Lena Nelson Dooley is hosting me on her blog today with an interview and a book giveaway! You have to leave a comment on THIS BLOG POST in order to be entered into the drawing! Be sure to read the interview before commenting!
Plain Perfect by Beth Wiseman
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (September 9, 2008)
ISBN-10: 1595546308
ASIN: B0023RSZT6
A search for peace in Amish country proves anything but simple for a woman on the run from life…and herself.
On the rolling plains of Lancaster County, PA., Lillian Miller is searching for her grandparents’ house…and so much more. After years of neglect and abuse, she’s turning to a lifestyle of simplicity among the Amish to find herself.
As she discards the distractions of her former life, she befriends the young boy working on her family’s farm and his attractive widowed father, Samuel Stoltzfus. Despite Lillian’s best efforts to the contrary, her feelings for Samuel–and his for her–deepen. Will Lillian find her faith in Plain living, or will she be forced to return to her former life?
This was a sweet story about a woman who is searching for something. Miserable with her life, she escapes from her abusive, live-in boyfriend and goes on a quest to find her estranged grandparents in Amish territory. Lillian’s life is full of questions: Why did you mom leave the Amish community when she was young? Who is Lillian’s father? Can she find the peace she seeks by living as an Amish woman for awhile?
While living among the Amish, Lillian grows closer to her grandparents, feeling sadness about her grandfather’s cancer. He is suffering, but will only do so much to ease his own pain because of his Amish beliefs. Lillian’s grandmother is worn out, and Lillian attempts to make the lives of the elderly couple easier as she learns the Amish way of life.
Romantic sparks fly when Emily meets Samuel, a young Amish widower. She grows close to Samuel’s son, but the couple struggles with the fact that it’s a sin to be unequally yoked and Lillian is not an Amish woman.
I thought this story was sweet and enjoyable. It was a light, inspiring read.
SPOILER BELOW:
Don’t read the following if you haven’t read the book but plan on reading it in the future.
I did think it was a bit unrealistic that Lillian became Amish at the end. I’ve noticed in some of the Plain/Amish stories that an English person will become Amish at the end – this especially happens when they want to live happily ever after with their Amish mate. I’d think it would be a rare feat to give up all modern conveniences that we’ve enjoyed since birth and convert to the Amish way of live. Although it’s possible, I don’t feel that it’s plausible. This comment has no bearing on the story – I still thought it was a nice read, but I just couldn’t imagine the ending to turn out like it did.
Mom’s The Word by Marilynn Griffith
Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Steeple Hill (January 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0373786417
ISBN-13: 978-0373786411
When her tall, dark, delicious husband joins their three kids in calling her “Mom,” Karol Simons has an identity crisis. Sure she loves the pint-sized trio, but what’s happened to her dreams of writing a novel? Determined to have it all, she turns to her neighbor for help.
Dyanne Thornton is thrilled to stand in as Mom for three weeks so Karol can write. Bursting with baby fever, the career-woman trades her glamorous clothes and four-inch heels for the playground and potty training. She hopes to convince her reluctant husband they should start a family of their own, right away.
Everyone’s in for some big surprises….
This book was a refreshing read that took me back in time – back to the days when I was growing up and we were close to our next-door neighbors. Karol misses her best friend, Hope and Hope’s husband, Singh. Their former next-door neighbors and their tribe of children have moved away leaving Karol mystified and sad. Their new neighbors, Dyanne and Neal, are quite different from their old neighbors. Dyanne is a career woman, and she fancies herself as a future mom, only if she can convince her husband that it’s time for them to multiply.
When you add Fallon, a mature eccentric author, into Dyanne’s and Neal’s household, the story becomes even more interesting.
Karol is facing a crises – she wants to write her book but has no time since she’s a full-time mommy. Dyanne wants to try her hand at motherhood so she steps in, offering to help Karol and her family while Karol takes a vacation from being a parent so that she can finish writing her book.
Both couples find their marriages in trouble when Karol discovers the real reason that Hope and Singh left and Dyanne and Neal face their own problems especially when Dyanne continues her quest for pregnancy.
I recommend this book if you want a good, insightful, refreshing story that you’ll read pretty quickly. The characters are quirky, but realistic and I believe lots of people could find something in this book that they can relate to.
I haven’t gone off on a tangent like this for a book review in a long time, but this novel got me to thinking about my childhood. We were close to our next-door neighbors when we lived on the military base. I recall playing at each other’s houses and I remember my mother being friends with the mom who lived next door. I remember she was a large woman who wore glasses and she had a loud voice. When she laughed, she threw her head back and opened her mouth so wide that I could sometimes see her tonsils when she was laughing about something! I remember their names, but not sure if I should post them here! I did look up the boy on Facebook and I think I found him! I’m not sure if he’d remember me if I contacted him, though!
The reason why I have fond memories of next-door neighbors is because it’s something that I have NOT experienced as an adult. After getting out of college and working full time, living in apartments and houses, I just never really connected with next-door neighbors the way we did while on the military base when I was a kid.
Are you close to your next-door neighbors? Do you think people are close to their neighbors nowadays, or are people just too busy working and living their own lives to develop close relationships with people in their neighborhood?
I recently went on another book-finding field trip again! First I went to Family Christian in Bowie, Maryland, but my book was not there. Apparently, they don’t carry the 3-in-1s at that Family Christian location. I then went to Barnes and Noble in Bowie. I didn’t see my book there, either, but when I was in the Christian fiction section, a customer started talking to me. She asked, “What do you like to read?”
