Monthly Archives: September 2010

No, I haven’t had the pleasure of reading this book, but it does sound like a good, interesting historical novel. If you’ve read this book, leave a comment about your thoughts. If it’s on your to-be-read pile, then stop by once you’ve read it and let me know your thoughts. If you don’t have this book, I encourage you to give it a try!

When an American patriot of the Revolution inherits his grandfather’s estate in faraway England, he inherits more than an isolated manor house. He discovers Juleah’s love and a plot that leads to kidnapping, murder, and betrayal, in this stirring tale of fidelity and forgiveness. ~

Here are a few quotes about Surrender The Wind:

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From author Marylu Tyndall ~ Ms. Gerlach’s historic research is evident throughout the story, and her attention to detail and literary descriptions of scenes placed me right in the middle of the action.

If a writer wishes to write a historical novel, research is a vital, essential part of developing a great story. When I began Surrender the Wind, I read numerous accountants of the Battle of Yorktown where the book opens in the prologue. I researched uniforms, dress, weaponry, food, and culture.

As the book moves forward into Chapter 1, the reader is taken to England, to a crumbling manor house in Devonshire. The historical research from this point on had to be in the details. I wanted my reader to see in their mind the scene, outdoors and indoors. Everything from a tallow candle in the socket of a brass candlestick, to the blue and white pitcher and bowl on the heroine’s washing table, adds strong visual imagery. My editor told me once that a place can become a character in a book. I feel that is true for Ten Width Manor. It’s walls hold secrets of lives past and present in the story. Because it is the ancestral home of the Braxtons, Ten Width has a stronghold on those living in it.

Then there are the historical cultural markings in a book that make up the characters. Dress. Etiquette. Traditional family life. I studied 18th century wills and marriage customs, the fashions of the period, and how the classes interacted with each other.

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From author Linda Clare ~ The American Revolutionary period comes to life as Gerlach explores themes of patriotism with a faith element.

In America today there is a resurgence of patriotism. We are returning to our roots, our Constitution, and faith. In the 18th century faith played a major role in the lives of people in both the Colonies and United Kingdom. In Surrender the Wind, I bring faith into the story as a lifestyle. It is delicately woven into the characters’ personalities. One thing I did not want to do is write a ‘religious novel’. My goal was to write a novel where readers would become immersed into the characters by relating to the struggles they faced which bring about spiritual breakthroughs.

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From Annette Temple ~ A Well-Watered Garden Blog’ This book is one of the most romantic books I’ve ever read. The passion and love that is poetically described between Seth and Juleah was rousing.

I am so grateful to Annette for this comment. She helped me realize that I achieved my goal. Most of us ladies want a bit of romance in our stories, don’t we? We want a hero that is tough with the world, but tender with his lady. And a heroine that is strong in the face of tribulation, but swept away by the love of a man. Romance in a novel, in my opinion, is the most intriguing when what is written is just enough to leave the rest up to the reader’s imagination. In Christian fiction a writer brings out romance deftly, love that goes beyond the material, but deeper into the heart and spirit of the characters.

I’ll close here with a romantic excerpt from Surrender the Wind . It is Seth and Juleah’s wedding night. I hope you will consider reading my novel, and keep an eye out for the release of book 1 in a new series, Daughters of the Potomac, coming out in May, 2012, entitled ‘Before the Scarlet Dawn’.

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In his bedchamber, which they now shared, Juleah slipped on her silk nightdress. Thin white ribbons laced the front. She sat at the dressing table brushing her hair. Tinted with the golden splendor of the candles, she smoothed it over her shoulder and ran her fingers down its length. Excitement filled her, tripped over her skin along with desire. She glanced around the room. How masculine it appeared. A fresh coat of paint would improve its appearance, and white curtains over the windows would bring it warmth and light.

She set the candlestick on the table next to their bed. The brass clock on the mantelpiece chimed out the hour. She paused to listen to the musical sound it made, while she pulled down the coverlet. The door drifted open. Seth came inside, shut it, and proceeded to pull off his waistcoat.

“Ah, have you seen the moon?” She opened the drapes wide to let the moonlight pour in. It bathed the room soft blue. “Is it not lovely, Seth?”

He joined her at the window. Wrapping his arms around his wife’s waist, he stood close behind her. His breath brushed against her neck and she sighed.

He whispered in her ear. “Doubt thou the stars are fire. Doubt that the sun doth move. Doubt truth to be a liar. But never doubt I love.”

It pleased her that he, a Virginian rebel, had memorized the beauty of Shakespeare’s verses. Melting with longing, she turned to him. He took her into his arms. She reached up and pushed back a lock of hair that fell over his brow. “I will never doubt your love, not for anything in the world.”

He brought his lips to hers and she strained against him. Love rose within each heart. He lifted her, and her feet dangled above the floor. Holding her, he kissed her, turned with Juleah toward their bed, and took his bride away from the window.

