I just finished Tribulation House. I’ll blog about it later this week or sometime next week.
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Tribulation House
Leave a reply
Yearly Archives: 2007
Old Interview In My Local Newspaper
First off, I hope everybody had a great Fourth of July! I visited Barnes And Noble in Bowie Town Center during the holiday, and I’ll be blogging about that visit later this week!
I was gathering some information for a project and found that an interview, which was done by my local paper a couple of years ago, was still archived on their website. I’ve added the link to my website and I’ve added it here. I’ll also be providing some other old media information about myself over the next few days!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Urban Christian Books
I’m sure many of you have heard of Carl Weber. Well, he owns his own publishing company called Urban Books. I recently discovered that my Black Christian Fiction website was missing several great authors that have been contracted by Urban Books as part of their Urban Christian line. I’m familiar with a few of the authors like Vanessa Miller (we sat beside each other at the last Faith-Based Fiction Lovers Weekend during the book signing), and Kendra Norman-Bellamy (I know her from the Faith-Based Arts conferences and I’ve read her novels). However, the other authors are new to me, and some of them have signed their first book deals with Urban Christian.
It’ll be interesting to see how well these books will do. I have a feeling that they will sell quite well! I’ve added the Urban Christian authors to my Black Christian Fiction website!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Author Interview With Suzanne Woods Fisher
Copper Star
Paperback: 292 pages
Publisher: Vintage Romance Publishing (June 30, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0979332745
ISBN-13: 978-0979332746
Author Bio:
A contributing editor to Christian Parenting Today magazine, Suzanne has been published in numerous magazines, including Worldwide Challenge, Parent Life, Marriage Partnership, among others, and has contributed to five non-fiction books. She lives with her husband, four kids and a steady stream of puppies that she raises for Guide Dogs for the Blind in the San Francisco Bay Area. Find Suzanne on-line at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com
About Copper Star:
Copper Star is a World War II love story set in 1943, as theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer smuggles a young resistance worker, Louisa, out of Nazi Germany. Louisa waits out the war in a dusty copper mining town in Arizona but can’t leave her resistance skills behind. Soon, she turns the town upside down, uncovering a mystery that leads her back to the Nazis and her war-torn country.
Released on June 30, the film rights of Copper Star are under consideration by a major motion picture studio. A contract for the sequel was offered to Fisher before Copper Star released. Pre-release orders have driven the book on Amazon’s sales rankings down into low digits.
Copper Star is already garnering rave reviews: Round Table Reviews writes, “The action in the story is moving quickly, and the character of Louisa is a lovable, somewhat feisty young woman who does not mind the taste of shoe leather… A wonderful book that is highly recommended for all readers.” Historical Novels Review notes, “Copper Star’s plot builds in conflict and excitement, and its tender romance warms the heart.”
A thorough researcher, Fisher’s can’t-put-it-down tale is woven with historical accuracy. A refreshing element of cultural deafness is portrayed through a deaf child, who learns to lip-read and speak through correspondence classes from the John Tracy Clinic, founded in 1942 by Louise and Spencer Tracy. “We are thrilled that our history coincides so beautifully with your story,” says Barbara Hecht, President of John Tracy Clinic, Los Angeles, California in her endorsement of Copper Star.
Author Interview with Suzanne:
Q: What’s the best thing about writing?
A: All of life is material. It’s all grit for the oyster.
Q: What’s the worst thing about writing?
A: I still only make a dime an hour.
Q: How have you used your gift of writing for God?
A: For most of my adult life, I could relate to that one-talent miser in Jesus’ parable (Luke 19:11-17). Plenty of other writers had been given five or even three talents. I seemed to have been dispensed a measly one. Who would even notice if I kept it buried, risk-free?
To give that a writerly twist, if I couldn’t write a bestselling, knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark book, then I probably shouldn’t even try to write a book at all.
Slowly it dawned on me that I had completely missed the point of that parable. God wasn’t asking for THE best, but MY best. Finally, I felt the freedom to try to use my one talent for His glory, regardless of its success. That was when I started this novel, Copper Star.
I’ve really enjoyed this interview! Suzanne has shared a wealth of knowledge from which all writers can benefit!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Ice Cream!
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!!! Today I had my toddler son outside and the ice cream man appeared in his musical truck! My son had never purchased anything from the ice cream man before, so we hurried inside and got some money to purchase a cool tasty treat.
Now, I haven’t purchased ice cream from the ice cream man in many years! The first thing I noticed was the prices!! What a hike! The cheapest was $1.50 and the most expensive was $4.00!!! The ice cream man suggested I purchase the cheapest item for my son since it was popular for kids his age! It was a small container of popsicle pellets in a rainbow of fruit flavors. He ate them all, and as we were sitting outside, and he was eating his fruity treat, I couldn’t help but recall the fond memories I’d had as a child when I purchased fare from the ice cream man!
We’d hear that bell ringing throughout the neighborhood, and we’d yell, “Mom, it’s the ice cream man!!” We’d jump around, get excited, want to get our money to go out there and get a popsicle or an ice cream bar. I remember that I loved the Good Humor Chocolate Eclairs, Strawberry Shortcakes, and Toasted Almonds. I also loved to get a plain vanilla or a plain chocolate ice cream bar enrobed in a chocolate shell! Yum! I always preferred ice cream over popsicles, though. I remember a popular treat with some of my friends was a Bomb Pop. It was red white and blue! Also, I recall another popsicle-like treat that my friends enjoyed that was shaped like a cone, and there was a ball of bubble gum at the bottom of the cone!
