Monthly Archives: November 2009

Question From A Writer

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I know I’d said the whole Ted Dekker subject was closed, but wanted to mention literary agent Chip Macgregor’s interesting blog post about the incident. I believe Chip eloquently expressed the views of most of the Love Inspired authors. Also, I forgot to mention in my earlier post, about Love Inspired’s list that Ted was talking about…I’d forgotten all about that list until Ted mentioned it. Most inspirational romances have to follow strict rules, and when I’m writing a Christian romance, I barely pay attention to a list. I just kind of know what needs to be done, and if the manuscript needs some changes, the editor will tell me and I’ll change it. So far, it hasn’t been a big deal. Okay, so this subject is now closed…for real this time!

Now, onto a writing question!

Philip wrote to ask the following:

I’m a twice published author, both are inspirational fiction. I enjoyed reading your blog and you seem to be very open and willing to assist others in the writing business. I’m working hard at getting into a larger publisher as mine is only a print on demand and seems to be more like a self-publishing company.
I’m currently working on a supernatural thriller. I would enjoy hearing from you as to if you ever refer other authors to your publishers or agent. I look forward to hearing from you.

Philip, I wish I could help you with a referral, but I can’t! I write Christian romance novels, and the publishers that I deal with don’t publish supernatural thrillers. It’s difficult for me to give you advice without knowing what steps you’ve taken to find a publisher. Since you say you are working hard at finding a publisher, then I’m assuming you’ve been submitting your work to commercial publishers? Read this post, and in addition to that advice, I wanted to mention the importance of researching a publisher before submitting to them. You need to know the market – which publishers currently publish works that are similiar to yours? Go to a bookstore or go to Amazon and see if you can find titles similiar to yours. Once you’ve targeted some publishers, then you can go to their website and find their submission guidelines. Chances are, nowadays, you’ll need an agent to submit to them.

I can’t refer you to an agent because I don’t have one. As I mentioned in this post, I’m searching for an agent now. I’ve sold five Christian romances, and all of them I was able to sell without an agent. I suggest, after you do your homework in researching publishers, that you attend a writers conference. You might want to make sure your targeted publishing house will be attending the writers’ conference that you choose. Meet with an editor from your targeted publishing house at the conference. Usually, most writers’ conferences have a limited amount of one-on-one appointments. I landed my first two book deals as a result of attending writers’ conferences.

Philip left me a link for his website! Stop by and check out his novels! I think the covers are very tastefully done…very striking!

I hope my suggestions helped! If you have any more questions, feel free to send them to me!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Done!!

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I’m finally finished with the project that I mentioned here.

I’ve been working on this thing sporadically for about five years…BUT, the only reasons it’s taken me so long is because:

1. I had a baby (who’s now four years old).
2. I’ve been selling other novels to Barbour Publishing, and contracted work takes priority over my recently-completed project entitled Southern Comfort.
3. I’ve also written another novel, since I’ve started this one, that was rejected. However, writing that other novel took time away from my working on Southern Comfort.
4. I work full-time, and I run a household! Takes lots of time to do that!
So, there you have it! That’s why it’s taken me years to complete this big tome of a book! I plan on submitting the full to an agent who requested it awhile back. I’ve also got two other agents that I’m going to submit to, also. I normally don’t take this long to write a book…I can usually have one done in a matter of months if I set my mind to it and concentrate. When you have a contract, you’re forced to finish by a certain time!

Just feels good to be done! Now hopefully, and prayerfully, my Southern Comfort will find a home!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Ted Dekker And Love Inspired

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Ted Dekker ticked me off a bit. I know Love Inspired’s guidelines may seem as if they’re unrealistic, but, they’re writing for their readership, plus, people pick up a Love Inspired novel expecting a certain standard. This post makes me angry because I don’t think Ted’s ever read a Love Inspired! He’s putting down the whole line, and that simply stinks! Read a Love Inspired, Ted, and do some investigating and look at the Love Inspired sales figures!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Stephen – Stoned!