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Read Chapter One: http://www.abingdonpress.com/forms/displayImage.aspx?pcid=1173111

Rita’s Website: http://www.ritagerlach.com/index.html

Surrender the Wind is available wherever books are sold. Kindle additions available from Amazon.com

Cokesbury Bookstore is having an amazing sale. http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=783958

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Rejected!

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I just received this rejection yesterday from a large publishing house. I think, when I get a rejection from now on, I’m going to post what the rejection says on this blog. Why? So that other authors and aspiring authors can see the reasons for rejection. Also, for those who haven’t started submitting yet, they can see what a real rejection looks like. I’ve placed my comments in caps and brackets. Here’s what the letter said:

Dear Cecelia,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read [NAME OF MANUSCRIPT INSERTED HERE] I really enjoyed this project. Unfortunately, however, the general feeling was that the initial print numbers would be too small for our list. So, therefore, I have to pass.

It was a pleasure meeting you at the Faith and Fiction Retreat in Atlanta. I’m so sorry this didn’t work out for us but I wish you the very best in finding a good home for your work.

Best-
[EDITOR’S NAME HERE]

I’d submitted this manuscript on June 20 and I think this editor was nice to respond within three months. I’m glad she gave me a compliment. Although rejections stink, it makes me feel good when an editor for a large publishing house has something nice to say about my work.

I keep a spreadsheet with all of my submissions so that I can track them. I have more than one manuscript floating around out there now since I want to find a home for my books! After I receive the rejection, I keep it in a file and I remove the line from my spreadsheet since I’m no longer tracking that submission. I also try to keep track of where I’ve submitted a project so that I don’t make the major mistake of submitting a manuscript someplace twice!

Do you keep track of your submissions? What do you do to keep track of your manuscripts? If you have an agent, does your agent keep a similiar spreadsheet to track the status of your manuscripts?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Baltimore Book Festival

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I’ll be doing a reading from Chesapeake Weddings at the Baltimore Book Festival tomorrow (Saturday, September 25). My reading starts at 6:45 PM. If you come to this event, be sure to stop and say hello. I’ll be in the Maryland Romance Writers booth!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

A Hope Undaunted By Julie Lessman

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A Hope Undaunted by Julie Lessman

Back Cover: The 1920’s are drawing to a close and feisty Katie O’Connor, is the epitome of the new woman–smart and sassy, with goals for her future that include the perfect husband and a challenging career in law. Her boyfriend, Jack, fits all of her criteria for a husband–good-looking, well-connected, wealthy, and head-over-heels in love with her. But, when she is forced to spend the summer of 1929 with Cluny McGee, the bane of her childhood existence, Katie comes face to face with a choice. Will she follow her well-laid plans to marry Jack? Or will she fall for the man she swore to despise forever?

Julie Lessman’s books have opened up a whole new world in the genre of Christian fiction! Although A Hope Undaunted is novel #1 in the Winds of Change Series, it’s an extension of Lessman’s Daughters of Boston Series. Spoiled Katie O’Connor, the youngest member of the O’Conner clan, gives her father grief when she refuses to follow his house rules. For example, she stays out with her rich friends, breaking her curfew. As a punishment, she has to volunteer at the Boston Children’s Aid Society for the entire summer and not have any contact with her rich friends or her upper-class boyfriend, Jack during her time of confinement. She’s shocked when she discovers her new boss is none other than Cluny McGee, her nemesis – a street rat from her childhood. Both Cluny (now called Luke) and Katie have troubling, hurtful memories from their short time together as kids, and they find it hard to accept the sizzling attraction that grows between them as they work together over the summer.

This book has rich, emotional scenes between the O’Connor family and it was a treat to re-visit the characters from the Daughters of Boston Series. It’s hard to give too many details without giving spoilers, but I wanted to mention that although Katie is spoiled and somewhat of a brat at the beginning of the book, she changes drastically by the end of the story. The adventures of Katie, Betty (an office worker at Boston Children’s Aid Society and Luke’s friend from the streets), Luke and Parker (Luke’s best friend), give you a glimpse of office life during the 1920’s. Also, you get to see a glimpse of history as the story shows how the beginning of the Great Depression affects the characters. So many things happened in this book that I wasn’t expecting. It’s not predictable at all and when you read it, you’ll find a few surprises and the story is packed with emotional moments among the main and secondary characters. I also noticed that there were a few people in the book that had faced traumas in their lives (either they were disabled, sick, or disfigured in some way) but they still had faith in God, in spite of the hard knocks they’d endured in their troubled lives.

I noticed that a lot of the family scenes happened during meal time and I just wanted to pull up a chair and get my plate and eat with the O’Connors while reading this book – the characters and the situations seemed so real to me, that I felt like I was right there, part of the story. Lemonade was mentioned a lot, and I wanted to pluck a few lemons from the counter and squeeze myself a glass along with the characters, and have a relaxing time with the O’Connors.

You can read this book as a standalone if you wish, but, I think if you haven’t read this author’s books, you should read the Daughters of Boston Series so that you’ll get a chance to see how Katie’s sisters found love and romance.

