Monthly Archives: October 2009

How Much Money Does A New York Times Bestseller Make?

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If interested, see this link. I’d meant to place this on my blog awhile back, but I forgot to do it! I know a lot of authors dream about making the NY Times Bestseller’s list (myself included). Here are the highlights of the post:

The author’s book, Twilight Fall, debuted at #19 on the New York Times mass-market list back in July 2008.
She received the first royalty statement for this NYT novel in April 2009 (Yes, publishing can be quite slow at times.)
First print run was 88,500 copies.
Total sales units, as of this royalty statement, are 64,925
Royalties = $40,484.00 (this amount does not include the reserves against returns)
The author received an advance of $50,000
She’ll be receiving the next royalty statement October or November 2009.

So take a look at the link to glean more information if interested. I’m glad the author shared her royalty statement with the rest of us!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Raising Rain by Debbie Fuller Thomas

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Raising Rain by Debbie Fuller Thomas
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Moody Publishers (September 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802487343
ISBN-13: 978-0802487346

From Amazon.com:
Product Description

Raised to be a ‘new woman’ by her mother and three college roommates in the 70’s amid anti-war protests, feminist rallies, and finals, Rain Rasmussen discovers that putting her career first has left her overdrawn at the egg-bank, and her baby fever has now driven off her significant other.

When her terminally ill mother demands a Celebration of Life before she dies; they all confront ghosts from the past on a ‘stormy’ weekend in Monterey. Bebe, the roommate closest to Rain’s heart, revisits choices that have impacted Rain the most, raising doubts about God’s—and her own—willingness to forgive and to be forgiven.

This novel touched upon an edgy subject for Christian fiction, abortion. However, the subject was dealt with in a realistic manner, and I could imagine someone who is saved, who’s been through an abortion in the past, to use this book as a ministerial tool.

Rainbow Star has been raised by her single mother, Jude, as well as Jude’s three roommates. The four roommates, from back in the late sixties/early seventies, share a fragile bond and they have many issues brimming beneath the surface of their friendship.

Rain doesn’t even know who her father is, and her headstrong mother, Jude, is vocal about not needing a man in her life. Unbeknownst to Rain, Jude’s headstrong manner has rubbed off onto Rain’s personality, causing a huge breakup with her live-in boyfriend.

Rain is now single and determined to have a baby, no matter what it takes. Should she get pregnant and raise a baby alone, following in her mother’s footsteps?

When Rain finds out the real reason why her boyfriend has left her, she’s stunned, and she’s forced to step back and take a look at her own life.

The four roommates and Rain share a celebration weekend during the last days of Jude’s life. During this time, they discover long-held secrets about one another.

This novel will show you how we can seek the Lord’s forgiveness for past mistakes.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Guest Blogger Stephen Bly

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You know how I occasionally talk about food and recipes on this blog? Well, I thought it’d be fun to post Stephen Bly’s article about Menus On The Old West Trail! Interesting information, and some of this new knowledge makes me cringe a little bit! Don’t forget to access the links at the bottom of the article for Stephen’s Chili Recipe and to check out his new release, Creede Of Old Montana!

Pour The Coffee & Pass The Pooch
By Stephen Bly
Copyright©2008

While some big towns like Denver, San Francisco and Virginia City had fancy restaurants, most frontier cafes were of the simple sort. They were often called chophouses, because of the hunk of meat that hung in the backroom. They chopped off a slab and fried it up for you. Not too fancy. Nor sanitary. Most times it was only “slightly spoiled.”
Cowboys on the trail filled up with biscuits, bacon, and beans. There wasn’t much beef because no boss wanted to slaughter his own cattle. If a cow wandered in from some other herd, it could be butchered and fried, but for the most part bacon and salt pork dominated the menu.
Ah, good old boiled coffee. You can almost feel the coffee grounds strain between your teeth. The brand was probably Arbuckles, that tastes something like a Starbucks tall Americano with a quadruple shot…and mixed with a bit of mud.
There was plenty of sourdough bread on long trail drives. The cook’s prized possession was a 5-gallon, wooden sourdough keg. When getting ready for the trail drive or roundup, the cook put 3 or 4 quarts of flour and a dash of salt in the keg. He poured in enough water to make a medium thick batter. Sometimes a little vinegar or molasses was added to hasten fermentation.
When the dough got ripe, this whole batch was thrown away. The keg is seasoned. A new batch is mixed in the same way. Everyday new batter is mixed to fill the keg. Placed in sunlight during the day and wrapped in blankets at night kept it warm. Some cooks slept with their kegs on cold nights. An outfit that allowed harm to come to its sourdough keg suffered the consequence. Most cooks defended their kegs with their lives.
By the late 1880s air-tights (canned food) were available, such as peaches and tomatoes. That provided more ways for the camp cooks to make dessert.
One trail favorite was Hounds Ears & Whirlups. Thin sourdough batter was dropped onto hot grease and fried brown. The dough usually spread out in the shape of a dog’s ear Whirlup sauce was made with water, sugar, flavoring and spices. If available, dried fruit was chopped or mashed into the mixture and bring it to a boil. It thickened a tad as it cooled, then poured over the Hounds Ears. A big hit with hungry cowboys.
That sounds better to me than Pooch…a dessert made with tomatoes, sugar, and leftover bread or biscuits, cooked over the campfire.
Ah, life on the trail. Pour the coffee and pass the pooch.

Download Stephen Bly’s own Spicy Elk Chili recipe here. Other recipes are also listed on that file. There are some other things you can check out on the Free Stuff Page at Bly Books.