The floodgates opened and I told her about my being an author and that I had a book out now, but it wasn’t in the Barnes and Noble in Bowie! I did encourage her to purchase my book elsewhere or online. While there, we chatted about the books on the shelves…actually, I did most of the chatting. I pointed out authors like Claudia Mair Burney, Stacey Hawkins Adams, Tracie Peterson, Ted Dekker, Debbie Macomber, Francine Rivers…I went on and on about the books I’d read that were populating the shelves. She said, “When do you find time to read all these books and write too?”
I said, “I don’t know!”
When I finally got back to the car (I’d left hubby in the car) I told my husband about my conversation in the bookstore and he said, “You should open a bookstore.”
I think I’d like that! Can you imagine, my own bookstore? After Barnes and Noble, we traveled to Borders in Bowie and we found the book on the shelf! Here’s the pic:
We then traveled to the Walmart in Bowie and we didn’t see the book there. They didn’t carry Barbour’s 3-in-1s there. 🙁
But, one of my blog/Facebook friends did email me a couple of pics of my book on the shelf in Toronto, ON, Canada at Faith And Family Books! How exciting!
If I were to own my own bookstore, it would be comfy and cozy! There would be shelves and shelves of great books for people to read!
There would also be lots of comfy chairs for people to sit in while reading a book. I’d also have coffee, and plenty of places for writers to plug in their laptops while they type, creating stories while sipping their brew!
I’d also have cookies, cupcakes and muffins to munch on while sipping your coffee! 🙂
I don’t know what I’d call my bookstore, though. I’m just dreaming! I wouldn’t think about opening a bookstore when I sense that they’ll be out of business within the next ten years because of people buying most of their books from the internet. But I can dream, can’t I? Can you think of a great, comfy, cozy, insightful name that I could call my make-believe bookstore?
~Cecelia Dowdy~
I’ve been going fishing with this project off an on for about a couple of years now. Although the project was not completed initially, I searched for an agent, anyway. I completed it last November and I continued my agent search. I’ve also been able to submit to a few publishing houses (The publishers took agented submissions only, I was able to submit because I’d met the editors at a writers conference). Anyway, I received the rejection from one of the publishers today! Bummer! They said (I’m paraphrasing):
We haven’t had success in presenting stories that have a main character who is blind, so I don’t think we’ll be pursuing this.
But, there’s still hope! I do have it elsewhere, so I just need to wait and hear what they say about the project!
On a lighter note, I did manage to go to the Walmart in Laurel, Maryland and I saw my book on the shelf!
There were two copies! I “sold” both of them. One lady started browsing in the book section shortly before I took my pics. I told her about my book and she said she would purchase it for her sister! She also said she was an aspiring author and she wanted advice about how to seek publication. We talked books, authors, writers organizations, etc. for close to a half hour!
Another woman came into the book section and I boldly told her about my book, presenting it to her from the shelf. She said, “Did you really write this book?”
I said, “Yes!” I flipped to my bio page. “See, that’s my picture right there.”
She said, “That is you!” She asked me to sign the book and she said she would send it to her preacher sister in South Africa.
Am I kooky or what? I think the exhileration of having a book in stores and in Walmart is going to my head! If I have time and energy, I’ll continue to visit stores when possible and take pictures of my book on the shelf! Also, if you have time, and if you’re in Walmart, Barnes And Noble, Family Christian, Borders, or any other bookstore and happen to see my book shelved, I’d appreciate your taking a picture with your camera and e-mailing it to me so that I can share with other blog readers!
One of my Facebook friends took this pic at the Woodland Texas Walmart:
As I promised in an earlier post, I’ll be back to blogging about regular stuff soon. I recently finished Mom’s The Word by Marilynn Griffith, and I’m almost finished with Plain Perfect by Beth Wiseman. I also have The Manual by Sherryle Kiser Jackson in my TBR pile, and I just received This Fine Life by Eva Marie Everson in the mail today (this book has a very appealing cover!).
I’ve gotten so many compliments about my book cover that I contacted the designer: Kirk DouPonce at DogEared Design. I wanted to find out the process he used in designing my book cover. I asked him the following question and I’ve also noted his response.
I was wondering about the process you used for developing my book cover? Did you use stock photos or did you draw the images yourself? One of the stories is set on a dairy farm, so I’m assuming that Barbour gave you a synopsis of the story?
Hi Cecelia, I’m happy to hear that your book is being well received!
The publisher provided a general synopsis of each of the three novels, allowing me to choose which to depict. I thought the farm scene would be the most fun, so I researched a number of stock sites to see what I could find. In the end I created the image using multiple photos, attached.
Here are the pics that Kirk attached in his email to me. I can see how the cover was created from the following images:
And…voila – here’s the book cover! 🙂
One of my Facebook pals took this pic for me at the Clinton Mississippi Walmart! I promise I’ll be back to blogging about regular topics soon, like books that I’ve recently read. I’m just tickled to see my book on a shelf. I don’t have any other contracted work beyond this point, so, I don’t know when (or if) I’ll see another book in the stores, so I’m enjoying the moment while I can! 🙂
My sister emailed me this pic of my book at Barnes And Noble located a western suburb of Chicago called Oak Brook. Doesn’t it look great! If any of you happen to see my book when you’re out, be sure to take a pic with your cell phone and email it to me so that I can feature it on my blog! 🙂
Chesapeake Weddings was featured as a top pick on Dee Stewart’s Blog!
Thanks, Dee! 🙂
Also, on the Amazon.com link there are eight customer reviews so far! Check them out and order yourself a copy!
I hope everyone enjoys this Resurrection Day with your family and loved ones!
Remember the sacrifice that Christ made for us!