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Acts 6:15 (NIV)
All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Acts 7:51-59 (NIV)
51″You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.”
54When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56″Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Man, what powerful words! Can you imagine being stoned to death, then telling the Lord to forgive those persecuting you? Makes you stop and think of those suffering for the sake of the Lord. Imagine the pain of being stoned to death…brutal…makes me think, you know, as a Christian, I haven’t been through anything remotely related to this. Such suffering and intense physical pain. When you think your life is getting tough, think of how Stephen suffered…think of how Jesus suffered…

~Cecelia Dowdy~

My Website!

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I re-did my website a couple of months ago, but I don’t think I announced it here on my blog. Check it out! I changed the coloring from that dark burgundy to a light tannish color. I also added a floral arrangement at the top and I added a few other pages. Take a look around and tell me what you think!

Here’s the link!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Questions From Writers

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Kelli wrote to ask me this question:
Could you please advise what a writer is do when all
avenues have been exhausted in trying to get their book
published and self-publishing/co-publishing is not even
an option. I am feeling a little like I should just stop trying and stop
writing, this is my second book.

My response:
Don’t quit! I was writing for FIVE AND A HALF YEARS before I got a contract with a traditional/commercial publisher. During that five and a half years, I wrote during most of my spare time and completed several books – most of those will remain in my basement closet, they’re so bad! All I can say is put that book back on the shelf and start another novel. Also, are you involved in a writers’ group or a critique group? If you congregate with like-minded individuals, that may help you. Since I write Christian romance novels, the two organizations that have helped me the most is Romance Writers Of America and American Christian Fiction Writers. Both of those organizations may have chapters and critique groups that meet in your area? You’ll need to check and see. Also, two blogs that you might want to visit regularly are Literary Agents Chip Macgregor and Rachelle Gardner. I visit both of these blogs and they are always giving cool advice for both new and seasoned writers. Go to those blogs and scroll through some of the old posts. They’re a wealth of information to use if you’re trying to get your work commercially/traditionally published.

I can’t really advise about self-publishing because I’m not very familiar with it. I know I never wanted to get self-published – I wanted to sign a contract where I’d be getting an advance and royalties for each copy of my novel that sold. I didn’t want to pay to have my work published. I do know that if you self-publish, you need to be sure you have a solid marketing plan so that you can sell lots of books. I know self-publishing USUALLY works better if you’re doing NON-FICTION.

Vanessa wrote:
I’m a writer and I’ve been “shopping” my novel around for a little while. I’ve gotten good responses from editors, but no one is willing to give me a chance so I’m trying to decide how to proceed. I’ve done some partner publishing with Beckham Publishing on two other books with my husband, but my novel is what I really want to get released. Any advice? An editor from a major company really liked my book but when it came before the larger group it was rejected. This person has put me in touch with an editor they use and I’m planning to work with her to do final edits on the book before proceeding.

My response:
Read my advice for the previous question. Also, you might want to send that editor, the one from the major publishing company, a letter, thanking her for considering your work and, you’d like the opportunity to submit another project to her in the future.

I’m not sure how to tell you to proceed from here. If you’ve already shopped it around, and there’s no other place to submit it, then you need to place that book on a shelf and start another? If you’re asking how to proceed as far as self-publishing is concerned, I’m not sure what to tell you to do since I’ve never self-published my work.

You could also search for a literary agent. It’s possible that there are publishers out there that may be interested in your work but they take agented submissions only?

Hope my responses helped!

Got anymore questions? Please send them in!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Christmas Book Giveaway – Rules

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Thanks so much to all who are entering the Christmas Book Giveaway. As of this morning, there are 64 comments. Somebody mentioned that they didn’t see any rules for the giveaway, but they want to be entered. In order to be entered in the giveaway, you need to leave your email address in your comment, or your email address must be accessible through your blogger ID. If you comment, without leaving an email address, and your email address is not visible on blogger, then you WON’T be entered. If there’s no email address for me to access, there would be no way for me to contact you if you do win.

Several have said that it was generous of me to purchase these books and give them away. These books are brand new, and I did purchase them, but, I also want to build up my e-mail list from doing the book giveaways. Therefore, if you enter the drawing, you’re giving me permission to add your email address to my mailing list. I only send out mass emails via Constant Contact a few times a year, so, if you enter, you won’t have to worry about being bombarded with massive amounts of email from me.