Just going out to the ice cream truck with my son tapped into some nostalgic memories for me! These are the kind of wonderful, sweet emotions we need to tap into and then translate into the stories we create!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
The Synonym Finder By J. I. Rodale
Paperback
ISBN: 0446370290
Pub. Date: August 1986
I’ve noticed when I go through the drafts of my manuscripts, that I have a huge problem with repetition(using the same words over and over). What’s helped me a lot when I do second and third drafts is a book entitled The Synonym Finder. It’s great! It think it’s a must-have for all writers!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
A Sin And A Shame By Victoria Christopher Murray
Paperback
ISBN: 0743287371
Pub. Date: May 2006
From the back cover:
Jasmine is back! The scandalous diva from the bestselling novel Temptation returns to stir up trouble in New York City.
After fleeing Los Angeles when her attempt to break up her best friend’s marriage fails, Jasmine is now a changed woman…and a Christian. She vows to attend church every Sunday, swears off married men, and begins her search for the soul mate she is sure God has for her. Now living in the Big Apple, she has shed twenty-five pounds, shaved ten years off her age, filled her expensive apartment with designer clothes…all to begin her man-finding mission.
She quickly meets her dream mate — a preacher — who falls head over heels in love with her. Surely, God is good! But things start slipping when another man from Jasmine’s past refuses to stay there, and an unexpected pregnancy threatens to sabotage all of her dreams. Will Jasmine’s lying and scheming continue? Or will she finally learn that honesty is the only path to redemption?
=======
I loved this book! However, a word of warning, there are a few sex scenes in this book, although the story does have an inspirational message.
I wanted to bop Jasmine upside the head throughout the book. Although she did grow and become a stronger Christian **spoiler ahead!!** I still did not understand why she never told her husband about all of the lies she’d told him! There was still a lot of things she’d done that she didn’t reveal to her husband, or to her husband’s father. Although she professed to being a Christian, I still found her behavior needed much improvement. The way she threw herself at Hosea’s father really got on my nerves!
Although, she finally does admit to loving Hosea, and I do believe she really loves him, I still think their marriage would be in deep trouble because, sooner or later, the truth about all of her lies will be revealed! Her husband doesn’t know her true age, he doesn’t know how she’s made several advances to his father, and the list goes on!
I’m wondering if the author is planning on doing a sequel to this novel? If so, that would explain why Jasmine never tells Hosea the truth about all of the lies she told. That might be explored in the sequel which may show Hosea and Jasmine having marital problems?
One scene that really caught my attention was when Frances Mae, Jasmine’s neighbor(an atheist) brings over dinner for Jasmine. It reminded me of one of the scenes I read in the anthology, Have A Little Faith. The story in this anthology involved an angel(or ghost) named Maybelline Brown who brought pies to her sad and depressed neighbor named Olivia. Although Frances Mae is no angel, she brings a lot of spice and mystique to the story.
Other books that I’ve read and enjoyed by Victoria Christopher Murray are:
I recommend all of the books! They tackle some tough issues, and they are enjoyable reads.
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Current Reading
I just finished A Sin And A Shame By Victoria Christopher Murray. I will review it later on this week.
I just started The Visitation by Frank Peretti. So far, the book has held my interest, and I want to keep reading it. It might take me awhile to finish this one, though, since it’s a very long book. The only thing that kind of put me off with this book the burning cross. I’m still unsure as to why this cover was chosen.
Meanwhile, happy reading and writing!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
I’m A Winner…
of this book! The Spinster Brides of Cactus Corner. I won this book on Barbour author Lena Nelson Dooley’s blog:
http://www.lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/
When I picked up my mail today, I found the pleasant surprise of this book in the mailbox! I won it from commenting on her blog!
Also, I sent John’s Quest, my next contracted novel, into my editor last week! John’s Quest is scheduled to be released in March 2008!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
American Christian Fiction Writers Conference
This conference is truly awesome, especially if you’re trying to break into the Christian fiction genre. Last year was the first year that I attended and I had a great time meeting authors, both old and new. Among the few I met last year were Irene Hannon (author), Tiff Amber Miller (author), Lee Hough (agent), Steve Laube (agent), Stephanie Broene (editor, Tyndale House), Liz Curtis Higgs (author and keynote speaker), Brandilyn Collins (author and speaker), Marilyn Griffith (author and ACFW Board Member), Claudia Mair Burney (author), to name a few. I’m sure there are others whom I met at last year’s conference whose names I can’t recall, or my cluttered brain may just be too crowded to remember!
Since this conference focuses on fiction only, that’s why I find it appealing. If you go to the link, you’ll see just about every major CBA publishing house will be present, as well as a host of editors and agents.
I’m a fan of writers conferences since attending them allowed me to enter the realms of commercial publication!
I recall going out to dinner with the MidAtlantic chapter of ACFW! We had tons of fun eating at a restaurant that served huge portions! Some of the people present at this dinner were: Linda Windsor (author and friend), Cynthia DiTiberio (editor of Avon Inspired and editor to Linda Windsor), Laurie Alice Eakes (author), Dani Pettrey, Christy Barritt (author), and probably a host of other people whose names I can’t recall.
The Harp and Bowl was wonderful, and it was great to sit and worship while listening to the music. I also enjoyed eating lunch with editors and agents who sat at assigned tables at lunch. Talking about books, writing, rejections, and publishing experiences made the conference worthwhile for me.
So, if you’re an aspiring (or published) Christian Fiction author, I highly recommend this event! You don’t want to miss this!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com