New Release October 1, 2009:
Creede of Old Montana (hardback)
Center Point Publishing/Thorndike
Order through any local quality bookstore, online bookstore, public library, or
Bly Books.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post! Check out Stephen’s book and if you try his chili recipe, let me know if you liked it!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

October Book Giveaway

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Before I post the books for the October Book Giveaway, I just wanted to announce that the winner of the September Book Giveaway is:

Renee Chaw – Perryopolis, PA

Renee, I’ll be snail mailing your books out to you soon.

Here are the novels that I’m giving away for the month of October. Some of these books are brand new and some are slightly used! Also, remember to leave your email address when commenting for the giveaway so that I’ll have a way of contacting you if you win. Also, by entering, I’ll automatically add your name to my newsletter email list. Don’t worry about that, though…I only send out mass emails for newsletters a few times a year, so you won’t be hearing from me very often! If I choose you as the winner, I’ll be posting your first and last name and city and state on my blog, announcing you as the winner. This box of books will be given to ONE person. Here are the books:

1. What The Bayou Saw by Patti Lacy

2. Sins Of The Father by Angela Benson

3. A Cousin’s Prayer by Wanda E. Brunstetter

4. The Lumberjack’s Lady by Susan Page Davis

5. Becoming More Than A Bible Study Girl by Terkeurst
From the Back Cover
Is Something Missing in Your Life?
Lysa TerKeurst knows what it’s like to consider God just another thing on her to-do list. For years she went through the motions of a Christian life: Go to church. Pray. Be nice.
Longing for a deeper connection between what she knew in her head and her everyday reality, she wanted to personally experience God’s presence.
Drawing from her own remarkable story of step-by-step faith, Lysa invites you to uncover the spiritually exciting life we all yearn for. With her trademark wit and spiritual wisdom, Lysa will help you :
* Learn how to make a Bible passage come alive in your own devotion time.
* Replace doubt, regret, and envy with truth, confidence, and praise.
* Stop the unhealthy cycles of striving and truly learn to love who you are and what you’ve been given.
* Discover how to have inner peace and security in any situation
* Sense God responding to your prayers
The adventure God has in store for your life just might blow you away.
6. A McKaslin Homecoming by Jillian Hart
When contacted by her long-lost grandmother, Lauren McKaslin wanted to reconnect—with all the warmhearted Montana McKaslins. For too long, she’d relied solely on herself and her faith. But mistrustful lawman Caleb Stone stood in the way, and his questions about her were intimidating. Was his attention more than a protective instinct? Now that she believed in family again, perhaps this was also the time to believe in true love….

7. Val’s Prayer by Terry Fowler
From Heartsong Presents website:
Val Truelove dreams of owning the Kentucky horse farm she grew up on and running a wedding venue business. And she prays big prayers. When an answer comes in an unlikely package, her life is never the same again. But she must overcome obstacles – an opionionated architect, sabotaged plans, and a revengeful former coworker – to see her dreams become reality.
8. Heath’s Choice by Terry Fowler
From Heartsong Presents website:
For years, Heath’s one goal was to get his education and help his younger sibilings obtain theirs. Now God’s provision has freed him to pursue other interests. He finds himself trying to reconcile his choice to be a landscaper against finding a job worthy of his expensive education. As a teenager, Heath was attracted to Jane, but when it came down to choices, she made decisions that changed her life – and not for the better. She’s back in his life, but can Heath get past his fears and trust God to give him the woman he loves?

9. All That Glitters by Lynnette Sowell
From Heartsong Presents website:
When Francesca Wallingford first meets Count Philippe de la Croix, he turns her head. But then an old friend, Alfred Finley, returns to the society that scorned him years ago. A summer in Newport, Rhode Island, with its sequence of balls and cotillions, pits both men in a quest for Francesca’s hand. But what role does love and honor play when Francesca’s mother has her own agenda for her daughter to become a countess?

And, if you feel inclined, go over to Amazon and check out my April 2010 release! If you feel led, you can pre-order it! I think Barbour did a beautiful job with the cover!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

The Lumberjack’s Lady by Susan Page Davis

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The Lumberjack’s Lady by Susan Page Davis

From Heartsong Presents website:
Letitia Hunter works as a clerk at her father’s lumber company, but her place in society is well established. When an intriguing French lumberjack comes to work in the office alongside her, Letitia knows she cannot allow the feelings he stirs within her. Her father would never consider him an eligible suitor. From the moment Etienne rescued the boss’s lovely young daughter from drowning in a frozen lake, he has not been able to put her out of his mind. Working with her only complicates things. Yet his feelings for her are so strong. Can he overcome prejudice and prove his worth both as an employee and as a man? God works in mysterious ways, His children to bless. Will He make this relationship work?

===
This was a sweet story that held my interest. It had a different twist from usual Heartsongs, I suppose, because the hero is a French Canadian lumberjack. When my sister saw the cover, she said, “What’s Paul Bunyon doing on the cover of that book you’re reading?”

Letitia has always lived by her father’s rules, quietly working beside him in the office of his lumber company. However, while visiting one of her father’s lumber camps, she falls into a frozen lake while ice skating. She’s rescued by handsome Etienne, a French Canadian lumberjack. Etienne is smitten with the boss’s daughter, but knows she’s way out of his league. He came from an under-priviledged background and has little money. Letitia has a lot of wealth, and he knows her father would never agree to having him as a son-in-law.

Letitia’s father, Mr. Hunter, calls Etienne Steve (Etienne is French for Steven). Although Mr. Hunter admires the office talents of his new employee, he knows the man is not a suitable mate for his daughter. Leticia shuns the advances of one of her father’s wealthy clients, much to her father’s dissatisfaction.

Leticia and Etienne have a lot of obstacles to overcome before their romance can blossom into a beautiful relationship.

~Cecelia Dowdy~