I’ve noticed there are some who entered the Christmas Book Giveaway, but have unsubscribed from my Constant Contact email list. If you’ve been on my mailing list, then unsubscribed, then want to enter this giveaway, you won’t be entered. Reason being, you have to be willing to be a part of my mailing list in order to be entered into the drawing. Since I use Constant Contact, if a person unsubscribes, I can’t resubscribe that person myself – Constant Contact won’t allow that. I’m not sure if you can try and re-subscribe on your own on Constant Contact after you’ve unsubscribed?

Final “rule” is if you win, you automatically give me the right to post your first and last name on my blog, along with your city and state of residence, announcing you as the winner. I want to keep this contest honest, so I have to annouce the winner on this blog. In the past, I’ve had a few people to get disgruntled when they see their first and last name on my blog, then they’ll ask me to remove their last name from my blog post. I’ve started stating my intentions of posting the first and last name when I post the contest. If you don’t want your first and last name posted on my blog if you win, then don’t enter the contest!

And, last thing, even if you don’t win, I wanted to tell you about how I came across these great books at a reasonable price! If you don’t win the books featured on my blog, you still might have some spare change in your wallet to purchase these! Christianbook.com has some great sets of books for a cheap price – this is where I purchased the books for my giveaway:

Set of nine Christmas books for $9.99!

Set of four Christmas books for $7.99!

Set of four Christmas books for $7.80!

Set of six Christmas books for $9.99!

Notice that some of these sets overlap, so if you order more than one set, you might want to make sure that you’re aware that you may be purchasing some books twice! No, I don’t work for or represent Christianbook.com! I’m just being a nice gal and letting you know about these great deals! I don’t think I could have afforded such a large Christmas book giveaway if I’d had to pay full price for these novels! I’m not sure how long these books will be available at this low price!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Christmas Book Giveaway!

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***This contest is now over! I’ve selected a winner! The winner is listed here. I’ll be posting another book giveaway around January 1, 2010!! I’ve reviewed some great books, so visit and read about some of the great novels I’ve been enjoying lately!

I know it’s still a little early for Christmas, but I’m having a Christmas book giveaway this month because I want the winner to receive the books at the beginning of December – in time to enjoy for the holidays. You can also give these books away as Christmas gifts. All of the books are brand new, never read! These are Christmas novella collections and, as always, if you enter this drawing, I’ll automatically add you to my mailing list. However, I don’t send out mass e-mails often, so you won’t be bombarded with too much correspondence from me. The contest is limited to U.S. and Canada residents only. If you enter, please leave an email address so that I can contact you if you win. If you do win, I retain the right to place your first and last name and city and state on my blog, announcing you as the winner! I purchased these novels, free copies were not given to me by the publisher. All ten novels will be given to ONE winner! Here are the novels that I’m giving away:

1. Lone Star Christmas by: Pamela Griffin, Cathy Marie Hake, Vickie McDonough, Kathleen Y’Barbo

Anything can happen when four meddlesome, retired Texas Rangers try their hand at matchmaking. As Christmas draws near, clandestine meetings are held to foil Peony Potter’s plans to leave town. Will the folks of Cut Corners learn that no matter what plans they hold, God is the grandest planner of them all.

2. Homespun Christmas by: Birdie L. Etchison, Renee DeMarco, Colleen L. Reece, Janelle Burnham Schneider
A child leads four couples to love in this heartwarming holiday collection. Ben and Sarah struggle to save their town in Hope for the Holidays. Susanna discovers that Christmas is More Than Tinsel. Is this The Last Christmas for Walt and Dee? And Brinn finds love and purpose on a Winter Sabbatical.

3. Snowbound Colorado Christmas by: Susan Page Davis, Lena Nelson Dooley, Darlene Franklin, Tamela Hancock Murray
During the Christmas of 1913, Colorado is buffeted with snow and four young couples seek refuge for their hearts in a whiteout of romance.

4. A Connecticut Christmas by: Diane Ashley, Janet Lee Barton, Rhonda Gibson, Gail Sattler
Snowbound Village, Connecticut, is full of holiday charm, especially at the mall’s Christmas Collectibles Shop where romance is in the air!
Nick Jackson seeks to add to Delia Wilkin’s collection of sa ntas and turn her heart toward Jesus. But will working so closely with Delia become awkward since he has ended their romantic relationship?

