Interview: Mystery Novelist Camy Tang

Novel: Formula For Danger

By Mark Young

Skin cream can be a killer business in novelist Camy Tang’s world. This writer’s mystery novel—Formula For Danger just released this fall— ratchets up tension for dermatologist Rachel Grant in her research to create a scar-reducing cream in a ritzy Sonoma, California health spa. Danger ensues when someone seeks two things: Rachel killed and her skin cream formula seized at any cost.

In Camy’s second mystery thriller—a “love inspired suspense” published by Steeple Hill Books—we return to the Joy Luck Life spa run by Rachel and her family. In this inspirational suspense, Rachel races to launch a new venture before competitors steal her secrets. Break-ins, shots fired, and repeated attempts on Rachel’s life makes for a thrilling page turner.

Amidst this turmoil, a strained relationship with Rachel and her father only makes matters worse. Conflicts with her father force Rachel to define her own understanding of God. Does He care whether she lives or dies? Must she prove herself to Him to gain His love? Another man, Edward Villa, steps into Rachael’s life as a friend and business partner. However, as she draws closer to Edward, Rachel becomes confused as this man seems to grow colder as events unfold. Her world begins to topple.

Camy’s writing style—as her web sites advertises— is “romance with a kick of wasabi.” What is wasabi? Camy answered this question when she appeared on this blog last April. She returns today to tell us a little more about her mystery-writing journey.

MARK: Camy, thanks for putting up with more of my questions. Something caught my attention even before I started reading your opening chapter. The dedication reads, “To Danica and Cheryl. I thought I could never find two people as sick and twisted as myself, but I have you two. Thanks for being my friends.” Is there a story behind this or should we just jump to the next question?

CAMY: Danica and Cheryl and I always tease each other that there’s something wrong with us, because every time we get together, we plot a character’s murder or disappearance or we figure out ways to create conflict and strife for a character. Then again, we’re writers—we’re not really “normal.” :)

MARK: Your first mystery novel, Deadly Intent, came out a little over a year ago. Last September, your second mystery, Formula For Danger, reached the bookshelves. Tell us what you’ve learned about the art of mystery writing now that you have two mysteries released? How much of a change has it been for you to switch from the earlier Chick Lit genre style of writing to these last two mystery novels?

CAMY: I’ve always been a huge fan of romantic suspense, so although I hadn’t written much suspense, I understood the genre very well. Writing romantic suspense has been a lot of fun because I can create more external conflict for the characters than I did for Chick Lit, where most of the conflict is internal or relational. I’ve learned more about red herrings and the different ways to introduce a villain.

MARK: Between the events of Deadly Intent, and your latest, Formula For Danger, I’m surprised the Joy Luck Life spa has any customers left—at least living. The Sonoma County resort spa seems to have its fair share of felonies. One more novel like this one and these spa employees will be collecting hazardous duty pay. Seriously, how do you manage to crunch so many dangerous circumstances into one tiny business?

CAMY: One of the reasons I picked Sonoma County as the setting for the spa is because although it’s a “small town,” it has a large amount of tourist traffic. The spa itself has a lot of people shifting in and out, which was the main reason the murder happened in the opening of Deadly Intent. Because Rachel’s research is in the spotlight due to the spa’s popularity, it became a target for greedy opportunists in Formula for Danger. In the world of fiction, the extreme publicity of the spa and the Grant family as well as the large amounts of people moving in and out of Sonoma is the “excuse” for the exceptional amount of crime the Grant family seems to attract, although I realize that Sonoma probably doesn’t have that much crime in real life. I’m working on another romantic suspense starring Monica, the third Grant sister, and I also hope to continue romantic suspense novels set in Sonoma County (although not at the spa), again because the tourist aspect of the area would enable me to create more mayhem.

MARK: Tell us a little about your main character, Dr. Rachel Grant. As we start this story, what are some of things going on inside this woman that makes her life so hard?

