I’m still shocked and saddened over the massive deaths at Virginia Tech. We need to lift up the students, family, and staff in prayer. Father, please help them with the pain and anguish they are going through.
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
I had a really nice lunch in White Marsh yesterday with my fiction cronies! In the photo, you’ll see Chandra, Tiff, and Dani, the Baltimore subgroup of the Midatlantic chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW).
We chatted about lots of things, but the most exciting is that Tiff is getting married!!! I’m sure she’ll be doing lots of planning within the next few months for her upcoming wedding!
Writing-wise, we talked about the submissions we currently have out at various publishing houses. We also chatted about agents and writers conferences. I told of how I sold my book to Barbour, and Tiff also told of her sale. Her book is entitled Promises Promises and it will be released as part of the Heartsong Presents line in January 2008.
I told of my experiences at the Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference last August, and Tiff told us about the Delaware Christian Writers Conference. I also reminisced about the good times I’d had at the now-extinct Mid-Atlantic Christian Writers Conference.
I pointed out that I usually choose the conferences that I plan on attending based upon the editors and agents attending. All three of my lunch buddies pointed out to me that I need to also look at the workshops being offered. They said that sometimes you can glean a wealth of information from the fiction workshops. I catalogued that information in the back of my mind for future reference.
I spoke a little about my agent search and we also talked about the fact that most Christian publishers require that you have an agent in order to submit. The exceptions are Steeple Hill and Barbour. I also recall reading something similiar on agent Chip MacGregor’s blog, about publishing houses closing the doors to unagented submissions. The only way around that is to meet with an editor at a writers conference!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Lisa Samson, an author on one of my writers loops, has posted about her Serenity Weekend! Go to the link and see the description for yourself! It sounds wonderful, peaceful, and divine! Good food, lovely atmosphere and great company would be a great way to whet your writing appetite! I think if I were to attend, I wouldn’t want to leave!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Murder, Mayhem, And A Fine Man
Author: Claudia Mair Burney
Paperback: 301 pages
Publisher: Navpress Publishing Group (July 5, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1576839788
ISBN-13: 978-1576839782
From the back cover:
Life as a forensic psychologist isn’t quite as cool as prime-time televeision would have us believe, and most of us just don’t have closets full of red-carpet gowns and bling. Instead of painting the town in a drop-dead gorgeous dress, Amanda Bell Brown finds herself at the scene of a crime–and she just may know who the killer is. She needs to spill her guts, but not on the handsome detective’s alligator
shoes–especially if she wants him to ask her out. A complicated murder investigation unearths not just a killer but a closet full of skeletons Amanda thought long gone. Murder, mayhem, and a fine man are wreaking havoc on her fortieth birthday, but will she survive to see forty-one?
Does she survive? You’ll have to read the story to find out!
This book grabbed me from the first page and just wouldn’t let me go. The characters are real, down-to-earth, and they’re not perfect: they struggle with issues like most of us do. Amanda Brown (Bell) is still struggling with the aftermath from a terribly abusive relationship from ten years ago. The abuse she suffered caused a senseless death, a death she in which she has yet to bring closure. In comes Jazz Brown, handsome detective (no relation). Although Jazz and Bell try to crack the case and find the killer of two men, they manage to find romance along the way. I found the attraction between the two to be quite strong. Jazz has his own problems that he needs to face. He’s currently unavailable for romance and Amanda is frustrated, not understanding why she and Jazz can’t just be together and in love!
Since the story starts off with a murder on Amanda’s fortieth birthday, it’s sort of dark, but it’s dark with spots of humor along the way. The humor reminds me of a term I learned in Shakespeare class in high school and college. I believe it was comedic relief? Burney provides spots of comedic relief along the way of a dark road with light provided at the end of the tunnel!
If you like mysteries, murders, and a good suspenseful story, then you should purchase this book! I guarantee you will love it….and you’ll fall in love with the characters, too!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
My next book, John’s Quest is about an agnostic who finally accepts God. Since John (my fictional character) is a scientist, he uses logic and science to try and discover God’s existence.
When I heard about Teen Apologetics Conference yesterday on the radio, I could imagine somebody who attended this conference, talking to John, giving him the evidence that God really does exist. It sounds like it will be a great conference.
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
This is a Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe I used for Easter. The link that I’ve provided has a slightly altered version than the one posted from my cookbook. These are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. If you use a melon ball scoop to measure dough onto the cookie sheet, and bake them just right, and use milk chocolate chips, you’ll take one bite and feel like you’re in sweet chocolate heaven! Yum!
