February 26, 2025 Weekly Roundup
I’m sorry I missed last week’s roundup and I almost missed this week if I hadn’t remembered at the last minute!
BONUS: Auntie Nell’s acerola cherry jam
https://www.patreon.com/posts/121010457/
BONUS: Mokule‘ia Beach Park from Year of the Dog
https://www.patreon.com/posts/121151693/
NEWS: Year of the Dog update
https://www.patreon.com/posts/122678200/
Free eBooks
Sign up for these authors’ newsletters and get free books! Click on the links to check out all the free books. You might find a new favorite author!
Sweet Regency Novels
https://books.bookfunnel.com/sweet-regency-novels-feb-2025/uh9ewyclqy
Sherri Wilson Johnson
Christian Romantic Suspense, Clean Romantic Suspense
https://sherriwilsonjohnson.com/bayside-betrayal-rr2025/
John Galt Robinson
Christian suspense/thriller
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/98aifh9fnt
Currently posting on Patreon:
Early access chapters and annotated chapters:
Year of the Dog: up to Chapter 29
Protection for Hire: up to Chapter 7 (on hiatus until after Year of the Dog is done posting)
Lady Wynwood and the Senhora’s Bargain (bonus story for Tier 2 and higher): Completed posting!
Lady Wynwood’s Spies, Volume 7: Spinster: Completed posting!
Access to older chapters has been opened up to other tiers.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/early-access-98508510
Thanks again for being my subscribers!Camy
February 24, 2025
Tote Bag from Year of the Dog
In Year of the Dog, Mari discovers a moldy tote bag in chapter 18. She describes it a bit more in chapter 21.
I actually bought fabric specifically to make the bag, although I haven’t yet hired anyone to make it yet. Here it is!
The fabric is Golden Garden - Teal from Alexander Henry Fabrics Indochine collection. Isn’t it pretty? I saw it on Etsy and simply fell in love.
I specifically wanted wooden zipper pulls for the bag, so I bought these hibiscus earrings made out of koa wood (from Etsy), and I’ll attach them to the zippers once I have the bag made for me.
The hibiscus will be significant for the story, as will the koa wood.
When I get the bag made, I’ll be sure to post pictures!
February 17, 2025
Year of the Dog cover reveal!
This is the new cover for Year of the Dog!
While I loved the old cover, since I’m rewriting Year of the Dog with more suspense, I thought I should make a cover that’s more suspense-y, but still looks a bit fun and tropical (hence the pink title and purple palm trees).
My graphic designer is slammed with work right now, so I decided to make the cover myself. What do you think?
I’ll have my graphic designer tweak the cover later (when she’s got more time) but it shouldn’t change too much since I used the cover for Sushi and Suspicions that she made for me as a general template to make this cover.
I’m also making a logo for the new series which will go in the top right corner of the cover, but I want to wait until my graphic designer can look at it first.
February 12, 2025
Protection for Hire Behind-the-Scenes: Wings Domestic Abuse Shelter
In chapter 1 of my humorous romantic suspense novel, Protection for Hire, the setting is Wings domestic abuse shelter. My heroine, Tessa, is driven to champion women, and I naturally wanted her to work with women who needed her help. I didn’t want to use a real San Francisco shelter for my book for various reasons, so I created Wings but based it loosely off of a real women’s shelter in San Jose called Heritage Home.Heritage Home is a shelter for pregnant women run by CityTeam Ministries, and they provide shelter, training, and spiritual encouragement for homeless pregnant women. They’re run out of a glorious Victorian house in downtown San Jose, which is maintained by volunteers and donations, and which provides a real atmosphere of “home” for women who are at some of the darkest points in their lives.
I’ve donated to Heritage Home and also taken a tour, meeting some of the staff and some of the women. Their stories and their courage were the seeds that made me write about Tessa, her client Elizabeth, and Wings domestic shelter in Protection for Hire. Since I made Wings a domestic abuse shelter, it’s a bit more secretive than Heritage Home, and I gave Wings a rather hefty security team, which made for some fun scenes in both Protection for Hire and the opening scene of A Dangerous Stage.
I’m re-releasing an extended version of Protection for Hire! To hear when it’ll be available, join my Camy Tang newsletter.