This book was a treat to read, and if you enjoyed the Daughters of Boston Series, then I can guarantee that you’ll enjoy this title.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

ACFW Conference 2010

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I’m too tired to blog about the conference. If you have any specific questions, leave them in the comments and I’ll respond in another blog post. As I stated earlier, I’m a terrible reporter. I just don’t feel like typing up all of the wonderful details about the conference since I’m too tired and lazy right now and I’ve got to finish reading books that I agreed to review for blog tours, plus, I have some proposals that I need to polish and submit as a result of the meetings I had with editors and agents at the conference. As I’ve said on this blog before, if you want to get commercially published within the Christian market then ACFW is the place to be! All those industry professionals and writers under one roof! I had an awesome time and it was great networking, socializing and worshipping with other writers! I had a great time! Here’s some pics that other conferees took! I had my camera with me but failed to take any pictures. When I go to these events, I rarely take photos. I’m so busy having fun that I never take the time to take pics!
Me with local ACFW member Terri Haynes! Her entry was a finalist in the Genesis Contest!
Me with author Julie Lessman – the author of hot, spicy Christian romance. Her books are fantastic! I’ve reviewed her Daughters of Boston Series on this blog!
Me socializing with someone named Kathy. I met her at author Michelle Sutton’s chocolate party. If memory serves me correctly, she told me about her experiences self-publishing her book.
Me talking to author Gail Sattler. Her recent release, The Narrow Path, sounds quite interesting since the heroine is new-order Mennonite and the hero is old-order Mennonite. When I find the time, I’ll probably read her book.

Me, with a goofy, cheesy smile! I think I was winding down at this point, about ready to head back to my room to go to bed! I’d had my fill of chocolate by this time!

Me, sitting next to a woman named Cassandra at the awards banquet. I had NO IDEA this picture was being taken!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

September 17, 2010 – Day 1 For ACFW

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I arrived in Indianapolis yesterday and shared a ride with another ACFW member to the hotel. So far, the hotel has been somewhat nice, but I’ve noticed that I have to wait a LONG TIME for elevators and when you get on an elevator, it’s usually filled to capacity. I’ve run into LOTS of authors and I’m not sure if I can even attempt to list them all here. I did have a lot of conversations last night and my throat hurts from talking so much. I had lunch with ACFW member Dani Pettrey and my roommate Chandra Smith . Lunch was great. There was a chef making pasta to order and I’d never had that before, and it was tasty. I ran into author Tracie Peterson during lunch and it was great to see her! I hadn’t seen her in YEARS! She was instrumental in helping me to land my first and third book contract!

After lunch, I had a long chat with author Ramona Cecil about her historicals. We also talked a lot about writing for Barbour. I was then approached by author Jennifer Rogers Spinola and we chatted for awhile and I gave her a copy of Chesapeake Weddings.

Praise and worship was awesome! I also was glad to see my former critique partner, Rose McCauley receive her first publishing contract for a Christmas historical novella!!! 🙂 The novella is being published by Barbour Publishing! Yea! 🙂

I talked to authors Pat Simmons and I spoke with Vanessa Miller about her novel, Long Time Coming. It’s an emotional read that’ll bring tears to your eyes and I plan on posting a review later this year, closer to the released date of the novel.

I went to my room for a few minutes and by the time I got to dinner, most of the over six hundred people attending this conference were already seated! I found a seat in the back next to Jim Rubart, author of Rooms. Author Jenny Jones and Abington editor Barbara Scott were also at the table. I was able to talk to Barbara Scott about my writing and I was glad that I was able to do that.

After dinner, I attended two late night chats. One was for Summerside Press. Apparently, you need an agent to submit to them. It doesn’t appear that you can submit to them via conference appointment unless you have an agent. I do enjoy their books and I’ve reviewed a number of their titles on this blog. They’re still looking for unique settings for their Love Finds You Line and they’ve added a few lines to their house, too, and the two editors talked about that for a bit. I think these books have lovely covers, too!

After the Summerside Press chat, I went to the Steeple Hill chat and afterwards spoke with editor Tina Columbo James. If you’re looking to submit someplace and you’re unagented and unpublished, I think SH would be a great place to submit, especially since they take unagented submissions and I’ve noticed they have a habit of granting contracts to new authors.

During both the Summerside Press and Steeple Hill chats I had long conversations with a number of authors, but my fingers and getting a bit tired from typing and breakfast is coming up soon, and I don’t feel like trying to recall all the names of whom I spoke with after the chats! I know I talked to author Ginny Aiken for awhile and Merrilee Wren and Lynette Sowell.

Author Michelle Sutton’s chocolate party was great! I talked to a bunch of people here, too, including author Laurie Alice Eakes, Gail Sattler, Lena Nelson Dooley and a bunch of others! I saw Julie Lesssman, author of the hot and steamy inspirational Daughters of Boston series, and that was a treat!

I hope to post another blog entry later today or tomorrow! I did bring my camera with me, but, so far, I haven’t taken any pics! But, others have taken pics of me, so, when I can get ahold of some, I’ll post on the blog!

~Cecelia Dowdy~