CAMY: Rachel is based off of several friends I have whose parents seem to never be satisfied with their accomplishments, no matter how hard they try. Rachel is constantly trying to please her father and make up for any “mistakes” she’s made in her job as dermatology researcher for the spa. The spiritual takeaway for this story is that we are magnificently loved by our Heavenly Father, no matter what the opinion of our earthly fathers, and our self esteem should be based on how God views us and loves us.

MARK: I always try to imagine connections between the creator (novelist) and the created (characters) as each story unfolds. I see a parallel between your own background and the main character’s. Similar to Rachel, you worked as a biologist researcher for a major pharmaceutical company and a biotech company before becoming a novelist. Are there other similarities between you and this main character?

CAMY: Rachel is a bit spacey at times, and so am I!

MARK: In the novel, Rachel reaches a point in her life where she must submit herself to God while walking by faith in very dangerous situations. Have you found this to be realistic in your own life? Have there been events you’ve faced in which you can look back and see God’s hand in those situations?

CAMY: I have to admit I haven’t been in many dangerous situations (thank God). But one of the key things I struggle with spiritually is constantly submitting to God in all different aspects of my life. I find myself coming back to this theme quite often in my novels. I can be a hard-headed chick and God is always teaching me new ways to submit my will, worries, and dreams to Him.

MARK: Bring us up to date on events since your interview with us last April. What have you been up to in the writing business?

CAMY: I recently spent a crazy and fun five days at the ACFW conference in Indianapolis in September. I taught a class on “Common Mistakes in the Genesis Contest” at the conference to help people avoid mistakes that could make them lose points in the Genesis contest (ACFW’s contest for unpublished writers) or really any other type of contest they wanted to enter. I also presented the 2010 Genesis contest award winners, which was a lot of fun. Right now since I have a couple book deadlines to meet, I’m not doing as much teaching and my schedule for my critiquing and book doctoring business, The Story Sensei, is booked until late March 2011.

MARK: Formula For Danger just launched last September. Earlier, you mentioned another mystery surrounding the Jo Luck Life spa. Where will this mystery takes us?

CAMY: I just turned in a proposal for another Sonoma spa book about Monica Grant. She becomes the target of a deadly stalker because of the high-class world the wealthy Grants move in. The book isn’t contracted (yet—fingers crossed) but if it is, I’m hoping it will release in late 2011 or early 2012. I also have a humorous romantic suspense releasing with Zondervan in October 2011 (untitled as yet) about an ex-Japanese mafia heroine who has found Jesus in jail and now wants to use her unique skill set to help people rather than breaking kneecaps.

MARK: Lastly, any thoughts about the publishing industry and changes you might anticipate on the horizon?

CAMY: I’ve read in some news reports that people are turning to fiction more than travel these days for their escape, which is good news for novelists! Also, as we see the exciting developments of the Kindle, Nook, iPad, and other eBook readers, I think the publishing industry will subtly shift and change. I don’t think print books will go out of style anytime soon, but we’ll start to see innovative things in the eBook industry and the magazine industry as they take advantage of new technology.

Readers may find more information about Camy’s writing career at her web site or her blog, Camy’s Loft. She also provides writing services for writers. This information can be found at The Story Sensei, a fiction critique service she provides to help sharpen synopses and manuscripts at a reasonable price.

Novels To Read

Mystery Novels To Warm Up Autumn

The Bone Chamber by Robin Burcell

 (Editors Note: Interviews with Robin Burcell, retired police officer and novelist, are scheduled for the coming weeks ahead. Robin, also a trained forensic artist, writes from experience.)

Special Agent Sydney Fitzpatrick, forensic artist to the FBI, returns to Quantico to help identify a brutally murdered young woman. But when Sydney’s friend and colleague, the forensic anthropologist who assisted her, is killed in a hit-and-run, a covert government team takes over the investigation, and Sydney is suddenly removed from the case. Certain her friend’s murder is connected to the first case, Sydney investigates. She discovers that the first victim was not only an archeological student, but also the daughter of the ambassador to the Holy See. Just before she was killed, the ambassador’s daughter claimed to have found one of three keys that just might lead to a map of the long lost Templar treasure. Sydney’s search for answers takes her to the streets of Rome, and into the underground crypts and caverns in Naples, one step ahead of a ruthless killer. Time is running out for Sydney as a fellow government agent is kidnapped. And the ransom demanded? The Templar map.