2 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C. Dark brown Sugar, firmly packed
1/2 C. white sugar
1 C. Salted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp. pur vanilla extract
2 C. semisweet chocolate chips (NOTE: I PREFER USING MILK CHOCOLATE CHIPS IN MY COOKIES SINCE THEY HAVE A SWEETER FLAVOR)
Preheat oven to 300°F
In medium bowl combine flour, soda and salt. Mix well with wire whisk. Set aside.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer blend sugars at medium speed. Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and mix at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture and chocolate chips and blend at low speed until just mixed. Do not overmix.
Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, 2″ apart.
***NOTE, I USE A MELONBALL SCOOP TO PLACE COOKIES ONTO SHEET. THIS IS THE PERFECT SIZE FOR THE BEST COOKIES. ALSO, MY OVEN BAKES THE COOKIES PERFECTLY WHEN THEY ARE LEFT IN THE OVEN FOR 22 MINUTES.
Bake 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer cookies immediately to a cool surface with a spatula.
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
Happy Easter! He has risen! I’m sure many of you bloggees have dyed eggs for this blessed holiday. I found a great link with deviled egg recipes for you to enjoy with those edible colored eggs. I’d wanted to dye some eggs for my son to enjoy, but, alas, I was just too tired! I did manage to make some great chocolate chip cookies for our Easter dessert, though! Yum! I’ll be sure to share that recipe with you all sometime this week!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
I never dye Easter eggs, however, I figured a lot of my readers do. I found this site about dyeing Easter eggs. I know some use PAAS to dye their eggs. Since I have a young son, I figure I’ll be dyeing eggs within the next year or so, and they’ll probably talk about the Easter egg tradition in my son’s daycare. When I talk about Easter, I usually focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus, since that’s the true message of Easter. If I feel so inclined, I’ll be posting more Easter thoughts and musings later this week.
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
When I was interviewed for two local newspapers (The Greenbelt News Review and The Gazette) two years ago, one of the questions the interviewers asked me was my advice on how to get published. I recommended attending writers conferences. I know the annual Romance Writers of America (RWA) conference, and the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) conference, are great, but can tend to be a bit pricey once you pay for your conference fee, hotel, food, airfare, etc. If it’s not possible to attend a conference on a national level, there may be conferences, some of them only one day, that might be in your area. I do know that there are an abundance of Christian writers conferences all over the United States. It might be possible to find one in your area and attend it for a day or so, might be more economically feasible for some.
Here are a few that caught my eye when doing a google search. I have never attended either of these, but they did sound interesting. The first one is the Delaware Christian Writers Conference:
http://www.delawarechristianwritersconference.com/
I’ve received correspondence via email from John Riddle in the past, and I believe he does this conference each year? The only people listed on the faculty that I’ve personally met was Candy Abbott (met her at Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference last August, and also met her at the now extinct Mid-Atlantic Christian Writers conference), and Joyce Hart from Hartline Literary Agency (met her at Mid-Atlantic Christian Writers Conference and ACFW last September).
The other conference that sounded interesting was the Memphis Black Writers Conference. The link is below:
http://lawrence.wayne.tripod.com/vipmemphis/
Again, I’m not familiar with the faculty, with the exception of Sister Betty. I met her twice, both times at the Faith-Based Arts Conference.
I also wanted to add a little bit advice to my earlier posting about critique groups.I blogged about critique groups the other day. However, I’d like to expand upon what I already discussed. I’ve found that over the years I’ve heard bits and pieces of advice about critique groups from various writers. The writers who seem to be in a successful group are usually in a group where most of the writers are on the same level, meaning you wouldn’t have a person who just started writing yesterday in the same critique group as an author who has successfully published several books. That’s an exaggerated example, I know.
If the relationship has a multi-pubbed author, and a new writer, one who is just getting his/her feet wet in the writing world, then I’m not sure that’s called a critique group. The word mentor comes to mind, but I’ve also been told that a mentoring relationship is for encouragement and support, not to give a writing critique.
Until next time,
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com
I was flipping through channels Sunday afternoon and I caught the last part of a great movie, Beaches. I saw this movie years ago and I recall loving it! One of the reasons I liked it so much is because of its emotional content. When Bette Midler’s best friend dies, it just makes you want to cry.
Another great movie that I absolutely love is Titanic. One of my favorite parts in that movie is when Jack holds Rose’s hand and they stand in the front of the ship, looking upon the water, Jack holding Rose in his arms, and she says it feels like flying! Oh, I love that scene!
When I write my stories, I try and create emotional scenes that’ll make my readers laugh, cry, and remember these people long after they’ve finished the book. When you watch your favorite movies, think about how you feel during certain scenes. Tap into these emotions and create stories that’ll have the same effect on your readers!
Cecelia Dowdy
www.ceceliadowdy.com