Jonathon Griffin shops for something to enhance Cindy Morrow’s new cookie shop and attract her attention. Will Cindy slow down enough to recognize the plans the Lord has for her when she’s presented with a cookie jar full of love.

Sheila Fisher’s storytelling is inspired by Morgan Frost’s collectible critters. When she meets the man to ask permission to write about his creations, will the encounter lead to dreams of love or dreams stolen?

Rochelle McWilliams collects snowflakes, adorning everything with them, much to Kade Guilford’s chagrin. Will Kade allow Rochelle to melt the ice around his stubborn heart?

5. A Bride By Christmas by: Linda Goodnight, Kelly Eileen Hake, Vickie McDonough, Therese Stenzel
Jackson needs a mother for his niece. Jerome needs money that can only come by taking a wife. Katherine needs to fulfill a promise. Anastasia needs to escape an evil plot. Can each find a spouse by Christmas? When there’s a deadline on Christmas, the results are anything but conventional! Don’t miss these four touching historical novellas set on the American prairie.

6. Christmas Duty by: Paige Winship Dooly, Janelle Burnham Schneider, Tammy Shuttlesworth, Jill Stengl
Servicemen and women discover that holidays in the military are difficult—but seldom humdrum! Tragedy convinces Cathy that Tim doesn’t live up to his reputation. Jacob and Lucy can’t seem to overcome their differences. Nick risks everything when his former fiancee is abducted. And Katrina tries to believe in Brian—and the promises of Christmas.

7. Simply Christmas by: Pamela Dowd, Christine Lynxwiler, Wanda Luttrell
Commercialized craziness or consecrated Christmas? Four women must choose! Will Maggie’s break from the mad holiday rush drive her family mad? Lorraine needs peace this season, but others need her. Mary Martha’s ad for a dining room table sets up a hurting soul for healing. And can Penny’s family survive Christmas in a cramped RV?

8. An Old-Fashioned Christmas by: Tracie Peterson, Colleen L. Reece, Loree Lough, and Sally Laity
Take a break from your hectic holiday schedule and curl up with these romantic tales of Christmases gone by. This heartwarming 4-in-1 volume features God Jul by Tracie Peterson, Christmas Flower by Colleen Reece, Miracle of Kismet Hill by Loree Lough, and For the Love of a Child by Sally Laity.

9. A Big Apple Christmas by: Vasthi Reyes Acosta, Gail Sattler, Lynette Sowell, Carrie Turansky
Enjoy a contemporary romance collection of four heartwarming novellas that capture the sights and sounds of Christmas in New York City. Christmas plans are set askew when a schedule-bound professional organizer meets a free-spirited poet. Holiday bustle is the means two tourists try to use to get lost in the crowds. Christmas in Rockerfeller Center puts a widow’s dreams on center stage. The gift of the Magi comes full circle for two lonely Latinos. Romance is in the air from Fifth Avenue to Chinatown, but can faith bring the love home?

10. Wyoming Christmas Heroes by: Jeanie Smith Cash, Linda Lyle, Jeri Odell, Tammy Shuttlesworth
A cup of Christmas, a dash of heroics, a sprinkling of romance, and a heap of faith creates a recipe for holiday magic in four novellas.
Widowed and pregnant, Annie Benson moves to Wyoming just in time to deliver her twins in a snowstorm. What’s the chance that her handsome new neighbor is also a doctor?
A snowmobiling mishap in Yellowstone leaves Chris Jennings trapped in a remote cabin. How can it be considered answered prayer when the park ranger on duty is Paul Rogers,her ex-fiance?
Upon meeting a handsome paramedic,Holly Olson’s matchmaking daughter suddenly becomes accident prone. Will Luke Jolly join the game and charm the stubborn widow?
Stacey Waters will protect her son at all costs, even from Santas with daddy-like potential. Jack Trenton fights fires when not playing Santa, but can he quench the fire of resentment around Stacy’s heart?

I’d also like to invite you to check out my next release, Chesapeake Weddings (a 3-in-1 including John’s Quest, Milk Money, and Bittersweet Memories)! It’s available for pre-order on Amazon.com and Christianbook.com! If you’ve already read John’s Quest, Milk Money, and Bittersweet Memories, I appreciate your support!

~Cecelia Dowdy~