The Black Madonna by Davis Bunn

Art historian Storm Syrrell and rugged treasure hunter Harry Bennett travel to Russia to search for and investigate another historic art treasure with significant contemporary implications: The Black Madonna. 

And as before, their efforts to shed light on the mystery surrounding the murder of Storm's grandfather, Sean Syrrell, and the contents of his frayed leather journal, puts their own lives in grave danger. 

Formula for Danger by Camy Tang

Her life was on the line.

Someone wants dermatologist Rachel Grant's latest research, and they'll do anything to get it. Including trashing the plants needed for her breakthrough scar-reducing cream—and trying to run Rachel down. Desperate for help, she turns to Edward Villa, the only man she trusts. But the greenhouse owner knows too much about Rachel's research, and now he's a target, too. Break-ins, muggings, murder...the would-be thief is getting desperate—and getting closer. Edward vows to protect Rachel at all costs. Yet with time ticking away, Edward knows they have to uncover the madman shadowing Rachel before their chance for a future is destroyed.

Think Of A Number by John Verdon 

Arriving in the mail one day is a taunting letter that ends with a simple declaration "See how well I know your secrets-just think of a number." Eerily, those who comply find that the letter writer has predicted their random choice exactly. For Dave Gurney, just retired as the NYPD's top homicide investigator and forging a new life with his wife, Madeleine, in upstate New York, the letters are oddities that begin as a diverting puzzle but quickly ignite a massive serial-murder investigation. Brought in as an investigative "consultant," Gurney soon accomplishes deductive breakthroughs that have local police in awe. Yet, with each taunting move by his seemingly clairvoyant opponent, Gurney feels his tragedy-marred past rising up to haunt him, his marriage approaching a dangerous precipice, and, finally, a dark, cold fear building that he's met an adversary who can't be stopped.

GHOST: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent by Fred Burton

(Editor’s Note: Okay, this is not a mystery novel … but it reads like one. Fred Burton—one of the world’s foremost experts on security, terrorists, and terrorist organizations—will be a guest here on this blog in the coming weeks).

For decades, Fred Burton, a key figure in international counterterrorism and domestic spycraft, has secretly been on the front lines in the fight to keep Americans safe around the world. Now, in this hard-hitting memoir, Burton emerges from the shadows to reveal who he is, what he has accomplished, and the threats that lurk unseen except by an experienced, world-wise few.

In the mid-eighties, the idea of defending Americans against terrorism was still new. But a trio of suicide bombings in Beirut–including one that killed 241 marines and forced our exit from Lebanon–had changed the mindset and mission of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), the arm of the State Department that protects U.S. embassy officials across the globe. Burton, a member of DSS’s tiny but elite Counterterrorism Division, was plunged into a murky world of violent religious extremism spanning the streets of Middle Eastern cities and the informant-filled alleys of American slums. From battling Libyan terrorists and their Palestinian surrogates to having to face down hijackers, hostages, and Hezbollah double agents, Burton found himself on the front lines of America’s first campaign against Terror.

In this globe-trotting account of one counterterrorism agent’s life and career, Burton takes us behind the scenes to reveal how the United States tracked Libya-linked master terrorist Abu Nidal; captured Ramzi Yusef, architect of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; and pursued the assassins of major figures including Yitzhak Rabin, Meir Kahane, and General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the president of Pakistan–classic cases that have sobering new meaning in the treacherous years since 9/11. Here, too, is Burton’s advice on personal safety for today’s most powerful CEOs, gleaned from his experience at Stratfor, the private firm Barron’s calls “the shadow CIA.”

Told in a no-holds-barred, gripping, nuanced style that illuminates a complex and driven man, Ghost is both a riveting read and an illuminating look into the shadows of the most important struggle of our time.